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The  Congressof  women 

u 

HELD  IN  THE  WOMAN'S  BUILDING, 

WORLD'S  Columbian  Exposition, 

CHICAGO,  U.  S.  A.,  1893. 


WITH  PORTRAITS,  BIOGRAPHIES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


PUBLISHED  BY  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  LADY  MANAGERS, 
MRS.  BERTHA  M.  HONORE  PALMER,  PRESIDENT. 


EDITED  BY  • 

MARY  KAVANAUGH  OLDHAM  EAGLE, 

CHAIRMAN  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  ON  CONGRESSES,  OF  THE 
BOARD  OF  LADY  MANAGERS. 


OFFICIAL  EDITION. 


SOLD  ONLY  BY  SUBSCRIPTION. 


S.    I.    BELL   &   CO., 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA.  CHICAGO,  ILL. 

1894 


f^Q  nob 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  A.    D.    1894,   by 

W.   B.  CONKEY  COMPANY, 
In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington,   D.  C. 


This  work  being  fully  protected  by  copyright,  any  infringement  will  be  prosecuted  to  the  fullest  extent  of  the  law. 

EXCHANGE 


sc^ 


•     •  •  .  • 


COMME/^ORATIVE        \ .  -v. ;     ,      ^ 

•  •  • « •  •    , 

Of  the   many  pleasant  and   profitable   days  spent  together. 

THE  COMMITTEE  ON  CONGRESSES. 

By  permission,  dedicate  this  work 

to  the 

President 

and  members  of  the 

Board  of  Lady  Managers 

of  the 
Columbian  Exposition. 


9889,'58 


PUBLISHERS'   PREFACE. 


•rjT^JIJS'.'Objedt 'a£:tJr6  "publication  of  this  book  is  to  present  an  account  of  some  of  the 
^  most  important  assemblages  of  women  the  world  has  ever  known.  As  a  part  of  the 
Columbian  Exposition,  the  greatest  event  of  its  kind  in  history,  there  was  a  daily  gathering 
of  women,  who,  in  a  great  building  devoted  to  their  uses,  expressed  their  ideas  regarding 
the  social,  business  and  political  affairs  of  humankind  and  all  that  pertains  to  making 
a  greater  future  for  the  human  race.  This  book  reproduces  the  ideas  advanced  by  these 
women,  who  represented  the  civilized  world.  It  is  the  record  of  most  earnest  and  potential 
and  practical  assemblages  of  women.  What  is  in  these  pages  indicates  what  women  are 
to-day.  The  book  contains  the  addresses  made  by  those  representing  the  more  active 
women  of  two  continents.  It  is  a  book  every  thoughtful  woman  and  every  thoughtful 
man  should  possess,  and  must,  from  its  very  quality  and  the  circumstances  of  its  production, 
be  part  of  the  important  data  of  future  histories.  No  publishers'  preface  will  aid  it  much. 
It  is  a  book  which  will  retain  its  place  because  it  commands  a  status  as  describing  an 
important  part  of  one  of  the  most  important  events  in  history.  It  may  be  that  it  was  even 
the  most  striking  part,  since  among  the  greatest  problems  of  the  times  is  aggressively 
prominent  that  of  the  relations  of  men  and  women  in  the  work  of  the  world  and  in  the 
division  of  its  profits  and  its  honors. 


MRS.   BERTHA    M.   HONORE   PALMER, 
President  of  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers. 


PREFACE. 


THE  Columbian  Exposition,  in  its  unrivaled  physical  beauty,  has  culminated  and 
vanished  like  the  blossoms  of  a  gorgeous  Century  plant,  leaving  only  a  memory 
of  its  superb  efiftorescence  and  subtle  charm.  In  order  that  the  efforts  made  in  its 
behalf  may  not  all  be  lost,  and  that  a  reminder  of  its  aesthetic  and  educational  influ- 
ence may  remain  with  us,  Mrs.  James  P.  Eagle,  the  untiring  and  devoted  chairman, 
has  collected  in  permanent  form  the  valuable  papers  secured  by  herself  and  her 
committee  for  the  Congresses  in  the  Woman's  Building. 

Nothing  could  be  more  broadly  representative  than  the  catholic  presentation 
given  in  these  Congresses  to  many  important  topics  from  many  points  of  view.  The 
names  contained  in  the  list  of  contributors  are  in  themselves  a  sufficient  guaranty  of 
the  great  merit  of  the  papers,  which  were  so  warmly  received  at  the  time  of  their 
presentation. 

I  trust  that  the  final  and  important  service  performed  by  Mrs.  Eagle  in  placing 
these  papers  within  reach  of  the  public,  may  receive  the  indorsement  which  it  merits. 

Bertha  M.  Honore  Palmer. 
■President  of  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


Pages. 

Publisher's  Preface 6 

Preface  .,......,....., , „ , g 

Introduction 13-14 

Index  to  Authors , 1 5-16 

Index  to  Subjects 17-19 

Index  to  Illustrations , . , . .     21-22 

Opening  Address 25-29 

Papers  Read  Before  the  Congress 30-815 

Presentation  of  Mrs.  Palmer's  Portrait 816-819 

Closing  Address > . . .  o . .  820-824 


MRS.  MARY  K.  O.  EAGLE, 
Editor. 


INTRODUCTION. 


T 


HE  Congresses  held  in  the  Woman's  Building  were  inaugurated  under  a  resolu- 
tion unanimously  passed  by  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  on  September  7,  1891, 
which  read  as  follows: 


''Resolved,  That  a  special  committee  of  seven  be  appointed  who  shall  have  charge 
of  arranging  for  Congresses  to  be  held  in  the  Woman's  Building  during  the  Fair." 

The  president  of  the  board  appointed  the  following  committee:  Mrs.  James  P. 
Eagle,  Mrs.  Helen  M.  Barker,  Miss  Laurette  Lovell,  Miss  Eliza  M.  Russell,  Mrs.  L. 
M.  N.  Stevens,  Mrs.  Susan  R.  Ashley  and  Mrs.  Jennie  Sanford  Lewis  (now  deceased). 
Mrs.  Jno.  J.  Bagley  and  Mrs.  L.  BraceShattuck  were  afterward  added  to  the  commit- 
tee, and  Mrs.  Bagley  was  elected  vice-chairman. 

On  August  5,  1893,  the  board  adopted  a  recommendation  to  publish  the  Congress 
papers  in  book  form  to  be  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  Woman's  Memorial  Building  fund. 
The  chairman  of  the  committee  having  conducted  the  correspondence  necessary,  and 
arranged  the  entire  program  for  the  Woman's  Building  Congresses,  having  also  been 
present  and  presiding  at  each  of  these  daily  meetings,  except  on  three  occasions, 
when  the  executive  committee,  of  which  she  is  a  member,  was  in  session,  was  regarded 
a  suitable  person  to  edit  the  work  of  the  Congresses  which  is  herein  presented  to  the 
public:  Mrs.  Potter  Palmer,  president  of  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers,  made  the 
nomination,  which  was  confirmed  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  committee  at  a  meet- 
ing held  November  7,  1893,  when  only  one  member  of  the  committee  was  absent. 

It  was  considered  in  the  interest  of  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  and  the  pub- 
lisher, that  this  work  should  not  be  delayed  longer  than  three  months  after  the  close 
of  the  Exposition.  A  contract  was  entered  into  with  the  publisher  to  that  effect.  No 
pains,  or  money,  or  diligence  has  been  spared  in  our  efforts  to  secure  the  complete 
representation  in  this  volume  of  each  contributor  to  the  Congress.  It  is  sincerely  to  be 
regretted  that  there  are  a  few  women,  whose  articles  should  appear  in  this  work,  that  we 
have  either  been  unable  to  reach  or  unable  to  secure  contributions  from  on  account  of 
previous  disposition  having  been  made  of  their  papers,  proposed  individual  publications 
or  the  difficulty  of  reproducing  satisfactorily  addresses  delivered  without  notes.  Over 
one  thousand  letters  and  dozens  of  telegrams  have  been  sent  out  in  this  interest  since 
November  loth. 

With  much  gratitude  we  acknowledge  indebtedness  to  the  hundreds  of  women 
with  whom  we  have  had  correspondence,  for  their  unfailing  courtesy  and  particu- 
larly to  those  who  appeared  from  time  to  time  on  the  Congress  platform.  This  inter- 
course has  been  altogether  pleasant  and  harmonious  throughout  the  entire  Exposi- 
tion, and  has  been  a  most  flattering  revelation  of  woman's  attainments  in  grace,  cult- 
ure, thought  and  literature. 

To  Mrs.  Potter  Palmer,  president  of  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers,  and  to  many  of 
the  members  of  the  board,  we  tender  special  thanks  for  their  counsel,  encouragement 
and  co-operation  in  the  difficult  and  laborious  task  assigned  to  this  committee. 

The  plan  of  the  committee  was  to  have  a  leading  address,  followed  by  free  dis- 


cussion  whenever  the  nature  of  the  subject  invited  debate.     We   publish  only  the 
addresses. 

The  courtesy  of  these  pages  has  been  extended  to  women  who  prepared  papers 
and  were  prevented  from  appearing  at  the  appointed  time  by  bereavements  and  other 
good  causes,  and  in  a  few  instances  has  been  accepted. 

One  of  the  objects  of  this  work  has  been  to  mirror  the  women  of  the  Columbian 
year — faithfully  reflecting  their  purposes,  plans  and  powers  as  they  stand  the  chosen 
representatives  of  the  various  states  of  this  Union  and  of  the  nations  of  the  earth.  As 
we  succeeded  in  presenting  representatives  from  thirty  states  and  twenty  nations  we 
feel  justified  in  believing  that  this  object  has  been  attained. 

Other  purposes  were  to  provide  for  communion  and  interchange  of  thought 
between  women  engaged  in  the  same  and  diverse  lines  of  work  and  the  compilation 
of  valuable  literary  and  historical  papers  to  serve  as  stepping  stones  to  future  prog- 
ress which  has  also,  to  the  minds  of  many,  been  realized. 

We  have  not  assumed  to  direct  or  dictate  the  utterances,  and  will  not  be  expected 
to  indorse  all  articles  admitted  without  discrimination. 

The  one  thought  of  the  president  of  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  and  the  entire 
membership  of  the  board,  whether  acting  as  a  whole,  as  individuals  or  committees,  has 
been  to  serve  well,  the  women  of  the  present  and  the  future.  To  the  charity  of 
the  public  we  trust  the  imperfections  of  our  work. 

Editor. 


INDEX  TO  AUTHORS. 


PAGE. 

Abbott,  Mrs.  Alice  Asbury 645 

Aberdeen,  Lady  Ishbel 743 

Adams,  Mrs.  Mary  Newbury 342 

Alcala  de,  Senorita  Catalina 398 

Anthony,  Miss  Susan  B 787 

Arcambal  de,  Mrs.  Agnes.  L 148 

Baird,  Mrs.  Priscilla 414 

Barlow,  Miss  Horence 797 

Bates,  Miss  Octavia  Williams 664 

Bay,  Mrs.  Lillian  Cantrell 260 

Bayard,  Mrs.  Mary  Temple 435 

Bell,  Miss  Laura 516 

Bjorn,  Mme.  Thora  K 740 

Blackwell,  Rev.  Antoinette  Brown 633 

Blake,  Mrs.  Lillie  Devereux 32 

Boyd,  Mrs.  Gaston 570 

Brady,  Mrs.  Sue  Huffman 306 

Brazza  di,  Countess  Cora  Slocomb 697 

Bristol,  Rev.  Augusta  Cooper 80 

Brotherton,  Mrs.  Alice  Williams 67 

Brown,  Dr.  M.  Augusta 477 

Bucklin,  Miss  Lorain  Pearce 450 

Bullock,  Mrs.  Electa 510 

Bullock,  Mrs.  Helen  L 143 

Cantrell,  Mrs.  Ellen  Harrell 253 

Cappiani,  Mme.  Louisa 500 

Chapin,  Rev.  Augusta  J 393 

Clark,  Mrs.  Laura  H 512 

Cohen,  Miss  Katherine  M 428 

Cohen,  Mrs.  Nina  Morais 113 

Cole,  Miss  Annette 600 

Conway,  Miss  Clara 402 

Cooper,  Mrs.  Sarah  B 296 

Cope,  Mrs.  Theresa  Elizabeth 531 

Corbin,  Mrs.  Caroline  Fairfield 326 

Corson,  Miss  Juliet 714 

Craig,  Mrs.  M .  K 198 

Crawford,  Mrs.  Emily 87 

Cummins,  Mrs.  Ella  Sterling 184 

Curwen,  Mrs.  Mary  T.  W 165 

Devereux,  Mrs,  C.  A.  R 752 

Dibble,  Mrs.  Martha  Cleveland 704 

Dickinson,  Mrs.  Mary  Lowe 637 

Dillaye,  Miss  Blanche 643 

Dodd,  Mrs.  Anna  A 754 

Donohue,  Dr.  Mary  E 727 

Douglas,  Mrs.  Selwyn 383 

Douglass,  Mrs.  Jean  Loughborough 733 

Drury,  Mrs.  J.  Wilson 471 

Duniway,  Mrs.  Abigail  Scott 90 

Eagle,  Mrs.  James  P 15  and  816 

Eastman,  Mrs.  Annis  Ford 612 

Edwards,  Mrs.  Amanda  M 760 


PAGE. 

Fairbanks,  Mrs.  Caroline  Fuller 503 

Field,  Miss  Kate 77 

Field  (Catherine  Cole),  Mrs.  Martha  R 776 

Foster,  Mrs.  J.  Ellen 668 

Fredericsen,  Miss  Kirstine 237 

Fuller,  Mrs.  Brainerd 491 

Gaddess,  Mrs.  Mary  L 221 

Gage,  Mrs.  Marie  Mott 737 

Galloway,  Miss  Janet  A 337 

Garrett,  Miss  Mary  S 443 

George,  Mrs.  Jonnie  Allen 388 

Gohl,  MissCecile 316 

Gordon,  Mrs.  Laura  de  Force 74 

Gould,  Mrs.  Minna  Gordon 660 

Green,  Mrs.  Anna  S 649 

Greene,  Miss  Mary  A 41 

Grinnell,  Mrs.  Katherni  V 628 

Hanna,  Mrs.  John  R 53 

Hayes,  Miss  Mary  V 474 

Henrotin,  Mrs.  Charles 348 

Hinds,  Miss  Ida  K 438 

Hitchcock,  Mrs.  Romyn 556 

Holt,  Mrs.  Charlotte 190 

Howard,   Mrs.  A.  L 463 

Howe,  Mrs.  Julia  Ward 102 

Howell,  Mrs.  Mary  Seymour 679 

Hoxie,  Mrs.  Vinnie  Ream 603 

Hull,  Mrs.  Mary  Hess 609 

Hultin,  Rev.  Ida  C 788 

Jenkins,  Mrs.  Helen  Philleo 686 

Johnson,  Miss  Helen  Louise 810 

Johnston,  Mrs.  Adelia  A.  F 555 

Keene,  Miss  Mary  Virginia 194 

Kenealy,  Miss  Annesley 354 

Ketcham,  Mrs.  Emily  Burton 361 

Korany,  Mme.  Hanna  K 359 

Lake,  Mrs.  Isabel  Wing 574 

Lake,  Mrs.  Leonora  Marie 508 

Lankton,  Dr.  Freeda  M 268 

Lease,  Mrs.  Mary  Elizabeth 412 

Lewis,  Mrs.  Amanda  Kerr 371 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  Mary   1 138 

Lipscomb,  Mrs.  M.  A 469 

Lock  wood,  Mrs.  Mary  S 816 

Lord,  Miss  Eleanor 281 

Louis,  Mrs.  Minnie  D 639 

Lundin,  Mile.  Hulda 104 

Magnusson,  Mme.  Sigrid  E 521 

Manning,  Miss  Agnes  M 107 

Marsden,  Miss  Kate 213 

Marshall,  Mme.  Marie 211 

15 


16 


INDEX  TO  AUTHORS. 


PAGE. 

McDiarmid,  Mrs.  Clara  A 723 

McDonald,  Prof.  Cora  M 264 

McGee,  Miss  L.  C 249 

Meriweather,  Mrs.  Lide . 747 

Messenger,  Mrs.  Lillian  Rozell 227 

Meyer,  Mrs.  Nicoline  Bech 243 

Meyer,  Mrs.  Annie  Nathan 135 

Miller,  Mrs.  Kate  0 782 

Miller,  Mrs.  Annie  Jenness 695 

Mitchell,  Miss  Alice  A 405 

Monroe,  Mrs.  Harriet  Earhart 311 

Moore,  Miss  Aimee  K.  Osborne 308 

Morgan,  Miss  Anna 597 

Mott,  Mrs.  Emma  Pratt 544 

Norris,  Mrs.  Mary  E.  C 674 

Ormsbee,  Mrs.  E.J 590 

Palmer,  Mrs.  Bertha  Honor^ 25,  821 

Palmer,  Mrs.  Sarah  Eddy 432 

Peabody,  Mrs.  Mary  H 205 

Peck,  Mrs.  Maria  Purdy 623 

Pelham,  Lady  Arthur 576 

Pitblado,  Mrs.  Effie 793 

Pollard,  Mrs.  Marie  Antoinette  Nathalie 293 

Potter,  Miss  Jennie  O'Neil 682 

Potts,  Mrs.  Eugenia  Dunlap 562 

Prescott,  Mrs.  Lydia  A 526 

Proctor,  Miss  Mary  A 301 

Quinton,  Mrs.  Amelia  S 71 

Reed,  Mrs.  Caroline  G 240 

Reed,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  A. 719 

Reese,  Miss  Cara 328 

Rich,  Mrs.  Ellen  M 365 

Richards,  Mrs.  Ellen  H 713 

Riggs,  Mrs.  Anna  R 813 

Rogers,  Miss  May 586 

Roman,  Mrs.  Sallie  Rhett 535 

Romney,  Mrs.  Caroline  Wescott 579 

Salazar,  Signora  Fanny  Zampini 157 

Sawyer,  Mrs.  Winona  Branch 273 

Schahovskoy,  Princess  M 569 

Schirmaches,  Miss  Kathe 181 


PAGE. 

Scull,  Mrs.  Sarah  Amelia 423 

Sewall,  Mrs.  May  Wright 771 

Shaw,  Rev.  Anna  Howard 152 

Sheldon,  Miss  Elizabeth  B 790 

Sheldon,  Mrs.  M.  French 131 

Sherman,  Mrs,  Caroline  K 764 

Sherman,  Mrs.  Julia  Edwards 670 

Smith,  Miss  Marion  Couthouy 616 

Smith,  Mrs.  Mary  Stuart 408 

Smith,  Mrs.  Wesley 217 

Smith,  Mrs.  Clara  Holbrook  332 

Smith,  Mrs,  Virginia  Thrall 178 

Smith,  Mrs.  Eva  Munson 416 

Souville,  Mrs.  E.  M 691 

Spence,  Mrs,  Catherine  Helen 458 

Spencer,  Rev.  Anna  Garlin 170 

Starkweather,  Mrs,  Louise  A 62 

Stevenson,  Mrs,  Matilda  Coxe 484 

Stevenson,  Dr.  Sarah  Hackett 708 

Stone,  Mrs,  Lucy 58 

Stone,  Mrs,  C,  E.  Whiton 101 

Stone,  Mrs,  Lucinda  H 446 

Street,  Miss  Ida  M 286 

Sunderland,  Mrs.  Eliza  Read 318 

Todd,  Mrs.  Mary  C 39 

Trueheart,  Mrs,  S,  C 804 

Tutwiler,  Miss  Julia  S 36 

Twitchell,  Mrs,  Eliza  Stowe 495 

Villafuerte,  Miss  Virginia 406 

Ware,  Mrs.  Eugene 277 

Welch,  Miss  Jane  Meade 30 

Wheeler,  Mrs.  Candace 818 

Wheelock,  Miss  Lucy 323 

White,  Mrs.  Jennie  F 123 

Wilkinson,  Mrs.  Laura  S 233 

Wilson,  Miss  Alisan 488 

Wilson,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  M 203 

Wilson  (n6e  Petrie),  Mrs.  Ashley  Carus 651 

Windeyer,  Miss  Margaret 97 

Woolley,  Mrs.  Celia  Parker 763 

Wright,  Miss  Mary  P 305 

Zacaroff,  Mile.  Caricl^e 618 

Zeman,  Mrs.  Josefa  Humpal 127 


INDEX  TO  SUBJECTS. 


TITLE.  PAGE. 

Advantages  and  Dangers  of  Organizations. . . 

Rev.  Anna  Garlin  Spencer  . : 170 

^Esthetic  Culture Mrs.  Priscilla  Baird  414 

An  African  Expedition Mrs.  M.  French 

Sheldon 131 

Agriculture Mrs.  A.  M.  Edwards  760 

An  Appeal  of  Art  to  the  Lovers  of  Art 

Mrs.  Mary  Cherry  Norris 674 

Art Mrs.  Emily  Crawford    87 

Art  of  Elocution Miss  Anna  Morgan  597 

Art  of  Living,  The Mrs.  Ellen  M.  Rich  365 

Art  Isms Miss  Annette  Cole  600 

Assyrian  Mythology.  .Mrs.  Elizabeth  A.  Reed  719 
Avocations  of  English  Women. .  Mrs.  Theresa 

Elizabeth  Cope 531 


Business  Woman  in  Kentucky,  A.. Miss  Flor- 
ence Barlow 797 


Certain  Methods  of  Studying  Drawing. ,  .Miss 

Aimee  K.  Osborne  Moore 380 

Changing  Ideals  in  .Southern  Womanhood 

Mrs.  Sue  Huffman  Brady 306 

Characteristics  of  the  Modern  Woman 

Mrs.  Caroline  K.  Sherman 764 

Charles  Lamb Mrs.  C.  A.  R.  Devereux  752 

Chicago Miss  Marion  Couthouy  Smith  616 

Chicago  Women.  .Dr.  Sarah  Hackett  Steven- 
son     708 

Children  of  the  Other  Half,  The Miss  Lucy 

Wheelock    323 

Cholera  in  Hamburg,  The Miss  Annesley 

Kenealy 354 

Citizens,  The  Making  of Mrs.  H.  E.  Mon- 
roe    311 

Closing  Address Mrs.  Potter  Palmer  821 

Columbia's  Women Mrs.  Amanda  Kerr 

Lewis 371 

Columbus;  or.  It  was  Morning Mrs.  Lillian 

Rozell  Messenger 227 

Come  South,  Young  Woman ! Mrs.  Martha 

R.  Field 776 

Compensation Mrs.  Alice  Asbury  Abbott  645 

Complete  Freedom  for  Women. . .  Miss  Agnes 

M.  Manning 107 

Congratulation  on  the  Possession  of  Por- 
trait   Mrs.  Candace  Wheeler  818 

Cookery Mrs.  Mary  J.  Lincoln  138 

Cooking  as  an  Art. . .  Miss  Helen  Louise  John- 
son    810 

Culture;  Its  Fruit  and  Its  Price  (extracts  from) 

Mrs.  May  Wright  Bewail 771 


TITLE.  PAGE. 

Dawning  of  the  Twentieth  Century,  The 

Mrs.  Mary  Seymour  Howell 679 

De  Stael,  Madame Mrs.  Helen  Philleo  Jen- 
kins   686 

Development  in  Eastern  Washington Mrs. 

Jennie  F.  White 123 

Dress  Improvement Mrs.  Annie  Jenness 

Miller 695 


Economic  Independence  of  Woman Mrs. 

Lydia  A.  Prescott 526 

Educational  Value  of  Applied  Arts,  The 

Miss  Elizabeth  B.  Sheldon 790 

Education  of  Girls  and  Women  in  Glasgow  . . 

Miss  J.  A.  Galloway 3:37 

Education  of  Indian  Girls  in  the  West 

Mrs.  Mary  C.  Todd 39 

Effective  Voting,  On Miss  H.  C.  Spence  458 

Eliot,  George Miss  Ida  M.  Street  286 

Encouragement  of  Home  Industries Lady 

Ishbel  Aberdeen 743 

English  Women  of  the  Eighteenth  Century, 

Some Mrs.  Caroline  Fuller  Fairbanks  503 

Epic Mrs.  E.  M.  Souville  691 

Etching Miss  Blanche  Dillaye  643 

Ethics  of  Social  Life,  The Mrs.  John  R. 

Hanna 53 

Evolution  of  American  Literature Mrs.  M. 

K.  Craig 198 

Evolution  of  Home, The. .  .Miss  Juliet  Corson  714 


Faith  of  Islam,  The. .  Mrs.  Laura  H,  Clark ....  512 

Fate  of  Republics,  The.  .Rev.  Anna  Howard 
Shaw  152 

Feast  of  Columbia,  The.  .Mrs.  Alice  Williams 

Brotherton 67 

Financial   Independence  of  Women,  The 

Mrs.  Ellen  M.  Henrotin 348 

Finding  of  the  New  WorJd,  The.. Miss  Jane 
Meade  Welch 30 

Food  for  .Students. . .  .Mrs.  Ellen  H  Richards  713 

Footfree  in  God's  Country.  .Mrs.  Marie  An- 
toinette Nathalie  Pollard 293 

Forgotten  Foremothers,   Our Mrs.   Lillie 

Devereaux  Blake 32 


George  Meredith's  Novels Miss  Margaret 

VVindeyer 97 

Glimpse  of  Modern  Spain,  A Miss  Laura 

Bell 516 

Glory  of  Womanhood,  The Mme.  Hanna 

K.  Korany 359 


17 


18 


INDEX  TO  SUBJECTS. 


TITLE.  PAGE. 

God's    Thought     of    Woman Mrs.    Anna 

Rankin  Riggs 813 

Goethe  and  Schiller.  .Miss  Mary  Virginia 
Keene  194 

H 

Harmonious  Adjustment  Through  Exercise. . 

Mrs.  Minna  Gordon  Gould 660 

Harmonious  Culture Miss  Ida  K.  Hinds  438 

Henrik  Ibsen  and  Bjornstjerne  Bjornson 

Mrs.  Nicoline  Bech  Meyer 243 

Higher  Education  and  the  Home Mrs.  E. 

R.Sunderland ^ 318 

Higher    Lessons    of     the    World's    Fair 

Mrs.  Lucinda  H.  Stone 446 

Higher  Womanhood,  The.  .Mrs.   Caroline   F. 

Corbin 326 

Historic  Women  of  Egypt.  .Mrs.  Caroline  G. 

Reed 240 

Home  and  Its  Foundations,  The.  .Rev.  Annis 

Ford  Eastman 612 

Home  of  the  Future,  The. .  .  Miss  L.  C.  McGee  249 
Home  Side  of  Progress,  The.  .Mrs.  Clara  Hol- 

brook  Smith 332 

Homer  and  His  Poems. . .  .Mrs.  Nina  Morais 

Cohen 113 

Household  Economics.  .Mrs.  Laura  S.Wilkin- 
son    233 

How    Can    We     Aid  ? Mrs.    Agnes     L. 

d'Arcambal  148 

I 

Ideal  Home  for  Children,  An.. Mrs.  Kate  O. 

Miller 782 

Influence  of  Great  Women  of  the  Past. . .  Mrs. 

Mary  Newbury  Adams 342 

Industrial  Revolution   of    the   Last  Century, 

The Mrs.  Eliza  Stowe  Twitchell  495 

Industrial  Women Mrs.  Electa  Bullock  510 

Intelligent   Treatment  of    the   Body Mrs. 

Marie  Mott  Gage 737 

International     Arbitration Miss     Eleanor 

Lord 281 

Ishmaelite  of  Oklahoma,  The.. Mrs.  Selwyn 

Douglas 383 

Is  Woman  the  Weaker  Vessel?.  .Mrs.  Sarah 

Eddy  Palmer 432 

Italian  Women  of  the   Country,  The 

Countess  Cora  Slocomb  di  Brazza 697 


Japanese,  The Mrs.  Romyn  Hitchcock  556 

Justice  and  Freedom  for  All Princess  M. 

Schahovskoy 569 

K 

Katharina  in  the  Taming  of  the  Shrew  or  "The 

Rights  of  Men." .  Mrs.  Emma  Pratt  Mott . .  544 

Kindergarten  as  a  Character  Builder,  The. . . 

Mrs.  Sarah  B.  Cooper 296 

Kindergarten,  The Mrs.  Virginia  Thrall 

Smith 178 


Labor  Dignified,  Is Mrs.  Lenora  Marie 

Lake 508 

Landmarks Rev.  Antoinette  B.  Black- 
well 633 


TITLE.  PAGE, 

Land  We  Love,  The.  .Mrs.  Mary  L.  Gaddess  221 

Law  and  Women Mrs.  Maria  Purdy  Peck  623 

Legal   Condition    of  Women    in    1492—1892 

Miss  Mary  A.  Greene     41 

Legal  Profession  for  Women,  The Mrs. 

Wenona  Branch  Sawyer 273 

Leper,  The Miss  Kate  Marsden  213 

Life  and  Times  of  Isabelle  of  Castile Miss 

Loraine  P.  Bucklin 450 

Life  of  an  Artist Miss  Katherine  Cohen  428 

Lincoln  and  Farragut Mrs.  Vinnie  Ream 

Hoxie 603 

Literature  for  Young  People. .  .Prof.  Cora  M, 

McDonald 264 

Looking  Backwards Miss  Kirstine  Fred- 

ericsen 237 

M 

Margaret  Fuller.  .Mrs.  Celia  Parker  Woolley  763 
Medical  Profession  for  Women,  The Dr. 

Freeda  M.  Lankton 268 

Marriage  Prospects  in  Germany Miss 

Kathe  Schirmaches 181 

Mexico Miss  Virginia  Villafuerte  406 

Monologue  as  an  Entertainment,  The. .  .Miss 

Jennie  O'Neil  Potter 682 

Months  in  Old  Mexico,  Four. .  .Mrs.  Caroline 

Wescott  Romney 579 

Moorish  Women  as  I  Found  Them. . .  Mrs.  A. 

L.  Howard 463 

Moors  of  Spain,  The Mrs.  Ellen  Harrell- 

Cantrell 253 

Municipal  Suffrage  for  Women   in  Michigan 
Miss  Octavia  Williams  Bates  664 

N 

Nationalism Mrs.  Lillian  Cantrell-Bay  260 

Need  of  a  Great  College  in  the  South Miss 

Clara  Conway 402 

Needlework  as  Taught  in  Stockholm Mile. 

Hulda  Lundin 104 

Nervous  American,  The.  .Mrs.  Martha  Cleve- 
land Dibble 704 

New  Field  for  Women,  A Mrs.  Julia 

Edwards  Sherman 670 

New  Liberty  Bell,  The Miss  Alice  A. 

Mitchell 405 

Next  Step  in  the  Education  of  the  Deaf,  The 

Miss  Mary  S.  Garrett  443 

Next  Thing  in  Education,  The Mrs.  Mary 

Lowe  Dickinson 637 

Nineteenth  Century,  The. . Mrs.  Whiton  Stone  101 
Norway  and  the  Midnight  Sun. .  Mrs.  A.  A.  F. 

Johnston 555 

Noted  Writers  of  the  South,  A  Few Mrs.  J. 

W.   Drury 471 

Not  Things,  but  Women Mrs.  C.  B.  Pit- 

blado 793 

Novel  as  an  Educator  of  the  Imagination,  The 

Miss  May  Rogers  586 

o 

Opening  Address Mrs.  Potter  Palmer    25 

Organized  Motherhood Mrs.  Lide  Meri- 

weather 747 

Our  Neighbors,  the  Alaskan  Women Mrs. 

Clara  A.  McDiarmid 723 


INDEX  TO  SUBJECTS. 


19 


TITLE.  PAGE. 

Pacific  Northwest,  The Abigail  Scott 

Duniway 90 

Peace Mrs.  Mary  Elizabeth  Lease  412 

Philanthropy  for  Girls  in  Paris.  ..Mme.  Marie 

xMarshall 211 

Piano  Playing  without  Piano  Practice. .  .Miss 

Mary  V.  Hayes 474 

Pioneer  Women  of  Oregon Mrs.  Elizabetl 

M.  Wilson 203 

Poetry  of  the  Stars Miss  Mary  Proctor  301 

Portrait  of  Mrs.  Potter  Palmer 816 

Portrait  of  Susan  B.  Anthony 787 

Possibilities  of  the  Southern  States Mrs. 

Sallie  Rhett  Roman 535 

Power  and  Purposes  of  Women,  The Mrs. 

Helen  L.Bullock. 143 

Presentation  of  Portrait.  ..Mrs.  Mary  S.  Lock- 
wood  816 

Preventive  Medicine. .  .Dr.  Mary  E.  Donohue  727 
Progress  of  Fifty  Years,  The . .  Mrs.  Lucy  Stone    58 


Samoa;  Its  People  and  Their  Customs Mrs. 

E.  J.  Ormsbee 590 

Self-Support  Problem,  A. .  .Miss  Julia  S,  Tut- 

wiler 36 

Serving  One  Another Mrs.  Ashley  Carus- 

Wilson 651 

Signs  of  the  Times Miss  Alisan  Wilson  488 

Sketch  of   Home   Life  in  Iceland,  A.  .Mme. 

Sirgrid  E.  Magnusson 521 

Spanish-American  Neighbors,  Our Mrs. 

Anna  A.  Dodd 764 

St.  Catherine  of  Siena Hon.  Mrs.  Arthur 

Pelham 576 

Study  in  Goethe's  Faust,  A Mrs.  Mary  H. 

Peabody 205 

Study  of  Greek  Art,  A. . . .  Mrs.  Sarah  Amelia 

Scull 423 

Swiss  Customs Miss  Cecile  Gohl  316 

Symmetrical  Womanhood Mrs.  Wesley 

Smith 217 


Talk,  A Miss  Kate  Field    77 

Tempted  Woman,  The Mrs.  Isabel  Wing 

Lake 574 

Turkish  Compassionate  Fund,  The.  .Mme.  C. 

Zacaroff 618 

u 

University  Extension . .  Rev.  Augusta  J.  Chapin  393 
Unveiling  of  Portrait Mrs.  James  P.  Eagle  816 

V 

Virginia  Women  of  Our  Day,  The.  .Mrs.  Mary 

Stuart  Smith 408 

Vocal  Art Mrs.  Thora  K.  Bjorn  740 

"  Vocal  Art,"  Extracts  From. .  Dr.  M.  Augusta 

Brown 477 

Voice  Culture Mme.  Louisa  Cappiani  500 


w 

TITLE.  PAGE. 

We,  the  Women  Miss  Cara  Reese  328 

What  the  Women  of  Kansas  are  Doing  To- 
day   Mrs.  Eugene  Ware  277 

Who  Are  the  Builders Mrs.  Jonnie  Allen 

George 388 

Wife  of  Blennerhassett,  The Mrs.  Mary 

T.  W.  Curwen 165 

Woman  and  Household  Labor Mrs.  Mary 

Hess  Hull 609 

Woman  and  Religion Rev.  Ida  C.  Hultin  788 

Woman  as  a  Financier. .  Mrs.  M.  A.  Lipscomb  469 
Woman  as  an  Investor. .  Mrs.  Louise  A.  Stark- 
weather       62 

Woman  in  an  Ideal  Government.  .Mrs.  K.  V. 

Grinnell 628 

Woman  in  Journalism Mrs.  Mary  Temple 

Bayard 435 

Woman  in  Music Mrs.  Gaston  Boyd  570 

Women  in  Politics Mrs.  J.  Ellen  Foster  668 

Woman  in  the  Greek  Drama. .  Mrs.  Julia  Ward 

Howe 102 

Woman,  the  Inciter  to  Reform. .  Mrs.  Minnie 

D.Louis 539 

Woman,  the  New  Factor  in  Economics 

Rev,  Augusta  Cooper  Bristol 80 

Woman  Who  Has  Come,  The. .  Mrs.  Charlotte 

Holt 190 

Woman's  Awakenment. .  Mrs.  Anna  S.  Green  649 
Woman's  Life  in  Asiatic  Turkey.. Miss  Mary 

P.  Wright 305 

Woman's  Place  in  the  Republic  of  Letters. 

Mrs.  Annie  Nathan  Meyer 135 

Woman's  Sphere  from  a  Woman's  Standpoint 

Mrs.  Laura  de  Force  Gordon    74 

Woman's  Work  in  Kentucky. .  .Mrs.  Eugenie 

Dunlap  Potts 562 

Women  as  Political  Economists.  .Mrs.  Brain- 

erd  Fuller 491 

Women  Citizens  and  People?  Are Mrs. 

Emily  B.  Ketcham 361 

Women  in  Sacred  Song Mrs.  Eva  Munson 

Smith 416 

Women  of  Bohemia,  The Madame  Josefa 

Humpal  Zeman 127 

Women  in  Modern  Italy Signora  Fanny 

Zampini  Salazar 157 

Women's  National  Indian  Association,  The. . 

Mrs.  Amelia  S.  Quinton 71 

Women  of  the  South Mrs.  S.  C.  Trueheart  804 

Women  Writers  of  California,  The Mrs. 

Ellen  Sterling  Cummins 184 

Wonders  of  Nature  and  Art  in  Spain 

Senorita  Catalina  de  Alcala 398 


Young  Women  of  the  South,  The.  .Mrs.  Jean 

Loughborough  Douglass 733 


Zuni  Scalp  Ceremonial,  The Mrs.  Matilda 

Coxe  Stevenson 484 


INDEX  TO  PORTRAITS. 


A  PAGE. 

Abbott.  Mrs.  Alice  Asbnry 645 

Aberdeen,  Lady  Ishbel... 743 

Adams,  Mrs.  Mary  Newbury -..  ...342 

Albright,  Mrs.  Franc  Luse opp.  p.  632 

Allen,  Mrs.  E.  W... opp.  p.  502 

Angell,  Mrs.  Sarah  8.  C .-.opp.  p.  370 

Anthony,  Miss  Susan  B_. 787 

Arcambalde,  Mrs.  Agnes  L ...148 

Ashley,  Mrs.  Susan  R 23 

Austin,  Miss  Isabella  J - opp.  p.  632 

B 

Bagley.  Mrs.  John  J ...28— opp.  p.   96 

fiaird.  Mrs.  Priscilla  A 414 

Ball,  Mrs.  J.Frank opp.  p.  1(54 

Barker,  Mrs.  Helen  Morton. 23 — opp.  p.  .502 

Barlow,  Miss  Florence... 797 

Bartlett,  Mrs.  Edward  L. opp.  p.  632 

Biitps,  Miss  Octavia  Williams 664 

Bay,  Mrs.  Lillian  Cantrell .• 260 

Bayard,  Mrs.  Mary  Temple 435 

Beck,  Miss  E.  Nellie opp.  p.  232 

Beeson,  Mrs.  Marie  P.  Harmon ...opp.  p.  632 

Bell,  Mrs.  Mary  C opp.  p.  232 

Biorn,  Mme.  Thora  K 740 

Blackwell,  Kev.  Antoinette  Brown 633 

Blake,  Mrs.  Lillie  Devereuz 32 

Boyd,  Mrs.  Gaston 570 

Brady,  Mrs.  Sue  Huffman -.306 

Brayton.  Mrs.  Ellery  M opp.  p.  .'i02 

Brazza  di.  Countess  Cora  Slocomb ...697 

Briggs,  Mrs.  JohnS opp.  p.  370 

Bristol,  Kev.  Augusta  Cooper 80 

Brotherton,  Mrs.  Alice  Williams 67 

Brown,  Mrs.  H.  F. opp.  p.  370 

Brown,  Miss  Lillian  Mason - opp  p.  370 

Brown,  Dr.  M.  Augusta 477 

Bucklin,  Miss  Loraine  Pearce -450 

Bullock,  Mrs.  Electa .510 

Bullock,  Mrs.  Hel«n  L ...143 

Burleigh,    Mrs.  Edwin  C— opp.  p.  304 

Busselle,  Miss  Mary  E.. opp.  p.  434 

Butler,  Mrs.  Thomas  J opp.  p.  6.32 

C 

Cantrell,  Mrs.EUen  Harrell 253 

Cantrill,  Mrs.  Mary  Cecil opp.  p.   96 

Cappiani,  Mme.  Lonisa 500 

Carse,  Mrs.  Matilda  B opp.  p.  696 

Chandler,  Mrs.  Ellen  M opp.  p.  568 

Chapin,   Kev.  Augusta  J 393 

Clarke,  Mrs.  Francis  B opp.  p.  370 

Clark,   Mrs.  Laura  H 512 

Clark,  Mrs.  Whiting  S opp.  p.  2.32 

Cochran,   Mrs.  Mary  A opp.  p.  568 

Cohen,  Miss  Katherine  M 428 

Cohen,  Mrs.  Nina  Morais ...113 

Cole,  Miss  Annette 600 

Coleman,   Mrs.   Robert  J opp.  p.  164 

Conway,  Miss  Clara 402 

Cooke,  Mrs.  Susan  Gale opp.  p.  .502 

(hooper,  Mrs.   Sarah  B _ 296 

Cope,  Mrs.  Theresa  Elizabeth .531 

Corbm,  Mrs.  Caroline  Fairfield 326 

Corson.  Miss  Juliet 714 

Craig,   Mrs.  M.  K.. 198 

Crawford,  Mrs.  Emily 87 

Cummins,  Mrs.  Ella  Sterling 184 

Cunningham,  Miss  Floride opp.  p.  502 

Curwen,  Mrs.  Mary  T.  W ...165 

D 

Dailey,  Miss  Charlotte  Field opp.  p.  .502 

Deane,  Mrs.  James  K opp.  p.  164 

Delaney,   Mrs.  A.  K opp.  p.  632 

Devereux,  Mrs.  C.  A.  R ...752 


PAGV 

Dibble,  Mrs.  Martha  Cleveland 704 

Dickinson,  Frances,  M.  D opp.  p.  696 

Dickinson,  Mrs.  Mary  Lowe... 687 

Dillaye,  Miss  Blanche 643 

Dodd,  Mrs.  Anna  A.. 754 

Donohue,  Dr.  Mary  E 727 

Doolittle,  Jr.,  Mrs.  James  B.. opp.  p. 696 

Doty,  Master  Willie  K opp.  p.  762 

Douglas,  Mrs.  Selwyn 383 

Douglass,  Mrs.  Jean  Loughborough 783 

Drury,  Mrs.  J.  Wilson 471 

Duniway,  Mrs.  Abigail  Scott.. 90 

E 

Eagle,  Mrs.  James  P 11  and  28— opp.  p.  164 

F^astman,  Mrs.  Annis  Ford... 612 

Edgerton,  Mrs.  Rollin  A opp.  p.  164 

Edwards,  Mrs.  Amanda  H ...760 

F 

Fairbanks,  Mrs.  Caroline  Fuller 503 

Farnum,  Mrs.  Anna  E.  M opp.  p.  232 

Faulkner.  Miss  Jean  W _ opp.  p.  304 

Felton,  Mrs.  Wm.  H opp.  p.  282 

Field,  Miss  Kate... 77 

Field  ((Catherine  Cole),  Mrs.  Martha  R ..776 

Foley,  Mrs.  M.  D opp.  p.  434 

Ford,  Miss  Ellen  A opp.  p.   96 

Fosdick,  Mrs.  Anna  M opp.  p.  164 

Foster.  Mrs.  J.  Ellen 668 

Fredericsen,  Miss  Kirstine ..237 

French,  Mrs  Jonas  H opp.  p.  304 

Frost,  Mrs.  Ruflus  S opp.  p  304 

FuUer,  Mrs.  Brainard ...491 

G 

Gaddess,  Mrs.  Mary  L 221 

Gage,  Mrs.  Marie  Mott 787 

Galloway,  Miss  Janet  A 887 

Garrett,  Miss  Mary  S... 448 

George,  Mrs.  Jonnie  Allen.. 388 

Gillespie,  Mrs.  Laura opp.  p.  502 

Ginty,  Mrs.  Flora  Beall opp.  p.  .568 

Gohl,  Miss  Cecile 316 

Gordon,  Mrs.  Laura  de  Force 74 

Gould,  Mrs.  Minna  Gordon 660 

Greene,  Miss  Mary  A 41 

Green.  Mrs.  Anna  S 649 

GrinneU,  Mrs.  Kathemi  V 628 

Guthrie,  Mrs.  Genevieve..., --opp.  p.  632 

If 

Hale,  Mrs.  Frances  E ...opp.  p.  568 

Hall,  Mrs;  Daniel opp.  p.  434 

Hanback,  Mrs.  Hester  A ...opp.  p.304 

Hanna.  Mrs.  John  R 53 

Harrison,  Mrs.  F.  H opp.  p.  56S 

Harrison,  Mrs.  Mary  S opp.  p.   96 

Hart,  Mrs.   Mary  P opp.  p.  434 

Hartpencp,  Mrs.  Walter opp.  p.  434 

Hayes,  Miss  Mary  V 474 

Henrotin,  Mrs.  Charles 848 

Hinds,  Miss  Ida  K 488 

Hitchcock,  Mrs.  Romyn.. 586 

Holt,  Mrs.  Charlotte ...190 

Hooker,  Mrs.  Isabella  Beecher opp.  p.  164 

Houghton,  Mrs.  Alice opp.  p.  568 

Howard,  Mrs.   A.  L 463 

Howe,  Mrs.  Julia  Ward 102 

Howell,  Mrs.  Mary  Seymour 678 

Howes,  Mrs.  Eliza  J.  Pendry opp.  p.  870 

Hoxie,  Mrs.  VinnieReam 608 

Hull,  Mrs.  Mary  Hess 609 

Hultin,  Rev.  Ida  C 788 

Hundley,  Miss  HattieToney... opp.  p.  164 

Ives,  Mies  Frances  S opp.  p.  164 


21 


22 


INDEX  TO  PORTRAITS. 


J  PAGE. 

Jackson,  Mrs.  A.  C opp.  p.  304 

Jackson,  Miss  Lily  Irene.. ...opp.  p.  568 

Jenkins,  Mrs.  Helen  PhiUeo 686 

Johnson,  Miss  Helen  Louise 810 

Johnston,  Mrs.  Adelia  A.  F 555 

K 

Keene.  Miss  Mary  Virginia. _        194 

Keneaiy,  Miss  Annesley '    354 

Ketcham,  Mrs.  Emily  Burton [.]^!"361 

Kidder,  Mrs.  George  Wilson opp.  p.  434 

Kinder,  Mrs.  Mary  Richards opp.  p.  164 

Korany,  Mme.  HannaK . 359 

L 

Ladd,  Mrs.  Mira  B.  F opp.  p.  434 

Lake,  Mrs.  Isabel  Wing. _ ".1 574 

Lake,  Mrs.  Leonora  Marie... 508 

Langworthy,  Mrs.  E.  C opp.  p.  370 

Lankton,  Dr.  Freda  M .  268 

Lease,  Mrs.  Mary  Elizabeth 412 

Lee,  Mrs.  James  W... opp.  p.  370 

Lewis,  Mrs.  Amanda  Kerr _ 371 

Linch,  Mrs.  W.  Newton ^ opp.  p.  568 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  Mary  J... .        .138 

Lipscomb,  Mrs.  M.  A 469 

Lockwood,  Mrs.  Mary  8 opp.  p.   96 

Logan,  Mrs.  John  A ...opp.  p.  632 

Lord,  Miss  Eleanor 281 

Louis,  Mrs.  Minnie  D 539 

Lovell,  MissLanrette 23— opp.  p.  632 

Lnndin,  Mile.  Hulda 104 

Lynde,  Mrs.  William  P.. opp.  p.  568 

M 

Magnusson,  Mme.  Sigrid  E 521 

Marsden,  Miss  Kate .213 

Marshall,  Mme.  Marie 211 

McAdow,  Mrs.  Clara  L ...opp.  p.  370 

McCandless,  Miss  Mary  E opp.  p.  502 

Mc( 'onnell,  Mrs.  W^.  B. opp.  p.  4.34 

McDiarmid,  Mrs.  Clara  A 723 

McDonald,  Prof .  Cora  M 264 

McGee,  Miss  L.  C 249 

McLaughlin,  Mrs.  8.  W.. opp.  p.  434 

Meredith,  Mrs.  Virginia  C opp.  p.  232 

Meri weather,  Mrs.Xiide. 747 

Messenger,  Mrs.  Lillian  Rozell 227 

Meyer,  Mrs.  NicolineBeck 243 

Meyer,  Mrs.  Annie  Nathan 135 

Miller,  Mrs.  Kate  O 782 

Miller,  Mrs.  Annie  JennesB... 695 

Miller,  Miss  Ora  Elizabeth opp.  p.  232 

Minor,  Mrs.  Katharine L... opp.  p.  304 

Mitchell,  Miss  Alice  A.- 405 

Mitchell,  Mrs.  Jennie  S ...opp.  p.  304 

Monroe,  Mrs.  Harriet  Earhart 311 

Moore,  Miss  Aimee  K.  Osborne.. 380 

Morgan,  Miss  Anna ,597 

Mott,  Mrs.  Emma  Pratt 544 

Mulligan,  Mrs.  JamesA .-opp.  p.  696 

N 

Norris,  Mrs.  Mary  E.C 674 

O 

Oglesbv,  Mrs.  Richard  J.. opp.  p.  232 

Olmstaad,  Mrs.  Charles  H opp.  p.  232 

Ormsbee,  Mrs.  E.J 590 

Opening  of  the  Congress  of  Women . ; opp.  p.  435 

Owings,  Mrs.  Melissa  D opp.  p.  .568 

P 

Palmer,  Mrs.  Bertha  M.  Honor6 7,  opp.  p.  696  and  816 

Palmer,  Mrs.  Sarah  Fxidy 432 

Paul,  Mrs.  K.  8.  G ...opp.  p.  568 

Payton,  Mrs.  Mary  opp.  i).  502 

Peabody,  Mrs.  Mary  H .    205 

Peck,  Mrs.  Marie  Purdy 623 

Perkins,  Mrs.  Belle  H opp.  p.  304 

Pierce,  Miss  Ada_ opp.  p.  762 

Pitblado,  Mrs.  Effie. 793 

Pollard,  Mrs.  Marie  Antoinette  Nathalie 293 

Potter,  Miss  Jennie  O'Neil _ 682 

Potts,  Mrs.  Eugenia  Dunlap 562 

Prescott,  Mrs.  Lydia  A 526 

Price,  Mrs.  Charles opp.  p.  434 

Proctor,  Miss  Mary  A.. 301 

o 

Qainton,  Mrs.  Amelia  S 71 


R  PAGE. 

Reed,  Mrs.  Caroline  G 240 

Reed,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  A "."" 719 

Reed,  Mrs.  William... opp.p.  304 

Reese,  Miss  (^ara 323 

Reitz,  Miss  Wilhelmine odd.  d  232 

Rich,  Mrs.  Ellen  M l."'.'l.....      36.5 

Richards,  Mrs.  Ellen  H '...'.'.  "llZ 

Rickards,  Mrs.  Eliza... "rr"opp.'p.'370 

Riggs,  Mrs.  Anna  R _ '  813 

Rogers,  Miss  May J  596 

Roman,  Mrs.  Sallie  Rhett "II  .535 

Romney,  Mrs.  Caroline  Wescott. .......[/...    519 

Rue,  Mrs-  Parthenia  P opp.  p.  164 

Rnssell,  Miss  Eliza  M 23— opp.  p.  434 

Ryan,  Mrs.  Rosine.. opp.  p.   96 

S 

Salazar,  Signora  Fanny  Zampini ..        157 

Salisbury,  Mrs.  Margaret  Blaine. __ miopp.  p.  632 

Sawyer,  Mrs.  Winona  Branch 273 

Schahovskoy,  Princess  M ""..569 

Scull,  Mrs.  Sarah  Amelia "  \'.l         423 

Sewall,  Mrs.  May  Wright ""III"  771 

Shattuck,  M  rs.  L.  Brace I .  .23— opp.  p.  696 

Shaw,  Rev.  Anna  Howard 152 

Sheldon,  Miss  Elizabeth  B __'__  1. 790 

Sheldon,  Mrs.  M.French 131 

Shelton,  Mrs.  Matilda  Hart opplp.  502 

Shepard,  Mrs.  Frances  Welles opp.  p.  232 

Sherman,  Mrs.  Caroline  K 764 

Sherman,  Mrs.  Julia  Edwards I...      670 

Smith,  Miss  Marion  Conthoay 616 

Smith,  Mrs.  Mary  Stuart _ 111408 

Smith,  Mrs.  Wesley 217 

Smith,  Mrs.  Clara  Holbrook 332 

Smith,  Mrs.  Virginia  Thrall 178 

Smith,  Mrs.  Eva Munson 416 

Souville,  Mrs.  E.  M ...        691 

Spence,  Mrs.  Catherine  Helen I-.IIIII458 

Spencer,  Rev.  Anna  Garlin 170 

Starkweather,  Mrs.  Amey  M.. opp.  p.  502 

Starkweather,  Mrs.  Louise  A.. 62 

Stevens,  Mrs.  L.  M.  N 23— opp.  p.  304 

Stevenson,  Mrs.  Matilda  Coxe ..484 

Stevenson,  Dr.  Sarah  Hackett 708 

Stone,  Mrs.  Leander opp.  p.  696 

Stone,  Mrs.  Lucy 58 

Stone,  Mrs,  C.  E.  Whiton 101 

Stone,  Mrs.  Lucinda  H , 446 

Stone,  Mrs.  John  M.. opp.  p.  370 

Straughan,  Mrs.  Joseph  C opp.  p.  232 

Street,  Miss  Ida  M 286 

Sunde.land,  Mrs.  Eliza  Read 318 

Thatcher,  Mrs.  M,  D opp.  p.  164 

Thatcher,  Jr.,  Mrs.  Solomon opp.  p.  696 

Thatcher,  Miss  Claribel... opp.  p.  762 

Thatcher,  Miss  Florence opp.  p.  762 

Thomson,  Mrs.  Alexander .     .      .opp.  p.  304 

Todd,  Mrs.  Mary  C 39 

Trautmann,  Mrs.  Ralph _. opp.  p.  434 

Truehart.  Mrs.  8.  C 804 

Turner,  Mrs,  Ida  Loving .  .opp.  p.  502 

Tutwiler,  Miss  Julia  8 36 

Twitchell,  Mrs.  Eliza  Stowe .495 

V 

Verdenal,  Mrs.  D.  F opp.  p.    96 

Villafuerte,  Miss  Virginia ..406 

W 

Wallace,  Mrs.  M.  R.  M ...opp.  p.  696 

Ware,  Mrs.  Eugene 277 

Welch,  Miss  Jane  Meade "11  30 

Whalen,  Mrs,  Tliomas  A II I...oppIp.  632 

Wheelock,  Miss  Lucy 323 

White,  Mrs.  Jennie  F.. ...123 

Wilkins,  Mrs.  Beriah opp.  p.  632 

Wilkinson,  Mrs.  Laura  8 233 

Wilson,  Miss  Alisan .  488 

Wilson,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  M 203 

Wilson  (n§ePetrie),  Mrs.  Ashley  Cams 651 

Wilson,  Mrs.  John  R opp.  p.  502 

Windeyer,  Miss  Margaret 97 

Wise,  Mrs.  John  Sergeant opp.  p.  568 

Women's  Building frontispiece 

WooUey,  Mrs.  Celia  Parker 763 

Wright,  Miss  Mary  P 806 

Zacaroff,  Mile.  Caricl6e 618 

Zeman,  Mrs.  Josefa  Humpal 127 


COMMITTEE  ON  CONGRESSES  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  LADY  MANAGERS. 


2.  Mk8^  Jno.  J.  Bag  LEY, 

V  ice-Chairman. 
4.  Miss  Eliza  M.  Rdssell. 
7.  Mas.  L.  Brace  Shattlck. 


1.  Mrs.  James  P,  Eagle, 

Chairman  of  Committee. 

5.  Mrs.  Helen  M.  Barker. 


8.  Mrs.  Susan  R.  A^ley. 
6.  Mrs.  L.  M.  N.  Stevens, 
8.  Miss  Latjrette  Lovell. 


ADDRESS  DELIVERED  BY  MRS.  POTTER  PALMER, 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  LADY  MANAGERS, 

ON  THE  OCCASION  OF  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  WOMAN'S  BUILDING.  M^X;  jsi,  .1893.  -_ 

PUBLISHED  BY  PERMISSION. 

Members  of  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  and  Friends: — The  moment  of 
fruition  has  arrived.  Hopes  which  for  more  than  two  years  have  gradually  been 
gaining  strength  and  definiteness  now  become  realities.  Today  the  Exposition 
opens  its  gates.  On  this  occasion  of  the  formal  opening  of  the  Woman's  Building, 
the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  is  singularly  fortunate  in  having  the  honor  to  welcome 
distinguished  official  representatives  of  many  of  the  able  foreign  committees  and  of 
the  state  boards,  which  have  so  effectively  co-operated  with  it  in  accomplishing  the 
results  now  to  be  disclosed  to  the  world. 

We  have  traveled  together  a  hitherto  untrodden  path,  have  been  subjected  to 
tedious  delays  and  overshadowed  by  dark  clouds,  which  threatened  disaster  to  our 
enterprise.  We  have  been  obliged  to  march  with  peace  offerings  in  our  hands,  lest 
hostile  motives  be  ascribed  to  us.  Our  burdens  have  been  greatly  lightened,  how- 
ever, by  the  spontaneous  sympathy  and  aid  which  have  reached  us  from  women  in 
every  part  of  the  world,  and  which  have  proved  an  added  incentive  and  inspiration. 
Experience  has  brought  many  surprises,  not  the  least  of  which  is  an  impressive  realiza- 
tion of  the  unity  of  human  interests,  notwithstanding  differences  of  race,  government, 
language,,  temperament  and  external  conditions.  The  people  of  all  civilized  lands 
are  studying  the  same  problems.  Each  success  and  each  failure  in  testing  and  develop- 
ing new  theories  is  valuable  to  the  whole  world.  Social  and  industrial  questions  are 
paramount,  and  are  receiving  the  thoughtful  consideration  of  statesmen,  students, 
political  economists,  humanitarians,  employers  and  employed. 

The  few  forward  steps  which  have  been  taken  during  our  boasted  nineteenth  cent- 
ury— the  so-called  age  of  invention — have  promoted  the  general  use  of  machinery 
and  economic  motive  powers  with  the  result  of  cheapening  manufactured  articles,  but 
have  not  afforded  the  relief  to  the  masses,  which  was  expected.  The  struggle  for 
bread  is  as  fierce  as  of  old.  We  find,  everywhere,  the  same  picture  presented — over- 
crowded industrial  centers,  factories  surrounded  by  dense  populations  of  operatives, 
keen  competition,  many  individuals  forced  to  use  such  strenuous  effort  that  vitality 
is  drained,  in  the  struggle  to  maintain  life  under  conditions  so  uninviting  and  discour- 
aging that  it  scarcely  seems  worth  living.  It  is  a  grave  reproach  to  modern  enlighten- 
ment that  we  seem  no  nearer  the  solution  of  many  of  these  problems  than  during 
feudal  days. 

It  is  not  our  province,  however,  to  discuss  these  weighty  questions,  except  in  so 
far  as  they  affect  the  compensation  paid  to  wage  earners,  and  more  especially  that 
paid  to  women  and  children.  Of  all  existing  forms  of  injustice,  there  is  none  so  cruel 
and  inconsistent  as  is  the  position  in  which  women  are  placed  with  regard  to  self-main- 
tenance—the calm  ignoring  of  their  rights  and  responsibilities,  which  has  gone  on 
for  centuries.     If  the  economic  conditions  are  hard  for  men  to  meet,  subjected  as  they 

25 


26  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

are  to  the  constant  weeding  out  of  the  less  expert  and  steady  hands,  it  is  evident  that 
women,  thrown  upon  their  own  resources,  have  a  frightful  struggle  to  endure,  espe- 
cially as  they  have  always  to  contend  against  a  public  sentiment  which  discountenances 
their  seeking  industrial  employment  as  a  means  of  livelihood. 

The  theory  which  exists  among  the  conservative  people,  that  the  sphere  of  woman 
is  her  home — that  it  is  unfeminine,  even  monstrous,  for  her  to  wish  to  take  a  place 
beside  or  to  compete  with  men  in  the  various  lucrative  industries — tells  heavily  against 
her,  for  manufacturers  and  producers  take  advantage  of  it  to  disparage  her  work  and 
obtain  her  services  for  a  nominal  price,  thus  profiting  largely  by  the  necessities  and 
helplessness  of  their  victim.  That  so  many  should  cling  to  respectable  occupations 
while  starving  in  following  them,  and  should  refuse  to  yield  to  discouragement  and 
despair,  shows  a  high  quality  of  steadfastness  and  principle.  These  are  the  real 
^)ieroines  ^qf  life,  whose  handiwork  we  are  proud  to  install  in  the  Exposition,  because 
■;i^  has  lae^rC.prpcluced  in  factories,  workshops  and  studios  under  the  most  adverse  con- 
ditions an(^  with.tlje  most  sublime  patience  and  endurance. 
/^  ^. ;  :Men;of -tHi?  fiflest  and  most  chivalric  type,  who  have  poetic  theories  about  the 
satlctity  df  the  *n6me  and  the  refining,  elevating  influence  of  woman  in  it,  theories 
inherited  from  the  days  of  romance  and  chivalry,  which  we  wish  might  prevail 
forever  -  these  men  have  asked  many  times  whether  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers 
thinks  it  well  to  promote  a  sentiment  which  may  tend  to  destroy  the  home  by  encour- 
aging occupations  for  women  which  take  them  out  of  it.  We  feel,  therefore,  obliged  to 
state  our  belief  that  every  woman,  who  is  presiding  over  a  happy  home,  is  fulfilling  her 
highest  and  truest  function,  and  could  not  be  lured  from  it  by  temptations  offered  by 
factories  or  studios.  Would  that  the  eyes  of  these  idealists  could  be  thoroughly 
opened,  that  they  might  see,  not  the  fortunate  few  of  a  favored  class,  with  whom 
they  possibly  are  in  daily  contact,  but  the  general  status  of  the  labor  market  through- 
out the  world  and  the  relation  to  it  of  women.  They  might  be  astonished  to  learn 
that  the  conditions  under  which  the  vast  majority  of  the  "  gentler  sex  "  are  living,  are 
not  so  ideal  as  they  assume;  that  each  is  not  "  dwelling  in  a  home  of  which  she  is  the 
queen,  with  a  manly  and  loving  arm  to  shield  her  from  rough  contact  with  life." 
Because  of  the  impossibility  of  reconciling  their  theories  with  the  stern  facts,  they 
might  possibly  consent  to  forgive  the  offense  of  widows  with  dependent  children  and 
those  wives  of  drunkards  and  criminals  who  so  far  forget  the  high  standard  established 
for  them  as  to  attempt  to  earn  for  themselves  daily  bread,  lacking  which  they  must 
perish.  The  necessity  for  their  work  under  present  conditions  is  too  evident  and  too 
urgent  to  be  questioned.    They  must  work  or  they  must  starve. 

We  are  forced,  therefore,  to  turn  from  the  realm  of  fancy  to  meet  and  deal  with 
existing  facts.  The  absence  of  a  just  and  general  appreciation  of  the  truth  concern- 
ing the  position  and  status  of  women  has  caused  us  to  call  special  attention  to  it  and 
to  make  a  point  of  attempting  to  create,  by  means  of  the  Exposition,  a  well  defined 
public  sentiment  in  regard  to  their  rights  and  duties,  and  the  propriety  of  their  becom- 
ing not  only  self-supporting,  but  able  to  assist  in  maintaining  their  families  when  nec- 
essary. We  hope  that  the  statistics  which  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  has  been  so 
earnestly  attempting  to  secure  may  give  a  correct  idea  of  the  number  of  women — not 
only  those  without  natural  protectors,  or  those  thrown  suddenly  upon  their  own 
resources,  but  the  number  of  wives  of  mechanics,  laborers,  artists,  artisans  and  work- 
men of  every  degree — who  are  forced  to  work  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  their  hus- 
bands in  order  to  maintain  the  family. 

There  are  two  classes  of  the  community  who  wish  to  restrain  women  from  actual 
participation  in  the  business  of  the  world,  and  each  gives  apparently  very  strong  rea- 
sons in  support  of  its  views.  These  are,  first,  the  idealists,  who  hold  the  opinion 
already  mentioned  that  woman  should  be  tenderly  guarded  and  cherished  within  the 
sacred  precincts  of  the  home,  which  alone  is  her  sphere  of  action;  and,  second,  certain 
political  economists,  with  whom  maybe  ranged  most  of  the  men  engaged  in  the  profit- 
able pursuit  of  the  industries  of  the  world,  who  object  to  the  competition  that  would 


THE  CONGRESS  OE  WOMEN.  27 

result  from  the  participation  of  women,  because  they  claim  that  it  would  reduce  the 
•"^eneral  scale  of  wages  paid,  and  lessen  the  earning  power  of  men,  who  require  their 
present  incomes  to  maintain  their  families.  Plausible  as  these  theories  are,  we  can 
not  accept  them  without  pausing  to  inquire,  what  then  would  become  of  all  but  the 
very  few  women  who  have  independent  fortunes  or  arc  the  happy  wives  of  men  able 
and  willing  to  support  them?  The  interests  of  probably  three-fourths  of  the  women 
in  the  world  are  at  stake.  Are  they  to  be  allowed  to  starve,  or  to  rush  to  self- 
destruction?     If  not  permitted  to  work,  what  course  is  open  to  them? 

Our  oriental  neighbors  have  seen  the  logic  of  the  situation  far  more  clearly  than 
we  and  have  been  consistent  enough  to  meet  it,  without  shrinking  from  heroic  measures 
when  necessary.  The  question  is  happily  solved  in  some  countries  by  the  practice  of 
polygamy,  which  allows  every  man  to  maintain  as  many  wives  as  his  means  permit. 
In  others  etiquette  requires  that  a  newly  made  widow  be  burned  on  the  funeral  pyre 
with  her  husband's  body,  while  the  Chinese  take  the  precaution  to  drown  surplus 
female  children.  It  would  seem  that  any  of  these  methods  is  more  logical  and  less  cruel 
than  the  system  we  pursue  of  permitting  the  entire  female  population  to  live,  but  mak- 
ing it  impossible  for  those  born  to  poverty  to  maintain  themselves  in  comfort,  because 
they  are  hampered  by  a  caste  feeling  almost  as  strong  as  that  ruling  India,  which 
will  not  permit  them  to  work  on  equal  terms  with  men.  These  unhappy  members  of 
an  inferior  class  must  be  content  to  remain  in  penury,  living  on  the  crumbs  that  fall 
from  tables  spread  for  those  of  another  and  higher  caste.  This  relative  position  has 
been  exacted  on  the  one  side,  accepted  on  the  other.  It  has  been  considered  by  each 
an  inexorable  law. 

We  shrink  with  horror  from  the  unjust  treatment  of  child  widows  and  other  un- 
fortunates on  the  opposite  side  of  the  globe,  but  our  own  follies  and  inconsistencies 
are  too  close  to  our  eyes  for  us  to  see  them  in  proper  perspective.  Sentimentalists 
should  have  reduced  their  theories  to  set  terms  and  applied  them.  They  have  had 
ample  time  and  opportunity  to  provide  means  by  which  helpless  women  could  be 
cherished,  protected  and  removed  from  the  storm  and  stress  of  life.  Women  could 
have  asked  nothing  better.  W^e  have  no  respect  for  a  theory  which  touches  only  the 
favored  few  who  do  not  need  its  protection  and  leaves  unaided  the  great  mass  it  has 
assisted  to  push  into  the  mire.  Talk  not  of  it,  therefore,  until  it  can  be  uttered,  not 
only  in  polite  drawing  rooms,  but  also  in  factories  and  workshops  without  a  blush  of 
shame  for  its  weakness  and  inefficiency. 

But  the  sentimentalist  again  exclaims:  "  Would  you  have  woman  step  down  from 
her  pedestal  in  order  to  enter  practical  life?"  Yes!  A  thousand  times,  yes!  If  we 
can  really  find,  after  a  careful  search,  any  women  mounted  upon  pedestals,  we  should 
willingly  ask  them  to  step  down — in  order  that  they  may  meet  and  help  to  uplift  their 
sisters.  Freedom  and  justice  for  all  are  infinitely  more  to  be  desired  than  pedestals 
for  a  few.  I  beg  leave  to  state  that,  personally,  I  am  not  a  believer  in  the  pedestal 
theory— never  having  seen  an  actual  example  of  it,  and  that-  I  always  suspect  the 
motives  of  anyone  advancing  it.  It  does  not  represent  the  natural  and  fine  relation  be- 
tween husband  and  wife,  or  between  friends.  They  should  stand  side  by  side,  the  fine 
qualities  of  each  supplementing  and  assisting  those  of  the  other.  Men  naturally  cher- 
ish high  ideals  of  womanhood,  as  women  do  of  manliness  and  strength.  These  ideals 
will  dwell  with  the  human  race  forever  without  our  striving  to  preserve  and  protect 
them. 

If  we  now  look  at  the  question  from  the  economic  standpoint  and  decide  for  good 
and  logical  reasons  that  women  should  be  kept  out  of  industrial  fields  in  order  that 
they  may  leave  the  harvest  for  men,  whose  duty  it  is  to  maintain  women  and  children, 
then  by  all  the  laws  of  justice  and  equity  these  latter  should  be  provided  for  by  their 
natural  protectors,  and  if  deprived  of  them  should  become  wards  of  the  state,  and  be 
maintained  in  honor  and  comfort.  The  acceptance  of  even  this  doctrine  of  tardy  justice 
would  not,  however,  I  feel  sure,  be  welcomed  by  the  woman  of  today  who,  having  had  a 
taste  of  independence,  will  never  willingly  relinquish  it.     They  have  no  desire  to  be 


28  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

helpless  and  dependent.  Having  the  full  use  of  their  faculties,  they  rejoice  in  exercis- 
ing them.  This  is  entirely  in  conformity  with  the  trend  of  modern  thought,  which 
is  in  the  direction  of  establishing  proper  respect  for  human  individuality  and  the  right 
of  self-development.  Our  highest  aim  now  is  to  train  each  individual  to  find  happiness 
in  the  full  and  healthy  exercise  of  the  gifts  bestowed  by  generous  nature.  Ignorance 
is  too  expensive  and  wasteful  to  be  tolerated.  We  cannot  afford  to  lose  the  reserve 
power  of  any  individual. 

We  advocate,  therefore,  the  thorough  education  and  training  of  woman  to  fit  her 
to  meet  whatever  fate  life  may  bring;  not  only  to  prepare  her  for  the  factory  and 
workshop,  for  the  professions  and  arts,  but,  more  important  than  all  else,  to  prepare 
her  for  presiding  over  the  home.  It  is  for  this,  the  highest  field  of  woman's  effort, 
that  the  broadest  training  and  greatest  preparation  are  required.  The  illogical,  ex- 
travagant, whimsical,  unthrifty  mother  and  housekeeper  belongs  to  the  dark  ages.  She 
has  no  place  in  our  present  era  of  enlightenment.  No  course  of  study  is  too  elab- 
orate, no  amount  of  knowledge  and  culture  too  abundant  to  meet  the  actual  require- 
ments of  the  wife  and  mother  in  dealing  with  the  interests  committed  to  her  hands. 

The  board  does  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  placing  an  extravagant  or  senti- 
mental value  upon  the  work  of  any  woman  because  of  her  sex.  It  willingly  acknowl- 
edges that  the  industries,  arts  and  commerce  of  the  world  have  been  for  centuries  in 
the  hands  of  men  who  have  carefully  trained  themselves  for  the  responsibilities  de- 
volving upon  them,  and  who  have,  consequently,  without  question,  contributed  vastly 
more  than  women  to  the  valuable  thought,  research,  invention,  science,  art  and  liter- 
ature, which  have  become  the  rich  heritage  of  the  human  race.  Notwithstanding 
their  disadvantages,  however,  a  few  gifted  women  have  made  their  value  felt,  and  have 
rendered  exceptional  service  to  the  cause  of  humanity. 

Realizing  that  woman  can  never  hope  to  receive  the  proper  recompense  for  her 
services  until  her  usefulness  and  success  are  not  only  demonstrated  but  fully  under- 
stood and  acknowledged,  we  have  taken  advantage  of  the  opportunity  presented  by  the 
Exposition  to  bring  together  such  evidences  of  her  skill  in  the  various  industries,  arts 
and  proressions,  as  may  convince  the  world  that  ability  is  not  a  matter  of  sex.  Urged 
by  necessity,  she  has  shown  that  her  powers  are  the  same  as  her  brothers',  and  that  like 
encouragement  and  fostering  care  may  develop  her  to  an  equal  point  of  usefulness. 

The  fact  that  the  Woman's  Building  is  so  small  that  it  can  hold  only  a  tithe  of  the 
beautiful  objects  offered,  has  been  a  great  disadvantage.  The  character  of  the  ex- 
hibits and  the  high  standard  attained  by  most  of  them  serve,  therefore,  only  as  an  in- 
dex of  the  quality  and  range  of  the  material  from  which  we  have  drawn.  When  our 
invitation  asking  co-operation  was  sent  to  foreign  lands  the  commissioners  already 
appointed  generally  smiled  doubtfully  and  explained  that  their  women  were  doing  noth- 
ing; that  they  would  not  feel  inclined  to  help  us,  and,  in  many  cases,  stated  that  it  was 
not  the  custom  of  their  country  for  women  to  take  part  in  any  public  effort,  that  they 
only  attended  to  social  duties.  But  as  soon  as  these  ladies  received  our  message, 
sent  in  a  brief  and  formal  letter,  the  free  masonry  among  women  proved  to  be  such 
that  they  needed  no  explanation;  they  understood  at  once  the  possibilities.  Strong 
committees  were  immediately  formed  of  women  having  large  hearts  and  brains, 
women  who  cannot  selfishly  enjoy  the  ease  of  their  own  lives  without  giving  a  thought 
to  their  helpless  and  wretched  sisters. 

Our  unbounded  thanks  are  due  to  the  exalted  and  influential  personages  who  be- 
came, in  their  respective  countries,  patronesses  and  leaders  of  the  movement  inaugur- 
ated by  us  to  represent  what  women  are  doing.  They  entered  with  appreciation  into 
our  work  for  the  Exposition  because  they  saw  an  opportunity,  which  they  gracefully 
and  delicately  veiled  behind  the  magnificent  laces  forming  the  central  objects  in  their 
superb  collections,  to  aid  their  women  by  opening  new  markets  for  their  industries. 

The  Exposition  will  thus  benefit  women,  not  alone  by  means  of  the  material 
objects  brought  together,  but  there  will  be  a  more  lasting  and  permanent  result  through 
the  interchange  of  thought  and  sympathy  among  influential  and  leading  women  of  all 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  29 

countries  now  for  the  first  time  working  together  with  a  common  purpose  and  an 
established  means  of  communication.  Government  recognition  and  sanction  give  to 
these  committees  of  women  official  character  and  dignity.  Their  work  has  been  mag- 
nificently successful,  and  the  reports  which  will  be  made  of  the  conditions  found  to 
exist  will  be  placed  on  record  as  public  documents  among  the  archives  of  every 
country.-  Realizing  the  needs  and  responsibilities  of  the  hour,  and  that  this  will  be 
the  first  official  utterance  of  women  on  behalf  of  women,  we  shall  weigh  well  our 
words,  words  which  should  be  so  judicious  and  convincing  that  hereafter  they  may  be 
treasured  among  the  happy  influences  which  made  possible  new  and  better  condi- 
tions. 

We  rejoice  in  the  possession  of  this  beautiful  building,  in  which  we  meet  today, 
in  its  delicacy,  symmetry  and  strength.  We  honor  our  architect  and  the  artists 
who  have  given  not  only  their  hands  but  their  hearts  and  their  genius  to  its  decora- 
tion. For  it  women  in  every  part  of  the  world  have  been  exerting  their  efforts  and 
talents,  for  it  looms  have  wrought  their  most  delicate  fabrics,  the  needle  has  flashed  in 
the  hands  of  maidens  under  tropical  suns,  the  lacemaker  has  bent  over  her  cushion 
weaving  her  most  artful  web,  the  brush  and  chisel  have  sought  to  give  form  and 
reality  to  the  visions  haunting  the  brain  of  the  artist — all  have  wrought  with  the 
thought  of  making  our  building  worthy  to  serve  its  great  end.  We  thank  them  all  for 
their  successful  efforts. 

The  eloquent  President  of  the  Commission  last  October  dedicated  the  great 
Exposition  buildings  to  humanity.  We  now  dedicate  the  Woman's  Building  to  an 
elevated  womanhood — knowing  that  by  so  doing  we  shall  best  serve  the  cause  of 
humanity. 


THE   FINDING  OF  THE   NEW  WORLD/ 


By  MISS  JANE  MEADE  WELCH. 

In  the  attempt  to  connect  the  New  World  with  the  Old  in  remotest  times,  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  find  a  clue  that  leads  to  documentary  history.     Nearly  every 

European  nation  claims  a  hero,  or  group  of  heroes, 
who  reached  America  before  Columbus'  time,  and 
every  eastern  Asiatic  race  makes  a  similar  claim.  Of 
all  these  alleged  pre-Columbian  voyages  to  America, 
the  only  one  that  rests  on  actual  proof  is  that  of  the 
Norsemen.  But  Leif  Ericsson's  chance  finding  of 
the  North  American  coast  somewhere  between  Cape 
Breton  and  Point  Judith,  led  to  no  permanent  coloni- 
zation, and  did  not  impress  itself  upon  the  mind  of 
Europe  outside  the  Scandinavian  peninsula.  Hence 
it  should  not  be  mentioned  in  the  same  breath  with 
Christopher  Columbus'  heroic  venture.  He  sailed 
the  Sea  of  Darkness,  on  the  faith  of  a  conviction,  and 
"  reunited  two  streams  of  human  life  that  had  flowed 
apart  since  the  glacial  age,"  establishing  a  permanent 
connection  between  the  eastern  and  western  halves 
of  our  planet. 

A  long  chain  of  circumstances  led  to  his  dis- 
covery of  America.  The  closing  of  the  eastern  way 
to  the  orient  through  the  taking  by  the  Turks  of 
Constantinople,  made  it  necessary  to  find  a  new 
passage  to  the  Indies.  Years  were  given  to  the  effort 
to  find  one  by  circumnavigating  Africa,  and  one  daring  captain  after  another  sailed 
down  the  gold  coast.  While  these  expeditions  were  going  forward,  Christopher 
Columbus,  who  may  have  taken  part  in  one  of  them,  was  dwelling  on  the  neighboring 
island  of  Porto  Santo,  There,  three  hundred  miles  out  upon  the  Sea  of  Darkness,  the 
idea  of  sailing  due  west  to  the  Indies  shaped  itself  in  his  mind. 

The  story  of  Christopher  Columbus'  repeated  rebuffs  need  not  again  be  re- 
hearsed. As  an  example  of  courage  he  is  pre-eminent,  and  no  ingenuity  of  argu- 
ment can  take  from  him  his  glory.  Like  Newton  in  the  discovery  of  the  law  of 
gravitation,  he  did  a  thing  that  could  be  done  but  once. 

When  Columbus  landed  on  the  island  of  Guanahani,  he  there  found  a  new  race  of 
human  beings  whom  he  described  as  "  gentle  and  uncovetous."  They  were  of  a  red- 
dish hue,  with  small  deep-set  eyes,  high  cheek  bones,  straight  black  hair,  and  almost 
no  beard.  Our  double  continent  was  truly  the  great  world  of  the  red  men,  for  with 
the  exception  of  the  sub-arctic  Eskimo,  they  were  its  sole  inhabitants.  This  conti- 
nent belonged  to  them.     Their  houses,  while  they  varied    in  degrees  of    develop- 

Miss  Jane  Meade  Welch  is  a  native  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.  She  was  born  March  11,  1854.  Her  parents  were  Thomas 
Cury  Welch  and  Maria  Allen  Meade.  She  was  educated  at  the  Buffalo  Seminary  and  Elmira  College.  She  has  traveled  ex- 
tensively in  America  and  in  Great  Britain,  France,  Holland,  Belgium,  Switzerland  and  Germany.  Her  profession  is  that  of 
lecturer.  She  is  the  regular  lecturer  on  American  History  at  the  Buffalo  Seminary,  St.  Margaret's  school,  Buffalo;  Mrs, 
Sylvanas  Reed's  school.  New  York;  The  Misses  Masters'  school,  Dobbs  Perry,  and  Ogontz  school,  Pa.  She  has  also  lect- 
ured at  Cornell  University.  She  is  the  first  American  woman  to  lecture  at  Cambridge,  England,  or  whose  work  has  been 
accepted  by  the  British  Association.    Her  address  is  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

*  [What  here  appears  is  a  synopsis  of  the  address,  the  object  of  which  was  to  present  the  latest  opinions  qonceming  the 
origin  and  degree  of  culture  attained  by  America's  early  inhabitants.] 

30 


MISS  JANE  MEADE  WELCH, 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  31 

ment,  were  essentially  the  same,  whether  they  were  the  skin  lodges  of  the  most 
northern  tribes,  or  the  pueblos  of  the  Aztecs.  They  were  communal  houses,  in  which 
dwelt  several,  sometimes  a  great  many,  related  families. 

Upon  this  communal  household  was  built  their  political  fabric.  The  lowest 
political  unit  in  ancient  America  was  the  exogamous  clan,  next  came  the  phratry,  and 
then  the  tribe.  With  the  exception  of  the  Iroquois  league  and  the  Mexican  confed- 
eracy, the  tribe  was  the  highest  political  organization  in  ancient  America.  Accord- 
ing to  the  scientific  definition  of  civilization,  there  was  no  such  thing  in  ancient  Amer- 
ica. The  tribes  highest  in  development,  social  and  political,  were  those  in  the  Cor- 
dilleras, running  from  the  New  Mexican  tableland  through  Peru.  Those  lowest  in 
development  were  found,  where  many  of  them  are  still  found,  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  in  California,  and  in  the  valleys  of  the  Columbia,  Yukon  and  Athabascan 
rivers.  Large  unexplored  fields  yet  await  the  investigation  of  archaeologists  and 
geologists  in  both  North  and  South  America.  But  the  work  thus  far  accomplished 
has  convinced  the  majority  of  historians  there  never  was  a  pre-historic  American  civ- 
ilization. That  Aztecs,  Mayas  and  Incas  were  Indians  no  less  than  were  Algonquins 
or  Iroquois. 

Many  of  these  groups,  particularly  Peruvians,  Mayas  and  Aztecs,  presented 
strange  incongruities  of  culture,  but,  tested  by  strict  scientific  standards,  they  were 
not  civilized.  As  to  whence  these  aborigines  came,  and  how  long  they  had  inhabited 
America  before  they  were  found  by  the  Spaniards,  and  succeeding  Portuguese, 
French  and  English  explorers,  science  has  not  yet  been  able  to  yield  what  is  to  all 
minds  a  satisfactory  answer.  Discoveries  made  by  geologists  in  the  past  few  years 
have  altered  our  attitude  toward  these  questions.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  they 
had  been  here  a  long  time.     The  inhabitants  of  ancient  America  were  indigenous. 


OUR  FORGOTTEN  FOREMOTHERS. 


By  MRS.  LILLIE  DEVEREUX  BLAKE. 

In  speaking  of  "  Our  Forgotten  Foremothers  "  I  shall  begin  with  that  great  queen 
who,  in  some  sort,  may  be  considered  not  only  as  the  foremother  of  this  nation,  but 

of  the  whole  New  World — Isabella  of  Castile.  Her 
clear  intellect  first  grasped  the  thought  that  there 
might  be  a  continent  to  be  discovered,  when  her  hus- 
band, her  councilors  and  her  courtiers  all  derided  the 
claims  of  Columbus  as  mere  idle  dreams.  Her  stead- 
fastness sustained  him  through  all  his  vicissitudes,  and 
at  last  her  action  gave  him  the  money  with  which  to 
fit  out  the  expedition.  Next  after  our  debt  to  the  in- 
trepid navigator,  this  country  owes  its  gratitude  to 
the  brave  queen.  And  yet  how  completely  has  she 
been  forgotten  in  all  the  celebrations  and  festivities  of 
this  commemorative  year!  Orators  speak  of  the  great 
enterprise  of  Columbus,  poets  rhymed  in  his  honor, 
but  Isabella,  the  woman  who  made  his  expedition  pos- 
sible, was  scarcely  mentioned. 

When  New  York  City  was  arranging  for  the  cele- 
bration last  fall,  our  City  League  wished  to  do  honor 
to  the  queen  by  some  decorations  at  the  stand  we 
occupied.  We  tried  in  vain  to  find  a  picture  of  her. 
The  city  was  filled  with  so-called  portraits  of  Colum- 
bus. He  was  depicted  in  every  possible  way,  old  and 
young,  bearded  and  close-shaved,  smiling  with  an 
amiable  fatuity  of  expression,  or  frowning  as  if  he  hated  all  worlds,  both  old  and 
new.  But  nowhere  could  we  find  a  likeness  of  Isabella  at  any  price.  High  and  low 
through  the  city  and  up  and  down  the  land,  we  searched  in  vain.  A  lithograph  of 
Columbus  could  be  purchased  for  two  and  a  half  cents,  but  no  presentment  of  the 
queen  at  any  price,  and  we  finally  had  one  painted — enlarged  from  a  small  picture  in 
a  book.     Thus  was  this  great  woman  forgotten. 

Last  winter,  in  New  York,  we  honored  the  memory  of  the  Pilgrim  mothers  by 
giving  a  dinner  on  the  anniversary  of  the  landing  on  Plymouth  Rock.  This  M^as  the 
first  fime  in  the  history  of  the  country  that  these  noble  women  had  been  remembered. 
Year  after  year,  the  Sons  of  the  Pilgrims,  in  the  great  New  England  societies  of  New 
York  and  Brooklyn,  have  never  failed  to  hold  a  feast  in  honor  of  the  Pilgrim  fathers, 
but  never  before  had  the  mothers  been  remembered.  We  wished  to  remind  the  world 
of  their  virtues,  and  of  their  daughters',  those  noblewomen  who  have  made  New  Eng- 
land what  it  is,  who  carried  the  piety,  the  heroism,  the  devotion  of  their  ancestors  to 
every  part  of  our  country.     What  fortitude,  what  self-sacrifice  was  required  of  those 

Mrs.  Lillie  Devereux  Blake  was  born  in  Raleigh,  N.  C.  Her  father,  George  P.  Deverenx,  was  a  wealthy  Southern 
gentleman,  of  Irish  descent.  Her  mother,  Sarah  Elizabeth  Johnson,  was  of  old  New  York  and  New  England  families.  Mrs. 
Blake  was  educated  in  New  Haven,  Conn.  In  1855  she  married  Frank  G.  Q.  Umsted,  a  lawyer  of  Philadelphia,  who  died  in 
1859,  leaving  his  young  widow  with  two  children.  In  1866  she  married  GrenfiU  Blake,  of  New  York.  In  1869  she  became 
deeply  interested  in  the  movement  for  the  enfranchisement  of  women,  to  which  she  has  since  so  largely  devoted  her  life. 
In  addition  to  contributing  to  many  other  leading  periodicals,  Mrs.  Blake  has  published  several  novels,  the  best  known 
being  "  Fettered  for  Life."  In  1883  she  delivered  a  series  of  lectures  in  reply  to  the  Lenten  discourses  on  women,  by  the  Rev. 
Morgan  Dix,  D.  D.  These  lectures  attracted  much  attention  and  were  published  under  the  title  of  "  Woman's  Place  Today." 
Her  postoffice  address  is  149  East  Forty-fourth  street.  New  York.  N.  Y. 

32 


MRS.    LILLIE  DEVEREUX  BLAKE. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  38 

first  women  colonists!  Many  of  them  were  nobly  born  and  delicately  nurtured,  when, 
for  conscience'  sake,  they  left  home  and  friends  and  native  land,  to  brave  the  dangers 
of  a  long  voyage,  the  hardships  of  an  hostile  country  and  of  an  inhospitable  clime.  We 
who  are  the  heirs  of  their  labors  and  sacrifices  should  rejoice  to  render  our  tribute  of 
honor  to  the  Pilgrim  Mothers. 

It  may  be  asked  why  we  chose  to  celebrate  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  on  the 
23d  of  December  instead  of  the  22d,  the  day  honored  by  the  men.  Simply  because 
the  23d  was  the  actual  day  and  date  of  the  landing.  You  see  men  cannot  even  fix  a 
date  correctly  without  the  aid  of  women.  I  carefully  studied  the  journal  of  John  Brad- 
ford, who  was  a  young  man  on  board  the  "Mayflower,"  afterward  the  famous  Gov- 
ernor of  Massachusetts.  He  kept  a  careful  record  of  the  events  of  each  day.  On  the 
2ist  land  having  been  sighted,  a  boat  was  sent  to  reconnoiter  the  shore.  On  the  22d 
the  day  being  stormy,  the  ship  lay  off  the  coast,  and  the  only  event  recorded  is  that 
a  wife,  her  name  is  not  given,  descended  into  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death.  On 
the  23d,  the  day  we  celebrated,  there  landed  on  Plymouth  Rock  thirty-two  women 
accompanied  by  sixty-nine  men  and  children.  There  was  one  advantage  in  holding 
our  feast  on  the  day  after  the  feast  given  by  the  men,  and  that  was  it  gave  us  the  woman's 
privilege  of  the  last  word.  I  carefully  looked  over  the  speeches  given  at  the  New  England 
dinners,  but  as  usual  could  find  no  mention  whatsoever  of  anything  that  women  had 
done.  A  noted  educator  spoke  of  New  England  as  "she,"  which,  considering  how 
all  things  feminine  were  ignored,  seems  a  piece  of  presumption.  The  most  appro- 
priate toast  given  was  that  of  one  honored  gentleman  whose  theme  was  "Their 
Selfishness." 

This  forgetfulness  of  all  that  women  have  done  for  our  country  is  only  of  a 
piece  with  the  usual  proceedings  at  those  masculine  feasts.  Year  after  year  they  have 
assembled  to  do  honor  to  men  alone.  Some  time  ago  the  late  James  G.  Blaine,  in  an 
address  at  a  New  England  dinner,  said:  "Men  settled  and  built  up  the  country,  men 
struggled  and  labored;  these  good  men  were  the  progenitors  of  a  great  race,"  As, if 
men  alone  did  everything — settled  the  country,  founded  the  families  and  reared  the 
children. 

On  that  bleak  December  day,  two  hundred  and  seventy-two  years  ago,  one  hun- 
dred and  one  persons  came  ashore  on  the  cruel  New  England  coast,  of  whom  only 
forty-one  were  men,  and  yet,  with  the  usual  modesty  of  their  sex,  in  talking  of  the 
deeds  of  these  first  settlers,  their  sons  have  followed  the  advice  given  last  fall  by  the 
leader  of  one  of  the  political  parties  and  "claimed  everything;"  whereas,  the  real  heroines 
and  martyrs  of  those  days  were  the  women.  What  hardships  confronted  them  in 
the  awful  winter  that  followed!  Only  try  to  fancy  what  they  must  have  suffered! 
Living  in  a  few  huts — they  could  not  be  called  houses — on  that  ice  bound  coast.  Think 
of  the  storms  that  howled  about  their  frail  habitations,  the  snows  that  swept  over 
them,  the  bitter  cold  that  froze  them!  How  helpless  they  were!  On  the  one  hand  the 
inhospitable  forest  that  encircled  them,  the  lurking  place  of  wild  beasts  and  hostile 
Indians;  on  the  other  hand  the  wide  ocean  that  stretched  between  them  and  their  former 
homes.  How  chill  they  must  have  been  with  only  open  fires  fed  with  green  wood, 
with  no  clothing  fitted  for  the  rigors  of  that  climate,  with  not  enough  food  for  them 
and  their  children!  What  these  women  must  have  had  to  bear  of  hardship,  misery 
and  home-sickness!  No  wonder  thdy  died  and  their  deaths  were  scarce  recorded. 
Bradford  does  not  mention  even  the  death  of  his  own  wife. 

And  then  it  must  be  remembered,  as  Fanny  Fern  long  ago  wittily  said,  "These 
women  had  not  only  to  endure  all  that  the  Pilgrim  fathers  had  to  endure,  but  they 
had  to  endure  the  Pilgrim  fathers  also."  And  these  worthy  men  must  have  been  very 
trying,  as  all  know  that  a  cold  house  and  a  poor  dinner  does  not  conduce  to  any 
man's  amiability,  and  they  were  so  censorious.  A  later  chronicle  records  with  displeas- 
ure that  a  certain  Mrs.  Johnson  was  "given  to  unseemly  pride  of  apparel,"  in  that  she 
wore  whalebone  in  her  sleeves.  The  Pilgrim  fathers  went  a  grreat  deal  further  than 
their  sons  would  like  to  go  today,  for  they  sat  in  solemn  conclave  to  decide  how  many 

(3) 


34  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

ribbons  a  woman  might  wear.  Fancy  the  city  fathers  today  holding  sessions  to  dis- 
cuss the  width  of  a  sash,  and  to  decide  whether  or  not  certain  styles  of  feminine  ap- 
parel are  consistent  with  "a  godly  walk  and  conversation." 

But  to  return  to  the  first  winter.  Despite  the  effort  made  then,  as  now,  to  sup- 
press the  "  skirt  brigade,"  some  record  has  come  to  us  of  the  deeds,  the  heroism 
and  the  noble  self-sacrifice  of  the  Pilgrim  mothers.  A  woman's  money  fitted  out  the 
ships  that  discovered  the  New  World,  and  a  woman's  money  fitted  out  the  "  Mayflower." 
Mrs.  Winston,  a  lady  of  position  and  influence,  gave  of  her  substance  to  equip  the  ves- 
sel. Mrs.  Carver's  steadfastness  nerved  her  husband,  the  Rev.  John  Carver,  to  join 
the  expedition.  If  it  had  not  been  for  this  grand  woman,  their  "ghostly  adviser" 
would  have  let  the  colonists  sail  without  any  ordained  minister  of  the  Gospel.  Then 
there  was  Rose  Standish,  the  dainty  beauty  of  the  expedition,  a  lovely,  gentle  flower 
of  a  noble  English  home,  too  delicate  to  bear  the  hardships  of  the  cruel  life  they  led, 
and  who  failed  and  died  the  first  winter.  But  above  all  others  should  be  mentioned 
Ann  Brewster,  who  was  the  very  guardian  angel  of  the  colonists.  A  woman  of  mighty 
energy  and  of  dauntless  courage,  whose  hope  and  faith  never  failed,  even  in  the  darkest 
hours,  whose  sturdy  health  sustained  her  even  through  the  most  severe  privations, 
who  encouraged  the  well,  nursed  the  sick  and  comforted  the  dying,  a  heroine  who 
never  lost  her  confidence  and  her  cheerfulness,  and  also  in  her  tireless  regard  for 
others,  her  patience  with  illness  and  her  fortitude  in  the  presence  of  death  displayed 
heroism  of  a  higher  order  than  that  of  the  men  who  faced  only  the  activities  of  out- 
door life. 

Yet  the  sons  and  the  grandsons  of  these  women  have  forgotten  to  do  them  honor. 
Their  deeds  have  been  unchronicled,  their  names  unrecorded,  and  men  have  calmly 
claimed  all  achievements  and  all  enterprises  as  their  own.  The  whole  history  of" 
our  country  has  been  written  from  man's  standpoint,  and  women,  however  great,  how- 
over  noble,  have  been  ignored.  Abigail  Adams,  the  wise  and  witty  wife  of  John 
Adams,  who  nerved  him  to  action  when  he  would  have  been  indifferent,  who  gave 
him  the  courage  to  stand  by  the  struggling  nation  when  he  would  have  deserted  it, 
who  is  more  than  suspected  of  writing  his  speeches,  is  not  mentioned.  Mercy  Otis 
Warren,  the  sister  of  James  Otis  and  wife  of  General  Warren,  has  no  need  of  praise 
for  her  patriotic  action  in  inspiring  both  brother  and  husband  to  do  their  duty.  At  a 
later  period  the  achievements  of  men  in  ridding  the  country  of  the  curse  of  slavery 
are  vaunted  and  eulogized,  while  Lydia  Maria  Child,  Lucretia  Mott  and  Harriet 
Beecher  Stowe  have  but  scant  praise.  The  heroes  of  the  late  war  have  monuments 
raised  high  in  their  honor;  where  are  the  tributes  to  the  heroines?  Dorothy  Dix, 
Clara  Barton  and  Mother  Bickerdyke,  the  women  who  by  their  devotion  sustained  the 
army  and  nursed  the  soldiers — who  remembers  them? 

Among  those  of  other  nations  who  have  come  to  these  shores  to  make  the  repub- 
lic great,  the  stalwart  German  women,  the  thrifty  French  women,  the  intrepid  Spanish 
women,  where  are  the  records  of  their  deeds?  The  men  of  these  nationalities  have 
perpetuated  their  memory  by  giving  their  names  to  mountains  and  rivers  and  cities. 
What  are  the  names  of  the  women  whose  virtues,  whose  devotion  made  them  what 
they  are  or  were  ?  And  we  have  become  so  accustomed  to  this  policy  of  silence  that 
we  are  prone  to  submit  to  it,  without  even  a  protest,  ourselves  even  forgetting  to  give 
honor  where  honor  is  due.  We  hear  much  of" "  self-made  men,"  when  often  if  we 
looked  into  the  history  of  such  persons  we  would  find  that  they  should  more  properly 
be  called  "  wife-made  men,"  for  many  and  many  a  man  has  owed  his  prosperity,  his 
success  in  life  largely  to  the  energy  and  intellect  of  his  wife,  though  she,  like  her 
foremother,  is  forgotten. 

Probably  the  culmination  of  the  annihilation  of  the  women  of  this  country  was 
reached  in  the  declaration  made  by  Judge  Hoar,  of  Massachusetts,  while  presiding  at 
the  National  Republican  Convention  in  1880,  when  he  said,  "  The  American  people 
are  gentlemen." 

Today  we  will  not  say  that  the  American  people  are  ladies.     That  would  be  toe 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  35 

poor  a  way  of  putting  it,  but  we  will  ask  who  are  these  who  are  thus  forgotten?  Are 
they  so  unworthy  that  their  brave  deeds  may  not  entitle  them  to  recognition?  Cer- 
tainly not!  We  ask  that  honor  be  done,  not  to  the  foolish  and  undeserving,  but  to 
the  mothers  of  the  race. 

But  turning  from  the  scenes  of  the  past,  let  us  look  forward  to  the  swiftly  coming 
time  of  our  emancipation.  The  forgetfulness  of  the  past  is  rapidly  giving  way  to  the 
acknowledgments  of  the  present.  Already  government  has  honored  women  by 
equality  of  position  in  the  great  World's  Fair,  and  the  time  approaches  rapidly  when 
we  shall  have  complete  enfranchisement.  To  recall  again  the  memory  of  the  Pilgrim 
mothers,  we  find  the  contrast  between  woman's  position  today  and  hers  two  hundred 
and  seventy-two  years  ago,  as  great  as  that  between  the  comforts  and  luxuries  we 
enjoy  and  the  hardships  that  the  pioneers  endured.  Where  they  had  cold  and  dark- 
ness and  wretched  habitations,  we  have  warmth  and  light  and  the  palaces  of  our  great 
cities.  Where  our  ancestors  had  oppression  and  subordination,  we  have  opportunity 
and  almost  equality.  The  end  is  nearly  in  sight,  and  the  time  will  surely  come  when 
the  deeds  and  the  achievements  of  the  foremothers  will  be  applauded  with  those  of 
the  forefathers,  and  the  daughters  and  the  sons  of  the  Pilgrims  will  sit  side  by  side  in 
their  councils  and  at  their  feasts. 


A  SELF  SUPPORT  PROBLEM.* 


By  MISS  JULIA  S.  TUTWILER. 

Some  schools  still  make  a  boast  in  their  annual  reports  that  certain  pupils  have 
paid  all  their  expenses  during  the  year  by  work   performed  out  of  school — so  many 

hours  in  the  kitchen,  laundry  or  sewing  room.  The 
Society  for  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children  should 
expostulate  with  the  ill-judging  managers,  however 
well  intentioned,  of  these  schools.  There  is  not  one 
girl  in  a  thousand  between  the  ages  of  fifteen  and 
twenty-five  who  can  do  this  without  danger  of 
becoming  a  permanent  inmate  of  an  insane  asylum  or 
a  hospital.  By  all  means,  if  possible,  let  the  mature 
generation  bear  the  burdens  of  the  rising  one  until  it 
also  is  fully  matured,  thoroughly  developed,  and 
carefully  trained.  We  do  not  allow  even  our  baby 
rose-trees  and  infant  geraniums  to  bear  blossoms  until 
they  are  well  grown.  We  do  not  call  on  them  fbr 
production  until  they  have  had  their  due  period  of 
nutrition  from  every  kindly  exterior  influence  that  we 
can  bring  to  bear  upon  them.  No,  it  is  not  desirable 
that  our  girls  should  assume  the  burden  of  self-sup- 
port during  these  years,  with  the  accompanying  dan- 
gers of  physical  and  mental  injury.  But  what  of  the 
girl  who  will  not  accept  this  decision?  who  says  in 
answer  to  our  remonstrances  that  she  will  gladly 
shorten  her  life,  or  even  dedicate  it  to  pain  and  suf- 
ering,  if  she  may  but  be  permitted  to  enter  upon  her  inheritance  as  the  heir  of  all  the 
ages,  if  we  will  but  give  into  her  hands  the  key  that  opens  the  Gate  Beautiful  of  the 
wonderful  Paradise  of  Culture?  Are  there  such  girls,  and  are  there  so  many  of  them 
that  it  is  a  present  duty  to  spend  thought  upon  them  and  make  such  provision  for 
them  that  they  may  not  be  degraded  by  becoming  the  recipients  of  charity  to  accom- 
plish their  end,  nor  embittered  by  going  through  life  with  the  consciousness  of  powers 
undeveloped  and  warped?  Let  us  see.  Katie  is  a  farmer's  daughter.  She  has 
received  all  the  elementary  education  which  the  little  country  schoolhouse  or  the 
village  academy  can  give  her.  She  has  a  bright,  eager  intellect,  whetted  by  the  little 
it  has  received  to  an  appetite  for  more.  Her  father  has  other  children,  and  is  one  of 
that  large  class  of  worthy  citizens  who  is  just  able  to  feed,  clothe  and  physic  his 
family  and  meet  the  necessary  expenses  of  keeping  up  his  farm  or  his  business.  He 
has  no  money  with  which  to  pay  board  for  Katie,  even  at  the  least  expensive  school 
or  college.  If  she  were  living  in  the  Arcadian  days  of  factory-life,  when  Harriet  Mar- 
Miss  Julia  Strudwick  Tntwiler  is  a  native  of  Tuscaloosa,  Ala.  She  was  born  August  15,  1841.  Her  parents  were 
Henry  Tatwiler,  LL.  D.,  of  Virginia,  and  Julia  Tntwiler,  nee  Ashe,  of  North  Carolina.  Miss  Tutwiler  was  educated  at  a 
French  boarding  school  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  at  Vassar  College,  at  a  Normal  Seminary  in  Germany,  and  has  visited  Europe 
three  times,  remaining  at  one  time  three  years  for  the  purpose  of  studying  and  writing.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the 
interest  of  the  education  of  girls.  At  present  she  is  principal  of  the  Alabama  Normal  College  for  girls.  In  religions  faith 
she  is  a  strong  believer  in  Christianity,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Miss  Tutwiler  was  a  member  of  three 
of  the  World's  Congresses  which  met  in  Chicago  during  the  summer  of  1893 :  Tlie  Congress  of  Representative  Women,  the 
Edacational  Congress  and  the  Congress  of  Charities  and  Corrections.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Livingston,  Ala. 

*The  title  under  which  the  address  was  delivered  was  "  Is  Self-Support  Possible  for  Girls  During  the  Years  of  Sec- 
ondary Edncation.  " 

36 


MISS   JULIA   S.  TUTWILER. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  37 

tineau  and  Captain  Hall  visited  us  and  described  our  institutions,  she  would  take 
employment  in  one  and  earn  the  money  for  her  further  advancement  in  knowledge. 
But  many  things  have  changed  since  that  time,  and  Katie  must  be  carefully  protected 
for  some  years  to  come.  There  is  something  even  more  important  for  her  than  cult- 
ure, as  her  wise  mother  knows.  If  her  brother  Jack  has  the  same  ambitions,  there  is 
no  trouble  in  his  case.  He  has  muscle  and  bone.  These  are  not  ill-paid  in  this 
favored  land.  There  are  railroads  to  build,  mines  to  dig,  crops  to  gather  at  all  times. 
Jack  can  soon  earn  enough  to  take  a  course  of  instruction  at  one  of  the  schools  whose 
advantages  have  been  made  so  inexpensive  by  the  beneficence  of  individuals  or 
denominations.  But  Katie's  wage  earning  powers  are  very  small,  and  she  is  too 
young  to  go  from  home  for  the  purpose  of  making  larger  gains  unless  she  can  have 
watchful  guardianship  and  protection.     Is  it  possible  for  her  to  obtain  this? 

Katie  will  spend  one-third  as  much  of  the  year  out  of  college  as  in  college  if  she 
is  ever  so  fortunate  as  to  get  there.  She  will  have  in  some  places  even  more  than 
that  proportion  of  leisure  time  during  the  year.  In  my  own  state,  she  will  have 
thirty-six  weeks  in  college  and  sixteen  out  of  college.  Now  suppose,  instead  of  clos- 
ing the  college  buildings  for  these  four  months,  we  were  to  keep  them  open,  as  you 
so  wisely  propose  to  do  with  your  new  University — at  least  to  keep  open  the  dormi- 
tory and  refectory  (I  have  in  view  the  old-fashioned  type  of  college).  Suppose  a  suf- 
ficient number  of  college  officials  to  be  kept  on  duty  for  guardianship  and  protection, 
then  let  all  the  pupils  who  need  self  support  engage  daily  in  some  profitable  industry 
in  buildings  belonging  to  the  college  and  reserved  for  this  purpose.  There  might  also 
be  a  night  school,  for  backward  pupils  who  wish  to  prepare  for  a  particular  class,  but 
this  feature  should  be  carefully  l.ooked  after  that  it  may  not  become  an  injury,  and 
should  never  be  allowed  to  occupy  more  than  two  hours.  No  wages  should  be  paid 
in  rnoney.  The  employes  should  have  board  and  lodging,  and  should  be  credited  on 
their  board  for  next  year  with  the  amount  of  wages  which  they  earn  after  deducting 
the  actual  cost  of  board  and  lodging.  They  should  sign  a  contract,  agreeing  to  these 
conditions,  and  to  the  further  one  that  in  case  of  their  not  remaining,  to  obtain  pay- 
ment of  their  wages  in  board,  these  should  be  forfeited  to  the  college. 

But  the  objection  may  be  made  that  the  capital  invested  in  this  industrial  plant 
must  lie  idle  for  three-fourths  of  the  year.  Even  if  this  should  be  the  case,  it  would 
not  be  nearly  such  poor  economy  as  the  prevailing  practice  of  letting  thousands  of 
college  buildings  remain  unemployed  for  one-fourth  of  the  year.  Why  have  not  our 
practical  communities  in  all  these  years  felt  a  little  trouble  at  this  great  waste  of  the 
capital  invested  in  that  plant?  But  we  will  not  imitate  the  college  in  this  respect. 
We  will  try  to  arrange  our  industrial  plant  so  that  there  shall  be  no  unnecessary  lying 
idle  of  capital.  There  are  several  ways  in  which  this  might  be  done.  I  will  not  stop 
to  enumerate  them  all,  but  will  only  make  one  or  two  suggestions.  Our  industry 
might  be  operated  by  relays  of  pupils,  each  having  three  months  of  work  and  nine 
months  of  study.  The  companionship  of  the  workers  and  students  will  be  helpful  to 
both. 

However,  there  is  one  industry  in  which  capital  necessarily  lies  idle  during  the 
very  months  in  which  Katie  has  leisure.  This  is  the  canning  factory.  If  I  have  been 
correctly  informed  but  a  small  capital  is  needed  to  establish  a  canning  factory  which 
will  employ  twenty  girls  and  have  an  output  of  five  hundred  cans  daily.  Twenty-five 
acres  of  tomatoes  and  a  few  acres  of  corn,  strawberries  and  peas  will  keep  this  fac- 
tory busy  for  four  months.  The  work  is  light  and  well  suited  to  girls.  In  Michigan 
there  are  said  to  be  two  factories  carried  on  entirely  by  women  without  the  aid  of  even 
a  boy.  The  pay  is  much  more  than  Katie  could  earn  by  housework  or  sewing,  and 
she  has  not  yet  learned  any  skilled  labor.  In  Michigan  I  learned  that  from  one  dol- 
lar to  a  dollar  and  a  half  per  day  is  the  usual  wages  for  girls.  If  Katie  can  earn 
seventy-five  dollars  during  the  summer,  and  if  the  college  is  one  where  she  is 
charged  only  the  actual  cost  of  food  and  fuel,  tuition  being  free,  she  will  be  able 
to  pay  by  far  the  greater  part  of  her  next  term's  school  expenses.     A  benevolent 


38  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

man  or  woman  is  often  reported  to  have  given  five  thousand  dollars  to  found  two  or 
three  scholarships  in  some  girls'  colleges.  The  same  amount  invested  in  an  industrial 
plant  to  be  attached  to  a  college  would  pay  for  the  education  of  a  hundred  girls,  or 
rather  would  enable  them  to  pay  for  their  own  education,  a  much  nobler  form  of 
benevolence.  Now,  here  are  sisters  from  the  East  and  West  and  the  North  and 
South,  and  I  ask  them  to  tell  me  whether  such  a  plan  has  ever  been  attempted  any- 
where, and  if  so,  with  what  success? 

I  cannot  close  without  expressing  my  sense  of  the  great  blessing  to  womanhood 
of  this  wonderful  opportunity  of  thus  taking  counsel  together  and  unbosoming  our- 
selves to  each  other.  So  many  women  have  schemes  for  the  helping  of  their  sex, 
or  still  better,  of  their  race,  fermenting  in  their  brains  and  hearts,  and  are  brain-sick 
and  heart-sick  for  the  lack  of  advice  and  sympathy.  Here,  for  the  first  time,  but  not, 
thank  God,  for  the  last  time,  we  have  come  together  from  the  ends  of  the  earth  to  this 
magic  city  to  listen  to  each  other's  plans  and  hopes,  and  give  wise  warning  or  kindly- 
encouragement. 

eve's  vow. 

When  angels  oped  at  God's  command, 

With  weeping,  Eden's  portal. 
And  our  sad  parents,  hand  in  hand, 

Forsook  its  joys  immortal. 
Our  mother's  deep  prophetic  soul, 

Made  wise  by  pain  and  sadness, 
Beheld  the  coming  ages  roll. 

Bereft  of  pristine  gladness. 

She  saw  our  sickness,  grief  and  tears, 

Her  breast  maternal  sharing, 
Each  bitter  pang  through  future  years 

Her  race  should  bear — are  bearing. 
To  high  resolve  that  hour  gave  birth 

Her  burning  tears  repressing. 
She  vowed  to  ope  once  more  for  earth 

Lost  Eden's  gates  of  blessing. 

And  since  to  realize  her  vow 

Hath  woman  ever  striven. 
Each  mother  to  her  child  till  now 

This  secret  task  hath  given. 
But  man  grew  jealous  as  she  strove, 

And  barred  her  pathway  ever, 
Nor  understood  what  depth  of  love 

Inspired  the  high  endeavor. 

Yet  still  her  earnest  spirit  rose 

Above  his  scorn  undaunted 
To  struggle  on,  till  should  unclose 

Once  more  the  gates  enchanted, 
And  give  for  sickness,  grief  and  tears, 

Our  mortal  lot  attending,  , 

Succession  sweet  of  blissful  years 

In  life  immortal  ending. 

See,  strong  Evangelists  and  brave, 

In  sight  the  gates  Elysian! 
The  earnest  now  of  all  ye  crave, 

Soon,  soon  its  full  fruition! 


EDUCATION  OF  INDIAN  GIRLS  IN  THE  WEST. 


By  MRS.  MARY  C.  TODD. 

The  social  and  business  reconstruction  which,  in  the  past  few  years,  has  taken 
women  from  their  homes  all  over  the  country  and  placed  them   in  various  public 

positions  of  honor  and  responsibility,  positions  re- 
quiring education,  intelligence  and  good  business 
judgment,  has  left  untroubled  but  one  class.  With 
their  patient  faces,  whose  pathetic  expression  is  but 
the  shadow  of  the  down-trodden  life  they  lead,  the 
Indian  women  have  stood  aside  and  have  seen  other 
women  spreading  into  larger  fields,  and  pluming 
their  wings  for  larger  flight.  Wondering  and  igno- 
rant, they  have  never  thought  that  to  them  any 
jj#         tt«X         *  good  might  come,  or  any  release  from  the  debase- 

f  ^Ft:      >^  ment  and  servitude  to  which  they  have  been  born. 

Beasts  of  burden  themselves,  and  accustomed  to  the 
slavish  position  which  became  theirs  at  their  birth, 
they  have  looked  for  nothing  better  for  their  daugh- 
ters. The  rough  camp  life,  the  field  labor,  the  un- 
cleanly and  demoralizing  ties  of  "home"  (if  such  it 
may  be  called),  were  accepted.  Their  sluggish 
minds  looked  for  no  help.  But  faithful  teachers  have 
gradually  gathered  into  the  government  schools, 
the  young  girls;  preferring  indeed,  if  they  can  but 
get  hold  of  them,  children  of  two  or  three  years  of 
age,  hoping  that  they  may  grow  into  civilized  ways. 
Keepmg  these  children,  if  their  parents  will  permit,  until  eighteen  years  of  age,  there 
is  but  little  danger  that  when  released  from  school  life,  they  will  return  to  savage 
ways.  Those  who  spend  a  few  years  in  the  schools  look  with  loathing  upon  the  early 
betrothals  and  marriages  into  which  they  are  often  forced  upon  their  return  to  their 
homes.  Many  of  these  young  girls  beg  to  be  allowed  to  stay  always  in  the  schools,  and 
never  to  be  obliged  to  go  home.  For  this  reason,  upon  our  reservation  of  school  land, 
a  building  is  being  prepared  where  such  as  wish  may  find  a  happy  and  civilized  home 
when  their  school  days  are  ended.  In  these  government  schools  all  the  appliances  of 
a  thrifty  and  busy  life  are  at  hand.  Kitchens  and  dormitories  most  beautifully 
kept;  neat  tables  supplied  with  wholesome  and  well-cooked  food,  all  the  domestic 
work  performed  by  these  girls  from  all  the  western  Indian  tribes — this  is  the  surprise 
which  awaits  those  who  will  visit  the  government  schools.  Most  delicate  and  beautiful 
needle  work  and  well-fitting  clothing  are  the  products  of  the  sewing  rooms,  where, 
under  a  skillful  teacher,  they  learn  the  use  of  the  sewing  machine  and  spend  happy 
days.  This  training  of  all  kinds  has  one  most  excellent  effect,  and  that  is  the  over- 
coming the  shyness  and  reticence  by  which  their  intercourse  with  white  people  is 

Mrs.  Mary  C.  Todd,  nee  Mary  McCabe,  was  bom  in  Terre  Hante,  Ind.  Her  parents  were  Virginians.  In  1858  she 
married  James  H.  Todd,  of  Peru,  Ind.,  and  in  1869  moved  to  Kansas.  She  is  the  mother  of  Mrs.  Geo.  C.  Strong,  of  Wichita. 
When  a  child  she  attended  the  Academy  of  St.  Marie  des  Bois,  and  afterward  Putman  Female  Seminary,  having,  as  classmate, 
Mary  Hartwell  Cathwood,  the  authoress.  Later  she  was  a  student  at  College  Hill,  Cincinnati.  In  Kansas  she  was  for  a  time 
president  of  the  "  Relief  Corps  "  in  connection  with  the  "Garfield  Post  No.  40,"  and  since  1876  has  been  engaged  in  literary 
work,  principally  newspaper  and  magazine  articles.  She  has  for  years  been  connected  with  the  "  Social  Science  Club,"  of 
Kansas  and  western  Missouri,  and  is  a  charter  member  of  the  "  Hypatia,"  was  its  president  and  went  as  a  delegate  to  the 
General  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs  in  New  York,  in  1869.     Her  postoffice  address  is  Wichita,  Kan. 

39 


MRS.   MARY  C.  TODD. 


40  .  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

always  marked,  and  the  almost  inaudible  tone  which  they  always  use.  They  learn 
from  this  association  with  their  teachers,  to  speak;  their  minds  develop,  their 
thoughts  grow,  and  they  learn  to  clothe  them  in  language.  Their  affections  are  developed 
and  they  become  fond  of  their  teachers.  The  writer  witnessed  an  unexpected  meet- 
ing of  a  class  of  girfs  of  about  fourteen  years  of  age,  with  a  teacher  who  had  been 
absent  over  a  year.  While  their  manifested  pleasure  lacked  the  forwardness  of  many 
school  girls,  their  pleasure  at  meeting  her  was  unquestioned,  as  they  followed  her 
about,  seeming  unwilling  to  leave  her,  their  conduct,  reminding  one  of  the  silent  and 
faithful  affection  of  an  animal. 

The  western  schools  established  and  supported  by  the  government  are  most  of 
them  in  Kansas,  Oklahoma  and  the  Indian  Territory.  These  are  mixed  schools,  and 
in  every  sense  industrial  schools.  Shops  for  the  carrying  on  of  every  kind  of  man- 
ual labor  are  provided  for  the  boys,  and  the  large  grant  of  land  which  lies  about  every 
school  is  farmed  by  them. 

The  arrangement  which  the  government  has  recently  made  with  the  various  tribes 
for  the  opening  up  of  their  lands  for  settlement,  will  go  far  toward  the  civilization 
of  the  young  people.  For  twenty-five  years  the  government  will  extend  to  them  its 
support.  At  the  end  of  that  time  it  is  expected  that,  from  their  intercourse  with 
white  people,  and  their  school  education,  they  will  have  become  self-supporting. 
It  is  hoped  that  at  the  end  of  a  girl's  school  life  she  may  go  home  to  a  house  instead 
of  a  tent;  to  a  permanent  residence  instead  of  a  nomadic  gypsy  life;  to  a  family 
clothed  instead  of  blanketed;  to  a  father  and  brothers  who  will  serve  her  instead  of 
exacting  servitude.  In  the  past,  the  years  of  study  and  training  have  been  almost 
lost  as  the  girl  returns  to  the  untidy  tent  upon  the  bleak  and  barren  ground.  What  hope 
is  there  for  her  to  maintain  the  tidy  and  systematic  method  which  she  has  learned, 
when  surrounded  by  the  sights  and  sounds  and  blood-thirsty  ways  of  an  Otoe  or  a 
Ponca  camp? 

But  surrounded  by  whites,  and  encouraged  and  taught  by  their  teachers  and  native 
preachers,  surely  a  bright  future  is  before  these  poor  Indian  girls.  Surely  the  dor- 
mant mind  will  awaken,  and  the  sluggish  energies  quicken,  when  she  sees  around  her 
the  homes  of  intelligent  white  women.  The  education  of  the  Indian  girl  means  the 
uplifting  of  the  tribes  in  every  way,  and  yet  it  means  also  and  soon,  the  losing  of  the 
races  of  red  men  from  off  the  face  of  the  earth. 


LEGAL  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN  IN   1492-1892. 

By  MISS  MARY  A.  GREENE. 

The  condition  of  the  woman  of  a  nation  is  an  index  of  that  nation's  civilization. 
From  the  days  of  Hatasu,  who,  as  queen,  ruled  over  Egypt,  sixteen  centuries  before 

Christ,  down  the  ages  to  Isabella,  of  Spain,  the  first 
monarch  of  a  new  world,  until  this  year  of  grace,  1893, 
when  Victoria  holds  sway  over  lands  which  encircle 
the  globe,  has  it  ever  been  true  that  that  nation  which 
most  elevates  and  honors  its  women  most  elevates  and 
honors  itself?     The  legal  condition  of  woman  is  but  a 
mirror   reflecting    her   social    condition.      Laws   are 
framed  to  meet  the  necessities  of  the  social  environ- 
ment.    It  is  only  when  the  body  of  the  law  has  failed 
to  keep  step  with  the  social  development,  that    the 
legal  condition  of  a  sex  or  a  class  works  an  injustice. 
In  order,  then,  to  understand  the  legal  condition 
of  woman  in  any  country,  or  at  any  era,  we  must 
study  the  social    condition   that  existed  at  the  time 
the  laws  were  framed.     At  the  date  of  the  discovery 
of  our  continent,  the  dawn  of  a  new  civilization  was 
breaking  upon  Europe.     This  intellectual  awakening 
of  the  world  awakens  women  as  well  as  men.    Women 
of  gentle  birth  apply  themselves  with  enthusiasm  to 
the  study  of  Greek  and   Latin,  in  order  to  obtain  for 
themselves  the  learning  of  the  ancients.     So  it  hap- 
pens that  we  know  much  about  the  women  of  the 
higher  classes  in  1492.     But  of  the  women  of  the  lower  classes  very  little  is  recorded. 
They  were  truly  and  absolutely  "  the  submerged  tenth,"  not  worth  the  notice  of  his- 
torians.    Here  and  there  a  glimpse  is  caught,  which  suggests  to  us  their  social  bond- 
age.    A  wedding  custom  among  the  German  peasants  was  that  the  bride's  father 
should   remove  her  shoes  and  deliver  them  to  the  groom,  who  tapped  the  bride's 
forehead  with  them,  in  token  of  his  matrimonial  authority  over  her.     The  woman  who 
married  a  slave  could,  by  law,  be  put  to  death  by  her  relatives,  or  be  sold  by  them 
at  their  will. 

The  civilization  of  ancient  Rome  favored  the  domestic  seclusion  of  woman.  The 
European  states,  which  arose  out  of  the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire,  favored  the  same 
idea.  Restriction  and  submission  to  a  higher  power  was  the  policy  of  the  middle 
ages.  The  laity  were  to  be  submissive  to  the  clergy,  vassals  submissive  to  their  lords, 
wives  submissive  to  their  husbands.  In  the  rude  and  warlike  society  of  those  times, 
when  shut  up  within  his  closely  fortified  castle,  the  feudal  knight  poured  boiling  oil  or 

Miss  Mary  Anne  Greene  was  bom  at  Warwick,  R,  I.,  in  1857,  Her  parents  were  John  Waterman  Aben  Greene  and 
Mary  Frances  (Low)  Greene.  She  was  educated  for  the  legal  profession  at  the  Boston  University  Law  School,  receiving  in 
1888  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Laws  magna  cum  laude,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Suffolk  Bar  in  Boston  in  September,  1888, 
where  she  practiced  several  years.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  articles  upon  legal  subjects,  for  magazines  and  papers, 
such  as  "  The  Chautauquan,"  "  The  American  Law  Review,"  etc.  She  is  the  regular  lecturer  on  Business  Law  for  Women,  at 
Laaell  Seminary,  Aubumdale,  Mass.,  and  was  invited  to  address  the  Congress  of  Jurispmdence  and  Law  Reform,  of  the 
World's  Congress  Auxiliary  in  August,  1893.  She  spoke  upon  "Married  Woman's  Property  Acts  in  the  United  States  and 
Needed  Reforms  Therein,"  An  extremely  fragile  constitution  obliged  her  to  refrain  from  the  active  practice  of  her  chosen 
profession,  since  her  return  to  her  native  state,  and  hence  she  has  never  applied  for  admission  to  the  Rhode  Island  bar.  Miaa 
Greene  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Chorch.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Providence,  R.  I. 

41 


MISS  MARY  A,  GREENE. 


42  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

shot  arrows  from  his  towers  upon  his  neighbors,  or  sallied  forth  to  encounter  like- 
assaults  at  their  hands,  the  safe  seclusion  of  the  castle  and  the  quiet  occupations  of 
cooking  and  spinning  were,  no  doubt,  the  best  for  the  women  of  the  family.  As 
refinement  increased,  women  were  able  to  come  out  of  their  seclusion  a  little,  and  to 
participate  to  some  extent  in  the  social  life  of  the  men.  The  growth  of  chivalry  also 
helped  to  elevate  the  women  of  the  higher  classes  in  feudal  days.  Religion  and 
gallantry  were  blended  together.  The  love  of  God  and  the  ladies  was  enjoined  as  a 
single  duty.  At  the  institution  of  the  Order  of  the  Golden  Shield,  Louis  II.,  Duke  of 
Bourbon,  enjoined  his  knights  to  honor  above  all  the  ladies,  "  because  from  them,  after 
God,  comes  all  the  honor  that  men  can  acquire."  The  laws  also  recognized  this  chiv- 
alrous homage  and  extended  their  protection.  James  II.,  of  Aragon,  enacted  a  law 
"that  every  man,  whether  knight  or  no,  who  shall  be  in  company  with  a  lady,  pass  safe 
and  unmolested,  unless  he  be  guilty  of  murder." 

With  the  incoming  of  the  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation,  with  the  new  spirit 
of  personal  dignity  and  independence,  begotten  of  a  wider  knowledge  and  broader 
culture,  the  crudities  of  chivalry  and  the  restrictions  of  feudalism  began  to  fade  away. 
Expansion  and  independence  took  the  place  of  restriction  and  submission.  Since  the 
condition  of  the  higher  classes  of  women  had  been  tending  toward  a  higher  position 
of  esteem  and  honor  under  the  later  feudal  system,  their  advancement  could  not  fail 
to  be  rapid  under  the  new  order  of  the  new  age.  This  is  shown  by  their  educational 
elevation  at  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

Spain  and  Italy  had  at  that  time  begun  to  admit  women  to  the  higher  education 
of  the  universities.  The  Spanish  Arabs  were  devoted  to  letters,  and  many  of  their 
high-born  women  publicly  contended  for  prizes  in  science  and  arts  at  Cordova  and 
Seville.  The  reign  of  Isabella  counts  among  its  many  glories  a  galaxy  of  women 
whose  scholarship  would  have  been  rare  in  any  age.  Isabella  herself  was  learned  in 
the  classics,  and  her  Latin  instructor  was  a  woman,  Dona  Beatriz  de  Galindo,  who  was 
called  La  Latina,  on  account  of  her  rare  acquirements.  At  the  same  time  the  Univer- 
sity of  Salamanca  had  as  lecturer  in  the  Latin  classics  another  learned  woman,  Dona 
Lucie  de  Medrano,  while  at  Alcala,  Dona  Francisca  de  Lebrija  filled  the  chair  of 
rhetoric. 

In  Italy,  a  century  earlier,  Dotta,  daughter  of  the  celebrated  Accursius,  gave 
instruction  in  law  at  the  University  of  Bologna,  and  nearly  contemporary  with  her  was- 
Novella,  the  beautiful  daughter  of  Andrea,  who  delivered  her  lectures  upon  the  canon 
law  from  behind  a  curtain,  as  tradition  has  it,  lest  her  beauty  should  distract  the  young^ 
men  who  were  her  pupils.  These  were  the  earliest  of  a  long  line  of  distinguished 
Italian  women  professors,  reaching  down  to  our  own  day,  when  Dr.  Josephine  Catani 
fills  the  chair  of  histology  in  the  medical  school  of  the  ancient  University  of  Bologna. 
The  political  status  of  woman  in  1492  in  Continental  Europe  was  a  survival  of  ancient 
ideas,  of  Roman  jurisprudence.  Even  under  the  repression  of  the  feudal  system  the 
capacity  of  woman  to  be  a  sovereign,  a  judge,  an  advocate  and  an  arbitrator,  was  not 
denied.  But  the  Roman  law  excluded  her  from  all  public  offices,  not,  however,  on 
the  ground  of  incapacity,  but  simply  on  the  ground  of  etiquette  and  expediency,  as  the 
Roman  code  puts  it,  "because  it  is  not  fitting  that  women  and  slaves  should  hold  pub- 
lic offices."  The  system  of  civil  law,  which  was  built  up  in  the  fifteenth  century  from 
the  ruins  of  the  Roman  code,  incorporated  this  idea,  so  that  we  find  it  declared  in  the 
laws  of  Continental  Europe  that  a  woman  may  not  be  an  advocate  or  a  judge. 

In  England,  where  the  influence  of  the  Roman  law  was  slight,  the  capacity  and 
fitness  of  women  for  public  office  was  to  some  extent  recognized,  and  when  Queen 
Mary  came  to  the  throne  she  placed  women  in  judicial  office.  Lady  Berkeley  was 
made  a  justice  of  the  peace  for  Gloucestershire,  and  Lady  Rous,  as  justice  of  the 
quorum  for  Suffolk,  "  did  usually  sit  on  the  bench  at  assizes  among  the  other  justices, 
chicta  gladio,  girt  with  the  sword."  The  hereditary  office  of  high  sheriff  of  West- 
moreland was  held  at  one  time  by  a  woman,  and  women  were  held  to  be  eligible  to 
election  as  burgesses,  overseers  of  the  poor,  constables,  sheriffs  and  marshals,  and 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  4S 

they  occasionally  occupied  these  positions.  There  is  no  doubt  that  women  land- 
owners were  allowed  to  vote  as  well  as  to  hold  public  office,  but  the  privilege  was 
so  very  seldom  exercised  that  instances  are  very  rare.  Still,  in  theory,  the  single 
woman  or  widow  had  a  lawful  right  to  cast  a  vote,  while  her  married  sister  was  rep- 
resented by  the  vote  of  her  husband.  The  capacity  of  woman  to  be  a  sovereign  was 
everywhere  recognized,  and  even  where  the  Salic  law  excluded  woman  from  the 
throne  her  right  and  ability  to  rule  as  regent  during  the  king's  minority  was  fully 
admitted.  Thus,  in  France,  from  1483  to  1491,  Anne  of  Eeaujen  held  the  office  of 
regent  during  the  minority  of  her  brother,  Charles  VIII, 

The  royal  Isabella,  ruling  in  her  own  right  as  queen  of  Castile  and  Leon,  and  as 
co-equal  with  her  husband,  Ferdinand,  of  Aragon,  in  the  government  of  the  united 
countries,  is  a  sufficient  instance  of  the  legal  recognition  of  woman's  right  to  the  high- 
est and  most  responsible  of  all  public  offices. 

As  our  American  orator  has  recently  said:  "  It  was  a  happy  omen  of  the  position 
which  w'oman  was  to  hold  in  America  that  the  only  person  who  comprehended  the 
majestic  scope  of  his  (Columbus')  plans  and  the  invincible  qualities  of  his  genius  was 
the  able  and  gracious  Queen  of  Castile.  Isabella  alone,  of  all  the  dignitaries  of  that 
age,  shares  with  Columbus  the  honors  of  his  great  achievement.  She  arrayed  her 
kingdom  and  her  private  fortunes  behind  the  enthusiasm  of  this  mystic  mariner,  and 
posterity  pays  homage  to  her  wisdom  and  faith."  And  in  less  than  a  century  after 
Isabella,  another  woman,  Elizabeth,  of  England,  the  virgin  queen  whose  flag  swept 
the  seas,  was  the  mistress  and  patroness  of  the  first  permanent  settlement  of  her  race 
upon  our  shores,  a  race  which  was  destined  to  possess  and  dominate  this  northern 
continent  of  the  New  World. 

Turning  to  the  personal  and  property  rights  of  the  woman  of  1492,  we  look  at  a 
darker  side  of  the  picture.  This  branch  of  the  law  affects  rich  and  poor,  high  and  low, 
alike.  Only  the  high-born  woman  would  be  likely  to  hold  public  office,  but  every 
woman  has  a  right  to  protection  of  her  person  and  property.  The  laws  of  England 
differed  from  those  of  the  continent  of  Europe  in  form  and  theory,  but  scarcely  in 
their  practical  effect  upon  the  woman.  The  theory  of  the  common  law  of  England, 
derived  from  our  Germanic  forefathers,  was  that  of  a  division  of  duties.  As  the  wife 
had  the  care  of  the  household,  and  the  responsibility  of  rearing  her  family,  it  was 
thought  unreasonable  to  subject  her  to  the  annoyances  of  a  suit  at  law  to  protect  or 
defend  her  rights  and  to  preserve  her  property.  This  was  laid  upon  the  husband's 
shoulders.  He  was  to  protect  her  and  perform  these  duties  for  her.  The  wife  in 
English  law  was  considered  as  under  the  protecting  wing  of  her  husband,  which  cov- 
ered her  from  legal  annoyance;  hence,  the  old  law — French  term  for  a  married 
woman,  z.  femme  covert,  a.nd  her  legal  condition  is  her  coverture.  That  this  is  the  true 
theory  of  the  law  is  evident  from  the  laws  governing  the  queen's  consort  of  Eng- 
land. Such  women,  upon  marriage,  retained  all  their  property  and  legal  capacity  to 
transact  business.  For  as  Sir  Edward  Coke  puts  it,  "  The  wisdom  of  the  common  law 
would  not  have  the  king  (whose  continual  care  and  study  is  for  the  public  and  circa 
ardua  re^/ii)  to  be  troubled  and  disquieted  on  account  of  his  wife's  domestic  affairs; 
and,  therefore,  it  vests  in  the  queen  a  power  of  transacting  her  own  concerns  without 
the  intervention  of  the  king,  as  if  she  were  an  unmarried  woman." 

The  theory  of  the  civil  law  of  Continental  Europe,  coming  down  from  the  Roman 
code,  was  very  different.  These  laws  are  based  upon  the  weakness,  frailty  and  in- 
capacity of  the  sex.  The  husband  is  made  the  curator  of  his  wife  much  as  the  father 
is  made  guardian  of  his  minor  child.  Upon  this  theory,  also,  a  woman  could  not  in 
early  times  be  a  witness  in  court,  and  long  after  she  was  made  legally  competent  to 
testify,  her  testimony  was  held  to  be  of  slight  worth.  Whether  the  English  or  the 
Continental  laws  be  considered,  the  effect  upon  the  married  woman  was  practically 
the  same  in  respect  to  her  ownership  and  control  of  her  property.  The  husband  had 
complete  control  of  the  wife's  property,  and  was  able  to  dispose  of  it  at  his  own  pleas- 
ure, without  her  knowledge  or  consent.     She  was  not  capable  of  making  any  binding 


44  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

contract  whatever.  The  legal  custody  of  the  children  was  in  the  father,  and  by  feudal 
law  after  the  father's  death,  unless  he  had  by  his  will  appointed  a  guardian,  the  lord 
of  the  manor  became  the  custodian  of  the  person  and  property  of  the  orphaned  child. 
The  consent  of  the  lord  was  necessary  to  the  marriage  of  a  female  ward,  and  in 
England  the  lord  could  dispose  of  her  in  marriage,  exacting  a  heavy  fine  if  she 
refused  to  marry  according  to  his  commands.  Where,  as  in  England,  the  possession  of 
landed  property  qualified  its  owner  to  vote  and  hold  public  office,  the  husband  of  a 
woman  who  owned  land,  voted  and  sat  in  parliament  by  right  of  his  joint  ownership 
in  his  wife's  land.  This  right  of  the  husband  has  disappeared  from  American  law, 
except  in  Rhode  Island,  where  it  still  lingers  only  slightly  modified  by  recent  legis- 
iation.  The  condition  of  the  widow  under  this  regime  was  truly  pitiable.  She  had 
no  claim  whatever  upon  the  personal  property  of  her  late  husband,  not  even  though 
she  had  brought  that  property  to  him  at  her  marriage. 

In  England  the  widow  had  from  very  early  times  a  right  to  the  income  of  one- 
third  of  the  deceased  husband's  lands,  during  her  life,  and  this  life  interest,  known 
as  "the  widow's  dower,"  was  all  that  she  could  claim,  unless,  indeed,  she  had  been  so 
fortunate  as  to  possess  a  marriage  settlement.  By  a  deed  to  trustees  before  her  mar- 
riage, her  property  could  be  preserved  to  her  and  her  heirs,  free  from  any  claim  of 
her  husband.  This  device  of  the  English  equity  courts  relieved  in  some  degree  the 
hardships  of  the  common  law,  but  obviously  could  only  benefit  the  wealthy  women 
of  the  kingdom.  The  widow  under  the  civil  law  of  Europe  had  no  claim  upon  her 
deceased  husband's  property.  It  all  went  to  his  heirs.  Under  the  feudal  system, 
at  least  in  England,  a  widow  could  remain  for  forty  days  in  the  mansion  house  of  her 
husband  without  paying  rent.  At  the  end  of  this  time  her  dower  was  assigned  and  she 
was  then  turned  adrift  upon  the  world  at  the  mercy  of  her  family  and  friends.  If  she 
married  again,  the  lord  of  the  manor  could  exact  a  fine  from  her  for  so  doing,  and 
it  was  no  uncommon  practice  for  these  feudal  masters  to  compel  a  widow  to  re-marry, 
in  order  to  obtain  the  fine  to  replenish  their  exhausted  treasuries. 

The  single  woman  under  English  law  possessed  all  the  legal  rights  of  a  man. 
On  the  Continent,  the  idea  of  woman's  mental  incapacity  affected  the  legal  condi- 
tion of  the  single  woman,  as  well  as  that  of  the  wife.  She  had  not  the  freedom  of 
her  English  spinster  sister.  She  had  very  limited  contract  powers,  and  could  only 
make  contracts  to  pay  in  money  or  in  kind  for  purchases  made  by  her.  On  the  other 
hand,  she  had,  by  reason  of  this  same  conception  of  mental  inferiority,  less  criminal 
responsibility,  and  where  the  English  woman  suffered  the  same  penalties  for  her 
crimes  that  a  man  would  do,  the  European  woman  had  but  half  the  penalty.  As  an 
old  law  quaintly  says  :  "  A  woman  shall  suffer  but  half  the  punishment,  where  a  man 
suffers  the  full  penalty.  *  *  *  *  Thus,  a  woman  should  not  be  put  in  irons,  nor 
sent  to  the  galleys,  nor  placed  in  a  prison,  which  might  enfeeble  her  body  or  wound 
her,  or  cause  her  to  lose  her  memory,  for  women  are  frail  by  nature." 

Offenses  against  the  person  of  woman  were  not  severely  punished.  One  could 
scarcely  expect  that  they  would  be  when  the  social  inferiority  of  woman  was  so 
clearly  marked.  A  husband  could  chastise  his  wife  by  right  of  his  position  as  head  of 
the  family.  The  degradation  of  marriage  under  the  Roman  law  left  its  stain  upon 
later  generations.  The  monastic  ideas  of  the  middle  ages  sympathizing  with  the 
Roman  theory,  incorporated  into  the  canon  law  the  principle  of  the  inferiority  and 
subjection  of  woman. 

At  the  time  that  the  Renaissance  began  to  elevate  woman's  social  condition,  the 
Reformation  began  to  sweep  away  the  errors  that  had  collected  around  the  original 
ecclesiastical  conception  of  woman's  sphere.  The  advancement  of  woman  was  assured 
when  her  intellectual  and  spiritual  equality  with  man  began  to  be  perceived.  Her 
social  elevation  thus  secured,  her  legal  enfranchisement  must  follow. 

Let  us  pause  and  think  how  small  a  portion  of  this  vast  globe  of  ours  shared  in 
this  great  awakening  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Not  more  than  half  of  the  European 
Continent  saw  this  light.     In  Asia,  in  Africa,  in  the  New  World,  lying  unknown  in  an 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  45 

unknown  ocean,  in  the  undiscovered  islands  of  the  sea,  what  intellectual  and  moral 
darkness!  Can  we  bear  to  think  of,  much  less  to  relate  in  detail,  the  social  degrada- 
tion of  woman  in  these  dark  places  of  the  earth!  Even  where  the  heathen  civiliza- 
tion had  reached  its  highest  mark,  the  condition  of  woman  was  scarcely  one  to  be 
desired  in  point  of  personal  respect  and  protection. 

In  the  interval  between  1492  and  1892  the  social  and  legal  development  of  woman 
was  slow.  The  leaven  of  new  ideas  was  working,  but  the  mass  of  ignorance  and 
prejudice,  the  accumulation  of  centuries,  was  not  easily  permeated.  In  England  the 
condition  of  the  widow  was  improved  by  granting  to  her  a  fraction  of  her  husband's 
personal  property,  in  addition  to  her  dower  in  his  real  estate.  The  power  of  the  lord 
over  the  widow  and  children  of  his  vassal  disappeared  with  the  complete  abolition  of 
the  feudal  system  in  the  seventeenth  century.  On  the  Continent  the  contract  capacity 
of  woman  was  enlarged,  and  greater  personal  protection  accorded  to  her  by  law.  A 
few  persistent  women  secured  for  themselves  the  benefit  of  a  liberal  education. 
Italy  continued  to  honor  women  as  professors  in  her  University  of  Bologna.  Mary 
Somerville  in  England  won  recognition  for  her  attainments,  and  here  and  there  other 
women  less  known  to  fame  gave  proof  of  their  ability  and  skill.  But  the  gains  of  three 
hundred  and  sixty  years  were  little  compared  with  those  of  the  last  forty  years.  The 
long,  slow  process  of  seed  sowing,  the  ages  of  germination,  have  been  crowned  in 
our  time  by  wonderful  fruitage.  The  inventions  of  science,  which  have  brought 
together  into  closest  relationship  the  nations  of  the  earth,  have  also  opened  a  high- 
way for  the  advancement  of  women. 

In  order  to  get  any  adequate  idea  of  the  legal  condition  of  woman  in  1892  we 
must  know  of  her  present  and  past  social  condition  and  trace  the  history  of  the  an- 
cient laws  affecting  her.  For  these  ancient  laws,  some  of  which  are  still  in  force,  are 
responsible  for  the  present  anomalies  of  woman's  legal  condition.  When  enacted,  they 
may  have  justly  reflected  woman's  social  condition,  but  now  they  should  give  place  to 
new  laws,  framed  to  meet  the  existing  social  environment.  To  go  into  minute  detail 
is  impossible,  and  this  address  would  become  a  mere  catalogue  were  it  to  be  at- 
tempted. We  shall  consider  first  the  higher  education  of  woman  at  the  present  day; 
secondly,  the  professions  and  occupations  open  to  her;  thirdly,  her  political  status; 
fourthly,  her  personal  rights;  fifthly,  her  property  rights,  and  lastly  shall  attempt 
to  draw  some  lessons  and  conclusions  from  this  historical  survey  of  the  legal  condi- 
tion of  woman. 

I.    THE    HIGHER    EDUCATION    OF    WOMEN. 

On  the  Continent  of  Europe  women  are  admitted  to  the  universities  in  Italy, 
France,  Belgium,  Holland,  Switzerland,  Spain,  Roumania,  Sweden,  Norway,  Denmark 
and  Iceland,  and  may  in  some  of  them  receive  university  degrees. 

In  Great  Britain  the  following  are  open  both  for  instruction  and  degrees:  The 
University  of  London,  the  universities  of  Ireland,  and  the  Scottish  universities  of 
Edinburgh  and  of  St.  Andrews,  the  two  latter  very  recently. 

Women  are  excluded  from  the  universities  by  express  prohibition  of  law  in  Ger- 
many, Austria  and  Russia.  In  the  latter  country  a  medical  school  for  women  stu- 
dents, which  was  for  a  time  suspended  on  account  of  political  complications,  is 
about  to  be  re-established  through  the  exertions  of  the  czarina.  While  the  conserv- 
ative universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  in  England  do  not  admit  to  their  lect- 
ures or  degrees,  they  do  permit  women  to  take  the  university  examinations,  and 
we  have  not  yet  forgotten  the  triumph  of  Philippa  Fawcett,  who  in  1890  over- 
topped the  senior  wrangler  in  the  mathematical  examinations  at  Cambridge.  Under 
the  shadow  of  these  venerable  universities,  the  colleges  for  women,  Girton  Newham 
and  St.  Margaret's  are  distinguished  by  the  high  attainments  of  their  students. 

In  our  own  land  there  are  over  a  hundred  first  class  colleges  and  universities 
open  to  women.  Some  of  these,  like  Vassar,  Wellesley,  Smith  and  Bryn  Mawr,  are 
for  women  exclusively;  some  like  Barnard  College  of  Columbia  University  and  the 


46  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Woman's  College  of  Brown  have  an  organic  connection  with  a  university  for  men; 
some  like  Tufts  College  have  after  establishment -opened  their  doors  to  women  on 
the  same  terms  as  men,  while  many  others,  like  Michigan  University,  Boston  Uni- 
versity, Cornell  and  nearly  all  the  universities  and  colleges  of  the  Western  States,  like 
the  youngest  of  all,  the  great  Chicago  University,  have  been  co-educational  from  their 
very  foundation.  Of  our  older  universities.  Brown  in  1891,  and  Yale  and  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania  in  1892,  are  the  latest  to  open  their  post-graduate  courses  and 
degrees  to  women.  Harvard,  the  oldest  of  all,  seems  to  stand  alone  in  its  refusal 
to  recognize  oflficially  the  eligibility  of  women  for  the  Harvard  Annex,  so-called,  has 
no  official  connection  with  the  university. 

Nearly  all  the  universities  and  colleges  of  Canada  are  open  to  women,  and  all 
those  of  Australia.  In  India  the  universities  of  Calcutta,  Madras  and  Bombay. 
Opportunities  are  also  increasing  in  Japan  for  the  higher  education  of  women. 

Since  Oberlin  College  in  Ohio  granted,  in  1838,  apparently  the  first  collegiate 
diploma  ever  given  to  a  woman  in  this  country  to  this  time,  when  in  nearly  every 
civilized  country  women  may  obtain  degrees  on  the  same  terms  as  men,  how  great  has 
been  the  advance!     And  nearly  all  this  advance  has  been  made  within  thirty  years. 

II.      PROFESSIONS   AND   OCCUPATIONS   OPEN   TO   WOMEN. 

It  naturally  follows  that  the  professions  should  be  entered  by  women.  Appar- 
ently the  medical  profession  was  the  first  sought  by  her.  Sixty  years  ago  the  first 
woman  medical  student  began  her  course  of  study,  and  now  countless  thousands  of 
•women  practitioners  of  the  healing  art  are  scattered  over  the  world,  pursuing  their 
profession  with  most  signal  success.  In  the  East  Indian  zetianas,  the  homes  of  the 
helpless  foot-bound  Chinese,  as  in  the  homes  and  hospitals  of  Europe  and  America, 
they  are  doing  a  work  that  no  man  could  possibly  accomplish. 

The  profession  of  theology  has  attracted  fewer  women,  and  it  has  been  less  easy 
for  them  to  obtain  recognition  as  pastors  and  preachers,  but  the  theological  schools  of 
Switzerland,  and  some  of  those  in  the  United  States,  notably  those  of  the  Unitarian  and 
Methodist  Episcopal  churches,  admit  women  as  students.  There  are  ordained  women 
preachers  in  the  Baptist,  Congregational,  Universalist,  Unitarian,  "  Christian,"  Prot- 
estant, Methodist,  and  Primitive  Methodist  denominations,  and  over  three  hundred 
and  fifty  women  preachers  among  the  Society  of  Friends.  There  are  perhaps  seven 
hundred  women  preachers  to-day  in  the  United  States. 

The  legal  profession  was  the  last  of  the  three  so-called  learned  professions  to  be 
opened  to  women;  not  because  of  reluctance  on  the  part  of  the  courts,  but  because 
women  did  not  so  early  apply  for  admission.  Although  isolated  instances  may  be 
cited  from  the  Roman  Calphurnia  to  our  own  time  of  women  who  have  pleaded 
causes  in  court,  it  was  not  till  1869  that  a  woman  was  formally  admitted  as  an  attor- 
ney and  counselor  at  law.  To  the  United  States  belongs  this  honor.  Mrs.  Arabella 
A.  Mansfield  was  admitted  without  objection  to  the  bar  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Iowa 
in  that  year  (1869).  About  the  same  time  women  students  were  received  into  the 
law  schools  of  Washington  University,  St.  Louis,  and  the  Union  College  of  Law  at 
Chicago.  There  are  now  not  less  than  eleven  law  schools  in  the  United  States  open 
to  women.  Twenty-five  States  and  Territories  admit  women  to  the  bar.  As  to  the 
rest  we  cannot  safely  say  that  they  exclude  women,  for  as  a  matter  of  fact  no  woman 
has  as  yet  applied,  except  in  Virginia,  which  has  for  three  years  steadfastly  refused  to 
grant  admission  to  a  lady  lawyer.  There  are  probably  over  two  hundred  women 
lawyers  in  the  United  States  to-day,  nine  of  whom  are  admitted  to  practice  before  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

The  universities  of  Paris,  Brussels  and  Zurich  have  within  five  or  six  years  gradu- 
ated women  from  their  law  departments.  The  three  graduates  at  Paris  have  not 
applied  for  admission  to  the  bar.  At  Zurich  Dr.  Emilie  Kempin,  although  denied 
admission  to  the  bar,  is  a  lecturer  upon  law  in  the  university.  Dr.  Marie  Popelin,  a 
graduate  in  law  at  Brussels,  has  been  formally  denied  admission  to  the  bar.     Italy, 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  47 

Russia  and  Denmark  have  also  refused  the  petition  of  women  for  admission  as  advo- 
cates at  the  bar.  India,  Japan  and  the  Hawaiian  Islands  recognize  the  woman  lawyer. 
The  Royal  University  of  Ireland  has  recently  conferred  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws 
upon  a  woman;  and  in  Canada,  in  the  Province  of  Ontario,  women  have  very  recently 
been  made  eligible  to  admission  to  the  study  of  the  law.  In  England,  no  attempt 
to  gain  admission  to  the  bar  has  yet  been  made.  Several  ladies,  practicing  as  attor- 
neys and  solicitors,  are  patiently  waiting  for  a  change  in  public  sentiment  before 
asking  for  admission  to  plead  as  barristers. 

Every  known  profession,  occupation  and  trade  seems  now  to  be  open  to  woman 
in  some  part  of  the  civilized  world.  She  can  be  a  minister,  doctor,  lawyer,  professor, 
lecturer,  journalist,  mechanic,  architect,  sculptor,  painter,  merchant,  day-laborer.  In 
fact,  whatever  she  chooses  to  undertake  she  is  permitted  to  do,  if  not  in  one  country 
then  elsewhere.  In  view  of  this  entire  revolution  in  her  social  status,  should  "she  not 
logically  possess  the  same  civil  and  legal  rights,  and  be  subject  to  the  same  civil  and 
legal  liabilities  as  a  man  in  the  same  position. 

III.      POLITICAL   STATUS    OF   WOMEN. 

After  this  preliminary  glance  at  the  social  condition  of  women  in  1 192,  let  us  look 
at  her  legal  condition,  and  see  whether  her  legal  emancipation  has  kept  pace  with  her 
social  emancipation.  The  political  status  of  women  will  first  be  considered.  Women 
enjoy  a  more  or  less  extended  right  of  suffrage  in  a  majority  of  all  the  civilized 
nations  of  the  world.  In  the  United  States  they  have  full  suffrage  in  Wyoming  and 
municipal  suffrage  in  Kansas.  In  Montana,  women  have  school  suffrage,  and  if  tax- 
payers, they  can  vote  upon  all  questions  involving  the  levy  or  disbursement  of  moneys 
for  public  purposes.  In  twenty  more  states  they  have  a  right  to  vote  for  school  offi- 
cers or  upon  school  matters,  and  in  at  least  six  more  states  they  may  vote  by  petition 
upon  certain  local  matters,  such  as  local  improvements,  or  the  granting  of  liquor 
licenses;  so  that  there  are  at  least  twenty-nine  out  of  a  total  of  forty-eight  states  and 
territories  of  our  Union  where  women  enjoy  some  form  of  suffrage.  In  Canada  women 
can  vote  for  all  municipal  officers  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  Dominion, 
although  no  married  woman  can  vote  except  in  Manitoba  and  British  Columbia.  The 
women  of  all  the  colonies  of  Great  Britain,  from  Australia  to  Canada  and  from  Cape 
Colony  to  New  Zealand,  enjoy  municipal  suffrage,  including  the  presidencies  of 
Madras  and  Bombay  in  India,  if  taxpayers,  and  the  same  is  true  of  the  rural  districts  of 
British  Burmah.  In  England,  Scotland  and  Wales  single  women  and  widows  vote  for 
all  officers  except  members  of  Parliament.  In  Ireland  they  vote  for  guardians  of  the 
poor.  In  Continental  Europe  women  are  also  to  some  degree  enfranchised.  In 
France  women  teachers  vote  for  women  members  of  boards  of  education.  In  Italy 
widows  and  wives  separated  from  their  husbands  vote  by  proxy  for  members  of 
Parliament  (law  of  1882).  In  Austria  they  vote  by  proxy  at  all  elections,  including 
elections  of  members  of  provincial  and  imperial  parliaments.  In  Russia,  and  in  all 
Russian  Asia,  women  who  are  heads  of  households  vote  by  proxy  at  municipal  and 
village  elections  upon  all  local  questions.  (Law  of  1870.)  In  Sweden,for  many  years, 
women  have  voted  at  local  elections,  and  since  1862  they  have  had  municipal  suffrage. 
In  Norway  they  have  merely  school  suffrage.  In  Finland,  all  women,  except  wives 
living  with  their  husbands,  can  vote  for  all  elective  officers  save  one.  (Law  of  1865.) 
In  Iceland,  as  in  Wyoming,  and  also  on  the  Isle  of  Man,  women  enjoy  full  and 
equal  suffrage  with  men.     (1882.) 

Woman's  right  to  the  ballot  is  recognized  even  in  some  very  conservative  countries, 
countries  so  conservative  that  by  the  same  law  which  extends  the  franchise  to  woman 
she  is  herself  excluded  from  occupying  the  offices  voted  for.  This  is  the  case  in  Italy, 
Russia,  Sweden,  Finland,  Iceland  and  Austria,  except  as  to  a  few  petty  positions. 

The  general  principle  of  American  law  seems  to  be  that  where  no  express  excep- 
tion is  made  by  law,  the  electors  for  an  office  are  qualified  to  fill  the  office.  Thus  in 
Wyoming  women  are  eligible  to  every  public  office  on  the  same  terms  as  men;  in 


48  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Kansas  to  municipal  offices,  and  in  the  states  where  women  may  vote  for  school 
officers  they  are  generally  eligible  to  election  to  the  office.  Many  of  the  states  of  the 
Union  admit  women  to  public  office  even  though  they  refuse  to  them  the  ballot.  A  few 
of  the  strictly  public  of^ces  now  held  by  women  in  America  are  county  recorder  of 
deeds,  assistant  register  of  deeds,  notary  public,  town  clerk  (Vermont),  county  clerk 
(Missouri),  assistant  clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Rhode  Island,  receiver  of  public 
moneys  in  Mississippi,  custodian  of  the  Mississippi  state  capital,  mayor  of  cities  in 
Kansas,  and  all  kinds  of  school  offices.  Many  offices  connected  with  the  public  chari- 
ties are  held  by  women  in  this  country.  Thus  they  are  members  of  state  boards 
of  charities  in  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  visitors,  managers  and  trustees  of 
reformatory  and  penal  institutions,  physicians,  visitors  and  trustees  of  state  insane 
hospitals,  overseers  of  the  poor,  and  police  matrons.  By  act  of  Congress  in  1870  the 
clerkships  of  the  Executive  Department  of  the  United  States  Government  were  opened 
to  women,  who  now  make  up  a  large  percentage  of  the  total  number  of  government 
clerks. 

In  England  women  serve  as  poor-law  guardians,  visitors  to  and  physicians  in  gov- 
ernment hospitals  and  insane  asylums,  as  assistant  commissioners  of  the  Labor  Com- 
mission, and  the  position  of  meteorologist  at  the  Government  Observatory  at  Hong 
Kong  is  now  held  by  a  lady.  In  France  women  are  members  of  the  boards  of  education. 
In  the  Austrian  provinces  of  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  women  have  recently  received 
appointments  as  government  medical  officers. 

The  political  condition  of  woman  to  day  may  be  briefly  summed  up  thus:  While 
she  is  not  yet  admitted  to  the  full  exercise  of  political  rights,  except  in  Wyoming  and 
a  few  small  islands,  still  she  possesses  very  generally  some  right  to  vote  upon  local 
matters  more  or  less  closely  affecting  her  as  a  citizen,  and  to  hold  many  executive  offi- 
ces. Legislative  and  judicial  offices  are  not  as  yet  granted  to  women,  except  in  a 
very  few  countries  and  states,  and  even  where  granted  are  not  actually  occupied  by 
women. 

IV.      PERSONAL  RIGHTS  OF  WOMEN. 

With  respect  to  the  personal  protection  of  woman  by  law,  there  has  been  a 
change  for  the  better,  as  the  dignity  and  sacredness  of  her  person  is  more  com- 
pletely recognized.  Severe  punishments  are  inflicted  for  offenses  against  women, 
but  still  in  many  instances  they  are  altogether  too  slight  for  the  gravity  of  the 
offense.  The  "  age  of  consent,"  which  in  many  states  was  placed  at  the  age 
of  ten  years,  has  been  raised  by  very  recent  legislation  to  fourteen,  sixteen, 
and  in  some  states,  eighteen  years.  For  the  better  protection  of  women  under 
arrest,  police  matrons  have  been  placed  in  the  station-houses  of  some  of  our 
American  cities,  to  take  charge  of  such  women  during  the  time  of  their  deten- 
tion. In  New  York  and  Massachusetts,  by  state  legislation,  all  cities  having  a  stated 
population,  must  provide  police  matrons.  Much  of  the  recent  labor  legislation  is 
in  favor  of  women.  The  laws  forbidding  women  to  be  employed  about  dangerous 
machinery,  those  requiring  shopkeepers  to  provide  seats  for  saleswomen,  and  the 
statutes  requiring  the  appointment  of  women  factory  inspectors  maybe  cited.  As  to 
the  law  in  many  states  prohibiting  women  from  making  a  contract  to  work  more  hours 
a  week  than  the  time  fixed  by  law,  while  by  the  same  law  a  man  is  free  to  contract  for 
as  many  hours'  labor  as  he  chooses,  one  may  question  whether  it  does  not  really 
work  an  injustice,  since,  by  interfering  with  her  individual  freedom  to  contract  it 
places  her  at  a  disadvantage.  An  employer  prefers  to  take  an  employe  who  is  legally 
free  to  make  agreements  for  extra  work.  Therefore,  the  woman's  wages  are  likely 
to  be  decreased  and  her  opportunities  for  employment  lessened  by  this  restriction. 
A  married  woman  is  now  protected  from  the  violence  of  her  husband  by  the  legal 
right  given  her  to  prosecute  him  for  assaults  upon  her.  The  old  theory  of  the  hus- 
band's right  to  chastise  his  wife  has  disappeared  from  English  and  American  law. 

In  the  famous  Jackson  case  in  England  the  Lord  Chief  Justice,  in  setting  free  a 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  49 

woman  whose  husband  had  deprived  her  of  her  liberty,  said,  that  he  did  not  believe  that 
it  ever  was  the  law  of  England  that  a  husband  could  restrain  his  wife  of  her  liberty,  and 
that  it  certainly  is  not  English  law  today.  In  India,  under  the  power  of  a  Christian 
government,  the  burning  of  a  widow  upon  her  husband's  funeral  pyre  is  forbidden  by 
law,  and  the  day  seems  not  far  distant  when  the  seclusion  of  the  zenana  and  the  prac- 
tice of  child-marriages  will  also  disappear.  In  Japan,  where  women  are  more  respected 
than  among  many  Eastern  nations,  a  wife  may  still  be  divorced  upon  the  very  slightest 
grounds,  even  if  she  talks  too  much  to  suit  her  lord  and  master.  The  codes  of  Con- 
tinental Europe  fail  to  do  justice  to  woman  in  respect  to  her  personal  protection  in 
the  matter  of  divorce  for  certain  criminal  offenses,  where  the  privileges  of  the  man 
are  greater  than  those  of  the  woman,  making  it  less  easy  for  her  than  for  him  to 
obtain  a  divorce.  This  seems  to  be  a  vestige  of  the  ancient  conception  of  woman's 
inferiority. 

V.      PROPERTY   RIGHTS  OF  WOMEN. 

The  subject  of  the  present  property  rights  of  women  is  lastly  to  be  considered. 

In  England  and  America  the  unmarried  woman  is  now,  as  she  was  four  hundred 
years  ago,  possessed  of  all  the  property  rights  of  a  man.  She  can  buy  and  sell  her 
property,  carry  on  business,  bind  herself  by  her  contracts  of  every  kind,  make  a  will, 
and  adopt  a  child  if  she  chooses,  just  as  her  brother  may  do.  She  can  sue  and  be  sued 
in  court,  is  a  competent  witness  in  all  cases,  and  can  be  executrix  of  a  will,  administra- 
trix of  an  estate,  and  guardian  of  children.  On  the  Continent  of  Europe  the  unmar- 
ried woman  is  still  hampered  in  some  degree  by  the  former  legal  conception  of  the 
essential  frailty  and  incapacity  of  woman.  She  is  bound  by  her  contracts  and  may 
do  business  as  a  public  merchant.  She  can  make  a  will  and  adopt  a  child.  But  she 
cannot,  except  in  Italy  and  Russia,  sign  her  name  as  a  witness  to  any  legal  document; 
neither  can  she,  with  a  few  exceptions,  be  a  guardian  of  children,  or  act  as  a  legal 
member  of  family  councils.  As  to  the  property  rights  of  the  married  woman,  a  most 
radical  change  has  taken  place  within  the  last  fifty  years.  Every  state  in  the  Union  has 
passed  statutes  widening  to  some  extent  the  legal  powers  of  the  married  woman;  and 
in  England,  by  the  Married  Woman's  Property  Act  of  1882,  all  legal  restrictions  are 
removed  from  the  wife,  who  is  capable  of  holding  and  transferring  property,  and  can 
sue  and  be  sued  as  if  unmarried. 

Rhode  Island  appears  to  have  led  in  this  reform  in  1841,  which  gave  to  a  wife 
coming  into  the  state  as  a  resident,  being  already  separated  from  her  husband,  the 
sole  ownership  and  control  of  her  property.  This  was  followed,  in  1844,  by  an  act 
securing  to  the  wife  her  own  property,  including  her  earnings,  so  that  it  could  not  be 
taken  for  the  husband's  debts,  and  providing  that  in  case  she  survived  him  it  was 
to  be  her  sole  and  separate  property.  Massachusetts  followed,  in  1845,  with  a  similar 
statute,  and  New  York,  in  1848,  passed  a  much  more  liberal  one. 

It  is  impossible  to  trace  the  history  of  or  give  in  detail  the  law  of  each  state. 
Only  the  general  features  can  be  presented.  In  every  state  of  the  Union,  except  Ten- 
nessee, the  wife's  property  is  so  far  secured  to  her  that  it  cannot  be  taken  for  her  hus- 
band's debts,  and  if  she  survives  him  it  becomes  her  sole  and  separate  property.  But 
many,  indeed  a  majority,  of  the  states  go  much  further  than  this,  and  give  to  the 
wife  the  sole  ownership  and  control  of  her  property  as  if  she  were  unmarried.  In 
nearly  all  the  states,  however,  the  real  estate  of  the  wife  cannot  be  sold  without  the 
joinder  of  her  husband  in  the  deed,  both  signing  it.  In  California,  Colorado,  Illinois, 
Iowa,  Kansas,  Maine,  Michigan,  New  York  and  Wisconsin  the  wife's  deed  is  good 
without  the  husband's  signature.  All  the  rest  of  her  property  she  is  free  to  dispose 
of  as  if  she  were  single.  In  all  the  states  a  wife  may  make  a  will.  In  some  of  these 
she  cannot  by  any  means  by  her  will  deprive  her  husband  of  the  legal  share  in  her 
property  which  he  would  take  if  she  made  no  will;  but  in  a  few,  as  in  Massachusetts, 
she  may  cut  off  her  husband's  legal  claim  by  securing  his  written  consent  thereto. 
The  earnings  of  the  wife  belong  to  her  in  all  but  nine  states   and   territories.     In 

(4) 


50  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

these  the  wife's  earnings  are  either  absolutely  the  husband's,  or  "subject  to  his  con- 
trol." The  wife's  power  to  do  business  and  make  contracts  varies  greatly  in  the 
different  states.  In  most  of  the  states  she  may  be  a  trader  and  bind  herself  by  any 
contract  made  in  her  business.  In  fact,  there  seems  to  be  but  four  states  which  abso- 
lutely prohibit  the  married  woman  from  doing  business  on  her  own  account.  These 
are  Wisconsin,  Vermont,  Rhode  Island  and  Texas,  and  in  the  two  last  named  the  wife 
has  scarcely  any  more  power  to  make  any  kind  of  a  binding  contract  than  she  had  at 
common  law.  The  power  to  sue  and  be  sued  in  court  is  a  necessary  consequence 
of  legal  permission  to  make  a  contract;  so  in  every  state  where  a  wife  can  independ- 
ently of  her  husband  make  a  valid  contract,  the  law  furnishes  a  remedy  upon  such  con- 
tracts by  a  right  of  suit  by  or  against  the  wife  for  a  breach  thereof.  An  interesting 
question  is,  How  far  can  husbands  and  wives  have  direct  business  dealings  with  each 
other,  so  that  they  may  sue  each  other  for  breach  of  an  ordinary  business  contract? 

Under  the  old  English  equity  system,  still  in  force  in  our  country,  also,  if  a  wife 
loaned  money  to  her  husband  upon  his  promise  to  repay,  a  court  of  equity  would  upon 
her  petition  compel  him  to  refund  the  money.  This  was  the  only  instance  where  a 
wife  could  sue  her  husband.  A  court  of  law  would  never  allow  husbands  and  wives 
to  sue  each  other,  or  even  to  testify  for  or  against  each  other.  But  our  modern  stat- 
utes are  in  many  states  sufficiently  broad  to  allow  husbands  and  wives  to  contract 
as  freely  with  each  other,  and  to  sue  and  be  sued,  as  if  they  were  not  married.  This 
is  especially  true  of  the  states  west  of  the  Mississippi,  but  a  number  of  the  older  states, 
as  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Mississippi  and  South  Carolina,  grant  a  like  freedom. 

Although  the  legal  separate  existence  of  the  wife  is  now  a  fact  in  our  country, 
the  husband  is  still  viewed  as  the  head  of  the  family,  the  natural  guardian  of  the 
children,  and  he  alone  is  liable  for  the  support  of  the  family.  In  some  of  our  newer 
western  states,  all  property  acquired  by  either  husband  or  wife  during  the  marriage 
is  the  joint  property  of  both,  and  in  such  a  case  the  parents  are  jointly  liable  for  the 
support  of  the  family.  The  same  is  true  in  a  few  other  states,  which  hold  the  parents 
jointly  liable  (while  not  recognizing  any  joint  ownership  of  property)  out  of  their  own 
separate  estates.  In  but  six  states  of  the  Union  is  the  mother's  right  to  the  guardi- 
anship of  her  children  recognized  by  statute  as  equal  to  that  of  the  father.  These 
states  are  Oregon,  Washington,  Nebraska,  Kansas,  Iowa  and  New  York. 

In  England  the  wife  has  full  property  rights  and  contract  powers.  Turning  to  the 
condition  of  the  married  woman  under  the  codes  of  Continental  Europe,  we  see  that 
very  much  progress  has  been  made.  The  doctrine  of  all  those  countries  which  have 
for  a  fundamental  law  the  code  Napoleon,  is  that  of  the  marital  supremacy  of  the 
husband  and  the  complete  subjection  of  the  wife.  It  is  the  old  idea  of  the  frailty  of 
the  sex.  It  is  true  that  the  code  recognizes  a  common  ownership  of  property,  but  the 
complete  management  and  control  of  the  same  is  in  the  husband.  If  the  dowry  of  the 
wife  is  imperiled,  or  the  husband's  affairs  are  in  a  serious  condition,  the  wife  may  have 
her  property  set  apart  for  her  out  of  the  common  purse.  The  earnings  of  the  wife 
belong  to  the  husband,  and  he  can  pledge  her  personal  effects  for  his  debts.  She 
may  be  a  merchant,  but  she  must  first  be  authorized  by  her  husband  to  do  so,  and  even 
then  her  contracts  are  not  as  absolutely  binding  upon  her  as  upon  a  man.  She  cannot 
be  the  guardian  of  her  children.  In  Italy  and  Russia  these  features  are  somewhat  modi- 
fied, and  the  wife's  property  is,  as  with  us,  her  sole  and  separate  property.  In  Russia 
she  maintains  a  completely  separate  legal  existence,  and  can  do  business,  sue  and 
be  sued,  independently  of  her  husband.  The  husband  is  obliged  to  support  the  family, 
however,  and  the  wife  is  not  bound  to  do  so.  In  Italy  she  needs  merely  a  general 
power  of  attorney  from  her  husband  to  enable  her  to  act  as  a  single  woman  in  respect 
to  her  property,  and  not  even  this  is  necessary  for  her  to  be  a  merchant,  nor  in  case 
of  the  minority,  imprisonment  or  absence  of  the  husband. 

The  condition  of  the  widow  is  much  changed  in  England  and  America.  The 
ancient  law  of  dower, that  is,  the  life  interest  in  one-third  the  husband's  real  estate,  has 
been  very  generally  abolished,  and  instead  thereof  the  widow  or  the  widower  is  entitled 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  ^  51 

to  an  equal  share  in  the  estate  of  the  deceased  spouse,  with  full  power  to  alter  the 
same  by  will.  This  is  the  case  in  many  American  states,  but  still  in  many  others  the 
old  common  law  estates  of  the  widow's  dower  and  the  widower's  courtesy  are  even 
now  recognized  and  cannot  be  cut  off  by  will.  In  a  few  states,  too,  the  old  rule  of  law 
survives  which  gives  to  the  widower  all  his  deceased  wife's  personal  property,  unless 
she  has  otherwise  disposed  of  it  by  will.  In  every  state  the  widow  and  children  are 
entitled  to  support  out  of  the  husband's  estate  for  a  length  of  time  varying  from 
forty  days  in  Massachusetts  to  a  year  in  many  western  states,  and  during  this  time 
of  support  the  widow  may  remain  in  the  mansion  house  without  paying  rent,  and 
even  longer  than  this  in  some  states.  If  the  laws  of  the  state  recognize  a  homestead 
estate  in  the  dwelling  house  of  the  family,  this  secures  a  home  to  the  widow  until  she 
marries  again,  and  to  the  family  until  the  youngest  child  is  twenty-one. 

In  Europe,  exclusive  of  England  and  Italy,  the  widow  has  a  very  limited  interest 
in  the  property  of  the  husband.  Under  the  French  and  Belgian  codes  she  only 
receives  the  husband's  property  when  all  heirs  to  the  twelfth  degree  have  failed.  In 
Germany  she  has  a  certain  portion  of  his  property  set  apart  for  her.  In  Italy  the 
laws  resemble  those  of  the  most  advanced  of  our  United  States  in  giving  to  either 
spouse  a  child's  share  in  the  property  of  the  other,  and  if  no  children  or  heirs  sur- 
vive the  widow  or  widower  has  the  whole  estate.  In  England  and  America  a  widow, 
like  a  single  woman,  has  the  legal  freedom  of  a  man,  and  can  be  executrix  of  his  will, 
administratrix  of  his  estate,  and  guardian  of  her  children.  In  Europe  the  widow  has 
not  full  power  to  be  guardian  of  her  children;  she  must  act  under  the  advice  of  a 
special  council  appointed  by  the  father  in  his  will,  if  he  has  seen  fit  to  do  so,  and  the 
widow  cannot  discipline  the  children  without  the  concurrence  of  the  two  nearest  rela- 
tives on  the  father's  side. 

In  most  of  our  states  a  father  may  appoint,  by  will,  a  guardian  for  his  minor  chil- 
dren, but  this  guardian  cannot  act  as  such  if  considered  by  the  probate  court  to  be  an 
unfit  person. 

In  England  a  father  may  appoint  by  his  will  a  guardian  to  act  conjointly  with  the 
mother.  The  Asiatic  and  African  colonies  of  European  and  English  nations  are  slowly 
receiving  the  benefit  of  their  laws,  as  civilization  and  Christianity  advance. 

There  are  still  dark  spots  upon  the  earth's  surface  where  the  condition  of  woman 
is  no  better  than  it  was  four  hundred  years  ago;  where  she  is  the  slave,  machine  and 
plaything  of  the  tyrant  man,  with  no  hope  for  the  future,  either  in  this  life  or  a  life 
to  come,  unless  she  holds  the  Mohammedan  faith  of  future  salvation  by  a  union 
with  man. 

In  summing  up  the  results  of  our  survey  of  woman's  present  legal  condition,  let 
us  first  observe  that  while  theoretically  the  legal  condition  of  woman  is  determined 
by  her  social  condition,  yet  now,  in  fact,  because  of  the  survival  of  ancient  laws, 
which  are  out  of  joint  with  woman's  present  social  and  intellectual  emancipation,  the 
reverse  seems  to  be  the  case,  and  woman's  social  development  is  hampered  by  useless 
legal  restrictions.  Take  for  example  the  law,  still  existing  in  some  places,  that  a  mar- 
ried woman  shall  not  do  business  as  a  trader.  This  law  is  powerless  to  prevent  a 
married  woman  from  going  into  any  kind  of  business  if  she  chooses.  Its  only  effect 
is  to  encourage  her  in  dishonesty,  by  absolving  her  from  any  legal  obligation  to  pay 
her  just  debts  incurred  in  the  business.  Her  employes  and  creditors  are  absolutely 
dependent  upon  her  sense  of  honor,  and  cannot  compel  her  in  any  way  to  pay  them, 
if  she  refuses  to  do  so. 

This  law  may  have  been  well  enough  in  the  days  w^hen  no  woman  could  attempt 
with  social  propriety  to  carry  on  business.  It  is  now  demoralizing  to  the  woman  it 
protects,  and  unjust  to  those  who  deal  with  her.  The  same  is  true  of  the  laws  exclud- 
ing woman  from  public  ofifice,  those  rendering  her  incompetent  to  be  a  witness,  to 
make  a  valid  promissory  note,  and  those  denying  to  her  the  guardianship  of  her  chil- 
dren. Women  are  nearly,  if  not  quite,  upon  a  recognized  social  equality  with  men  in 
respect  to  freedom  to  labor  and  earn  money,  and  in  justice  to  men  and  women  alike 


52  ^  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

they  should  be  made  equally  responsible  before  the  law.  It  is  as  true  as  it  was  four 
hundred  years  ago  that  the  condition  of  the  women  of  a  nation  is  the  measure  of  its 
culture  and  civilization.  Whether  we  look  at  our  own  land  where  women  may  vote, 
hold  office,  do  business,  enter  upon  any  profession  as  the  social  equal  of  man,  enjoy- 
ing respectful  consideration  and  chivalrous  treatment;  or  whether  we  turn  our  eyes  to 
our  sisters  in  Eastern  lands,  shut  up  in  the  harems  and  ze?ianas  of  the  rich,  or  toiling 
like  slaves  in  the  hovels  of  the  poor,  where  woman's  social  condition  is  so  low  that 
to  mention  a  man's  wife  in  his  presence  is  an  insult  to  him,  we  shall  still  find  it  true  that 
the  condition  of  woman  is  a  true  gauge  of  a  people's  advancement  in  civilization.  And, 
lastly,  another  great  truth  comes  before  us,  that  while  intellectual  culture  and  other 
systems  of  religion  have  tended  to  elevate  the  women  of  the  higher  classes,  it  is 
Christianity  alone  that  elevates  the  women  of  the  lower  classes. 

Investigate,  as  you  will  the  legal  freedom  of  woman  under  the  civilization  of 
ancient  Egypt,  her  intellectual  culture  in  the  palmiest  days  of  Hinduism  in  India,  the 
courtesy  and  respect  shown  to  her  in  Japan,  and  whatever  privileges  are  accorded  to 
her  in  China;  or  turn  to  the  honor  paid  her  in  the  days  of  chivalry,  and  the  half 
heathen  civilization  of  the  middle  ages — you  will  find  that  the  light  shines  only  upon 
the  woman  of  higher  birth  and  gentle  breeding,  and  that  a  heavy,  dark  cloud  of 
ignorance,  superstition,  helplessness  and  hopelessness  weighs  down  the  women  of  the 
lower  classes.  But  under  our  modern  Christian  civilization  the  working-woman  is 
recognized  as  the  peer  before  the  law  of  her  wealthier  sister,  with  a  legal  right  to 
•equal  advantages  of  education,  to  equal  protection  of  person  and  property,  and  equal 
freedom  to  use  her  powers  for  the  good  of  herself  and  mankind.  And  where,  in 
fact,  woman's  equality  with  man  is  not  yet  fully  recognized,  it  is  because  of  the  sur- 
vival of  ancient  ideas,  which  are  to  disappear  very  speedily.  Thus  we  are  more 
and  more  closely  approaching  the  time  when  woman  shall  be  recognized  as  the  full 
legal  and  social  equal  of  man,  and  the  ideal  of  human  as  of  Divine  law  shall  be 
attained  when  "  there  can  be  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  there  can  be  neither  bond  nor 
free,  there  can  be  no  male  or  female — for  ye  are  all  one  man  in  Christ  Jesus." 


ETHICS  OF  SOCIAL  LIFE. 


■>¥^^jf¥«**»2 


By  MRS.  JNO.  R.  HANNA. 

However  we  have  come  by  it,  we  have  a  code  of  morals  which  forms  a  standard, 
to  which  we  bring,  all  our  fellows  for  trial,  and  pronounce  them  innocent  or  guilty,  as 

the  case  may  be.  We  make  due  allowance  for  ignor- 
ance, in  the  long  run,  although  in  individual  cases 
some  personal  pique  may  give  us  such  a  bias  that 
we  cannot  be  just.  That  standard  or  code  has  varied 
in  the  past,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  it 
will  continue  to  change  in  all  future  ages.  The  pivot 
on  which  hangs  this  code  conscience  does  not  change. 
It  is  an  invariable  quantity.  It  simply  declares,  "Do 
the  Right;"  "Do  not  the  wrong."  But  what  the  right 
or  the  wrong  may  be  in  any  given  case,  it  does  not 
pretend  to  decide. 

That  is  the  result  of  the  evolution  of  the  cen- 
turies, and  is  only  absolutely  fixed  at  any  given 
moment. 

All  Ethics  is  social  in  its  nature.  Were  we 
isolated  beings,  there  would  be  no  one  to  injure,  no 
one  to  benefit.  The  beauty  and  the  heroism  of  self- 
sacrifice  could  never  be  seen.  Mental  qualities  now 
developed  by  the  stimulating  contact  of  mind  with 
mind,  and  the  aspirations  of  purpose  that  come  from 
the  observation  of  good  deeds,  and  the  spiritual  eleva- 
tion resulting  from  ennobling  association — all  would 
be  wanting.  The  most  beautiful  thing  in  the  world,  real  goodness,  could  never  have 
been  born.  As  all  Ethics  is  social,  by  its  nature,  it  follows  that  all  acts  are  to  be  tried 
by  one  standard.  The  question  with  regard  to  each  act  should  be  :  "  Will  this  act 
contemplated  by  me  do  good  or  ill  to  any  member  of  the  human  race,  myself 
included?" 

In  that  wonderful  compendium  of  the  resulting  wisdom  of  human  experience,  the 
Bible,  we  find  this  saying  of  St.  Paul,  which  has  been  true  in  the  past,  and  will  remain 
true  forever.  Likening  society  to  the  human  body,  he  says:  "If  one  member  suffers 
all  members  suffer  with  it." 

There  is  one  underlying  constructive  principle  in  character,  and  only  one,  and  all 
superstructure  must  be  built  upon  it.  It  is  the  constant  purpose  to  do  the  right,  the 
good,  the  true,  and  whatever  contravenes  or  supplants  this  purpose,  destroys  rather 
than  constructs. 

Man,  however,  is  a  swaying  creature.  At  one  moment  he  is  actuated  by  the 
highest  motive;  at  another  he  yields  to  what  he  knows  to  be  ignoble  and  unworthy. 

Mrs.  lone  Theresa  Uanna  is  a  native  of  New  York,  and  was  born  in  18.37.  Her  parents  are  Lyman  Mnnger  and  Martha 
8.  Whitney  Manger,  of  New  England  origin.  She  gradoated  from  the  Literary  Course  at  Oberlin  College  in  1859,  after  which 
she  taught  in  Grand  River  Institute,  Austinburg,  Ohio,  and  in  the  Pennsylvania  Female  Academy.  She  married  Mr.  John  R. 
Hanna,  of  Pennsylvania,  in  1851.  They  removed  to  Denver,  Colo.,  in  1871.  She  is  one  of  tlie  original  members  of  the  Den- 
ver Fortnightly  Club,  and  is  a  director  for  Colorado  of  the  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Women.  She  traveled 
abroad  in  the  summer  of  1891.  On  May  1, 1893,  she  was  elected  a  member  of  the  School  Board  of  East  Denver.  She  is  an 
advocate  of  Woman  Suffrage,  and  was  much  interested  in  the  campaigns  in  Colorado,  which  terminated  sacceesfoUy,  giving 
women  the  ballot  Nov.  7, 1893.  Mrs.  Hanna  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church.  Her  postoffice  address  ia  500 
Fourteenth  St.,  Denver,  Colo. 

53 


MRS.  JNO.   R.  HANNA. 


54.  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

So  the  whole  experience  of  life  seems  to  be  for  the  purpose  of  unifying  him,  making 
him  at  one  with  himself  and  the  universe. 

Then  all  our  acts  are  religious  acts;  all  have  a  moral  quality.  It  then  follows  that 
what  others  have  proved  to  be  wise  courses  of  conduct,  or  what  we  have  discovered 
ourselves  in  the  experience  of  life  to  be  acts  of  wisdom,  these  are  as  obligatory  upon 
us  as  are  the  commandments  of  the  Mosaic  code:  "  Honor  Thy  Father  and  Thy 
Mother,"  "Thou  Shalt  Not  Steal,"  "Thou  Shalt  Not  Kill,"  etc. 

Now,  in  the  evolution  of  social  life,  what  wisdom  has  come  to  us  from  the  imme- 
diate past  that  is  yet  partially  or  wholly  unheeded? 

First,  in  the  matter  of  dress:  How  notorious  a  fact  it  is  that  Hygeia  and  Fashion 
are  goddesses  who  reign  over  separate  and  warring  kingdoms!  One  declares  that  the 
feminine  form  should  be  given  perfect  and  entire  freedom;  the  other,  that  every  physi- 
ological law  may  be  set  at  naught  so  that  the  prevailing  mode  be  accepted. 

There  is  another  form  of  servitude  that  enslaves  well-to-do  women.  It  wastes 
their  energies,  belittles  their  lives,  and  prevents  that  expansion  of  mind  and  thought 
that  is  necessary,  if  they  would  appropriate  and  fill  the  places  now  so  widely  opened 
to  them.  It  is  what  is  termed  the  "  Customs  and  Usages  of  Good  Society,"  and 
includes  the  matter  of  dress  above  referred  to.  It  also  imposes  upon  women  the  most 
constant  and  unremitting  attention  to  the  toilet. 
Ladies  must  have — 

All  manner  of  things  that  a  women  can  put 

On  the  crown  of  her  head  or  the  sole  of  her  foot; 

Or  wrap  round  her  shoulders,  or  fit  round  her  waist. 

Or  that  can  be  sewed  on,  or  pinned  on,  or  laced; 

Or  tied  on  with  a  string,  or  stitched  on  with  a  bow. 

In  front,  or  behind,  above,  or  below; 

Bonnets,  mantillas,  capes,  collars  or  shawls. 

Dresses  for  breakfast,  and  dinners,  and  balls; 

Dresses  to  set  in,  and  stand  in,  and  walk  in. 

Dresses  to  dance  in,  and  flirt  in,  and  talk  in; 

Dresses  in  which  to  do  nothing  at  all. 

Dresses  for  winter,  spring,  summer  and  fall; 

All  of  them  different  in  color  and  pattern — 

Silk,  muslin  and  lace,  crape,  velvet  and  satin; 

Brocade  and  broadcloth,  and  other  material 

Quite  as  expensive,  and  much  more  ethereal; 

In  short,  all  things  that  could  ever  be  thought  of. 

Or  milliner,  modiste,  or  tradesman  be  bought  of; 

From  ten-thousand-franc  robes  to  twenty-sous  frills. 
This  seems  like  a  caricature  on  the  modern  fashionable  woman;  but  it  can  hardly 
be  called  so,  and  remarkable  is  the  memory  of  the  man  who  from  observation,  and  not 
from  experience,  compiled  this  list  with  a  poetic  jingle  that  is  found  in  most  "  choice 
selections  of  poetry." 

If  this  interminable  list  of  articles  of  the  toilet  were  left  for  the  possession  of  the 
exclusively  fashionable  woman  it  would  not  so  much  matter;  but  sensible  women, 
actually  busy  in  the  necessary  work  of  the  world,  are  more  or  less  affected  by  these 
mandates  of  fashion.  Add  to  this  the  series  of  expensive  entertainments,  with  their 
wearisome  menus,  and  the  visits  of  ceremony  which  must  be  received  and  returned,  and 
life  is  made  so  burdensome  and  artificial  that  spontaneity  and  joy  is  well-nigh  dried  up. 
Most  women  of  intelligence  deprecate  this  condition  of  things,  but  do  not  quite 
see  the  way  of  escape  from  it. 

A  friend  of  mine  who  does  not  mingle  in  what  is  termed  general  society,  and  escapes 
many  of  its  restrictions  and  limitations,  yet  feels  this  bond,  and  says:  "My  life  is  spent 
in  busy  idleness;"  by  which  she  means  that  the  unreal  and  unimportant  demand  the 
most  of  her  time. 


^    THE  CONGRESS'OF  WOMEN.  55 

y^nother  respect  in  which  modern  society  is  seen  to  be  defective  is  in  the  main- 
tenance of  a  double  standard  of  morals,  one  for  men  and  one  for  women.  It  is 
demanded  of  women  that  they  be  absolutely  pure  and  true;  but  men  may  be  eligible 
to  the  best  and  most  intelligent  circles  of  society  and  yet  not  be  held  to  the  same  high 
standard.  It  works  evil,  and  only  evil,  continually  to  universal  society;  but  its  most 
painful  and  blighting  effects  are  visited  upon  women. 

There  is  another  double  standard  in  the  upper  stratum  of  society,  one  for  men 
and  one  for  women,  which  works  evil,  viz.,  that  of  occupation  or  employment. 

A  young  man  may  start  out  boldly  into  the  competitions  of  business  life  whether 
he  be  rich  or  poor.  He  may  adopt  the  calling  for  which  he  is  fitted,  employ  his 
faculties  as  he  shall  choose,  receive  pecuniary  compensation  therefor,  and  be  confident 
that  he  is  but  fulfilling  what  a  wise  public  opinion  demands  of  him. 

But  let  a  young  woman  of  wealth,  who  is  surrounded  by  sheltering  friends, 
attempt  the  same  career,  and  she  quickly  discovers  that  the  gates  are  closed.  The 
capital  that  would  be  generously  bestowed  upon  her  brother  is  withheld  from  her 
through  mistaken  kindness.  Those  nearest  and  dearest  to  her  will  prove  so  many 
obstacles  in  her  way  rather  than  helps.  Even  if  a  father  intend  to  leave  his  daughter 
a  handsome  fortune,  he  will  in  the  majority  of  cases  educate  her  to  be  so  helpless  as  to 
be  absolutely  dependent  upon  her  brothers  or  male  relatives  for  business  guidance  and 
control,  which  is  only  a  shade  less  bitter  than  to  be  dependent  for  one's  daily  neces- 
sities, rather  than  teach  her  intelligently  to  take  care  of  money  herself. 

On  the  other  hand,  she  hears  the  cry  from  another  quarter:  "Oh!  she  is  taking 
away  the  opportunities  of  the  poor.  She  is  receiving  the  money  that  should  be  given  to 
the  less  favored." 

So  it  results  that  custom,  the  most  arbitrary  of  lawgivers,  forbids  the  daughters  of 
the  well-to-do  to  pursue  a  calling  that  will  reward  them  pecuniarily.  They  may  do 
benevolent  or  charitable  work;  they  may  be  domestic  and  interested  in  the  adorn- 
ment of  the  home;  they  may  study  provided  they  do  it  with  no  practical  end  in  view; 
and  they  may  become  wives  and  mothers,  which  latter  position  is  likely  to  require 
all  their  energies.  All  these  things,  the  charitable  work,  the  little  home  services,  the 
study  and  the  marriage,  are  worthy  of  one's  best  effort,  but  they  do  not  begin  to  afford 
a  wide  enough  range  of  choice.  No  two  human  beings  are  alike,  and  consequently 
the  field  of  choice  should  possess  an  infinite  variety. 

I  have  seen  young  women  not  sufificiently  developed  in  character  and  power  of 
thought  and  imagination  to  be  interested  in  philanthropic  work,  and  who  were  too 
wide-awake  to  be  quietly  centered  at  home,  who  perhaps  did  not  care  to  study 
without  a  definite  purpose  in  view,  and  for  whom  marriage  was  an  undetermined 
factor  in  life.  As  the  customs  of  society  now  are,  there  is  nothing  for  these  young 
women  but  impatient  waiting  for  somebody  or  something  to  turn  up,  Micawber-Iike. 
They  become  weary,  and  are  perhaps  induced  to  accept  a  marriage  that  under  more 
favorable  circumstances  they  would  not  make,  or  else  they  form  one  of  the  army  of 
discontented  women  suffering  for  an  inspiriting  occupation,  for  whom  the  chances 
of  marriage  are  daily  lessening. 

Can  it  be  possible  that  parents  who  yield  to  this  tyranny  of  custom  never  think 
what  it  is  to  be  absolutely  without  a  chosen  end  and  aim  in  life? 

Suppose  your  daughter  is  just  out  of  school,  where  she  has  been  busily  occupied 
preparing  for  life.  She  comes  home.  She  tries  to  adapt  herself  to  her  surroundings. 
She  has  lofty  ideas  and  needs  the  healthy  struggles  involved  in  carrying  out  a  chosen 
line  of  work  to  perfect  her  character  and  to  establish  her  personality.  Instead  of  this 
she  has  nothing  to  induce  her  to  a  sufficient  employment  of  her  time  and  her 
capabilities.  She  reads  a  little.  She  studies  the  fashions.  She  plans  her  wardrobe. 
She  goes  to  balls  and  receptions.  She  takes  a  journey,  and  then  she  returns  to  go 
through  the  same  round  again.  She  gets  restless;  the  monotony  is  unendurable.  She 
keeps  wishing  for  something  new.  You  think  her  ungrateful.  You  feel  she  has  a  great 
deal  to  make  her  happy  and  to  be  thankful  for,  and  yet  she  is  miserable  and  makes 


56  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

everybody  miserable  about  her.  She  constantly  seeks  change.  She  is  going  some- 
where all  the  time.  Her  frame  of  mind,  with  the  late  hours  and  excitement  of 
society  life,  rob  her  of  her  youthful  charms,  and  her  spirit  loses  its  sweetness  and 
fastens  unerringly  the  lines  of  pain  and  suffering  upon  her  face.  It  is  so  strange  that 
parents  do  not  see  that  their  daughters,  as  well  as  their  sons,  are  really  human  beings. 
You  wish  your  son  to  make  a  choice  of  profession  or  calling.  You  strive  to  assist 
him  in  every  possible  way  to  do  so,  and  feel  dissatisfied  with  him  if  he  continually 
puts  off  this  choice  and  seems  to  center  upon  nothing.  But  it  is  far  otherwise  with 
your  daughter.  The  kind  of  limitation  spoken  of  is  what  is  most  often  imposed 
upon  her,  and  a  great  part  of  the  viciousness  of  this  whole  order  of  things  consists 
in  the  absolute  dependence  in  which  she  is  placed.  These  girls  are  made  to  feel  that 
their  own  judgment  is  not  final  in  any  respect;  that  they  are  pensioners  on  the  bounty 
of  their  father  or  male  relatives;  that  the  services  they  render  have  no  money  value; 
and  it  is  the  surest  of  methods  to  produce  weakness  of  judgment,  irresponsibility  in 
expenditure,  and  incapacity  for  any  useful  service.  What  all  about  us  expect  from  us 
that  is  what  we  are  most  likely  to  give;  and  we  either  sink  or  rise  to  the  level  of  the 
opinions  of  our  friends  concerning  us.  We  are  in  a  world  of  material  things.  Our 
feet  are  on  the  solid  earth.  It  seems  to  be  a  law  of  nature  that  we  desire  to  acquire 
something  that  we  can  call  our  own. 

A  young  man  never  makes  a  success  in  life  until  he  has  some  capital  of  money, 
profession,  or  business  training.  He  must  be  a  center,  and  be  capable  of  gathering 
and  holding  something.  He  does  not  get  a  foothold  in  a  community  until  he  accom- 
plishes this.  He  does  not  become  conscious  of  his  own  possibilities  or  capabilities 
until  he  does  it.     Neither  does  the  community  about  him. 

Now  is  it  so  easy  a  matter  to  train  the  young  for  life  that  we  can  afford  to  throw 
away  the  strength  and  dignity  that  come  from  the  acquisition  of  property,  simply 
because  the  young  man  chances  to  be  a  young  woman.  Now  I  hear  some  one  say, 
"  You  are  leaving  marriage  out  of  the  question."  No,  I  am  but  speaking  for  those 
for  whom  a  desirable  marriage  does  not  yet  appear.  I  would  not  ignore  marriage,  but 
I  would  have  a  young  girl  so  trained  and  prepared  for  life  that  she  should  enter  into 
it  only  because  of  the  compelling  persuasiveness  of  a  genuine  love. 

And  I  th'ink  most  women  would  bear  me  out  in  the  opinion,  that  the  power  to 
acquire  and  to  properly  care  for  money  would  rather  sweeten  the  path  of  matri- 
mony than  lessen  its  advantages. 

Anything  that  is  so  powerful  in  the  human  make-up  as  the  love  of  possession,  the 
desire  to  feel  "This  is  mine,"  and  is  so  inherent  in  our  very  nature,  we  do  wrong  to 
cast  aside  and  give  no  legitimate  field  of  action.  Our  daughters  are  crippled  and 
dwarfed,  and  are  not  the  grand  and  well-rounded  women  they  might  become. 

Then  this  extreme  dependence  we  impose  upon  them  causes  them  to  look  upon 
marriage  as  the  only  loop-hole  of  escape  from  an  irksome  bondage,  and  they  come  to 
seek  marriage  as  a  means  to  this  end.  There  is  something  terribly  degrading  in  this 
attitude  in  which  many  of  our  well-to-do  young  women  of  today  are  placed.  In  a 
sneering  way  it  is  said,  "They  are  in  the  market." 

How  much  nobler  and  finer  is  the  attitude  of  a  woman  who  prepares  herself  for 
some  useful  profession  or  calling,  and  finds  enough  of  interest  in  the  busy  activities 
of  life  to  engross  her  best  energies,  to  expand  her  powers,  and  to  make  her  what  God 
intended  her  to  be — a  ministering,  self-helpful  woman.  Then  when  love  speaks,  and  the 
love  of  her  own  heart  answers,  is  she  the  less  prepared  for  a  happy  marriage?  I  think 
not. 

Many  of  us  have  known  the  genteel  lady  of  poverty  and  have  seen  her  willing  to 
beg  or  borrow  without  the  slightest  idea  of  return,  rather  than  do  the  useful  things  of 
life. 

A  bright  friend  has  suggested  that  when  the  stress  of  need  and  trouble  has  come 
the  battle  of  life  is  half  won;  when  one's  own  opinion^,  which  act  as  suckers  upon 
the  roots  of  strength  and  energy,  are  cut  down,  an  open  field  is  left  free  and  clear. 


'THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  57 

But  can  you  not  see,  my  friends,  that  when  you  allow  in  yourself,  or  cultivate 
in  your  daughter,  the  idea  that  useful  labor  is  degrading,  you  are  preparing  for  a  moral 
descent  in  the  day  of  adversity  that  may  include  a  darker  region  than  the  one  of 
unpaid  debts. 

In  this  brief  essay  the  effects  upon  the  women  themselves  who  cherish  these 
opinions,  and  are  bound  by  these  customs,  have  been  treated.  But  they  have  a  wider 
bearing.  They  reach  out  into  all  grades  of  life  and  touch  every  .social  center  in  the 
land.  The  discredit  that  is  fastened  upon  labor  for  remuneration,  if  performed  by  the 
well-to-do  women  of  our  land,  extends  to  the  classes  of  people  engaged  in  such  labor, 
and  distinctly  builds  rather  than  pulls  down  the  barrier  which  exists  between  labor 
and  capital,  the  rich  and  the  poor.  And  I  believe  the  difficulties  of  the  labor  question 
can  never  be  solved  until  this  barrier  has  been  melted  away  by  acquaintance,  knowl- 
edge and  sympathy.  Anything  that  builds  this  barrier,  that  fortifies  these  walls  of 
separation,  is  injurious  and  hurtful.  But  those  philanthropies  founded  upon  the 
principle  that  he  is  my  neighbor  who  most  needs  me,  and  which  ignore  the  prevailing 
artificial  conditions  and  distinctions,  are  bringing  forward  the  day  of  "the  Parliament 
of  Man,  the  Federation  of  the  World." 

Personal  contact,  and  the  love  and  influence  that  flows  from  one  to  another  in  the 
social  body,  is  the  only  agency  that  really  wins,  the  only  key  that  opens  hearts.     ^ 

Of  late  philanthropic  institutions  have  sprung  up,  founded  on  this  principle,  viz., 
that  of  constant  and  free  intercourse  of  the  favored  and  cultured  with  the  more 
humble  and  less  fortunate. 

Hull  House,  in  this  city,  is  a  notable  and  successful  example.  It  is  a  house 
planted  by  two  women  in  the  midst  of  a  foreign  population,  mostly  self-supporting, 
but  comparatively  destitute  of  a  social  life  that  brings  joy  and  hope.  These  women 
in  wise  and  winning  ways  have  reached  out  socially,  and  have  won  their  way  into  the 
hearts  and  confidence  of  the  people  by  proving  themselves  real  friends.  No  supe- 
riority has  been  assumed,  but  a  footing  of  social  equality  has  been  their  aim  to  estab- 
lish. From  the  needs  of  these  people,  which  were  many,  there  has  sprung  a  system 
of  most  diverse  educational  facilities  too  numerous  to  mention. 

Now  if  it  is  good  for  ^' homes"  to  be  founded  in  less  favored  neighborhoods 
to  carry  social  life  into  them,  how  much  more  may  be  accomplished  when  the  natural 
homes  that  cover  our  land  extend  a  helping  hand  to  the  needy  and  less  favored? 

Now  it  is  quite  common  for  our  social  life  to  rest  on  a  commercial  basis, 
receiving  so  much  for  so  much,  and  using  it  as  a  means  for  selfish  promotion;  and 
interminable  calling  lists  and  crowded  reception  halls  are  some  of  the  consequences. 
Wearisome  these  self-imposed  burdens  are,  and  often  we  feel  that  we  cannot  bear 
them  any  longer.  How  much  better  it  would  be  to  bestow  ourselves  and  our  hospi- 
tality on  those  who  need  us  and  whom  we  can  really  benefit,  and  not  look  for  a 
material  reward,  but  take  it  in  the  inward  satisfaction  such  a  life  would  bring.  As 
Browning  says:  "  Give  earth  yourself,  go  up  for  gain  above." 


THE   PROGRESS   OF   FIFTY   YEARS. 


By  MRS.  LUCV  STONE. 

The  commencement  of  the  last  fifty  years  is  about  the  beginning  of  that  great 
change  and  improvement   in  the  condition  of  women  which  exceeds  all  the  gains 

of  hundreds  of  years  before. 

Four  years  in  advance  of  the  last  fifty,  in  1833, 
Oberlin  College,  in  Ohio,  was  founded.  Its  charter 
declared  its  grand  object,  '*  To  give  the  most  useful 
education  at  the  least  expense  of  health,  time,  and 
money,  and  to  extend  the  benefits  of  such  education 
to  both  sexes  and  to  all  classes;  and  the  elevation 
of  the  female  character  by  bringing  within  the  reach 
of  the  misjudged  and  neglected  sex  all  the  instruct- 
ive privileges  which  have  hitherto  unreasonably  dis- 
tinguished the  leading  sex  from  theirs."  These  were 
the  words  of  Father  Shippen,  which,  if  not  heard  in 
form,  were  heard  in  fact  as  widely  as  the  world.  The 
opening  of  Oberlin  to  women  marked  an  epoch.  In 
all  outward  circumstances  this  beginning  was  like  the 
coming  of  the  Babe  of  Bethlehem — in  utter  poverty. 
Its  first  hall  was  of  rough  slabs  with  the  bark  on  still. 
Other  departments  corresponded.  But  a  new  Messiah 
had  come. 

Get  but  a  truth  once  uttered,  and  'tis  like 
A  star  new  born  that  drops  into  its  place; 
And  which,  once  circling  in  its  placid  round, 
Not  all  the  tumult  of  the  earth  can  shake. 
Henceforth  the  leaves  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  were  for  women,  and  for  the' heal- 
ing of  the  nations.     About  this  time  Mary  Lyon  began  a  movement  to  establish  Mt. 
Holyoke  Seminary.     Amherst  College  was  near  by.     Its  students  were  educated  to  be 
missionaries.     They  must  have  educated  wives.     It  was  tacitly  understood  and  openly 
asserted  that   Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary  was  to  meet  this  demand.     But,  whatever  the 
reason,  the  idea  was  born  that  women  could  and  should  be  educated.      It  lifted  a 
mountain   load    from  woman.      It   shattered  the   idea,   everywhere  pervasive  as  the 
atmosphere,  that  women  were  incapable  of  education,  and  would  be  less  womanly, 
less    desirable  in    every  way,   if   they   had  it.      However   much  it   may  have   been 
resented,    women   accepted   the  idea  of    their  intellectual  inequality.      I   asked  my 
brother:  "Can  girls  learn  Greek?" 

The  anti-slavery  cause  had  come  to  break  stronger  fetters  than  those  that  held  the 
slave.     The  idea  of  equal  rights  was  in  the  air.     The  wail  of  the  slave,  his  clanking 

Mfb.  Lucy  Stone  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts.  She  was  born  August  13,  1818.  Her  parents  were  Francis  Stone 
and  Hannah  Matthews  Stone.  She  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  at  Monson  and  Wilbraham  Academies,  and 
Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary  and  Oberlin  College,  and  has  traveled  over  most  of  the  United  States  and  Canada.  She  married  Henry 
B.  Blackwell  in  1855,  but  she  did  not  change  her  name,  finding  that  no  law  required  her  to  do  so.  Mrs.  Stone  was  a  well- 
known  Woman  Suffragist.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  editorials  in  the  "Woman's  .Journal,"  extending  over  twenty-two 
years.  In  religious  faith  she  was  a  Hicksite  Quaker  or  liberal  Unitarian.  She  died  October  18,  1893.  Her  life  was  a  busy 
and  useful  one.  She  lived  to  see  the  Columbian  Exposition  with  all  its  glorious  opportunities,  and  to  use  them  for  the 
good  of  the  cause  most  dear  to  her.  Mrs.  Stone's  closing  days  and  hours  were  blessed  and  crowned  with  comfort  and  tran- 
quillity, that  always  rewards  a  self-eacrificing,  noble,  Christian  life.  Almost  her  last  articulate  words  were :  "Make  the 
world  better." 

58 


MRS.   LUCY  STONE. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  59 

fetters,  his  utter  need,  appealed  to  everybody.  Women  heard.  Angelina  and  Sarah 
Grimki  and  Abby  Kelly  went  out  to  speak  for  the  slaves.  Such  a  thing  had  never  been 
heard  of.  An  earthquake  shock  could  hardly  have  startled  the  community  more.  Some 
of  the  abolitionists  forgot  the  slave  in  their  efforts  to  silence  the  women.  The  Anti- 
Slavery  Society  rent  itself  in  twain  over  the  subject.  The  Church  was  moved  to  its 
very  foundation  in  opposition.  The  Association  of  Congregational  Churches  issued 
a  "Pastoral  Letter"  against  the  public  speaking  of  women.  The  press,  many-tongued, 
surpassed  itself  in  reproaches  upon  these  women  who  had  so  far  departed  from  their 
sphere  as  to  speak  in  public.  But,  with  anointed  lips  and  a  consecration  which  put 
even  life  itself  at  stake,  these  peerless  women  pursued  the  even  tenor  of  their  way, 
saying  to  their  opponents  only:  "Woe  is  me  if  I  preach  not  this  gospel  of  freedom 
for  the  slave."     Over  all  came  the  melody  of  Whittier's: 

"When  woman's  heart  is  breaking 
Shall  woman's  voice  be  hushed?" 

I  think, with  never-ending  gratitude, that  the  young  women  of  today  do  not  and  can 
never  know  at  what  price  their  right  to  free  speech  and  to  speak  at  all  in  public  has 
been  earned.  Abby  Kelly  once  entered  a  church  only  to  find  herself  the  subject  of 
the  sermon,  which  was  preached  from  the  text:  "  This  Jezebel  is  come  among  us  also." 
Theyjeeredat  herasshe  went  along  the  street.  They  threw  stones  at  her.  They  pelted 
her  with  bad  eggs  as  she  stood  on  the  platform.  Some  of  the  advocates  of  the  very 
cause  for  which  she  endured  all  this  were  ready  to  drive  her  from  the  field.  Mr.  Gar- 
rison and  Wendell  Phillips  stood  by  her.  But  so  great  was  the  opposition  that  one 
faction  of  the  abolitionists  left  and  formed  a  new  organization,  after  a  vain  effort  to 
put  Abby  Kelly  off   from  the  committee  to  which  she  had  been  nominated. 

The  right  to  education  and  to  free  speech  having  been  gained  for  woman,  in 
the  long  run  every  other  good  thing  was  sure  to  be  obtained. 

Half  a  century  ago  women  were  at  an  infinite  disadvantage  in  regard  to  their 
occupations.  The  idea  that  their  sphere  was  at  home,  and  only  at  home,  was  like  a 
band  of  steel  on  society.  But  the  spinning-wheel  and  the  loom,  which  had  given 
employment  to  women,  had  been  superseded  by  machinery,  and  something  else  had  to 
take  their  places.  The  taking  care  of  the  house  and  children,  and  the  family  sewing, 
and  teaching  the  little  summer  school  at  a  dollar  per  week,  could  not  supply  the  needs 
nor  fill  the  aspirations  of  women.  But  every  departure  from  these  conceded  things 
was  met  with  the  cry,  "You  want  to  get  out  of  your  sphere,"  or,  "To  take  women 
out  of  their  sphere;"  and  that  was  to  fly  in  the  face  of  Providence,  to  unsex  yourself 
—  in  short,  to  be  monstrous  women,  women  who,  while  they  orated  in  public,  wanted 
men  to  rock  the  cradle  and  wash  the  dishes.  We  pleaded  that  whatever  was  fit  to 
be  done  at  all  might  with  propriety  be  done  by  anybody  who  did  it  well;  that  the 
tools  belonged  to  those  who  could  use  them;  that  the  possession  of  a  power  presup- 
posed a  right  to  its  use.  This  was  urged  from  city  to  city,  from  state  to  state.  Women 
were  encouraged  to  try  new  occupations.  We  endeavored  to  create  that  wholesome 
discontent  in  women  that  would  compel  them  to  reach  out  after  far  better  things.  But 
every  new  step  was  a  trial  and  a  conflict.  Men  printers  left  when  women  took  the 
type.  They  formed  unions  and  pledged  themselves  not  to  work  for  men  who 
employed  women.  But  these  tools  belonged  to  women,  and  today  a  great  army  of 
women  are  printers  unquestioned. 

When  Harriet  Hosmer  found  within  herself  the  artist  soul,  and  sought  by  the 
study  of  anatomy  to  prepare  herself  for  her  work,  she  was  repelled  as  out  of  her 
sphere,  and  indelicate,  and  not  a  medical  college  in  all  New  England  or  in  the  Middle 
States  would  admit  her.  She  persevered,  aided  by  her  father's  wealth  and  influence. 
Dr.  McDowell,  the  dean  of  the  medical  college  in  St.  Louis,  admitted  her.  The 
field  of  art  is  now  open  to  women,  but  as  late  as  the  time  when  models  for  the  statue 
of  Charles  Sumner  were  made,  although  that  of  Annie  Whitney,  in  the  judgment  of 
the  committee,  took  precedence  of  all  the  rest,  they  refused  to  award  her  the  contract 


60  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

for  the  statue  when  they  knew  that  the  model  was  the  work  of  a  woman.  But  her 
beautiful  Samuel  Adams  and  Lief  Ericsson,  and  the  fine  handiwork  of  other  artists,  are 
argument  and  proof  that  the  field  of  art  belongs  to  women. 

When  Mrs.  Tyndall,  of  Philadelphia,  assumed  her  husband's  business  after  his 
death,  importing  chinaware,  sending  her  ships  to  China,  enlarging  her  warehouses 
and  increasing  her  business,  the  fact  was  quoted  as  a  wonder.  When  Mrs.  Young, 
of  Lowell,  Mass.,  opened  a  shoe-store  in  Lowell,  though  she  sold  only  shoes  for 
women  and  children,  people  peered  curiously  in  to  see  how  she  looked.  Today  the 
whole  field  of  trade  is  open  to  woman. 

When  Elizabeth  Blackwell  studied  medicine  and  put  up  her  sign  in  New  York, 
she  was  regarded  as  fair  game,  and  was  called  a  "  she  doctor."  The  college  that  had 
admitted  her  closed  its  doors  afterward  against  other  women,  and  supposed  they 
were  shut  out  forever.  But  Dr.  Blackwell  was  a  woman  of  fine  intellect,  of  great 
personal  worth  and  a  Idvel  head.  How  good  it  was  that  such  a  woman  was  the  first 
doctor!  She  was  well  equipped  by  study  at  home  and  abroad,  and  prepared  to  con- 
tend with  prejudice  and  every  opposing  thing.  Dr.  Zakrzewska  was  with  her,  and 
Dr.  Emily  Blackwell  soon  joined  them.  At  a  price  the  younger  women  doctors  do 
not  know,  the  way  was  opened  for  women  physicians. 

The  first  woman  minister,  Antoinette  Brown,  had  to  meet  ridicule  and  oppo- 
sition that  can  hardly  be  conceived  to-day.  Now  there  are  women  ministers,  east  and 
west,  all  over  the  country. 

In  Massachusetts,  where  properly  qualified  "  persons  "  were  allowed  to  practice 
law,  the  Supreme  Court  decided  that  a  woman  was  not  a  "  person,"  and  a  special  act 
of  the  legislature  had  to  be  passed  before  Miss  Lelia  Robinson  could  be  admitted  to 
the  bar.     But  today  women  are  lawyers. 

Fifty  years  ago  the  legal  injustice  imposed  upon  women  was  appalling.  Wives, 
widows  and  mothers  seemed  to  have  been  hunted  out  by  the  law  on  purpose  to  see  in 
how  many  ways  they  could  be  wronged  and  made  helpless.  A  wife  by  her  marriage 
lost  all  right  to  any  personal  property  she  might  have.  The  income  of  her  land  went 
to  her  husband,  so  that  she  was  made  absolutely  penniless.  If  a  woman  earned  a  dol- 
lar by  scrubbing,  her  husband  had  a  right  to  take  the  dollar  and  go  and  get  drunk  with 
it  and  beat  her  afterwards.  It  was  his  dollar.  If  a  woman  wrote  a  book  the  copy- 
right of  the  same  belonged  to  her  husband  and  not  to  her.  The  law  counted  out  in 
many  states  how  many  cups  and  saucers,  spoons  and  knives  and  chairs  a  widow  might 
have  when  her  husband  died.  I  have  seen  many  a  widow  who  took  the  cups  she  had 
bought  before  she  was  married  and  bought  them  again  after  her  husband  died,  so  as 
to  have  them  legally.  The  law  gave  no  right  to  a  married  woman  to  any  legal  exist- 
ence at  all.  Her  legal  existence  was  suspended  during  marriage.  She  could  neither 
sue  nor  be  sued.  If  she  had  a  child  born  alive  the  law  gave  her  husband  the  use  of  all 
her  real  estate  as  long  as  he  should  live,  and  called  it  by  the  pleasant  name  of  "  the 
estate  by  courtesy."  When  the  husband  died  the  law  gave  the  widow  the  use  of  one- 
third  of  the  real  estate  belonging  to  him,  and  it  was  called  the  "widow's  encumbrance." 
While  the  law  dealt  thus  with  her  in  regard  to  her  property,  it  dealt  still  more  hardly 
with  her  in  regard  to  her  children.  No  married  mother  could  have  any  right  to  her 
child,  and  in  most  of  the  states  of  the  Union  that  is  the  law  to-day.  But  the  laws  in 
regard  to  the  personal  and  property  rights  of  women  have  been  greatly  changed  and 
improved,  and  we  are  very  grateful  to  the  men  who  have  done  it. 

We  have  not  only  gained  in  the  fact  that  the  laws  are  modified.  Women  have 
acquired  a  certain  amount  of  political  power.  We  have  now  in  twenty  states  school 
suffrage  for  women.  Forty  years  ago  there  was  but  one.  Kentucky  allowed  widows 
with  children  of  school  age  to  vote  on  school  questions.  We  have  also  municipal 
suffrage  for  women  in  Kansas,  and  full  suffrage  in  Wyoming,  a  state  larger  than  all 
New  England. 

The  last  half  century  has  gained  for  women  the  right  to  the  highest  education 
and  entrance  to  all  professions  and  occupations,  or  nearly  all.     As  a  result  we  have 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  61 

women's  clubs,  the  Woman's  Congress,  women's  educational  and  industrial  unions, 
the  moral  education  societies,  the  Woman's  Relief  Corps,  police  matrons,  the  Wom- 
an's Christian  Temperance  Union,  colleges  for  women,  and  co-educational  colleges  and 
the  Harvard  Annex,  medical  schools  and  medical  societies  open  to  women,  women's 
hospitals,  women  in  the  pulpit,  women  as  a  power  in  the  press,  authors,  women  artists, 
women's  beneficent  societies  and  Helping  Hand  societies,  women  school  supervisors, 
and  factory  inspectors  and  prison  inspectors,  women  on  state  boards  of  charity,  the 
International  Council  of  Women,  the  Woman's  National  Council,  and  last,  but  not 
least,  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers,  And  not  one  of  these  things  was  allowed  women 
fifty  years  ago,  except  the  opening  at  Oberlin.  By  what  toil  and  fatigue  and  patience 
and  strife  and  the  beautiful  law  of  growth  has  all  this  been  wrought?  These  things 
have  not  come  of  themselves.  They  could  not  have  occurred  except  as  the  great 
movement  for  women  has  brought  them  out  and  about.  They  are  part  of  the  eternal 
order,  and  they  have  come  to  stay.  Now  all  we  need  is  to  continue  to  speak  the 
truth  fearlessly,  and  we  shall  add  to  our  number  those  who  will  turn  the  scale  to  the 
side  of  equal  and  full  justice  in  all  things. 


WOMAN  AS  AN  INVESTOR. 


By  MRS.  LOUISE   A.  STARKWEATHER. 

I  would  hesitate  to  come  before  you  with  a  paper  upon  the  unsentimental,  and  to 
many,  the  uninteresting  topic  of  finance,  but  for  the  fact  that  woman  is  such  an  import- 
ant factor  in  the  financial  world.  Coming  as  I  do  from 
a  field  of  strife,  where  ambition  to  attain  sudden 
wealth  often  wrecks  the  present  and  embitters  the 
future  lives  of  men  and  women  whose  investments 
of  money  are  at  best  attended  with  a  certain  degree 
of  hazard,  I  feel  a  certain  sense  of  duty  to  woman  in 
calling  her  attention  to  three  important  branches  of 
investments,  which,  as  far  as  she  is  concerned,  come 
in  the  following  order:  Insurance,  banking  and  loan 
associations.  There  is  not  an  incident  in  the  history 
of  war  of  cruelty  or  justice  meted  out  in  obedience  of 
some  law,  as  cruel,  as  cold-blooded,  or  as  heartless  as 
is  shown  in  the  history  of  finance  of  today.  True, 
hundreds  have  been  swept  out  of  existence  in  a  single 
hour  on  fields  of  battle;  but  the  suffering  was  soon 
past,  the  life  gone  out  was  cheerfully  given  for  a  cause 
sacred  to  the  giver  and  revered  by  those  who 
mourned  their  dead.  Death  is  far  preferable,  as  there 
can  be  no  anguish  nor  suffering  as  great  as  that  en- 
dured by  the  happy,  successful  man  who  suddenly 
finds  himself  a  beggar;  a  lifetime  of  work  and  savings 
swept  before  his  helpless  eyes  and  hands,  leaving  him 
to  witness  and  share  the  hardships  of  those  dependent  upon  him,  and  perchance  his 
failure  may  not  excite  the  sincere  sympathy  of  those  in  whose  behalf  he  risked  his  all. 
Censure  is  too  often  the  rule.  The  world  of  finance  knows  no  pity  for  the  man  who 
fails;  it  has  smiles  only  for  the  successful  man  without  much  inquiry  as  to  the  modus 
operandi  of  his  success.  Now  in  this  whirlpool  of  money  getting,  money  losing  and 
money  keeping,  what  of  woman? 

Read  the  list  of  the  millionaires  of  the  world  and  do  you  not  find  women  as  well 
represented  as  men?  Read  the  records  of  any  banking  institution  and  who  do  you 
find  as  the  principal  stock  owners?  Women!  Look  over  the  books  of  any  and  every  suc- 
cessful Loan  and  Building  Association  and  who  has  been  the  purchasers  of  stock  and 
builders  of  homes  by  this  method  of  Loan?  Women!  But  she  is  there  in  name  only, 
as  a  rule.  For  many  long  and  weary  years  she  has  been  clamoring  for  political  rights 
and  political  honors,  equal  suffrage  and  men's  clothing,  the  pantaloons  in  particular, 
if  one  is  to  draw  a  conclusion  from  the  recent  dress  reform  display  held  here  in  Chi- 
cago. It  is  claimed  aloud  by  some  men,  and  whispered  by  others,  that  she  has  been  in 
possession  of  the  article  of  apparel  just  mentioned  for  all  time;  be  that  as  it  may,  my 

Mrs.  Loaise  A.  Starkweather  is  a  native  of  West  Virginia.  She  was  born  March  28,  1858.  Her  parents  were  Thomas  B. 
Hall  and  Sarah  A.  Hall,  of  English  and  Scotch  descent.  She  was  educated  at  Normal  Dni  versity.  Normal,  111.  She  spent  four 
years  as  a  teacher  and  six  years  as  a  principal  of  schools.  She  has  traveled  throughout  the  United  States  and  part  of  Canada. 
She  married  Oakley  B.  Starkweather  in  Chicago,  April  20,  1889.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  newspaper  work  over  the 
signature,  "Antique,"  for  the  papers  of  Alton,  111.,  Bloomington,  111.,  and  Chicago.  She  has  been  superintendent  of  the 
Woman's  Department  of  the  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company,  of  New  York,  for  several  years,  and  has  written  some  of  the 
largest  policieB  held  by  women  in  America.  In  religious  faith  she  is  an  Episcopalian.  Her  postolRce  address  is  421  Olive 
Street,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

62 


MRS.    LOUISE  A.  STARKWEATHER. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  63 

only  wish  is  that  if  the  disguise  of  man's  clothing  would  open  woman's  eyes  to  her 
own  importance  and  responsibility  in  the  financial  world,  I  shall  not  object,  but  I  doubt 
it.  Strange  as  it  may  seem  coming  from  a  business  woman  as  I  am,  I  do  most 
emphatically  assert  that  woman  is  the  most  inconsistent  of  God's  creation.  There  are 
women  who  by  inheritance  of  stock  in  the  great  industries  and  banks  of  this  age  might 
wield  a  power  far  more  telling,  far  more  vital  than  anything  politics  could  give,  yet 
they  never  think  of  asserting  the  rights  they  already  have.  I  shall  not  take  your  time 
in  giving  a  recapitulation  of  history  as  to  the  wealth  and  power  of  our  revered  mater- 
nal ancestors.  The  pages  of  ancient  and  modern  history  teem  with  the  facts  and  you 
may  read  if  you  will. 

It  is  my  purpose  to  talk  of  woman  as  I  find  her  today,  good,  honest,  earnest  and 
inconsistent!  First  let  us  look  at  the  matter  of  banks  and  bank  stock.  Did  it  ever 
occur  to  you  that  a  very  large  portion  of  bank  stock  in  the  United  States  is  owned  by 
women  ?  Did  it  ever  occur  to  those  women  that  they  have  a  vote  and  voice  in  the  direc- 
tion and  management  of  a  work  far  more  important  than  the  election  of  a  Kansas 
Senator  or  a  Ward  politician?  True,  there  are  some  women  who  are  holding  offices  in 
banks.  I  met  the  vice-presidentof  a  Texas  bank  and  in  a  conversation  upon  her  duties 
learned  that  she  always  signed  papers  when  brought  to  her  even  though  she  stopped 
her  bread-making  or  any  other  household  duties  to  do  so;  but  as  to  any  knowledge 
of  the  securities  held,  money,  markets,  etc,  she  had  none  further  than  that  her  money 
was  in  the  bank's  business  and  she  was  notified  regularly  of  the  dividends,  and  had 
money  to  use  as  shechose.  But  as  to  whether  the  dividends  were  larger  or  smaller  than 
any  preceding  year  she  could  not  say.  Some  day  that  woman  will  be  notified  that 
her  stock  is  not  drawing  any  dividends,  then  maybe  she  will  look  after  her  interests 
and  exercise  her  right  to  the  ballot.  Men  are  willing  to  grant  woman  all  the  rights 
she  may  have  in  the  financial  world,  yet  they  look  upon  her  as  a  legal  prey  if  she  per- 
sists in  remaining  ignorant  in  matters  pertaining  to  her  property  and  prosperity.  No- 
where in  the  business  world  is  woman  more  applauded  than  in  this  department  of 
economics,  and  nowhere  is  she  more  swindled  and  wheedled  out  of  her  property  than 
right  here.  As  I  before  stated  there  is  no  sentiment  in  finance,  but  there  is  commendation 
to  the  successful,  be  that  person  man  or  woman.  In  Suffolk  County,  Va.,  two-thirds  of 
the  bank  stock  is  owned  by  women,  yet  there  is  but  one  bank  officer  a  woman,  as  far  as 
can  be  learned,  and  many  of  these  women  do  not  know  how  to  draw  a  check  and  can- 
not discover  the  difference  between  a  dividend  and  an  assessment  and  would  be  as 
pleased  over  a  notice  of  one  as  the  other  until  better  informed.  Who  votes  the 
shares  of  stock  owned  by  women,  do  you  ask?  Some  man  who  by  proxy  votes  as 
best  suits  his  purpose,  and  attends  to  her  loans  and  interests  as  is  most  profitable  to 
himself. 

A  rather  amusing  story  is  told  of  one  of  the  wealthy  women  of  St.  Louis,  whose 
husband,  tired  of  attending  to  her  dressmakers'  and  milliners'  bills,  decided  to  give 
her  an  account  at  a  bank,  so  she  might  attend  to  these  affairs  herself.  So  he  handed 
her  a  bank  book  with  the  account  opened,  and  a  good  round  sum  at  her  credit,  also 
a  check  book,  and  told  her  to  pay  her  bills  by  checks;  shortly  after  he  was  notified 
that  his  wife's  account  was  overdrawn  at  the  bank.  He  called  her  attention  to  the 
fact  and  was  assured  it  could  not  be.  She  brought  him  the  check  book,  saying:  "See, 
there  are  several  checks  yet  I  have  not  used."  Is  it  any  wonder  that  money  left  in 
the  hands  of  such  a  woman  is  soon  mismanaged  by  some  man  who  sees  her  ignor- 
ance. Woman  suddenly  finds  herself  in  possession  of  money,  by  reason  of  death  of 
her  husband  or  father,  and  unless  she  is  on  the  alert,  it  will  soon  be  dissipated  by  bad 
management.  Life  insurance  has  made  woman  rich,  and  lawyers  have  profited  by  her 
ignorance  in  financial  matters.  The  judge  of  the  probate  court  in  one  of  the  counties  of 
New  York  gives  a  most  startling  statement  of  his  observation  on  the  bench.  It  is 
this:  Eighty  per  cent  of  the  money  left  to  widows  and  children  in  that  county  dur- 
ing his  term  of  office  was  dissipated  by  mismanagement.  Women  left  with  money 
are  looked  upon  as  legitimate  prey  by  a  class  of  men  who  have  over  their  office 


64  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

door  the  word  "  Investments."  Chicago  courts  of  this  year  disclosed  a  most  appall- 
ing state  of  affairs  that  women  should  blush  to  acknowledge.  A  firm  consisting  of 
four  brothers  closed  their  doors  one  morning,  and  in  the  investigation  following,  this 
fact  was  brought  out:  One  of  the  brothers  testified  that  his  duties  in  the  transac- 
tion of  the  firm's  business  was  to  look  up  widows  and  women  of  means,  and  by  a  sys- 
tem of  flattery  and  attention  gain  their  confidence  and  a  full  statement  of  finances.  He 
claimed  a  few  lunches,  a  theater  party,  a  ride  or  other  attentions  of  like  nature  usu- 
ally gave  him  the  information  desired,  and  he  soon  had  the  management  of  the 
woman's  property,  borrowed  her  money,  and  the  best  account  he  could  give  was  a 
memoranda  stuck  in  his  vest  pocket  and  afterward  destroyed.  That  women  should 
be  such  weaklings  is  a  matter*  of  both  regret  and  shame  to  all  the  world,  and  that  such 
a  case  could  be  recorded  against  her  good  sense  and  judgment  is  a  great  blot  upon 
her. 

Very  few  men  would  say  to  their  wives  or  daughters:  "  Here,  take  care  of  the 
bank  or  store,  or  factory;  I  shall  take  a,  trip  around  the  world,  and  may  remain 
indefinitely.  You  attend  to  the  affairs  and  take  care  of  the  children's  interests."  Yet 
every  day  we  see  women  thrown  in  that  position,  in  addition  to  the  grief  attendant 
upon  a  sudden  bereavement.  She  must  take  up  a  work  in  which  she  has  had  no 
preparation — and  too  often  no  knowledge.  She  must  either  see  her  interests  ruined  or 
lay  aside  her  grief  and  begin  where,  until  now,  she  was  not  supposed  to  have  ability 
or  comprehension  to  warrant  even  her  husband's  confidence.  This  very  fact  has  made 
woman  what  she  is  today,  and  it  will  make  her  the  rule,  not  the  exception,  in  business 
relations  of  the  future. 

Women  soon  discover  that  the  mysteries  of  business  are  not  as  impenetrable  as 
she  supposed.  The  time  has  come.  She  must  occupy  chairs  in  directors, meetings; 
must  keep  informed  on  the  subject  of  money  making,  as  well  as  money  spending; 
must  know  her  check  book  from  her  bank  book;  her  deposits  from  overdrafts;  divi- 
dends from  assessments  of  stock,  and  be  willing  and  ready  to  vote  and  lend  her  ideas 
in  this  branch,  as  she  has  elsewhere  in  the  world  with  such  good  effect. 

Insurance  formerly  offered  to  man  a  contract  with  two  conditions,  viz.:  First. 
Payment  of  a  certain  sum  at  a  stated  time  until  death.  Second.  Return  to  the  family 
a  specified  sum  upon  proofs  of  death  being  satisfactorily  given.  It  now  offers  to 
woman  more  than  that.  There  are  no  reforms  or  changes  so  marked  as  in  the  insur- 
ance world  of  today  and  that  of  the  past.  Women  are  now  considered  equally  as 
good  risks,  are  carried  by  companies  for  the  limit  of  their  indemnity,  and  by  this 
investment  may  have  many  opportunities  never  offered  before.  For  instance,  a 
woman  may  insure  her  life  and  have  the  policy  payable  to  herself  at  a  certain  time. 
That  is,  she  need  not  die  to  win.  This  policy  is  as  negotiable  as  a  government  bond, 
and  may  be  used  in  business  transactions  as  are  other  securities.  At  the  expira- 
tion of  a  stated  time  she  may  have  all  the  money  she  has  invested  in  this  manner 
returned  to  her,  together  with  interest  on  the  same  for  the  time,  thereby  giving  her 
the  same  advantages  of  savings  banks  with  greater  security  than  they  can  afford,  or, 
if  she  so  desires,  she  may  turn  the  cash  value  of  her  policy  into  an  income  for  life, 
thereby  providing  for  the  old  woman  a  safe  and  happy  old  age,  without  the  worries 
of  business  details.  This  last  feature  of  the  investment  in  insurance  is  a  most  import- 
ant one,  for  with  the  continuance  of  life  there  is  for  all  of  us  an  old  woman  for  whose 
care  and  comfort  the  younger  woman  is  responsible.  Charity,  no  matter  how  sweet, 
is  yet  a  bitter  dose  to  the  old.  None  of  us  can  foresee  our  peculiarities  in  the  future, 
and  we  are  too  well  warned  by  the  fate  of  old  women  of  our  acquaintance  to  neglect 
our  own  declining  years.  A  woman  owes  it  as  a  duty  to  herself  as  well  as  her  child- 
ren to  place  herself  in  that  position  which  will  make  her  not  a  burden  upon  any.  A 
son-in-law  cannot  be  expected  to  love  and  care  for  the  mother-in-law,  unless  she  is  a 
rich  one.  A  daughter  should  not  be  expected  to  add  to  her  own  cares  that  of  help- 
less imbecility  of  a  husband's  relative.  We  will  be  as  unwilling  as  the  most  unwilling 
of  our  relatives  to  take  that  which  is  given  under  such  circumstances.     Do  you  know, 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  «5 

that  by  a  small  saving  each  year  for  a  period  of  ten  years  a  woman  may  place  herself 
beyond  the  accident  of  dependence.  This  is  a  much  happier  future  to  contemplate 
than  the  uncertainty  of  some  one's  possible  care,  whether  given  grudgingly  or  not. 
Insurance  for  women  today  provides  an  estate  left,  in  case  of  death,  a  savings  bank 
for  her  money,  and  a  guaranteed  annuity  for  old  age;  yet  there  are  women  who  are 
sentimental  enough  to  not  only  deny  themselves  such  a  provision,  but  who  will  induce 
husbands  to  cancel  any  they  may  have,  and  too  often  live  to  repent  their  folly.  Let 
me  tell  you  another  story — my  stories  are  all  true  ones,  by  the  way:  A  woman  of  more 
than  ordinary  business  ability  in  a  western  town  was  approached  by  a  real  estate  man 
who  knew  of  her  contemplation  of  investing  a  sum  of  money  she  had  received.  He 
suggested  the  purchase  of  a  three-thousand-dollar  piece  of  property  that  was  then 
rented  at  ten  per  cent  of  the  value,  or  three  hundred  dollars  a  year;  he  showed  her 
that  by  a  few  repairs  needed  this  property  would  bring  her  four  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  a  year,  or  fifteen  per  cent  of  her  investment.  Fifteen  percent  on  money 
invested  is  always  a  temptation  to  man  and  woman  both,  and  our  western  woman  was 
not  an  exception.  She  purchased  the  property  and  the  agent  then  set  about  the 
repairs  and  changes  required  to  secure  an  advance  rent.  When  the  new  roof  was  put 
on,  the  sides  of  the  house  cried  out  for  paint,  and  when  that  was  done  the  fence  fell 
dovyn  with  shame  before  the  new  clothes  of  the  house;  and  so  it  went.  The  house  was 
entirely  remodeled;  time  was  lost,  as  the  tenants  were  compelled  to  move  and  new 
ones  must  be  secured.  But  they  were  finally  secured,  and  then  came  the  trials  of  our 
woman  investor  in  keeping  peace  between  tenants  and  agent.  She  resolved  herself 
into  a  peace  committee  and  lay  awake  nights  thinking  out  plans  to  ameliorate  the 
woes  of  first  one  and  then  the  other,  all  the  time  paying  the  agent  for  services  ren- 
dered in  keeping  her  tenants  either  moving  in  the  house  or  out  of  it.  Well,  to  be 
brief,  she  cast  up  her  accounts  one  day  last  month,  and,  during  the  time,  two  years, 
she  had  made  a  net  profit  of  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  upon  her  investment.  I  could 
give  you  her  name  and  address  that  you  might  verify  my  statement,  but  you  do  not 
need  my  case,  there  are  hundreds  of  your  own  knowledge  that  are  parallel.  Had  this 
woman  invested  one-tenth  of  her  three  thousand  dollars  in  some  large  and  secure 
insurance  company  two  years  ago,  the  dividends  of  that  company  would  have  been 
almost  forty  per  cent  of  her  investment,  and  she  need  not  have  added  lines  of  care  to 
her  face  in  the  endeavor  to  keep  her  money  making  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  in  two 
years,  besides  providing  an  income  for  her  future  that  would  not  require  the  services 
of  an  agent.  A  wife  has  as  much  need  to  provide  an  estate  for  her  children  by  the 
means  of  an  investment  in  some  insurance  company  as  has  the  husband.  She  ought 
to  have  a  sum  of  money  to  leave  her  children  that  they  might  have  the  advantages 
she  would  have  given  them  had  she  lived.  The  husband  is  more  helpless  when  left 
alone  with  the  children  to  rear  than  a  wife;  he  cannot  adapt  his  hours  of  bread-win- 
ning and  home-making  as  can  a  woman  when  left  alone  to  face  the  world.  Too  often 
children  are  scattered  or  given  into  the  care  of  unwilling  relatives  to  be  cared  or 
uncared  for,  as  the  case  may  be;  home  ties  are  broken,  affections  alienated,  ignorance 
encouraged,  and  crime  often  follows  the  loss  of  a  mother's  care  or  the  provision  she 
may  have  made  to  complete  the  plans  for  her  children.  Every  woman  in  this  great 
and  good  republic  should  insure,  for  has  she  not  the  same  right  to  accumulate  a  com- 
petence as  has  man,  and  in  this  branch  her  rights  are  equal,  her  returns  as  great,  and 
her  provisions  for  self  and  others  just  as  beneficent  as  man's.  Real  estate  may  decline 
in  value  and  at  best  brings  but  small  returns,  a  failure  to  pay  one  deferred  payment 
loses  all,  if  an  hour  of  need  comes  it  is  a  burden;  but  insurance  is  co-operation.  If  you 
die  your  children  never  needed  money  more  than  when  death  and  sickness  hampers 
their  grief-stricken  efforts;  they  may  draw  from  the  accumulated  resources  of  thou- 
sands of  others  a  fund  carefully  secured  against  loss,  says  one  of  the  wisest  business 
men  of  the  times.  Loan  associations  have  enabled  poor  women  to  build  a  home,  they 
have  made  her  pay  for  it  to  be  sure,  and  she  has  struggled  through  a  term  of  eight  to 
ten  years  for  this  end;  had  death  overtaken  her  all  would  have  been  lost  unless  she 

(5) 


66  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

carried  a  policy  to  cover  the  mortgage  hanging  over  the  home.  Without  the  policy 
she  would  have  left  a  debt,  an  unfinished  obligation  for  those  left  behind  to  assume; 
with  a  policy  the  debt  is  canceled,  the  home  safe,  and  she  has  not  lived  in  vain  even 
should  she  not  be  able  to  stand  the  strain  of  her  duties  to  those  dependent  upon  her. 
Did  you  ever  hear  of  a  woman  attending  the  meetings  of  the  directors  of  a  loan  asso- 
ciation and  learning  anything  of  its  transactions  unless  she  was  to  become  a  borrower? 
I  regret  that  my  business  has  shown  me  woman's  indifference  in  a  matter  of  so  much 
importance  as  this  of  money  making.  Yet  to  be  truthful  I  must  state  facts  and  urge 
it  upon  all  to  look  into  your  bank  accounts,  your  investments,  the  money  markets 
and  the  provision  for  your  old  age.  An  old  woman  cannot  have  too  much  money. 
The  more  disagreeable  she  is  the  more  she  will  need  that  which  makes  all  paths 
smooth  and  services  rendered  lighter  by  a  recorripense  greater  than  love  can  buy  or 
importune.  This  great  branch  of  business,  larger  by  far  than  the  banking  systems 
combined,  opens  its  doors  to  woman,  making  her  not  only  the  beneficiary  as  formerly, 
but  owner  of  the  shares  of  stock  and  shares  in  the  profits  of  the  vast  amounts  invested 
for  her  future  needs.  Her  age  and  sex  cut  no  figure  here;  she  is  from  the  insurance 
point  of  view  equal  to  man  in  all  things. 


THE  FEAST  OF  COLUMBIA.    1493-189^ 

By  MRS.  ALICE  WILLIAMS  BROTHERTON. 

"Hither,"  Columbia  said, 
With  a  smile  to  her  daughters  four, 

"From  prairie  and  gulf  and  sea 
Come  hither  and  toil  with  me. 
'Ere  the  century  turns  from  our  door, 
Let  us  set  a  feast  for  the  ancient  East 
Upon  the  New  World's  shore." 

From  the  rising  sun  came  one, 
A  sturdy  colonial  dame. 
With  a  rugged,  cheery  face. 
Tanned  by  the  wind  and  sun, 
And  a  stately,  old-time  air, 
Dark  eyes  with  courage  aflame 
Under  her  powdered  hair. 

Of  cloth  from  the  whirring  looms. 

Woven  so  soft  and  fine. 

Deftly  she  spread  a  snowy  webb; 

Said,  "Here  is  a  gift  of  mine. 

But  many  another  thing 

To  grace  your  halls  I  bring. 

Marbles,  polished  and  varied  and  rare. 

And  granites  strong  and  good; 

Fish  from  my  sea  beat  coasts, 

Masts  from  my  tall  pine  wood, 

Yet  something  better  than  these  I  boast. 

This  ancient  blade  with  the  battle  nicks. 

Lo!  here  is  a  pen. 

And  the  musty  parchment  deed; 

Framed  in  our  hour  of  need 

By  stalwart,  single  hearted  men 

In  Seventeen  and  Seventy-Six." 

And  the  people  of  the  land, 
From  the  oldest  to  the  least 
Cried,  "Hail  to  the  steadfast  band 
Who  saved  for  us  Freedom's  land: 
Hurrah,  Hurrah!     Once  and  again, 
Hail  to  the  Mother  of  Men! 
Hail  to  the  East!" 

Mrs.  Alice  Williams  Brotherton  iB  a  native  of  Cambridge,  Ind.,  bat  has  passed  nearly  all  of  her  life  in  Ohio.  Her 
parents  were  Rath  Dodge  Johnson  Williams  and  Alfred  Baldwin  Williams,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  She  was  educated  in 
various  private  schools,  in  the  St.  Louis  Eliot  Grammar  School,  and  in  the  Woodward  High  School,  of  Cincinnati.  She 
married  Mr.  William  Ernest  Brotherton,  of  Cincinnati.  She  is  the  mother  of  two  boys  and  one  girl;  the  eldest  son  died  in 
1890.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  contributions  in  prose  and  verse  to  such  periodicals  as  Ttie  Century,  The  Atlantic,  The 
Independent,  and  "Beyond  the  Veil,"  "The  Sailing  of  King  Olaf,"  and  other  poems,  and  "What  the  Wind  Told,"  in  prose  and 
verse.    In  religious  faith  she  is  a  Unitarian  of  the  non-conservative  type.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Bidgeway  Avenne,  Avon> 

dale,  Cincinnati.  Ohio.  ^_ 

67 


MRS.  ALICE   WILLIAMS   BROTHERTON 


68  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Out  of  the  North  one  paced 
With  a  stately  step  and  slow, 
As  one  whose  going  crushed 
The  crispness  of  the  snow. 
"I  bring  my  flour  for  the  feast 
From  the  thousand  mills  you  know, 
The  tasseled  ears  are  torn 
From  my  serried  ranks  of  corn. 
Take" them  and  eat 
The  loaves  of  the  finest  wheat. 

Here  are  copper  and  lead  and  iron, 
Whose  bands  already  environ 
The  world,  and  lumber  to  frame 
The  walls  of  the  home. 
The  home  that  redeems  the  waste, 
In  whose  keeping  all  life  is  placed. 
With  these  and  more  I  come; 
Take  ye  these  at  their  worth, 
These,  my  gifts,"  said  the  North. 

And  the  people  shouted,  and  said, 
"Hail  to  the  Queen  of  the  Lakes, 
From  whom  the  nation  takes 
Grateful,  its  daily  bread! 
Hail  to  the  North!     Once  more — 
To  her  million  beds  of  ore! 
To  the  lumber  on  her  shore! 
And  the  wheat  she  sendeth  forth 
The  whole  world  o'er! 
Hail  to  the  North!" 

And  one  from  the  sunset  came. 
With  steps  as  a  panther's  free. 
And  dusky  cheek  aflame. 
"I  am  the  child  of  the  Western  wild, 
And  bring  my  gifts  to  thee. 

Red  meat  I  give  you  here 

From  the  bison  and  the  deer, 

Herds  on  a  thousand  hills 

Where  the  sunset  shines 

Are  yours  for  the  feast,"  said  the  West. 

"But  take  with  these  my  best 
Silver  and  gold  from  the  mine; 
And  a  strange  new  story  to  read 
Of  an  old  world  in  the  new. 
Over  canyon  written,  and  mead, 
Story  the  Aztecs  knew. 
Of  the  great  new  states  to  be 
The  years  shall  write  for  me. 
Oh,  the  old  is  good,"  quoth  she; 

"But  who  shall  call  it  the  best? 
Take  the  best  of  my  gifts  from  me," 
Said  the  mighty  West. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Then  the  land  rose  up  with  a  shout, 
"Hail  to  the  Westering  Star 
That  leads  our  conquests  afar, 
Most  welcome,  oh  noble  guest! 
Hail  to  the  Prairie  Queen 
With  the  eagle's  plumes  for  a  crest. 
Pearls  of  the  gulf  in  her  hand 
And  rails  of  steel  for  a  girdle  band!" 
Where  the  moccasined  foot  has  pressed 
The  coming  millions  shall  stand. 
Hail  to  the  West! 

Who  comes  up  from  the  South 

With  a  smile  on  her  full  round  mouth. 

But  trace  of  a  tear  in  her  eye? 

Who  says,  twixt  smile  and  sigh, 

(Oh  sweet  as  her  own  south  wind  her  words) 

"These  my  offerings  be,  look. 

The  ploughshare  beaten  from  sword. 

The  spear  made  pruning-hook, 

And  the  fruits  of  my  pruned  vine 

Today  are  thine. 

Take  what  my  tillage  yields — 
The  cotton-boll  from  my  fields. 
Tobacco  leaf  and  cane, 
And  snowy  rice  from  the  brakes 
Where  the  balmy  east  wind  wakes 
And  the  noontides  reign. 
My  wealth  of  flowers  fair 
To  grace  the  feast  I  bear. 
And  a  tropical  fruitage  rare: 
Oranges  ripe — a  mimic  sun 
Molded  in  gold  is  every  one; 
Bananas  that  melt  in  the  mouth. 
Lemons  sweetened  with  sun — 
Take  ye  these,  all  and  one 
My  gifts,"  said  the  South. 

And  the  people  of  the  land 
Cried,  "This  is  the  harvest  fair 
After  the  years  of  drought. 
And  the  rain  of  blood  and  tears. 
No  land  so  fruitful  appears, 
And  her  wheat  shall  know  no  tares! " 
And  her  sisters  pressed  anear 
And  they  kissed  her  on  the  mouth. 
And  the  nation  shouted  and  cried: 
"Hail  to  the  South  in  her  glad  new  pride 
Hail  to  the  South!" 

Smiled  the  Great  Mother,  and  said, 
"Peace.     The  old  issues  are  dead. 
And  the  wars  are  over  and  done. 
In  one  sky  glitter  afar 
Southern  Cross— Northern  Star. 


70  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

We  know  from  rise  to  set  of  sun 
No  North  or  South,  no  West  or  East, 
No  first  or  last,  no  best  or  least, 
For  the  many  in  one  are  one." 

"Come,"  Columbia  said 
To  the  nations  of  the  earth, 

"See  what  the  rolling  years 
Have  wrought  in  the  land  of  my  birth. 
See  what  the  brain  has  thought, 
And  the  busy  hand  has  wrought. 
We  have  gathered  from  every  side 
All  that  we  hold  of  worth; 
Come  ye,  and  see,"  Columbia  cried 
To  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

"Where  the  savage  war-whoop  rang, 
And  the  red  men  hunted  the  deer. 
The  hammers  of  labor  briskly  clang 
And  the  city's  streets  appear. 
Man  from  Nature  has  won  the  land. 
And  held  it  this  many  a  year. 
Where  art  has  pointed  the  way. 
And  industry  wrought  with  the  hand, 
Come  sit  at  the  feast  with  me  today 
In  the  center  of  my  land." 

"Come,"  said  the  world  of  the  West 
To  the  great  world  of  the  East, 

"Join  hands  across  the  sea 
In  token  of  amity. 
'Ere  the  century  is  done 
Let  us  sit  down  and  feast; 
In  all  lands  shineth  one  sun. 
And  the  world  is  one." 


THE  WOMAN'S  NATIONAL  INDIAN  ASSOCIATION. 


By  MRS.  AMELIA  S.  QUINTON. 

The  story  of  the  Woman's  National  Indian  Association  is,  like  that  of  similar 
movements,  largely  a  personal  story.     The  work  had  its  rise  in  individual  interest  in 

Indians,  and  this,  communicated  to  and  shared  by 
others,  originated  a  philanthropy  now  of  national  pro- 
portions. The  motives  were  Christian,  and  the  in- 
spiration had  its  birth  from  the  missionary  spirit. 
The  history  of  the  Association,  therefore,  as  is  natural, 
is  largely  a  history  of  missionary  activity.  Even  the 
first  movement,  though  for  five  years  wholly  devoted 
to  gaining  political  rights  for  Indians,  was  as  truly 
from  the  missionary  spirit  as  was  afterward  the  plant- 
ing missions  in  the  tribes.  In  the  present  brief  out- 
line of  the  work  reference  must  be  made  to  the  above 
l^oints;  to  the  condition  of  things  among  Indians  at 
tliat  date — the  spring  of  1879 — the  home  circum- 
stances of  the  people  aided,  their  character  as  then 
seen, the  results  of  the  labors  of  the  Association,  and 
to  the  important  work  still  remaining  to  be  done. 

And  first  a  personal  reference.  A  devoted  Chris- 
tian educator  in  Philadelphia  became  specially  inter- 
ested in  the  Indian  race  through  references  in  the 
daily  press,  related  the  facts  observed  therein  to  a 
friend,  and  these  two  secured  the  interest  of  others; 
an  organization  was  proposed  by  the  friend  referred 
to,  and  effected  after  two  years  of  preparatory  work  which  was  planned,  provided  for, 
and  done  chiefly  by  these  two.  It  was  seeing  "the  need"  which  moved  the  "com- 
passion," and  the  kindred  impulse  to  "go  tell"  naturally  followed.  Christians  were 
believed  to  be  millennium  bringers  by  the  application  of  practical  righteousness  to 
specific  needs,  and  this  "faith  justified"  itself  by  the  events  which  were  its  sequel. 

The  appeal  of  the  association  for  united  effort  to  move  our  government  to  grant  a 
legal  status  to  Indians,  the  protection  of  law,  lands  in  severalty,  and  education; 
appeal  was  made  to  the  Christian  press  and  ministry,  to  ecclesiastical  bodies  and  to 
patriots,  and  soon  sixteen  states  were  included  in  work  to  these  ends.  The  first  appeal 
was  for  covenant-keeping  with  tribes  to  which  .solemn  pledges  had  been  given,  and 
that  no  treaty  should  be  abrogated  or  broken  without  the  free  consent  of  the  Indian 
tribe  named  in  it.  It  was  of  this  association's  service  that  .Senator  Dawes,  chairman 
of  the  Senate  Indian  Committee,  said:  "The  new  government  Indian  policy  was  born 
of  and  nursed  by  this  woman's  association,"  and  it  was  his  own  .Scveralt)-  Bill  which 
became  the  law  of  the  land  in  March,  1887,  that  granted  to  the  Indians  of  the  United 
States  the  rights  and  privileges  asked  in  the  petitions  of  the  association. 

Mre.  Amelia  S.  Quinton  was  bom  near  Syracnse,  N.  Y.  Her  i>arent«  were  Jacob  Thompson  Stone  and  Mary  Bennett 
Stone.  She  was  educated  in  Homer,  N.  Y.,  under  the  tuition  of  Samuel  B.  Woolworth,  L  L.D.  She  has  traveled  in  every 
state  and  territory  of  the  United  States  but  three,  and  has  made  several  trips  to  Europe.  She  is  a  woman  of  large  experience 
and  much  culture,  and  most  gracious  manners.  She  married  Rev.  James  F.  Swanson  and  resided  in  Georgia  several  years, 
and  after  her  widowhood  married  in  London,  England,  Richard  Quinton,  A.  M.  Her  special  work  has  been  for  our  North 
American  Indians,  in  whose  interests  she  organized  the  Woman's  National  Indian  Association,  and  has  been  its  president  for 
the  last  six  years.  She  has  for  many  years  prepared  the  literature  of  that  Association  and  edited  its  paper.  Mrs.  Quinton  is 
a  Christiau,  and  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church.    Her  postotfice  address  is  1823  Arch  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

71 


MRS.   AMELIA  S.   QUINTON. 


72  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

When  it  became  evident  that  this  great  reform  would  be  a  success,  the  attention 
of  the  association  was  given  to  missionary  work,  to  home  building,  hospital,  educational 
and  other  work  needed  among  the  Indians  on  the  reservations,  and  soon  ten  depart- 
ments of  practical  work  were  shared  by  interested  helpers  in  nearly  all  the  states  of 
the  Union,  and  with  encouraging  success.  During  the  last  nine  years,  since  these  lines 
of  effort  were  undertaken,  the  society  has  established  directly  or  indirectly  thirty-three 
mission  stations,  transferring  these  to  permanent  missionary  societies  when  well 
established,  giving  with  the  mission  its  land,  mission  cottage,  chapel,  and  all  its  prop- 
erty and  improvements.  The  association  has  given  special  education  to  bright 
Indians,  training  them  as  physicians,  nurses,  teachers  and  missionaries  to  help  and 
lead  their  people.  It  has  built  houses  by  loans,  placing  thus  about  a  hundred  Indians 
in  civilized  and  Christian  homes,  and  the  loans  are  being  honestly  repaid.  It  has  hos- 
pital, library  and  industrial  departments,  and  has  built  twelve  missionary  cottages, 
chapels  and  schoolhouses.  During  its  last  year  it  expended  $28,000  sending  goods 
to  tribes  in  special  need  to  the  amount  of  $3,000. 

A  glance  at  the  oppressions  of  Indians  at  the  beginning  of  this  work  shows  them 
to  have  been  practically  without  legal  rights.  They  were  subject  to  enforced  removals 
from  their  own  land;  they  were  constantly  robbed  by  marauders' and  ruffian  frontiers- 
men; they  were  under  agents  possessing  despotic  power,  who  could  forbid  trade  among 
them,  could  suspend  their  chiefs,  and  arrest  or  drive  from  the  reservation  any  unwel- 
come visitor.  The  Indians  were  not  permitted  to  sell  the  natural  products  of  the  soil 
even  when  in  a  starving  condition.  They  might  be  banished  to  reservations  where 
farming  was  impossible  though  farming  was  required,  and  yet  under  such  conditions 
were  sometimes  deprived  of  arms  and  ammunition  for  hunting,  their  only  source  of 
subsistence.  Our  nation  practically  prohibited  all  lines  of  work  natural  to  the  Indian, 
and  then  falsified  its  promises  to  furnish  him  means  for  farming.  Today,  by  the  suc- 
cess of  the  movement  inaugurated  under  Divine  Providence  by  the  Women's  National 
Indian  Association,  the  Indian  is  lifted  out  of  his  old  helplessness  into  the  status  of  a 
man  and  citizen  under  law,  is  given  the  privilege  of  education,  and  his  home  and  family 
can  now  be  protected  from  ruffians  and  criminals. 

In  the  old  days,  as  a  rule,  the  Indian  home  was  a  tepee  or  tent,  a  wickyup,  hogan, 
bark  campooda  or  dug-out,  destitute  of  furniture  and  with  no  garden,  field,  meadow, 
wells,  improvements,  or  domestic  animals.  Today  there  are  thousands  of  comfortable 
homes,  built  of  planks,  logs,  or  better  materials;  many  in  different  places  are  really 
tasteful  and  complete  homes,  and  these  are  now  surrounded  with  gardens,  fields, 
orchards  and  other  features  of  civilization,  all  constituting  a  wide beginningof  the  better 
era  which  has  really  dawned  for  the  Indian  race.  Nor  is  the  change  in  Indian  charac- 
ter less  marked.  Under  the  old  order  of  things  the  better  human  impulses  were 
hindered  or  throttled;  manhood  and  womanhood  were  humiliated  and  degraded,  and 
many  a  character  noble  by  nature,  and  many  a  mind  finely  endowed  was  stultified  into 
utter  helplessness  and  inaction  by  tyrannous  conditions  and  the  inescapable  bondage 
of  the  reservation  system,  the  sum  of  all  oppression.  Today  the  Indian,  man  or 
woman,  who  is  conscious  of  the  possession  of  character,  the  impulse  to  action  felt  by 
ability,  the  aspiration  of  power,physical  or  mental,  has  freedom  to  go  where  he  will 
and  make  his  own  life;  while  he  who  desires  education,  development,  culture — and 
there  are  not  a  few  of  these  in  the  many  tribes — can  find  his  opportunity,  his  work, 
and  his  reward.  Indian  women  are  at  last  free  to  express  the  best  that  is  in  them,  to 
embody  in  deeds  the  noblest  instincts  of  maternity,  and  bravely  to  ask  for  their  chil- 
dren the  protections  and  privileges  which  have  so  lately  come  to  themselves. 

The  results  of  the  great  change  for  the  race  are  surprising  when  one  considers 
the  time  involved.  Gradually  the  way  was  preparing  by  Providence,  and  even  under 
the  reservation-government  civilized  industry  had  a  beginning;  but  the  great  facts  of 
progress  are  due  to  the  changes  of  the  last  few  years.  One  cannot  but  be  surprised 
that  already  more  than  twenty-four  thousand  families  are  engaged  in  agriculture; 
that  there  is  provision  now  made  for  three-quarters  of  the  Indian  children  of  school 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  73 

age;  that  there  are  at  least  twenty-five  thousand  real  Indian  citizens  of  the  United 
States;  that  the  seventy-one  military  posts  formerly  set  to  control  them  are  reduced 
to  ten;  and  that  of  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  Indians  of  the  country  two 
hundred  thousand  are  already  self-supporting.  The  efficiency  and  excellence  of  the 
work  done  for  and  by  the  Indians  in  the  schools  has  surprised  the  whole  country,  and 
one  need  but  look  over  the  well  certified  reports  of  these  schools  to  see  that  their 
results  compare  well  with  those  of  schools  for  any  race  under  like  conditions.  Those 
who  have  visited  the  schools  operating  for  one  month  each  within  these  exposition 
grounds  need  no  added  testimony  to  the  natural  ability  of  the  Indian,  or  to  his  will- 
ingness to  work  when  the  usual  motives  of  civilization  are  permitted  him.  Did  time 
permit,  many  interesting  illustrations  might  be  given  of  the  success  of  well-endowed 
Indian  young  men  and  women  who  have  in  a  few  years  obtained  a  good  elementary 
English  education;  of  others  who  have  graduated  from  colleges  and  institutions  for 
special  professional  education;  of  some  who  have  been  trained  by  our  own  associa- 
tion as  physicians  and  nurses,  or  been  aided  in  the  study  of  law,  and  even  of  art. 

The  first  Indian  woman  physician  was  thus  educated,  and  is  now  an  honored  gov- 
ernment physician  and  Christian  worker  among  her  own  people.  The  achievements 
of  some  of  these  Indian  patriots  among  their  own  people  would  read  like  epics  could 
they  be  written. 

We  can  here  cite  but  one  case:  One  who  followed  the  wild,  free  life  of  an  Indian 
boy — happil}'  remote  from  vicious  rough  white  borderers — till  fourteen  years  of  age, 
when,  hearing  from  beloved  lips  the  story  of  the  Christ,  and  being  won,  he  followed 
his  Divine  star  to  an  Indian  school  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  distant;  finished  his 
course  there,  entered  and  graduated  from  college,  achieved  a  three  years' medical 
education,  again  graduated  with  honor,  and  to  the  persuasions  of  white  fellow-stu- 
dents to  stay  east  and  get  rich  he  made  answer:  "Do  you  suppose  that  I  have  studied 
here  seven  years  to  stay  and  make  money?  No.  1  go  to  help  my  people."  And 
back  to  barbarians,  to  isolation,  to  hardships,  but  to  noble  service,  he  returned,  expos- 
ing life  again  and  again  in  the  emergencies  of  his  consecrated  labor. 

In  the  fifteen  years  given  to  work  for  this  race,  and  in  visits  to  tribes  in  every 
state  and  territory  of  the  Union  but  three,  it  has  been  my  happy  lot  to  meet  not  a  few 
men  and  women,  sometimes  in  blanket,  paint  and  feathers,  who  were  jewel  souls  by 
nature,  richly  worth  the  effort  of  any  patriot  to  save  and  uplift  them  into  noble  man- 
hood and  womanhood;  and  some  of  these  have  by  God's  grace  become  jewels  in 
Christ's  crown  and  consecrated  workers  in  His  kingdom.  Some  of  them  have  heard 
of  Him  for  the  first  time  in  dying  hours  and  have  .said,  "Now  I  am  not  afraid,"  and  have 
with  the  last  breath  asked  the  Divine  light  for  their  people.  Reproaches  that  can 
never  be  forgotten  have  fallen  from  some  dying  lips  for  a  gospel  withheld  from  be- 
loved ones;  from  many  tribes  now  come  earnest  pleadings  for  schools  and  for  Chris- 
tian teachers. 

Amcng  the  many  noble  endeavors  of  today,  what  is  nobler  than  redemptive  work 
among  these  native  Americans,  to  whom  we  are  under  so  great  and  so  lasting  obliga- 
tion? There  are  still  needed  forty  mission  stations  in  order  to  bring  the  Divine  light 
to  all  these  native  tribes,  and  the  presence  and  effort  of  a  consecrated  pair  of  friends 
and  helpers  in  each  tribe  would  discover  the  jewels  worth  polishing;  would  detect 
and  go  far  to  remedy  wrongs  among  them;  would  foster  all  good  impulses;  would 
evolve  and  strengthen  manhood  and  womanhood,  and  would  inspire  toward  industry, 
patriotism  and  Christian  living  the  worthy  men  and  women  of  the  tribe.  With  forty- 
four  states  it  should  be  easy  to  provide  these  needed  missions;  and,  rich  in  mental, 
moral  and  spiritual  power,  it  should  be  easy  for  American  Christian  women  to  finish 
the  solution  of  the  Indian  question. 


WOMAN'S  SPHERE  FROM  A  WOMAN'S  STANDPOINT. 


By  MRS.  LAURA  DE  FORCE  GORDON. 

One  of  the  most  noted  features  of  the  whole  woman  question  is  the  zeal  and 
persistence  with  which  men  of  all  classes  and  conditions  have  from  time  immemorial 

been  defining  and  explaining  woman's  natural  sphere. 
Eloquent  divines,  grave  jurists  and  profound  states- 
men have  all  added  their  quota  to  the  ponderous 
literature  that  has  accumulated  for  ages,  in  which 
woman's  place  in  nature  has  been  set  forth  i?i  extenso 
from  a  masculine  standpoint.  The  fact  that  it  has 
been  found  necessary  in  each  generation  for  the  past 
six  thousand  years,  more  or  less,  to  repeat  and  reiter- 
ate this  definition  of  woman's  sphere — her  legitimate 
sphere  in  life — is  proof  that  woman  is  a  most  rebel- 
lious subject,  or  that  men  have  not  yet  reached  a 
point  where  they  can  successfully  locate  all  women. 
Those  who  are  so  much  concerned  about  women 
remaining  in  a  certain  sphere  which  they  have  been  at 
such  pains  to  define,  and  so  earnest  in  their  appeals 
and  demands  that  she  should  accept,  ought  to  learn 
something  from  experience.  It  is  becoming  more 
and  more  evident  that  women — most  of  them — are 
not  satisfied  to  remain  in  a  state  of  innocuous  desue- 
tude, or  to  submissively  follow  indicated  paths  along 
life's  highways,  for  they  are  continually  breaking 
over  the  lines  drawn  by  masculine  authorities,  and 
are  most  unruly  subjects.  Today  there  are  thousands  of  women  everywhere  in  open 
organized  rebellion  against  the  social  and  political  despotism  which  denies  woman 
the  right  to  choose  her  own  vocation,  or  those  who  should  rule  over  her.  Woman  is 
no  longer  content  to  remain  a  subject.  The  spirit  of  "divine  unrest"  which  enwraps 
the  century  has  her  in  its  embrace. 

This  persistent  effort  by  one-half  the  human  race  to  mark  out  a  line  of  thought, 
a  rule  of  action,  or  sphere  of  life  for  the  other  half,  and  seek  to  compel  adhesion 
thereto,  is  such  a  wanton  disregard  for  the  rights  of  man,  so  palpable  a  violation  of 
the  inherent  principles  of  justice  from  which  the  love  of  liberty  is  born,  that  nature 
herself  rebels  against  it,  and  everywhere  we  find  evidences  of  her  emphatic  protests 
by  the  placing  of  masculine  brains — if  power  and  capacity  of  intellect  is  to  be  the 
criterion  of  sex — into  feminine  craniums. 

The  rational  man  evolved  from  savagery  could  not  estimate  worth  save  by  use. 
This  environment  made  war  a  necessity,  and  prowess  in  arms  was  his  whole  standard 
of  merit  or  superiority.  Hence  woman,  the  mother  of  the  race,  the  builder  of  the 
home,  was  the  conservator  of  peace,  and  perforce,  was  relegated  to  the  position  of  an 

Mrs.  Laura  de  Force  Gordon  was  bom  in  Erie  County,  Pa.  Her  parents  were  Abram  de  Force  and  Catherine 
Doolittle  Allen  de  Force,  also  of  Pennsylvania.  She  was  graduated  in  the  public  schools  of  Erie  County,  Pa.,  and  Chau- 
tauqua County,  New  York.  She  has  traveled  extensively  in  the  United  States,  British  Provinces  and  Mexico.  She  married 
Capt.  C.  H.  Gordon,  of  the  3d  R.  I.  Cavalry,  but  has  been  a  widow  for  seventeen  years.  Her  special  work  has  been  in 
advancing  the  interests  of  women.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  the  "Great  Geysers  of  California,"  a  hand-book  for 
tourists,  and  the  publication  of  a  daily  and  weekly  newspaper.  Her  profession  is  attorney  at  law.  She  has  attained  great 
distinction,  both  in  civil  and  criminal  practice.  She  was  officially  engaged  in  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition  as  a  Juror 
of  Awards.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Lodi,  Cal. 

74 


MRS.   LAURA   DE  FORCE  GORDON. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  75 

inferior;  but  with  the  advance  of  civilization,  the  diffusion  of  enlightenment,  there  is 
no  excuse  for  this  relic  of  barbarism  to  exist.  Starting  in  the  iron  age,  with  the 
assumption  that  woman  was  an  inferior,  man  has  found  it  hard  to  acknowledge  the 
value  of  brain  power,  of  intellectual  capacity,  of  inventive  genius  and  artistic  skill, 
unless  coupled  with  brute  or  physical  force.  Having  assigned  woman  an  inferior 
place  in  a  lower  civilization,  all  the  training,  instruction,  discipline  and  education  which 
have  since  been  accorded  her  have  been  carefully  shaped  and  permeated  by  a  spirit  of 
authority  which  would  tend  to  keep  her  there. 

AH  through  the  ages  there  has  been  a  system  of  repression,  suppression  and 
oppression  practiced  toward  women  that  is  incomprehensible.  Often  the  little  girl,  who 
dares  to  express  an  opinion  in  opposition  to  her  brother's  view  of  some  juvenile  sport, 
is  met  with  the  exasperating  and  insulting  reminder  of  her  inferiority,  imperiously 
expressed,  "Well,  you  are  a  girl.  What  do  you  know  about  it?"  Should  a  girl  in 
the  youthful  buoyancy  of  health,  and  full  of  latent  life  and  energy,  give  expression 
to  her  exuberant  spirits  by  gymnastic  exercises  or  athletic  sports,  she  suffers  a  sort 
of  social  outlawry,  and  is  stigmatized  as  a  "tomboy,"  a  hoyden,  a  romp,  etc.  Even 
in  the  family  circle,  if  the  conversation  is  turned  upon  educational  or  political  topics, 
in  which  the  young  maiden  takes  great  delight,  and  she  ventures  a  remark  or  asks  a 
question,  she  is  politely,  but  none  the  less  insultingly,  assured,  "Little  girls  are  to  be 
seen  and  not  heard."  Under  such  adverse  conditions  have  women  been  reared  for 
generations.  The  repression  and  suppression  of  all  her  natural  aspirations  toward  a 
healthy,  intellectual  womanhood  have  gone  on  and  on,  and  when  the  woman  ques- 
tion is  under  discussion,  we  are  gravely  told  that  woman  is  by  nature  wholly  unfitted 
for,  and  incapable  of  occupying,  a  broader  or  more  intellectual  field  of  thought  or 
action.     What  an  outrage  to  common  sense. 

Both  law  and  gospel  have  combined  against  woman  to  render  her  position  in  life 
unnatural  and  subservient.  From  her  first  hour  of  consciousness  she  has  been  cau- 
tioned, repressed,  and  finally  oppressed  by  invidious  distinctions  and  unjust  discrim- 
inations against  her.  Up  to  within  a  few  years  colleges  and  universities  have  been 
closed  against  her;  society  has  sneered  at  learned  women;  and  if  one  possessed  of 
inventive  genius  fashioned  a  new  and  useful  device,  even  her  nearest  male  relatives 
and  friends  advised  her  to  patent  it  in  the  name  of  some  man,  as  it  would  not  be  com- 
patible with  womanly  modesty  to  attain  such  notoriety  as  a  patent  to  herself  would 
bring. 

Think  of  the  opposition  to  women  entering  the  ministry  and  the  medical  profes- 
sion, two  vocations  that  one  would  think  the  whole  world  would  accord  her  the  right  to 
enter,  and  hail  with  delight  her  administrations  in  such  Divine  work.  Instead,  how- 
ever, of  encouragement,  the  pioneers  in  these  fields  of  labor  have  had  to  struggle 
against  fearful  odds,  meeting  insult,  derision  and  always  the  sneers  and  ridicule  of 
tyrannical  public  opinion. 

In  my  chosen  profession  of  the  law,  the  statutes  of  California,  as  in  most  states  at 
that  time  (fifteen  years  ago),  denied  women  the  right  of  admission  to  the  bar;  and 
after  a  long  and  wearying  contest  with  determined  and  able  opponents,  we  secured  an 
amendment  removing  the  unjust  discrimination.  The  Hastings  College  of  Law,  the 
Law  Department  of  the  State  University,  etc.,  closed  their  doors  in  our  faces  because 
we  were  women.  Again,  after  a  long  and  expensive  legal  contest,  another  victory  was 
won  for  the  women  of  California.  But  this  experience  only  accentuates  the  fact  that 
women  everywhere  have  most  unequal  and  disadvantageous  opportunities  in  any 
given  direction. 

But  some  will  say,  "Those  women  who  have  distinguished  themselves,  who  have 
evidenced  great  mental  capacity,  are  exceptional  cases."  We  might  reply:  The 
number  of  men  who  have  become  noted  for  their  brilliant  intellectual  attainments  are 
but  a  fraction  compared  with  the  whole  number  of  men  in  the  world.  But  what  a  con- 
trast between  the  educational  facilities  and  other  advantages  accorded  to  men  and  those 
that  are  extended  (permitted  would  better  express  it)  to  women.     The  boy  is  taught 


76  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

that  all  life  can  yield  is  his;  that  he  must  aim  high;  must  aspire  to  greatness.  He  has 
the  fond  encouragement  of  his  parents,  friends  and  society,  and  the  whole  world 
approves  his  efforts  and  applauds  his  success.  But  the  girl — alas!  the  case  is  far 
different. 

I  have  only  touched  upon  some  of  the  innumerable  discouragements  that  the 
ambitious  girl,  striving  to  cultivate  and  develop  the  mental  or  intellectual  force  with 
which  God  has  endowed  her,  has  always  had  to  contend;  but  what  chapters,  aye,  vol- 
umes, could  be  written  of  the  wasted  lives,  disappointed  hopes  and  blighted 
ambitions  that  have  fallen  to  the  lot  of  women  through  all  time.  Some  may  say, 
"Such  has  been  the  sad  experience  of  men  also."  Yes;  but  men  have  failed  or  fallen 
in  spite  of  all  the  encouragement,  all  the  privileges,  all  the  superior  advantages  and 
all  the  aids  to  success  which  have  been  so  cordially  extended  to  him,  while  woman 
has  faltered  and  failed  because  of  discouragements.  If  she  has  succeeded  at  all  in 
accomplishing  anything  outside  the  nursery,  the  kitchen  or  church  work,  it  has  been 
as  a  warrior  battling  for  his  rights  against  fearful  odds.  Constantly  assured  that  she 
has  not  the  natural  ability  or  capacity  to  compete  with  man  in  the  learned  pro- 
fessions or  in  scholastic  attainments;  that  she  is  by  the  designs  of  the  Almighty 
wholly  unfitted  for  any  work  or  mission  that  requires  more  than  the  veriest  modicum 
of  common  sense,  and  that  even  to  aspire  to  anything  more  is  to  fly  in  the  face  of 
Divinity,  as  was  once  said  of  the  invention  of  the  lightning-rod. 

The  conservative,  repressive  training  of  the  home  has  been  supplemented  and 
emphasized  by  the  religious  teachings  of  the  church.  In  law  she  has  always  been  a 
ward,  first  of  her  father,  and  second  and  always  of  her  husband.  Occupying  an 
inferior  place  in  her  family,  what  wonder  that  her  children  have  grown  up  with  an 
idea  of  woman's  weakness.  Theology  has  held  her  morally  responsible  for  sin  in  the 
world,  and  its  partner  in  authority,  the  law,  has  decreed  that  she  should  not  be 
trusted  to  manage  her  own  interests  financially,  and  denied  her  the  right  to  the  cus- 
tody of  her  own  offspring.  Such  has  been  the  condition  of  woman  for  thousands  of 
years,  in  the  sphere  which  law  and  gospel,  state  and  church  have  assigned  to  her. 
But  a  new  era  has  dawned.  She  has  discovered  for  herself  (what  man  did  long  ago) 
that  she  has  a  mind  of  her  own,  and  that  such  mind,  or  brain  through  which  it  works, 
is  just  as  capable  of  expansion,  cultivation  and  development  to  the  highest  degree  of 
intellectual  power  as  if  it  were  perched  upon  masculine  shoulders.  She  has  learned 
that  maternity  is  something  more  than  a  mere  physical  function,  and  that  motherhood 
implies  responsibilities  and  duties  that  only  the  most  intelligent  can  faithfully  per- 
form, and  to  have  good  mothers  there  must  first  be  wise  women.  She  begins  to  realize 
that  men  who  have  constituted  themselves  her  protectors,  and  claim  to  have  legislated 
in  her  behalf  and  the  best  interests  of  her  children,  are  not  to  be  unquestionably  relied 
on,  and  that  it  is  just  as  well  to  investigate  such  claims  and  look  after  the  interest  of 
her  offspring  herself.  She  entertains  some  doubts  about  this  government  deriving  its 
power  from  the  consent  of  the  governed.  The  woman  of  today  has  become  a  discov- 
erer! The  great  Christopher,  whom  we  are  all  honoring  above  all  men,  discovered  a 
new  world  in  the  fifteenth  century,  but  behold,  a  greater  than  Columbus  is  here.  The 
woman  of  the  nineteenth  century  has  discovered  herself.  She  has  discovered  that 
she  has  a  distinct  objective  existence.  This  magnificent  building,  planned  by  women, 
designed  by  a  woman,  filled  to  repletion  with  woman's  handiwork  and  brain  work 
along  all  lines  of  human  activity,  from  the  primeval  domestic  wares  of  the  stone  age 
to  that  beautiful  picture  (in  the  exhibit  of  Spain)  of  the  first  woman  lawyer  admitted 
to  practice  that  learned  profession  in  her  royal  kingdom;  all  these,  and  the  magnifi- 
cent work  done,  and  active  participation  of  women  in  all  the  wondrous  exhibits  of  this 
beautiful  "  White  City,"  demonstrate  the  fact  that  henceforth  and  forever  "woman's 
sphere  "  in  life  will  be  defined  and  determined  by  herself  alone.  Her  place  in  nature, 
no  longer  fixed  by  masculine  dogmatism,  shall  be  as  broad  and  multifarious  in  scope 
as  God  shall  decree  her  capacity  and  ability  to  accomplish. 


A  TALK. 


By  MISS  KATE  FIELD. 

Mrs.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  Some  weeks  ago  I  received  a  communi- 
cation from  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers.     I  have  a  great  respect  for  the  American 

eagle,  particularly  when  it  screams  for  my  sex  in  the 
gracious  person  of  Mrs.  Eagle,  the  Governor  of  Arkan- 
sas, or  at  least  the  wife  of  the  Governor.  When  Mrs. 
Eagle  asked  me  to  appear  at  some  future  time  in  the 
Woman's  Building  I  replied  that  if  I  were  in  Chicago 
I  should  be  happy  to  comply  with  her  request.  At 
the  same  time,  when  asked  to  give  the  subject  of  my 
address,  I  replied  that  that  would  be  impossible,  and 
that  calling  it  an  address  was  quite  contrary  to  my 
desire,  as  I  should  depend  entirely  on  inspiration.  It 
is  really  too  hard  work  to  sit  down  and  write  a  paper. 
In  fact,  I  think  that  too  many  people  are  now  being 
read  to  instead  of  being  talked  at.  The  little  I  have 
to  say  is  said  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  and  if  you 
don't  get  your  money's  worth  you  must  remember 
that  I  never  promised  anything. 

What  am  I  here  for?  I  came  first  to  deliver  a 
talk  before  the  Press  Congress.  It  so  happened  that 
at  this  talk  last  Friday  night  an  interesting  incident 
occurred  which  if  it  had  been  planned  could  not  have 
been  better  done,  as  far  as  dramatic  effect  is  con- 
cerned. I  heard  Miss  Anthony  was  in  the  audience, 
and  asking  her  to  come  to  the  platform  gave  in  my  adhesion  to  woman's  suffrage. 
She  has  labored  long  for  her  cause,  which  is  now  beginning  to  be  recognized.  I  said 
that  I  never  believed  in  woman's  suffrage.  I  never  opposed  it,  but  occupied  neutral 
ground,  because  I  did  not  believe  in  universal  suffrage.  That  is  highly  unpopular,  I 
expect;  but  I  do  not  believe  in  it,  and  as  this  country  is  free,  I  suppose  I  am  entitled 
to  my  opinion,  however  unpopular  it  may  be.  Not  believing  in  universal  suffrage  for 
men  I  certainly  do  not  for  women.  But  I  have  always  advocated,  and  always  shall 
advocate,  although  I  never  expect  to  get  it,  a  restricted  suffrage  founded  on  education 
and  character  regardless  of  sex.  That  is  what  we  can  not  get;  and  why?  Because  of 
the  politicians.  It  doesn't  make  the  slightest  difference  which  party  it  is — one  is  as 
good  and  one  is  as  bad  as  the  other. 

Only  a  few  days  ago  I  read  what  a  Republican  convention  did  in  Louisville. 
They  said  that  the  Republican  party  needed  new  blood,  and  with  that  I  surely  agree. 
Much  more  important  was  the  proposed  revision  of  the  naturalization  laws.  As  we 
are  on  this  subject  of  immigration  I  want  to  state  that  if  we  leave  the  doors  open  in 
the  East  then  we  should  leave  them  open  in  the  West;  and  I  don't  believe  in  either. 
The  other  day  in  California  I  was  called  upon  to  address  a  large  assembly  made  up  of 

Miss  Kale  Field  is  a  native  of  the  United  States.  She  was  born  in  St.  Loois,  Mo.  Her  parents  were  Eliza  Riddle 
and  Joseph  M.  Field.  As  editor  of  Kate  Field's  Washinoton,  published  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  she  has  made  a  repata- 
tion  for  great  brilliancy  and  execntive  ability.  Miss  Field  addressed  one  of  the  largest  audiences  that  as8einble<l  at  the 
Woman's  Building  Congresses.  Her  speech,  however,  was  wholly  impromptu,  and  it  is  regretted  that  Miaa  Field— having 
filled  many  similar  engagements  during  the  Colombian  Exposition— was  unable  to  fnrnisli  even  a  brief  synopsis  for  this 
pablication,  hence  the  newspaper  report  of  the  address  is  given.    Miss  Field's  jiostoffice  address  is  Washington,  D.  C. 

77 


MISS  KATE  FIELD. 


78  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

the  middle  class — made  up  of  neither  rich  nor  poor.  This  audience  was  made  up 
of  the  better  middle  class.  I  said  I  failed  to  see  the  virtue  of  opening  our  arms 
to  the  scum  of  Europe  and  of  closing  them  to  the  Chinese,  who  never  get  drunk, 
who  do  their  work  and  don't  vote,  and  ask  nothing  in  return  except  to  live.  The 
audience  was  so  enthusiastic  that  I  thought  it  would  tear  the  benches  up.  This 
most  infamous  Geary  Bill,  opposed  to  every  principle  of  liberty,  was  the  work  of 
politicians. 

One  of  the  congressmen  who  had  supported  this  bill  in  Washington  asked  me 
what  I  thought  of  his  speech.  I  said  to  him:  "  Do  you  want  to  come  back  to  Con- 
gress?" He  said:  "No."  "Very  well,"  I  said,  "why  don't  you  tell  the  truth,  for 
you  know  that  it  is  a  lie."  He  said:  "  I  don't  want  to  come  back,  but  I  want  to  have 
the  pleasure  of  refusing  the  renomination."  So  in  order  to  get  a  possible  renomination 
he  lied  about  the  whole  Chinese  race.  I  do  not  expect  any  applause  for  what  I  am 
saying — [applause] — I  dare  say  Californians  here  do  not  agree  with  me,  but  if  they 
are  women  they  feel  as  I  do,  because  they  know  that  without  the  Chinese  servants 
they  will  have  to  do  their  own  work. 

But  to  return  to  Louisville.  I  said  that  the  only  new  departure  the  Republican 
party  advocated  was  woman's  suffrage.  Seeing  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  get  a 
restricted  suffrage  I  said  to  Miss  Anthony  last  Friday  night  that  from  this  time  forth 
I  should  advocate  woman's  suffrage,  because  I  was  tired  of  being  classed  with  crim- 
inals, idiots  and  children,  and  I  did  not  want  politicians  to  make  the  laws  for  me  if  I 
could  help  it.  So  Miss  Anthony  came  upon  the  platform  and  accepted  me  into  the 
fold. 

What  am  I  here  for  today?  I  am  here  not  to  celebrate  myself,  but  to  celebrate 
the  World's  Fair.  Do  you  know  what  this  means?  It  means  the  dawn  of  a  new 
era  for  woman.  For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  world  women  have  been 
officially  recognized  in  a  world's  exposition.  You  have  this  wonderful  Woman's  Build- 
ing, designed  by  a  woman,  managed  by  women,  and  filled  with  the  work  of  women; 
and  if  you  don't  take  your  new  departure  from  1893,  women  of  America,  it  is  your  own 
fault.     You  have  the  chance  and  you  should  take  advantage  of  it. 

I  am  here  today  to  endeavor,  if  possible,  to  get  from  this  audience  expressions  of 
opinion  as  to  the  best  way  to  make  the  World's  Fair  popular.  I  am  not  only  an 
editor  of  a  national  review,  but  I  am  here  as  a  contributor  to  one  of  the  leading  papers 
of  Chicago.  I  want  to  be  a  friendly  critic.  I  think  I  fully  appreciate  the  greatness 
of  this  Exposition,  The  idea  of  criticism  of  many  Eastern  writers  is  the  noble  art  of 
finding  fault.  It  is  not  noble;  it  is  ignoble.  What  I  want  to  do  with  this  fair  is  to 
popularize  it.  Now  the  question  arises:  "  How  shall  we  do  this?  "  If  there  are  per- 
sons in  this  audience  who  have  an  idea  of  what  they  think  would  be  an  advantage  to 
the  World's  Fair  I  wish  they  would  get  up  and  speak  to  me  about  it.  I  hear  that  Dr. 
Swing  is  present.  Is  he  here?  Evidently  not;  and  I  am  afraid  that  not  one  of  you 
has  courage  enough  to  speak.     I  will  tell  you  what  I  think. 

But  just  here  a  woman's  voice  piped  up  from  a  front  seat: 
"  It  the  railroads  would  reduce  the  fare  I  know  hundreds  ot  people  who  would  be 
here." 

Miss  Field  repeated  her  remark  for  the  benefit  of  the  audience,  and  then  a 
Wyoming  woman  made  a  remark  about  the  cost  of  living,  on  which  Miss  Field  com- 
mented: 

A  lady  from  the  splendid  State  of  Wyoming  says  that  a  great  many  people  have 
staid  away  because  of  the  increase  of  prices  in  board  and  lodging;  that  rooms  which 
have  been  renting  for  ^15  to  ;^20  a  month  now  rent  for  1^65  and  $70,  and  even  $100  a 
month.  That  is  too  great  a  profit.  I  don't  think  it  is  fair.  We  all  know  that  the  com- 
mercial system  of  today  is  quick  returns  and  small  profits.  We  should  impress  upon 
those  charging  too  much  that  it  would  be  a  great  deal  better  if  we  had  a  great  many 
people  here  and  not  so  much  profit  on  a  few.     Is  there  anything  else? 

A  lady  from  Logansport,  Ind. — Keep  the  fair  closed  on  Sunday. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  79 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  it  is  but  right  that  I  should  be  the  mouthpiece  of  the  lady 
from  Indiana,  but  I  thoroughly  oppose  the  closing  of  the  fair  Sunday. 

A  lady  from  Milwaukee — Keep  the  fair  open  Sunday. 

I  do  not  believe  m  closing  the  fair.  I  think  it  is  a  retrograde  movement.  I 
came  out  last  Sunday  and  worshiped  here  all  day,  and  the  sermon  I  listened  to  with 
all  my  eyes  was  such  a  sermon  as  has  not  been  preached  to  me  out  of  the  Bible  in  all 
my  life.  I  looked  around  and  saw  well-dressed  people  conducting  themselves  in  a 
well-dressed  way,  and  I  remembered  how  many  of  those  people  the  Sunday  before 
had  clamored  at  the  gates  and  had  not  been  permitted  to  come  in.  I  also  know, 
what  perhaps  you  may  not,  where  a  good  many  of  those  same  people  went  afterward. 
It  was  not  to  church.  Therefore,  as  a  moral  movement,  I  say  that  to  close  the  fair 
Sunday  would  be  most  retrograde,  and  with  all  my  heart,  and  with  all  my  head,  and 
with  all  my  soul  I  am  going  to  do  everything  in  my  power  to  keep  this  fair  open 
Sunday. 

It  is  a  matter  that  does  not  concern  the  United  States  Government.  It  has  no 
right  to  dictate  on  a  matter  of  local  right,  and  I  think  it  will  be  beaten.  Jackson  Park 
belongs  to  the  people,  and  the  people  gave  the  park  to  the  Exposition  on  the  condi- 
tion that  it  should  be  open  every  day  in  the  week.  If  vox  popiUi  is  vox  dei,  and  I 
fully  believe  it  is,  the  World's  Fair  will  be  open  on  Sunday  from  now  on  until  the 
end  of  the  fair  itself. 

I  think  the  railroads  should  reduce  their  rates.  But  they  have  a  good  argument 
on  their  side.  They  say:  "Why  should  we  always  be  expected  to  bring  down  the 
prices  when  the  hotels  are  continually  raising  them?"  But  there  is  no  use  arguing  with 
the  public,  and  it  will  be  money  in  the  pockets  of  the  railroads  if  transportation  is 
reduced,  and  we  must  have  it  reduced.  If  everyone  of  you  who  knows  a  railroad 
man  will  go  to  him  and  buttonhole  him  and  talk  to  him  like  a  father,  I  think  we 
can  get  it.  Everyone  of  us  should  go  out  and  make  everybody  else  come  to  the 
fair,  and  make  everyone  a  committee  of  one  to  advertise  the  greatest  show  on  earth. 


WOMAN,  THE  NEW  FACTOR  IN  ECONOMICS. 

By  REV.  AUGUSTA  COOPER  BRISTOL. 

When  a  speaker  or  writer  is  assigned  a  theme  for  elucidation,  it  is  important  at 
the  outset  to  have  a  clear  understanding  of  the  terms  of  that  theme.     "  He  shall  be  as 

a  god  to  me  who  can  rightly  divide  and  define,"  said 
Plato,  and  as  the  world  gets  older  it  subscribes  more 
and  more  to  Plato. 

A  definition  of  the  terms  of  my  subject,  as  pre- 
sented in  dictionary  and  encyclopedia,  arrays  it  as  a 
paradox;  establishes  woman  as  the  oldest,  as  well  as 
the  newest,  factor  in  economics;  the  earliest  and  the 
latest,  according  to  the  area  to  which  the  term  eco- 
nomics is  applied.  It  is  important  to  note  all  that 
this  fact  involves.  We  find  that  economics  in  its 
primary  application  signified  the  science  of  house- 
hold affairs;  the  adjustment  of  domestic  expenditures 
to  the  income.  We  may  rationally  conclude  that  in 
early  phases  of  society  the  responsibility  of  the  then 
l^^^S^^^B^KBBt}  '  narrow  domain  of  economics  fell  chiefly  upon  women, 

'      ^^^^H^Wf*  f  since  we  find  that  fact  illustrated  at  the  present  day 

among  races  that  have  not  yet  risen  out  of  primitive 
phases  of  society.  A  recent  writer  upon  the  customs 
of  Central  Africa  states  that  the  work  in  an  African 
village  is  performed  chiefly  by  the  women;  that  they 
sow  the  seed,  hoe  the  fields  and  reap  the  harvest. 
Upon  them  also  falls  the  labor  of  house-building, 
brewing  beer,  grinding  corn  and  looking  after  nearly  all  the  material  interests  of  the 
community. 

It  is  from  this,  primitive  social  aspect  that  we  find  woman  to  be  the  principal  factor 
in  economics,  the  initiator  at  least  of  the  whole  system  which  follows,  whether  its  area 
be  the  family,  the  community,  or  the  nation.  For,  although  political  economy,  as 
defined,  "  is  a  science  of  the  laws  which  Providence  has  established  for  the  regulation 
of  supply  and  demand  in  a  community,"  yet  the  same  authority  affirms  "that  the  dis- 
position to  regulate  the  expenditures  of  a  family  to  its  income  is  one  of  the  phenomena 
which  make  up  those  laws  of  nature  constituting  political  economy."  From  this  point 
of  view  woman  is  the  original  factor  in  all  systems  of  economics;  the  demure  goddess 
at  the  fountain  head,  directing  the  quantity  and  the  quality  of  the  waters  which  flow 
therefrom. 

As  an  organic  body  obtains  vital  force  by  virtue  of  the  cells  which  compose  it, 
and  as  the  family  is  the  cell  of  the  social  organism,  so  domestic  economy  is  the  original 
unfolding  principle  of  all  larger  economics.  I  am  desirous  that  this  fact  should 
become  established  in  the  consciousness  of  woman;  here,  now,  and  ever  more,  that 
she  may  have  a  just  estimate  of  her  place  and  power  in  the  evolutionary  scheme  of 
life  when  it  reached  the  point  of  the  social  beginnings  of  the  race;  that  she  may  per- 

Rev.  Augusta  Cooper  Bristol  is  a  native  of  New  Hampshire.  She  was  born  April  17, 1835.  Her  parents  were  Otis 
Cooper  and  Hannah  (Powers)  Cooper.  In  1866  she  married  Louis  Bristol,  a  lawyer  of  Connecticut.  She  is  a  woman  of  big 
brain,  well  stored  with  valuable  information,  and  one  of  the  most  graceful  and  profound  writers  and  speakers  of  the  present 
day.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  a  volume  of  poems  and  various  published  lectures,  some  of  which  have  been  translated 
into  French.  She  is  a  member  of  no  special  church  at  present,  but  in  faith  is  Unitarian,  and  not  infrequently  speaks  from, 
the  pulpit.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Yineland,  N.  Y. 

80 


REV.  AUGUSTA  COOPER   BRISTOL. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  81 

ceivc'  that  it  is  neither  from  the  present  nor  the  future  that  she  receives  or  will  receive 
her  credentials  as  an  economic  factor,  but  from  the  primal  condition  of  society  itself, 
being  the  original  necessity  of  that  vast  scheme  of  economics  which  introduces  and 
links  the  nations  to  each  other,  and  of  which  man  alone  has  hitherto  been  the  recog- 
nized exponent  and  director.  Although  man  has  cast  a  blind  eye  upon  this  truth,  yet, 
if  woman  perceives  it  clearly,  she  can  well  afford  to  smile  serenely  on  his  self-gratula- 
tion  as  umpire  of  economics.  F"or  the  woman  soul,  in  the  discovery  and  realization 
of  its  high  assignment  in  the  scheme  of  things,  will  find  that  power  of  equanimity, 
which  sooner  or  later  converts  all  obstacles  into  auxiliaries,  all  hmdrances  into  means 
of  advance.  This  internal  ascension  of  the  spirit  into  an  imperturbable  equanimity  is 
our  great  need  as  women,  if  we  would  make  all  external  advantage  more  surely  and 
successfully  our  own.  Abolish  within  all  sense  of  bondage,  and  advancing  on  the 
wings  of  freedom,  believe  and  take  the  whole  arena  of  affairs  as  our  native  domain. 
Emancipate  the  thoughts  from  the  ever-cramping  sense  of  personal  wrong  and  inter- 
national disadvantage,  and  a  miracle. follows.  The  spirit  at  once  assumes  its  proper 
majesty  and  gathers  up  the  reins  of  directing  power.  A  few  individual  examples 
among  women  illustrate  my  statement,  and  we  call  them  the  world's  representative 
women.  Their  persevering  and  telling  efforts  for  woman's  emancipation  is  not  from 
the  standpoint  of  woman  as  woman,  but  from  the  standpoint  of  the  social  unity  and 
solidarity  of  the  race,  the  proper  balance  of  the  social  organism.  Woman  has  been 
and  will  forever  be  a  hero  worshiper;  but  the  hero  enlarges.  It  is  neither  man  nor 
woman,  but  humanity.  She  labors  for  justice  for  woman  as  a  means  to  an  end,  and 
that  end,  the  adjustment  of  civilization  to  the  perfecting  organic  principle  which 
Spencer  styles  "a  moving  equilibrium." 

The  women  invested  with  largest  power  to  bring  about  this  .state  of  social  equity 
are  women  who,  in  their  own  spiritual  forces,  have  attained  this  condition  of  a  "  moving 
equilibrium."  There  is  perhaps  no  vantage-ground  that  will  so  surely  bring  the  rank 
and  file  of  women  into  this  condition  of  spiritual  balance  and  power  as  a  realization  of 
the  magnitude  of  woman's  relation  to  the  entire  scheme  of  economics. 

The  lad  who  believed  himself  to  be  the  child  of  a  peasant,  expressed  in  his  person- 
ality and  bearing  only  the  common  manners  and  nature  of  the  peasant  life,  but  hear- 
ing one  day  from  a  stranger  that  he  was  the  child  of  a  king,  he  was  transformed  by 
his  consciousness  of  the  fact  from  the  peasant  weakling  to  the  dignity  and  power  of 
his  true  relation. 

Woman,  then,  being  the  oldest  factor  in  economics,  under  what  aspect  shall  we 
now  regard  her  as  the  new  factor?  Looking  at  her  economic  relationships  today,  and 
comparing  them  with  those  of  the  past,  the  contrast  is  as  marked  as  that  of  day  with 
night.  It  is  the  recognition  of  this  contrast  that  fixes  her  as  the  new  factor  in  eco- 
nomics. The  light  of  morning  is  new  to  one  who  wakens,  but  the  same  light  has  been 
on  its  way  through  the  darkness,  and  it  is  old  with  travel.  What  engineering  ever  laid 
out  the  line  where  darkness  terminated  and  dawn  began?  So  with  woman's  industrial 
advance.  She  attains  new  areas,  but  the  attaining  is  old  with  unflinching  continuity 
and  struggle.  When  the  face  of  Ramona  appeared  to  Father  Salvierderra  through  the 
tangled  thicket  of  old  mustard,  the  vision  was  new.  But  long  before  its  appearance 
there  had  been  perceptible  tumult  in  the  fragrant  thicket,  a  bending  and  weaving  and 
tossing  of  branches,  some  persistent  agile  force  pressing  its  way  through  the  interlaced 
foliage  that  seemed  to  defy  advance.  The  vision  was  new,  but  Ramona  had  been 
coming  long  before,  and  as  she  disentangled  the  network  around  her,  sung  her  canticle 
to  the  sun. 

The  new  economic  area  to  which  woman  has  attained  during  the  latter  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century  is  that  of  the  creation  of  wealth.  Her  economic  responsibilities 
are  no  longer  limited  to  the  application  and  distribution  of  supplies.  She  is  a  wealth- 
producer  in  the  broadest  meaning  of  the  term;  not  indirectly,  but  directly,  and  this 
constitutes  her  a  new  element  in  industrial  development.  What  is  it  to  be  a  creator 
of  wealth?     What  is  wealth?     No  one  has  given  us  a  better  definition  than  Henry 

(6) 


82  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

George.  "Wealth,"  he  says,  "consists  of  natural  products  modified  by  human  exertion 
so  as  to  gratify  human  desires.  It  is  labor  impressed  upon  matter  in  such  a  way  as 
to  store  it  up.  When  a  country  increases  in  wealth,  it  increases  in  certain  tangible 
things,  such  as  agricultural  and  mineral  products,  manufactured  goods  of  all  kinds, 
houses,  cattle,  ships,  wagons,  furniture,  etc."  Into  this  spacious  wealth-producing 
domain,  the  autonomy  of  which  determines  a  nation's  place  among  nations,  woman 
has  found  entrance  as  an  active  agent  among  its  complex  forces. 

Still  further  is  she  completing  Henry  George's  definition  of  wealth  when  he  adds: 
"  Nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that  the  artist,  the  teacher,  the  poet,  the  priest,  the  phil- 
osopher, though  not  engaged  in  the  production  of  wealth,  are  not  only  engaged  in  the 
production  of  utilities  and  satisfactions  to  which  the  production  of  wealth  is  but  a 
means,  but  by  acquiring  and  diffusing  knowledge,  stimulating  the  mental  powers  and 
elevating  the  moral  sense,  are  largely  increasing  the  ability  to  produce  wealth.  '  For 
man  does  not  live  by  bread  alone.'  "  Into  this  higher  atmosphere  of  wealth  produc- 
tion, where  professions  are  ranked  and  ideas  generate,  woman  has  seemingly  com- 
pelled her  own  ascent;  for  whenever  and  wherever  we  lift  our  eyes  to  these  intellect- 
ual ramparts  she  passes  before  our  vision,  she  is  there  also.  I  state  this  advisedly, 
for  I  am  informed  from  a  variety  of  sources  that  the  number  of  occupations  and  pro- 
fessions now  open  to  woman  are  from  four  to  five  hundred,  and  one  authority  informs 
me  that  all  callings  of  whatever  nature  are  now  open  to  woman  if  she  have  the 
courage  to  enter  them.  For  myself,  I  am  somewhat  apprehensive  of  the  full  signifi- 
cance of  the  word  "  courage  "  in  that  statement.  If  a  general  should  say  to  his  soldiers, 
"  My  boys,  the  enemy's  entrenchments  are  ours  if  you  have  the  courage  to  take  them," 
he  would  not  mean  that  the  entrenchments  were  thrown  open  for  possession.  So  far 
as  woman  has  hitherto  made  headway  into  the  promised  land,  she  has  cast  up  this 
highway  of  courage  every  inch  of  the  route.  So  I  dare  not  claim  new  comfort  from 
this  authority,  certainly  not  sufficient  to  justify  us  in  casting  aside  our  armor  or  stack- 
ing our  arms.  The  hopefulness  of  the  outlook  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  area  yet  to  con- 
quer narrows;  the  line  of  struggle  shortens;  the  entrenchments  of  opponents  weaken 
and  diminish,  and  this  is  due  not  simply  to  our  persistent  courage  as  women,  not  to 
our  tireless  importunities,  but  to  very  many  causes  inherent  in  the  nature  of  modern 
civilization  of  which  our  courage  and  importunity  are  effects,  which  in  turn  become 
causes. 

Society  being  an  organism,  it  experiences  all  the  expansions  and  transformations 
of  any  nucleated  cell  or  egg.  There  is  a  time  in  the  history  of  an  egg  when  the  lim- 
itations of  the  shell  are  a  protection  to  the  homogeneous,  inchoate  substance  within. 
But  differentiations  being  once  set  up  in  this  life  substance,  functions  being  special- 
ized and  the  whole  individualized,  that  which  was  protection  becomes  imprisonment. 
The  organism  wrenches  and  struggles,  the  walls  yield,  and  the  organism  steps  forth 
into  the  light  and  responsibility  of  freedom.  If  the  beak  of  the  hatched  eagle  could 
speak  for  itself,  it  would  surely  claim  that  the  weakening  of  its  prison  walls  was  due 
to  its  own  persistent  knocking  and  battering,  and  the  wing  and  the  talon  would  put 
in  a  similar  claim  of  merit  for  themselves.  But  it  was  the  increasing  perplexity  of  the 
whole  organism,  the  one  differentiating  life  within  that  compelled  the  beak  to  knock, 
the  talon  to  scratch,  and  the  wing  to  push  and  struggle. 

There  is  a  seed  in  Southern  California,  I  think  it  is  a  variety  of  clover,  that  if  it  had 
consciousness  would  surely  believe  that  it  planted  itself.  It  lies  upon  the  surface  of 
the  packed  soil  during  the  dry  season,  but  when  the  rains  of  winter  come  it  takes  a 
notion  to  bore  a  little  depression  in  the  softened  earth  and  put  forth  roots.  "  Behold 
my  efficiency,"  it  might  well  say.  "  But  mine  made  yours  available,"  a  week's  rain 
might  reply;  but  the  incubating  genius  of  life,  brooding  over  mountain  and  canon  and 
mesa,  could  say:  "  I  am  the  awakener  and  supply  of  all  your  forces."  A  like  inde- 
pendence of  progressive  forces  permeates  the  entire  structure  of  modern  society.  Sim- 
ultaneous transformations,  seemingly  foreign  to  each  other,  are  transfusing  the  body 
politic,  the  genius  of  evolution  burning  at  its  center  having  the  providence  to  initiate 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  83 

all  normal  expansion  in  radii,  thus  preserving  the  equilibrium  of  growth.  Impartially- 
breathing  her  quickenings  throughout  the  entire  structure,  she  thereby  secures  balance 
with  movement,  and  links  order  to  progress.  A  very  long-headed  adviser  does  this 
genius  of  evolution  prove  herself  to  be,  in  that  she  puts  in  the  heart  of  each  separate 
reform  a  feeling  that  the  welfare  of  society  depends  almost  wholly  on  its  own  special 
success.  It  is  this  feeling  which  secures  the  most  remarkable  concentration  of  effort, 
and  leads  each  separate  reform  to  battle  victoriously  with  the  obstacles  of  progress. 
In  the  vantage-ground  of  industrial  emancipation  which  woman  has  already  attained, 
I  would  in  no  wise  divest  her  of  the  feeling  of  the  super-importance  of  the  woman 
cause;  for  I  believe  Spencer  affirms  that  it  is  feeling  and  not  opinion  that  moves  the 
world;  but  I  seek  rather  to  establish  scientifically  and  philosophically  in  woman's 
understanding  the  fact  that  her  special  movement  has  the  backing  of  the  universal 
movement;  that  the  Divine  mania  which  has  taken  possession  of  her  for  self-culture, 
full  responsibility  and  complete  freedom  holds  even  cosmic  relations.  Most  truly 
says  Heine :  "We  do  not  take  possession  of  our  ideas,  but  are  possessed  by  them. 
They  master  us  and  force  us  into  the  arena,  where,  like  gladiators,  we  must  fight  for 
them."  Woman  will  not  abate,  but  give  larger  possession  to  the  ideas  which  compel 
her  to  do  battle  for  them  when  she  understands  that  they  emanate,  not  from  woman 
in  the  interest  of  woman,  but  from  the  one  life  in  the  interest  of  life. 

This  is  the  true  basis  of  our  faith,  the  genuine  substance  of  things  hoped  for. 
The  credentials  which  insure  woman's  emancipation  from  every  phase  of  thralldom 
are  from  universal  belongings,  not  dependent  upon  chance  or  fortune,  social  fad  or 
political  caprice.  "  Attractions  are  proportioned  to  destinies."  The  line  of  attraction 
or  movement  is  forward  and  upward,  and  the  future  destiny  of  woman  is  above,  not 
-below,  the  present  outlook.  The  urgent  fire  in  the  woman's  soul  forever  impelling  her 
to  larger  venture  and  enterprise,  that  leads  a  Mrs.  Sheldon  into  the  wilds  of  Africa,  is 
the  Pentecostal  flame  of  this  same  destiny.  When  we  stand  on  this  true  mount  of 
vision,  there  is  no  room  for  uncertainty  to  put  in  an  appearance.  Indeed,  uncertainty 
in  regard  to  woman's  emancipation  is  getting  pass^  even  with  our  opponents,  and 
must  ere  long  vanish  in  thin  air. 

It  is  well  to  remember  the  inter-relation  of  the  entire  output  of  social  reforms, 
and  the  fact  that  the  success  of  each  and  all  of  them  depends  upon  this  inter-relation. 
It  is  not  difficult  to  perceive  that  the  woman  cause  and  temperance  reform  are  allies. 
It  requires  closer  scrutiny  to  perceive  its  relation  to  tariff,  tax  and  ballet  reform,  to 
government  ownership  of  railways,  and  a  financial  system  less  subject  to  individual 
and  class  manipulation.  Nevertheless  the  fact  is  there,  for  woman  being  a  recognized 
factor  in  the  production  of  a  nation's  wealth,  every  reform  that  effects  the  produc- 
tion and  distribution  of  that  wealth  touches  the  woman  cause;  for  upon  woman 
as  a  free  economic  factor  hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets  of  her  complete  emanci- 
pation. After  this  manner  and  direction  has  been  the  movement  of  freedom  for  any 
class  or  people  from  the  beginning.  The  inter-relation  of  all  economic  forces  always 
reveals  itself  along  the  lines  of  justice  and  injustice.  Xake  for  example  the  unequal 
wage.  It  is  pre-eminently  a  matter  of  equity  that  woman  receive  equal  compensation 
with  man  for  like  quantity  and  quality  of  work.  When  this  is  withheld,  the  standard 
of  wages  which  working  men  combine  to  maintain  in  their  own  interest  invariably 
lowers.  There  is  no  real  security  for  man's  good  fortune  except  through  equity  to 
woman.  The  want  of  this  has  been  the  bete  noire  of  all  his  woes.  Note  the 
social  scourges  that  follow  in  the  train  of  the  unequal  wage.  How  it  bears  direct 
relation  to  the  dark  problem  of  poverty!  How  this  darkness  widens  and  merges  into 
the  sloughs  and  slums  of  immorality!  How  it  broadens  the  margin  of  unemployed 
men,  who  constitute  the  industrial  reserve  which  enables  capital  from  time  to  time  to 
dictate  its  own  terms  to  labor!  How  it  compels  the  latter,  on  the  matter  of  wages, 
to  often  array  itself  against  its  own  kith  and  kin  and  do  battle  for  its  enemies!  How 
it  necessitates,  in  the  name  of  sympathy  and  pity,  the  effort  and  expense  of  organized 
charities  to  eke  out  the  earnings  which  are  either  not  sufficient  for  maintenance,  or 
not  sufficient  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  misfortune! 


84  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Surely  a  knowledge  of  the  one  fact,  that  the  average  yearly  income  of  the  work- 
ing woman  of  Boston  exceeds  her  expenses  for  positive  needs  only  about  eight  dollars, 
might  well  fill  the  consciousness  of  any  woman  who  is  tolerably  bright  and  appre- 
hensive with  a  sense  of  impending  doom.  Yet  this  is  but  one  illustration  of  the  evils 
which  follow  in  a  special  line  of  injustice,  afflicting  the  wrong-doer  even  more  than 
the  wronged;  and  were  we  to  follow  out  all  the  iniquities  in  which  woman  has  been 
involved,  we  would  surely  find  a  point  in  all  these  entanglements  where  the  same  dis- 
astrous lesson  and  result  is  revealed  for  man.  "Every  benefactor,"  says  Emerson, 
"becomes  a  malefactor  by  continuation  of  his  activity  in  places  where  it  is  not  due." 
From  the  hour  in  which  woman  was  sufficiently  awakened,  through  intellectual  quick- 
ening, to  deliberately  and  voluntarily  board  the  car  of  progress,  every  obstacle  that 
man  puts  in  the  way  of  her  advance  reveals  him  as  a  malefactor,  a  train-wrecker,  and 
all  the  constabulary  of  the  universe  are  after  him.  A  benefactor  he  might  have  been 
before  the  moment  arrived  for  her  decisive  journey;  but  from  that  moment  he  becomes 
a  malefactor  if  he  does  not  leave  the  track  clear,  and  the  law  of  equilibrium  or  equity 
deals  out  punishment  to  him  proportioned  to  his  crime.  Yet  what  better  evidence 
could  there  be  of  a  concession  and  recognition  on  the  part  of  man,  which  must  ulti- 
mate in  the  fulfillment  of  our  largest  hope,  than  the  place  so  cordially  assigned  to 
woman  in  this  Columbian  Exposition  by  the  powers  that  be?  It  is  no  less  than  a 
world-wide  announcement  of  her  coming  on,  verified  in  every  form  of  art  and  indus- 
try. For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  race  the  governmental  powers  have 
fashioned  an  auditorium  where  a  world  gives  hearing  to  woman,  and  through  her  own 
powers  of  creation  and  invention  she  speaks  the  same  language  as  man,  varying  only 
in  a  tone  and  modulation  which  beautifully  and  forever  enhances  the  distinctive 
attributes  of  sex. 

No  niggardly  dole  is  this  to  us,  but  the  grandest  privilege  of  all  history,  dating  in 
myriad  forms  of  art,  literature  and  invention  the  fullness  of  time  for  woman's  eco- 
nomic debut;  and  permit  me  to  direct  your  attention  to  the  wonderful  significance  of 
this  sentence,  "  the  fullness  of  time."  There  is  no  sentence  in  all  Scripture  so  plenary 
with  philosophic  meaning  as  this.  It  solves  for  us  the  vexing  problem  of  pro- 
crastination and  delay  which  has  seemingly  attended  woman's  advancement.  If  hope 
deferred  has  heretofore  made  the  heart  sick,  this  sentence  should  from  henceforth 
preserve  us  from  all  such  abnormal  lapses;  for  we  must  learn  and  remember  that 
nature  or  evolution  delights  in  appropriateness,  and  will  have  all  things  in  keeping. 
She  will  not  vary  one  hair's  breadth  from  this  principle,  though  humanity,  wild  with 
desire,  frantic  with  importunity,  should  go  down  on  its  knees  to  her.  As  a  woman  of 
great  taste  will  seek  to  have  the  details  of  her  costume  express  an  equalness  of  grade 
and  quality,  which  secures  harmony,  so  Nature,  with  faultless  and  exquisite  judgment, 
arranges  in  like  manner  her  evolutionary  series  through  all  the  realms  of  matter  and 
mind,  proceeding  always  from  the  simple  to  the  complex,  from  sameness  to  vari- 
ety, from  the  coarse  to  the  fine,  from  the  crude  to  the  finished;  and  though  an  eon 
should  be  necessary  to  eacl\  grade  in  the  series,  yet  shall  the  detail  of  each  grade  be 
held  in  perfect  relation  and  keeping;  for  Nature  is  congruous  whatever  else  she  may 
be.  There  is  due  preparation  for  the  advent  of  her  successive  creations  or  becomings, 
each  of  which  waits  on  her  fullness  of  time,  and  the  longer  the  precedence  of  prepa- 
ration, the  higher  the  outcome  ranks  in  the  scale  of  her  series. 

Who  can  guess  how  long  the  vegetable  life  waited  on  the  trouble  of  chaos  and  the 
perturbations  of  protoplaspi  before  cosmic  propriety  permitted  the  first  lichen  to 
drape  the  earth's  nudity?  How  long  did  the  vegetable  kingdom  creepingly  unfold  as 
the  expression  of  organized  life  before  the  animal  creation  put  in  an  appearance  and 
accepted  all  that  had  preceded  it  as  a  gratuitous  offering  to  the  animal  economy? 
How  long  before  man  capped  the  climax  of  the  vertebrate  series  in  mathematical  con- 
currence with  the  fullness  of  time  and  announced  himself  as  monarch  of  all  he  sur- 
veyed? If  he  had  tolerably  good  sense  at  the  date  of  his  appearance  on  this 
planet,    he    must  have    congratulated   himself    on   the  minutiae   and    perfecting   of 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  85 

detail  which  delayed  his  coming.  It  is  ever  the  last  result  which  utilizes  and 
epitomizes  preceding  effects.  The  richer  the  macrocosm  the  grander  the  microcosm. 
Man  found  himself  invested  with  aptitudes  and  characteristics  in  perfect  keeping  with 
his  habitat.  Convulsive  throes  of  Nature,  gigantic  powers  of  vegetation,  hugeness  and 
antagonism  in  the  brute  creation,  heralded  and  attended  Man  the  militant,  Man  the 
conqueror;  and  these  in  turn  gave  place  to  more  intricate  expressions  of  Nature,  as 
Man  the  subjugator  became  Man  the  social  being.  Wonderful  utilities  did  he  wrest 
from  the  close  clutches  of  Nature  by  strength  of  muscle  and  mind,  and  he  named  the 
ages  after  them,  as  he  builded  communities,  kingdoms  and  nations  along  his  militant 
path;  and  he  said,  "the  stone  age  served  me  here  and  iron  there,  yet  surely  some 
individuality  other  than  my  own  must  sooner  or  later  co-operate  with  me  in  the 
economy  of  things,  or  Man  will  become  an  incongruity,  an  anachronism,  not  able  to 
keep  pace  with  the  increasing  complexity  of  society  and  its  moral  needs. 

All  things  herald  finer  citizenship.  "My  good  sword  rusts  in  its  scabbard  for  lack 
of  use,  for  the  press  age  has  transferred  the  arena  of  battle  to  the  realm  of  ideas.  The 
good  fellowship  also  of  the  steam  age,  introduced  by  the  genius  of  commerce,  renders 
it  no  longer  appropriate  for  the  spirit  of  forceful  antagonism  to  dominate  the  nations." 
Man,  urged  on  by  the  "  power  that  makes  for  righteousness,"  advanced  into  the 
tangle  of  civilization,  like  Father  Salvierderra  into  the  wild  mustard  maize.  But 
Ramona  was  not  there.  Not  yet  the  fullness  of  time.  And  had  he  dreamed  that  far 
away  in  the  distance  she  was  patiently  parting  the  thicket  that  she  might  join  him  in 
the  advance,  he  would  surely  have  cried  "  halt!" 

A  new  age,  shod  with  lightning,  has  overtaken  man's  bewilderment.  Its  incan- 
descent fire  reveals  the  occult  forces  of  nature,  the  eluding  principle  of  things,  and  the 
material  reservoirs  of  power.  And,  lo!  Ramona  is  here,  standing  clear  in  the  white 
light  of  the  electric  age,  as  the  new  factor  in  economics.  The  magnitude  of  the  prep- 
aration has  been  fully  proportioned  to  the  ripe  event.  For  woman,  the  magic  of 
events  has  transformed  obstacle  and  hindrance  into  those  necessary  equipments  of 
character  which  belong  not  to  partial  but  complete  citizenship.  What  does  this 
equipment  for  complete  citizenship  indicate?  It  is  no  superfluous  trick  of  evolution, 
mark  my  words.  Desired  or  dreaded,  woman  is  proceeding  straight  to  the  inevitable 
goal  of  largest  social  and  political  equality.  We  might  as  well  endeavor  to  avert  the 
fact  that  we  were  born  as  this  fact.  We  are  under  equal  necessity  to  resignedly 
utilize  the  one  as  the  other  of  these  facts.  Industrial  emancipation  broadens  by  an 
inevitable  law  into  social  and  political  equality,  and  as  the  combined  forces  of  the 
stone,  iron,  press  and  steam  ages  were  engaged  in  shaping  and  molding  civilization 
into  fitness  for  woman's  economic  co-operation,  so,  far  back  in  the  mist  of  ages,  the 
genius  of  religion  and  government  began  the  preparatory  work  of  her  final  debut  as 
the  full  complement  of  man. 

Old  Thor  strove  with  giants  until,  in  the  twilight  of  the  gods,  his  hammer  returned 
to  him  to  be  hurled  no  more.  Jupiter,  the  weather-clearer,  moved  heaven  and  earth, 
swayed  the  tides  of  battle,  and  fostered  in  the  hearts  of  men  the  ideas  of  law,  justice 
and  order,  until  he,  too,  sat  frozen  on  his  Olympian  throne.  Hermes,  as  he  crossed 
the  horizon  of  man's  superstitious  belief,  scattered  science  and  music  in  his  flight,  and 
passed  to  the  paradise  of  the  Egyptian  gods.  Brahma  existed  to  abolish  desire  and 
initiate  the  human  soul  into  the  salvation  of  continued  patience.  Buddha,  through 
contemplation  and  suffering,  conquered  the  secret  of  deliverance  for  the  human  spirit 
as  his  bequest  to  the  race.  Confucius  came,  bearing  reverently  his  system  of  moral 
philosophy,  and  dropped  it  into  the  world's  ethical  caldron;  and,  later,  the  carpenter's 
Son,  poor,  unlettered,  filial,  yet  transcending  at  need  all  ills  of  earth  and  flesh,  all 
schools,  all  human  institutions — Jesus — stood  upon  the  Mount  of  Olives  and  gave 
briefly  to  the  world  the  full  redeeming  utterance  of  love,  revealing  the  way,  the  truth, 
and  the  life,  the  fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  the  race. 

Note  the  long  process  of  ethical  and  religious  culture  filtering  and  refining  through 
all  the  ages  up  to  this  present  date  of  the  Columbian  Exposition;  and,  in  the  name  of 


86  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

the  universal  law  of  correspondence,  mark  the  prestige  it  lends  to  woman,  the  new 
factor  in  economics,  and  the  warranty  it  establishes  for  her  final  emancipation  into  all 
the  efificiences  and  prerogatives  of  free  citizenship.  When  that  fruition  arrives,  when 
man  and  woman — the  dual  unity  of  the  race — are  equal  partners  in  directing  the 
forces  of  social  destiny,  we  might  almost  imagine  and  believe  that  the  material  king- 
dom also  may  become  transformed  into  joyous  correspondence  with  the  loving  equity 
of  the  human  world;  that  the  serpent's  venom  and  the  insect's  sting,  the  earthquake's 
mumbling  threat  and  the  direful  sweep  of  the  tornado's  wing,  will  no  longer  find  place 
in  nature's  record.  Note  also,  that,  parallel  with  the  transformations  in  religious  and 
ethical  ideas  which  antedated  woman's  economic  debut,  have  been  the  change  in 
forms  of  government  and  social  institutious.  A  beast  of  prey  the  primitive  man  rose 
to  nomadic  forms  of  culture,  patriarchs  gave  place  to  kings  and  emperors,  these  in 
turn  to  constitutional  monarchy,  and  this  slowly  to  the  democratic  idea  and  the  rights 
of  man.  The  bloody  track  of  governmental  evolution,  conspicuous  with  the  panoply 
of  war,  was  built  upon  fallen  thrones  and  devastated  dynasties,  the  sentiment  of 
patriotism  broadening,  in  the  red  struggle,  from  the  family  to  the  nation. 

And  woman — waited!  Not  yet  the  fullness  of  time  for  her  awakening  to  the 
world's  need  of  her  citizenship.  Something  more  of  brute  crudity  must  be  eliminated 
from  the  tumultuous  forces  of  civilization.  Some  broader  conception  of  human  life 
and  its  universal  relations  must  modify  the  world's  ferment  ere  woman  would  arise 
from  her  world-old,  hypnotic  trance  to  a  realizing  sense  of  her  individual  ability  and 
power,  and  the  need  of  her  taking  an  equal  hand  with  man  in  working  out  a  universal 
order.  The  ages  had  thundered  from  the  date  of  chaos,  and  she  had  not  awakened. 
But  there  came  a  noiseless,  white-winged  thought  into  the  human  atmosphere,  and 
woman  arose  and  stood  upon  her  feet,  and  knew  herself,  and  the  world's  need,  and 
this  was  the  white-winged  thought:  "There  is  but  one  life  and  humanity  is  its  spiritual 
image." 

As  the  genius  of  the  springtide  sets  all  the  forces  of  nature  in  sweetest  passion  for 
expression,  so  does  this  thought  quicken  the  hearts  of  men  and  women  into  a  mania  to 
make  the  material  interests  of  the  entire  humanity  correspond  to  this  spiritual  fact.  To 
a  no  less  work  than  this  is  woman  called  and  awakened:  to  convert  discord  into  harmony, 
rivalry  into  emulation,  jealousy  into  magnanimity,  competition  into  co-operation,  pov- 
erty into  comfort,  and  the  love  of  money  into  the  love  of  man.  Need  I  say  that  such  a 
transformation^of  the  motives  of  human  action — slow,  silent,  invisible — must  sooner  or 
later  work  out  a  system  of  society  and  government  in  which  each  shall  stand  for  all  and 
all  for  each.  It  is  but  a  question  of  time.  The  century  plant  that  waits  a  hundred 
years  for  its  life's  fulfillment  is  no  less  certain  of  its  final  glory  than  the  convolvulus 
that  greets  the  dawn  with  expanded  petals. 

There  is  no  uncertainty  in  the  eternal  goodness,  and  the   inevitable  advance  of 
woman  into  all  the  lines  of  free  citizenship  is  but  a  part  of  "that  Divineevent  to  which  ' 
a  whole  creation  moves." 


ART. 

By  MRS.  EMILY  CRAWFORD. 

The  subject  is  rather  a  comprehensive  one,  as  the  Arts  when  allied  to  the  Sciences 
are  the  most  important  factors  in  our  modern  lives.     Whether  we  eat  or  drink,  rush 

about  the  world  in  luxurious  trains  or  mammoth 
steamers,  or  lounge  at  home  in  beautiful  rooms,  resting 
our  weary  bodies  on  exquisitely  fashioned  and  com- 
fortably cushioned  seats,  recreating  our  tired  minds 
with  the  work  of  others'  brains,  the  too  often  abused 
"fiction,"  the  Arts  everywhere  encompass  us  with  a 
cloud  of  beauty  and  comfort,  which  has  become  so 
much  our  natural  atmosphere  that  we  fail  to  notice  it, 
accepting  it  as  the  usual  thing,  until  a  day  comes 
when  we  find  ourselves  in  wilder  and  more  uncivilized 
regions,  where  nature  only  provides  the  art  material. 
Then  we  speedily  and  very  gratefully  recognize  how 
artificial  or  made  up  of  arts  our  own  habits  of  exist- 
ence are.  The  Sciences  provide  us  with  a  solid  frame- 
work, and  the  Arts  clothe  and  embellish  that  basis, 
for  our  use  and  enjoyment.  The  higher  arts,  or  high 
art,  as  it  is  more  popularly  called,  meaning  painting, 
sculpture  and  literature  (it  is  still  a  disputed  point 
:;i«^Pf':  whether  architecture  should  be  called  an  art  or  a  sci- 

ence); high  art  may  be  defined  as  the  expression  of 
MRS.  EMILY  CRAWFORD.  ^"X  ^^^^  o^  cmotlon,  thc  arrcsting  of  it  as  it  first  pro- 

ceeds from  the  mind,  the  giving  to  it  a  more  solid 
and  durable  form,  a  sort  of  body,  in  which  it  can  be  shown  to  others  and  started  on 
its  career  in  the  world.  A  single  noble  idea  from  one  noble  mind  so  fitted  out  can 
go  on  and  onward,  illuminating  and  firing  other  minds  in  its  course,  leaving  its  lumi- 
nous track  behind  it.  The  traces  of  its  passing  will  be  very  evident;  it  would  be 
impossible  to  overestimate  its  influence  when  it  becomes  translated  into  works  and 
lives. 

In  looking  over  the  collection  of  the  various  works  of  art  accumulated  in  the 
museums  of  the  countries  where  they  originated,  or  to  which  they  were  transplanted 
from  countries  still  older,  so  old,  in  fact,  that  their  histories  only  remain  written  in  their 
sculptures,  potteries  or  carved  gems,  which,  from  their  substance,  are  imperishable,  and 
which  are  from  time  to  time  dugout  of  the  masses  of  fallen  masonry,  earth  and  sand 
that  have  almost  obliterated  the  traces  of  the  cities  where  they  were  made;  in  looking 
over  such  collections  we  easily  recognize  one  of  the  first  uses  to  which  art  was  applied, 
the  recording  of  passing  events  for  the  instruction  of  succeeding  generations.  Con- 
sider with  what  difficulty  those  records  were  cut  into  the  granite  of  the  colossal  blocks 
of  the  Assyrians,  or  burnt  into  the  cylinder  of  the  Egyptians!  It  was  certainly  pur- 
suing literature  under  difficulties.     One  cannot  imagine  flashes  of  wit  being  chiseled 

Mrs.  Emily  Crawford  was  bom  in  New  London,  in  the  County  of  Middlesex,  England.  Her  parents  were  thouglitfol 
and  cultivated  people.  She  was  educated  at  home,  and  with  considerable  tlioronghness,  especially  in  art.  She  has  traveled 
in  many  lands.  She  married  James  Alexander  Crawford,  B.  C.  8.  Her  principal  i>ainting8  up  to  the  present  time  are  life- 
sized  portraits  in  pure  watercolors.  She  was  appointed  judge  of  Special  Handicraft  for  the  Colombian  Exix>sition,  and  has 
been  invited  to  write  the  special  report  on  Japanese  Bronzes,  Japanese  Cloisonnes  and  the  Enamels  from  all  nations.  In 
religious  faith  she  is  a  Protestant,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Church  of  England.    Her  permanent  postoliice  address  is  The 

Well  House,  Chilworth,  Surrey. 

87 


88  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

out  in  such  laborious  fashion;  their  delicate  essence  would  have  disappeared.  All 
such  trifling  with  the  thistledown  of  fancy  had  to  wait  until  the  medium  united  to 
such  ephemeral  conceits  was  invented — the  stylus  and  wax-tablets,  that  could  be  scrib- 
bled on  and  the  writing  erased  in  a  moment.  The  stylus  and  tablets  soon  became 
highly  ornamented,  and  had  their  fashions  like  our  lizard-skin  note-books  and  ivory 
tablets  have. 

But  the  medium  that  lent  itself  so  painfully  to  literature,  lent  itself  to  another 
art — sculpture — with  far  more  satisfactory  results,  no  less  painfully  to  the  artist,  per- 
haps, because  all  good  art  is  brought  out  in  discomfort.  There  is  no  such  thing  as 
ease  in  art.  It  is  effort,  mental  and  bodily,  all  the  time,  and  the  huge  figures  of  the 
ancient  Egyptian  kings,  priests,  doorkeepers,  and  so  on,  remain  to  awe  us  with  their 
grandeur  and  an  earnestness  which  we  seem  to  have  altogether  lost.  After  all,  the 
greatest  artist  is  Time.  I  knew  of  a  colossal  lion  that  lay  for  ages  at  length  on  a 
promontory  and  looked  out  over  the  blue  seas,  while  the  suns  of  centuries  burnt  his 
gigantic  hide  into  very  nearly  the  color  of  the  living  one,  and  into  his  raised  and 
watchful  visage  grew  an  expression  and  a  pathos  that  was  most  assuredly  beyond  the 
power  of  his  sculptor  to  produce.  There  is  a  something  about  the  Egyptian  art  that 
appeals  to  our  human  sympathies  more  than  the  more  modern,  and  the  much  more 
materially  perfect  Greek  art,  whose  most  splendid  statues  leave  us  plunged  in  wonder 
at  their  knowledge  and  correctness  and  beauty  of  form,  but  seldom  prompt  us  to  wish 
we  knew  more  of  the  individual  and  his  thoughts  and  fancies.  Of  course  this  doesn't 
hold  good  for  such  statues  as  are  portraits  —  of  the  Caesars,  or  the  great  philosophers, 
for  instance.  About  such  people  the  ordinary  rank  and  file  of  the  world  must  always 
feel  a  vivid  curiosity.  In  pictorial  art,  the  earliest  known  specimens  are  all  of  coarse 
frescoes,  mural  decorations.  We  have  some  very  interesting  ones  of  about  the  time 
of  Moses,  before  or  since,  and  they  give  us  a  very  good  idea  of  how  the  Egyptian  of 
that  period  lived  his  life.  We  see  the  farmer  among  his  cattle  or  driving  his  geese, 
the  hunter  going  after  game,  the  warrior  returning  from  battle  with  his  captives,  and 
we  see  the  society  functions  of  the  time.  One  especially  perfect  fresco  shows  us  an 
entertainment  devoted  to  the  ladies,  who  are  seated  in  rows,  in  an  elegant  hall,  and 
are  listening  to  probably  the  best  orchestra  to  be  had.  The  ladies  fan  themselves 
with  the  peculiar  palm-leaf.  They  are  much  draped,  and  appear  to  feel  the  heat, 
while,  gliding  about  among  the  company,  offering  trays  of  cakes  and  fruits,  are  very 
young  girl  attendants,  whose  black  ringlets  are  kept  in  place  by  a  fillet  of  white  or 
gold,  with  a  blue  lotus  lily  stuck  through  it,  an  effective  costume  and  their  only  one. 

While  touching  upon  dress  I  only  mention  that  we  have  a  little  Egyptian  figure 
whose  dress  is  "  accordion-pleated "  from  throat  to  feet  ;  it  also  wears  a  little 
"accordion-pleated"  cape.     So  the  fashions  and  arts  of  dress  come  round. 

The  frescoes  that  cover  the  walls  of  the  exquisite  little  houses  of  Pompeii  are 
wonderfully  elegant  and  fanciful  in  device  and  brilliant  in  coloring,  exquisitely  fine 
and  finished  as  everything  in  that  jewel-box  of  a  city  was  even  to  the  delicate  mosaics 
that  covered  its  floors.  It  is  a  whole  education  in  art  to  wander  alone  through  the 
deserted  streets  of  Pompeii  toward  sunset,  when  the  purple  and  red  shadows  begin  to 
sweep  over  Vesuvius,  that  wonderful  background  to  that  wonderful  town;  that  mount- 
ain, that  still  roars  and  threatens  and  shoots  up  its  fiery  column,  as  it  did  of  old,  un- 
heeded, until  at  last  it  poured  its  fiery  lava  over  the  town  and  preserved  to  us  those 
gems  of  its  arts  by  which  we  are  now  profiting.  Here  we  can  see  where  the  Italians 
acquired  their  sense  of  color.  It  was  in  the  nature  around  them,  in  the  translucent 
skies,  the  glowing  light,  the  sun-mellowed  marbles  of  their  homes,  the  garments  dyed 
with  indigenous  pigments  that  could  never  clash  with  their  native  surroundings. 

Portraiture  seems  to  owe  its  origin  to  various  motives  besides  the  vanity  to  which 
it  is  most  generally  ascribed.  We  all  know  the  pretty  fable  of  the  young  Ionic  girl 
who  parted  from  her  lover  in  the  sunset,  and  as  he  went  from  her  she  saw  his  shadow 
thrown  on  the  wall  near  by,  she  took  a  piece  of  charcoal  and  ran  it  over  the  shadow's 
outline,  and  so  kept  a  faint  image  of  him  till  he  came  again — a  pretty  story  that  em- 


THE  CONGRKSS  OF  WOMEN.  89 

bodies  the  universal  desire  to  keep  some  sort  of  foothold  on  this  transient  existence, 
to  leave  a  something  that  will  at  any  rate  testify  to  the  fact  that  such  a  personage  once 
really  lived  and  labored,  or  to  secure  this  kind  of  remembrance  for  one's  beloved. 
Occasionally  one  touch  of  nature  will  do  this. 

In  the  cloisters  of  Westminster  Abbey  there  is  an  unremarkable  stone;  cut  on  this 
stone  in  old  characters  is  a  very  short  inscription,  "Jane  Lyster- — deare  Childe." 
Nothing  more.  Yet  every  traveler  goes  to  see  this  simplest  of  gravestones,  and  if  he,  or 
more  particularly  she,  has  any  imagination  or  human  feeling  at  all  she  will  understand 
all  that  was  left  unsaid  those  many  years  ago.  I  think  this  inscription  touches  the  high- 
€st  point  of  suggestiveness  in  art,  the  what  to  leave  undone  is  well-nigh  as  important 
as  the  what  to  do. 

Those  extraordinarily  accomplished  artists,  the  Japanese,  have  long  grasped  this 
fact,  and,  I  believe,  more  than  one  treatise  exists  on  how  much  can  be  or  should  be 
expressed  by  a  single  line  as  the  very  climax  of  the  art  of  representation  or  sugges- 
tion, 

I  have  attempted  to  give  very  concisely  some  notions  of  what  must  always  be 
somewhat  vague,  the  beginning  of  art.  You  will  be  able  to  form  your  own  estimate 
of  what  it  was,  how  arrived  at,  from  the  examples  from  all  countries  gathered  together 
in  this  magnificent  Exposition.  You  will  find  admirable  specimens  of  the  primitive 
attempts  at  ornamental  art  in  the  Smithsonian  loan  collection  exhibit  down-stairs, 
"Arts  of  Women  in  Savagery."  Some  of  them  are  perfectly  classical  in  form,  funda- 
mentally identical  with  the  ancient  relics  of  Etruria.  All  these  will  well  repay  a  care- 
ful study.  The  pictures  and  statuary  from  the  various  countries  I  need  scarcely  recom- 
mend to  your  attention;  the  galleries  that  contain  them  are  here  as  everywhere  the 
great  center  of  attraction. 


THE    PACIFIC   NORTHWEST. 


By  MRS.  ABIGAIL  SCOTT  DUNIWAY. 

If  the  illustrious  navigator  in  whose  honor  we  are  now  holding  this  wonder- 
ful World's  Columbian   Exposition,  had  so  shaped   his    adventurous   voyage  as   to 

have  first  sighted  land  on  the  western  slope  of 
the  two  Americas,  the  history  of  this  continent's  dis- 
covery and  development  would  have  been  strangely 
metamorphosed.  Then  the  star  of  Empire,  lured 
by  balmy  skies,  would  have  made  its  way  east- 
ward, loitering  leisurely  in  its  course,  often  halting 
for  generations  to  enjoy  the  equable  temperature 
of  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  never  pressing  onward  to 
encounter  the  more  rigorous  climate  of  the  Atlantic 
border  until  compelled  to  advance  by  the  civilization 
surging  behind  it.  But  the  destiny  which  directs  the 
progress  of  civilization  in  every  age  never  for  a  mo- 
ment forgot  the  golden  West;  and  with  a  wise  design 
of  which  we,  today,  are  reaping  the  benefits,  the  pre- 
serves of  the  Pacific  Northwest  were  held  in  reserve 
in  the  nation's  youth,  that  they  might  become  the 
heritage  of  the  fortunate  descendants  of  the  hardy 
stock  of  Anglo-Saxons  who  long  ago  conquered  the 
adverse  climatic  elements  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  in 
blissful  ignorance,  through  all  their  years  of  toil,  that 
the  balmy  zephyrs  of  the  Pacific  were  playing  at  hide- 
and-seek  among  Sierran  vales,  or  singing  summer- 
laden  peans  through  the  mighty  trees  where  rolls  the  Oregon. 

And  yet,  this  favored  land  had  not  been  left  for  long  without  a  witness.  Destiny, 
as  if  mindful  that  some  day  the  children  of  men  might  wonder  at  her  apparent 
partiality  to  later  generations,  began  as  early  as  the  year  1513  to  make  preliminary 
preparations  for  carrying  out  her  plans. 

Let  us  turn  the  search-light  of  history  upon  the  inland  empire  of  the  Pacific 
Northwest  and  study  its  discovery  from  a  landsman's  standpoint.  In  the  year  1804 
an  expedition,  led  by  Captains  Lewis  and  Clarke,  started  westward  from  a  point  east 
of  the  Mississippi  River  into  the  unexplored  and  almost  unknown  wilds  stretching 
across  the  North  American  continent. 

After  a  summer  of  wild,  enjoyable  adventure  in  the  wilderness,  the  party  went  into 
winter  quarters  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year,  on  the  banks  of  the  Upper  Missouri  River, 
in  what  is  now  the  State  of  Montana.  The  following  year,  after  having  grown  accus- 
tomed to  their  adventurous  life,  they  pitched  camp  for  winter  quarters  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Lou  Lou  fork  of  the  Bitter  Root  River,  a  branch  of  the  Upper  Missouri,  near 

Mrs.  Abigail  Scott  Duniway  is  a  native  of  Illinois.  She  was  born  in  .1834.  Her  parents  ■were  John  F.  Scott  and 
Annie  Boloefron  Scott,  who  were  natives  of  Kentucky,  but  emigrated  to  Illinois  with  their  parents  in  childhood.  She  was 
educated,  chiefly  by  her  own  efforts,  after  marriage,  when  surrounded  by  her  own  children  in  the  Oregon  frontier.  She  has 
lectured  in  all  the  large  cities,  and  has  traveled  extensively  over  the  Pacific  Northwest.  She  married  Mr.  B.  ('.  Duniway  in 
1853,  in  Oregon.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  Equal  Suffrage  and  the  diffusion  of  practical  business  methods 
among  those  women  who  must  help  themselves.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  a  poem  entitled  "  David  and  Anna 
Matron,"  and  numerous  serial  stories  published  during  a  period  of  twenty  years  in  her  own  newspaper,  The  Nero  North- 
west. Mrs.  Duniway  is  a  member  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church.  Her  postoffice  address  is  294  Clay  Street,. 
Portland,  Oregon. 

90 


MRS.  ABIGAIL  SCOTT  DUNIWAY. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  91 

what  is  now  the  thriving  modern  city  of  Missoula.  From  this  point  they  made  fre- 
quent excursions,  and  by  ascending  Lou  Lou  fork  discovered  the  now  famous  Lolo 
trail  through  the  otherwise  formidable  Bitter  Root  Mountains.  After  having  suffered 
severely  from  cold  and  hunger  the  party  reached  a  Nez  Perce  village  in  the  early 
sprmg,  situated  on  an  open  plain  contiguous  to  the  south  fork  of  the  Clearwater,  an 
important  tributary  to  the  Snake  River. 

In  passing  down  the  Clearwater  the  party  noted  three  creeks,  the  most  famous  of 
these  being  now  known  as  the  Potlatch,  which  fructifies  the  beautiful  and  extensive 
Paradise  Valley  of  Idaho,  in  the  midst  of  which  sits  Moscow. 

The  journey  of  Lewis  and  Clarke  was  a  series  of  exciting,  laborious  and  often 
perilous  adventures.  But  they  reached  the  coast  in  safety  and  erected  a  rude  fortifi- 
cation for  winter  quarters,  which  they  named  Fort  Clatsop.  They  started  on  their 
return  after  a  stay  of  some  time,  and  after  a  leisurely  voyage  up  the  Columbia  they 
reached  the  Willamette  River,  called  by  the  natives  Multnomah,  which  was  discovered 
by  Captain  Clark  on  the  second  day  of  April,  1806. 

Continuing  their  journey  up  the  Columbia,  they  found  the  Dalles  and  Deschutes 
Indians  very  hostile  and  inhospitable.  Doubtless  the  premonition  of  their  forthcom- 
ing fate  had  dawned  upon  the  tribes,  and  the  instinct  of  self-preservation,  powerful 
even  when  hopeless,  had  been  awakened  by  rumors  of  a  dreaded  invasion  of  which 
these  explorers  were  indeed  forerunners. 

But  Yellept,  the  head  chief  of  the  Walla  Wallas,  inspired  no  doubt  by  the  same 
premonitions,  although  they  affected  him  differently,  received  the  party  with  savage 
demonstrations  of  joy.  He  begged  them  to  partake  of  his  hospitality,  and  urged  them 
to  invite  all  nations  to  treat  the  Indians  kindly.  Setting  an  example  himself,  he 
brought  them  an  armful  of  wood  and  a  platter  of  roasted  mullets  with  his  own  hands, 
a  most  peculiar  service  from  the  hands  of  an  Indian  chieftain,  since  it  is  a  well-known 
part  of  the  Indian's  unwritten  code  to  delegate  every  kind  of  domestic  duties  to  women, 
including  every  burden  of  the  camp  and  fire  incident  to  their  primitive  modes  of  life. 

Colonel  Gilbert,  in  the  "  Historic  Sketches,"  tells  us  that  Yellept  had  five  sons, 
who  were  all  slain  in  battle,  or  perished  miserably  from  white  men's  diseases.  A  num- 
ber of  years  after  Lewis  and  Clarke  had  partaken  of  his  hospitality  this  noble  chieftain 
saw  the  last  one  of  them  die.  Heart-broken,  the  old  man  called  his  tribe  together, 
and,  lying  down  upon  the  body  of  his  son  in  the  grave,  he  sternly  commanded  them 
to  cover  him  up  with  his  dead. 

A  wail  of  lamentation  went  up  from  his  people,  but  they  buried  him  alive  as  he 
had  ordered,  and  the  glory  and  greatness  of  the  Walla  Wallas  had  departed. 

The  modern  psychic  tells  us,  upon  evidence  that  to  him  is  demonstration,  that 
the  Indians'  heaven  is  located  within  the  earth's  aura,  and  directly  above  the  earth 
and  beneath  the  American  pale  faces'  "  Devochan;"  that  in  this  heaven  all  genuinely 
"  good  "  Indians  find  their  happy  hunting-grounds  restored  to  them  in  duplicate,  with 
all  the  modern  improvements  added.  In  these  Elysian  shades  the  pale  face  cannot 
enter  to  rob  them  of  their  homes,  or  possess  their  squaws  or  maidens,  or  spread  among 
them  the  diseases  and  disasters  of  civilization  and  death. 

The  swaying  pines  of  the  lands  the  pioneers  loved,  and  left  to  us  as  a  heritage, 
chant  their  eternal  requiem.  The  mighty  mountains  wear  white  crowns  of  everlast- 
ing snow  in  their  honor,  and  the  broad  prairies  adorn  their  lowly  graves  with  regularly 
returning  flowers,  as  the  seasons  come  and  go.  The  iron  horse  wakes  shrillest  echoes 
now,  where  erst  the  bellowing  of  the  belabored  ox  was  heard.  Steam  and  lightning 
have  out-distanced  time  and  conquered  space  in  the  years  that  have  flown  since  they 
fell  asleep.  The  echoes  of  the  mountains  and  the  rocks  are  answering  back  to  new 
conditions,  and  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the  pioneers  are  confronted  by  new  prob- 
lems of  which  their  parents  scarcely  dreamed.  These  pioneers,  in  goodly  numbers, 
found  their  way  to  Oregon  early  in  the  "  forties  "  and  "  fifties,"  making  their  way  across 
the  continent  in  the  dim  wake  of  Lewis  and  Clarke.  The  four-wheeled  ship  of  the 
desert  was  their  vehicle  and  the  rough-ribbed  ox  their  motive  power.     In  peril  often, 


92  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

in  fatigue  always,  and  sometimes  through  sickness,death  and  deprivation  they  struggled 
onward  toward  the  setting  sun. 

But  these  early  settlers  found  at  length  a  country  that  well  repaid  them  for  their 
toil;  a  country  of  surpassing  beauty  and  diversity  of  scenery,  soil  and  climate;  a 
country  in  which  the  giant  minds  that  planned  their  exodus  from  older  lands  might 
have  the  ample  room  they  needed  to  extend  and  grow.  After  reaching  the  Territory 
of  Oregon,  they  settled,  often  in  widely  separated  fields.  For  several  years  they  lived 
in  isolation,  but  also  in  health,  peace  and  primitive  plenty.  They  made  friends  with 
the  Indians,  and,  forming  a  provisional  government,  protected  themselves  and  the  red 
man  alike  within  its  statutes. 

But  the  discovery  of  gold,  first  in  California  and  a  little  later  in  Oregon,  was  the 
lever  that  worked  the  change  in  the  provincial  habits  of  these  Spartan-souled  heroes. 

By  the  beginning  of  the  year  1850  the  whole  world  had  caught  the  gold  fever. 
Men  left  their  homes  and  families  and  flocked  together  to  the  new  Eldorado  like  cor- 
morants scenting  the  means  of  subsistence  from  afar.  They  settled  California  with  a 
heterogeneous  multitude  from  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  gradually,  as  the  con- 
tagion spread,  extended  their  peregrinations  into  Oregon,  where  nature  had,  in  many 
places,  been  equally  successful  in  storing  up  and  hiding  away  her  precious  ores. 

The  entire  region  lying  west  of  the  Cascade  Mountains,  within  the  "  rain  belt," 
rejoices  in  two  seasons,  the  wet  and  the  dry.  And  yet,  there  is  no  drought  in  summer, 
nor  is  there  any  long  continued  spell  of  rain  at  one  time  in  winter.  The  climate  is 
mild  throughout  the  year.  Here  is  the  home  alike  of  the  fruit  and  the  grain,  the 
forest  and  the  mineral.  If  you  fancy  that  you  prefer  to  settle  upon  government 
lands  there  are  yet  many  openings  for  such  homes,  where,  by  going  from  twenty  to 
one  hundred  miles  away  from  present  railroad  facilities,  thus  following  in  a  much 
modified  form  the  heroic  example  of  early  pioneers,  you  may,  by  overcoming  com- 
paratively few  of  the  obstacles  they  encountered,  achieve  a  like  or  a  greater  success. 

Do  you  wish  a  climate  with  more  marked  extremes  of  heat  and  cold?  The  exten- 
sive tablelands  of  the  eastern  portion  of  this  great  domain  invite  you  to  possess 
them.  Here,  also',  in  many  places,  are  the  homes  of  the  fruit  and  the  grain.  Here 
are  mountain  fortresses  with  intersecting  valleys  and  limpid  streams.  Here,  too,  is 
the  home  of  irrigation,  the  home  of  the  stock  grower  and  the  stronghold  of  the  baser 
metals,  as  well  as  of  gold  and  silver  and  precious  stones. 

While  I  do  not  believe  in  a  one-sexed  country,  any  more  than  a  one-sexed  home 
or  government,  I  do  believe  that  women  should  have  equal  chance  with  men  to 
acquire  the  homes,  that  both  the  sexes  equally  need,  and  must  jointly  occupy.  The 
one  great  obstacle  in  the  ^ay  of  women  getting  homes  in  the  country  is  their  too  fre- 
quent desire  to  possess  lands  of  area  so  great  that  to  live  upon  them  means  isolation. 
But  if  women  as  well  as  men,  when  in  quest  of  homes,  would  be  content  with  farms 
containing  five,  ten,  or  at  most  forty  acres,  bringing  with  them,  to  a  new  country, 
sufficient  means  to  carry  them  through  the  first  year  or  so  of  settlement,  say  any- 
where from  five  hundred  dollars  up,  there  are  comparatively  few  of  you,  M^ho  are 
often  rack-rented  in  the  great  cities,  and  overstrained  in  every  way  in  trying  to  keep 
up  appearances,  who  would  not  find  youselves  and  those  dependent  upon  you  very 
soon  in  independent  circumstances.  When  you  live  in  the  country,  on  land  of  your 
own,  you  are  free  from  the  exactions  of  house  rent,  water  tax,  and  the  constantly 
accruing  wood,  milk,  butter,  eggs,  fruit  and  vegetable  bills  that  make  your  lives  a 
burden.  In  your  city  garrets  are  old  clothes  enough  to  keep  your  families  clad  in  the 
country  till  an  income  grows;  and  through  the  care-free  lives  you  may  lead  under 
such  conditions  your  broken  health  returns. 

Bear  in  mind  that  it  is  difficult  at  this  late  day  to  find  room  for  large  settlements, 
even  in  small  holdings,  directly  along  the  established  railroad  lines.  If  you  would 
grow  up  with  the  country  you  must  first  establish  yourselves  on  its  frontier. 

I  have  at  this  moment  in  mind  many  places  where  deeded  lands,  held  at  reasona- 
ble prices  on  easy  terms,  can  be  bought  in  the  Pacific  Northwest  for  just  such  homes. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  93 

I  also  know  of  whole  townships  on  the  still  farther  frontier  where  irrigation  lends  the 
magic  of  its  power  to  such  marvels  of  production  as  are  never  seen  elsewhere.  These 
lands  are  from  twenty  to  eighty,  and  even  one  hundred  miles  away,  at  present,  from 
railroads.  But  many  thousands  of  acres  are  there  awaiting  possession,  where  many 
hundreds  of  ideal  home  sites  could  be  secured,  contiguous  to  inexhaustible  summer 
range  for  stock;  where  alfalfa  yields  prodigious  returns  from  irrigation  for  winter's 
feed  for  stock;  where  a  farm  of  forty  acres  or  less  would  make  an  independent  home. 
In  these  places  chickens  thrive  like  magic  on  sunflowers  bigger  than  dinner-plates; 
hogs  grow  fat  on  barley,  harvested  by  themselves,  after  having  thriven  to  maturity 
on  alfalfa,  also  of  their  own  harvestings;  small  fruits,  cereals  and  vegetables  yield 
enormously.  The  air  is  as  pure  as  ether,  and  the  scenery  is  as  grand  as  Heaven.  Here 
can  be  grown  in  inexhaustible  quantities  the  sugar  beet,  the  mangel-wurzel,  and  all  the 
other  staples  on  which  man  and  beast  do  thrive,  except,  perhaps,  your  Indian  corn, 
for  which  the  delicious  air  of  night  is  too  cool  to  permit  its  superabundant  growth. 
Adjacent  mines  abound  in  all  directions,  awaiting  the  toil  and  money  of  man  for  their 
development. 

Again,  I  think  of  evergreen  forests,  humid  skies  and  fruit-bearing  vales,  hard  by 
the  sunset  seas.  But  many  of  these  are  also  away  from  present  lines  of  railroad, 
though  not  more  than  twenty,  thirty,  or  at  most  one  hundred  miles  away.  Think  of 
it!  Only  one  hundred  miles!  Why,  we  of  the  Pacific  Coast  went  two  thousand  and 
three  thousand  miles  away  from  railroads  to  get  our  start! 

Oh  those  primitive  times!  How,  amid  all  these  scenes  of  wonder,  do  I  love  to 
pause  and  live  over  again  the  far-off  days  when  everybody  in  my  great  bailiwick  knew 
everybody  else;  when  there  were  no  extremes  of  wealth  or  want,  but  everybody  had 
enough  and  to  spare.  Families  living  hundreds  of  miles  apart  made  annual  visits  to 
each  other's  homes  at  convenient  seasons.  Their  vehicles  were  the  same  battered, 
creaking  ships  of  the  desert,  their  teams  the  same  old  oxen,  grown  fat  and  festive, 
that,  half  starved  and  footsore,  had  brought  them  across  the  continent  in  the  bygone 
years. 

Anon,  the  railroad  era  dawned  upon  the  land.  The  shout  of  its  coming  was  heard 
in  the  air,  and  songs  like  this  floated  out  upon  the  breeze: 

From  the  land  of  the  distant  East  I  come, 

A  railway  abroad,  and  I  love  to  roam, 

In  my  lengthening,  winding  way. 

On  my  ballast  of  rock  and  my  ribs  of  pine, 

And  my  sinews  of  steel  that  glitter  and  shine, 

While  my  workmen  sap  and  sow  and  mine. 

As  steadily,  day  by  day, 
They  tunnel  the  mountains  and  climb  the  ridges. 
And  span  the  culverts  and  rivet  the  bridges. 
And  waken  the  echoes  afar  and  anear 
With  the  shout  of  triumph  and  song  of  cheer. 

The  State  of  Oregon,  or  what  is  left  of  it  since  it  married  off  its  three  territorial 
daughters,  Washington,  Montana  and  Idaho,  to  state  governments,  contains  in  round 
numbers  an  area  of  95,275  square  miles.  Washington,  the  eldest  of  Oregon's  "three 
stately  graces,"  possesses  about  an  equal  area.  Montana  comes  next,  with  skirts  nearly 
as  ample,  and  Idaho  sits  proudly  at  the  eastward  gates,  holding  aloft,  as  shown  on  the 
maps,  the  rough  similitude  of  a  huge  arm-chair  on  her  mountains'  summits,  inviting 
you  to  come  and  be  seated. 

There  is  much  mountainous  country  throughout  the  Pacific  Northwest — so  much 
that  the  pure  air  of  heaven,  playing  at  random  among  the  heights,  frightens  away  the 
cyclones  of  the  flats  and  sends  them  howling  over  the  Kansas  prairies  and  the  great 
plains  of  Texas,  leaving  our  rock-ribbed  vales  in  smiling  security.  Tornadoes,  drought 
and  pestilence,  from  the  same  cause,  escape  us. 


94  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

The  trend  of  the  main  mountain  ranges  is  north  and  south,  with  innumerable  spurs 
reaching  out  in  all  directions,  breaking  the  country  into  diversified  valleys,  well  watered 
and  fertile.  Every  cereal  known  to  agriculture,  every  fruit  and  flower  of  the  temperate 
zones,  and  many  products  of  semi-torrid  climes,  find  congenial  homes  in  different  por- 
tions of  this  broad  domain.  Every  mineral  known  to  man  abounds  within  our  borders. 
Our  forests  are  gigantic  and  inexhaustible,  our  rivers  are  big  and  deep  and  rapid,  and 
our  creeks  and  rills  and  lakes  no  man  can  number. 

But  don't  come  to  a  new  country  wholly  empty-handed,  expecting  the  few  who 
are  on  the  ground  ahead  of  you  to  furnish  you  with  remunerative  employment.  Come 
prepared  to  take  care  of  yourselves  till  you  can  have  time  to  raise  a  crop.  Come  pre- 
pared to  help  each  other,  just  as  did  the  early  pioneers,  just  as  all  must  do  who  leave 
the  mark  of  success  upon  the  age  in  which  they  struggle. 

*'  The  world  belongs  to  those  who  take  it, 
Not  to  those  who  sit  and  wait." 

Once,  when  I  was  twenty  years  younger  than  now,  though  not  a  whit  less  enthu- 
siastic, as  I  was  journeying  westward  across  the  continent  by  rail,  I  perpetrated  some 
stanzas  with  which  to  please  my  friends  at  home;  and  now  I  will  conclude  the  address 
by  their  recital  here: 

Ho!   for  the  bracing  and  breezing  Pacific, 

As  surging  and  heaving  he  rolleth  for  aye; 
Ho  for  the  land  where  bold  rocks  bid  us  welcome, 

And  grandeur  and  beauty  hold  rivaling  sway! 
Yes;  ho!  for  the  West,  for  the  blest  land  of  promise, 

Where  mountains  all  white  bathe  their  brows  in  the  sky; 
While  down  their  steep  sides  the  cold  torrent  comes  dashing, 

And  eagles  scream  out  from  their  eyries  on  high. 

I  have  seen  the  bright  East  where  the  restless  Atlantic 

Forever  and  ever  wails  out  his  deep  moan, 
And  I've  stood  in  the  shade  of  the  dark  AUeghanies, 

Or  listened,  all  rapt,  to  Niagara's  groan. 
Again,  I  have  sailed  through  grand  scenes  on  the  Hudson, 

.Steamed  down  the  Fall  River  through  Long  Island  Sound; 
The  Ohio  I've  viewed,  and  the  weird  Susquehanna, 

Or  skirted  the  Lake  Shore  when  West  I  was  bound. 

I've  sniffed  the  bland  breeze  of  the  broad  Mississippi, 

And  dreamed  in  the  midst  of  his  valley  so  great. 
Have  crossed  and  re-crossed  the  bold  turbid  Missouri, 

As  he  bears  toward  the  Gulf  Stream  his  steam-guided  freight; 
And  I've  bathed  my  hot  forehead  in  soft  limpid  moonbeams, 

That  shimmered  me  o'er  with  their  glow  and  their  gold. 
In  the  haunts  where  the  loved  of  my  youth  gave  glad  welcome, 

And  memory  recalled  each  dear  voice  as  of  old. 

But  though  scenes  such  as  these  oft  allured,  pleased  and  charmed  me, 

Euterpe  came  out  with  her  harp  or  my  lyre; 
Yet  when  I  again  reached  thy  prairies,  Nebraska, 

To  sing  she  began  me  at  once  to  inspire. 
And,  as  westward  we  sped,  o'er  the  broad,  rolling  pampas, 

Or  slowly  ascended  the  mountains  all  wild. 
Or  dashed  through  the  gorges  and  under  the  snowsheds. 

The  Nine  with  crude  numbers  my  senses  beguiled. 


•      THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  95 

Colorado's  wild  steeps,  and  the  rocks  of  Wyoming, 

Their  lone  stunted  pine  trees  and  steep  palisades. 
And  afar  to  the  west  the  cold,  bleak  Rocky  Mountains, 

At  whose  feet  the  wild  buffalo  feeds  in  the  glades, 
Have  each  in  their  turn  burst  sublime  on  my  vision, 

While  deserts  all  desolate  gazed  at  the  sky, 
And  away  to  the  south  rose  the  snow-crested  Wasatch, 

Bald,  bleak  and  majestic,  broad  rolling  and  high. 

I  have  stood  where  dead  cities  of  sandstone  columnar. 

Loom  up  in  their  grandeur,  all  solemn  and  still, 
And  mused  o'er  the  elements'  wars  of  the  Ages 

That  shaped  them  in  symmetry  wild  at  their  will. 
I  have  rolled  down  the  bowlders  and  waked  the  weird  echoes, 

Where  serpents  affrighted,  have  writhed  in  their  rage. 
And  watched  the  fleet  antelope  bound  o'er  the  desert 

Through  vast  beds  of  cacti  and  grease-wood  and  sage. 

I  have  sailed  on  the  breast  of  the  Deseret  Dead  Sea, 

And  bathed  in  its  waters  all  tranquil  and  clear; 
Have  gazed  on  the  mountains  and  valleys  of  Humboldt, 

Strange,  primitive,  awful,  sad,  silent  and  sere. 
I  have  climbed  and  reclimbed  the  steep,  wind-worn  Sierras, 

Peered  in  their  deep  gorges  all  dark  and  obscure, 
Dreamed  under  the  shadows  of  giant  Sequoias, 

Or  talked  with  wild  Indians,  reserved  and  demure. 

I  have  trusted  my  bark  on  the  billows  of  Ocean, 

And  watched  them  roll  up  and  recede  from  the  shore, 
And  have  anchored  within  thy  fine  bay,  San  Francisco, 

Where  the  Golden  Gate  husheth  the  Ocean's  deep  roar. 
But  not  till  I  reached  thy  broad  bosom,  Columbia, 

Where  ever,  forever,  thou  roll'st  to  the  sea, 
Did  I  feel  that  I'd  found  the  full  acme  of  grandeur, 

Where  song  could  run  riot,  or  fancy  go  free. 

Then  my  Pegasus  changed  his  quick  pen  to  a  gallop, 

Euterpe's  wind  harp  waked  yEolian  strains. 
And  the  Nine  in  their  rapture  sang  odes  to  the  mountains. 

That  preside  over  Oregon's  forests  and  plains. 
Hoary  Hood  called  aloud  to  the  three  virgin  Sisters, 

Who  blushed  with  the  roseate  glow  of  the  morn; 
St.  Helen  and  Ranier  from  over  the  border 

Scowled  and  clouded  their  brows  in  pretension  of  scorn. 

The  Dalles  of  Columbia,  set  up  on  their  edges. 

Swirled  through  the  deep  gorges  as  onward  they  rolled, 
Or  over  huge  bowlders  of  basalt  went  dashing. 

Dispersed  into  spray  ere  their  story  was  told. 
To  the  north  and  the  south  and  the  west  rose  the  fir  trees, 

With  proportions  colossal  and  graceful  and  tall. 
Dark  green  in  their  hue,  with  a  tinge  of  deep  purple, 

Casting  shadows  sometimes  o'er  the  earth  like  a  pall. 

Bold  headlands  keep  guard  o'er  the  Oregon  River, 

Whose  dashings  are  heard  far  away  o'er  the  main, 
As  roaring  and  foaming  and  rushing  forever. 

He  struggles  with  Ocean  some  'vantage  to  gain. 


96  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

White  cities  sit  smiling  beside  the  Columbia, 

Where,  though  land-walled,  the  breeze  of  the  sea  she  inhales, 

While  wind-worn  Umatilla  and  gale-torn  Wallula 
Keep  sentinel  watch  o'er  her  broad  eastern  vales. 

Then  ho!  for  the  bracing  and  breezy  Pacific, 

Whose  waves  lave  the  Occident  ever  and  aye! 
I  care  naught  for  the  grandeur  of  Asia  and  Europe, 

For  my  far  Western  home  greets  me  gladly  to-day 
Yes,  ho!  for  the  west,  for  the  blest  land  of  promise. 

Where  mountains,  all  green,  bathe  their  brows  in  the  sky; 
While  down  the  tall  snow-peaks  wild  torrents  come  dashing. 

And  eagles  scream  out  from  their  eyries  on  high. 


COMMISSIONERS-AT-LARGE  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  LADY  MANAGERS. 


1.  Mrs.  John  J.  Bagley. 

Michigan. 


2.  Miss  Ellen  A.  Fobd, 

Sew  York. 


S.  Mrs.  Rosine  Ryan. 

Texas. 


4.  Mrs.  Mary  S.  Harrison, 

Montana. 


5.  Mrs.  D.  F.  Yerdenal, 

New  York, 


6.  Mrs.  Mary  Cecil  Cantrill, 

Kentucky. 


7.  Mrs.  Mary  S.  Lix^KWooD, 

District  of  Columbiiu 


GEORGE  MEREDITH'S  NOVELS. 


By  MISS  MARGARET  WINDEYER. 

It  would  be  a  difficult  task  to  criticise  George  Meredith's  novels  in  such  a  manner 
as  would  seem  to  his  admirers  adequate  to  their  marvels,  and  as  would  not  seem 

extravagant  to  those  readers  who  have  not  had  time 
to  study  these  books,  or  who  have  not  given  their 
keenest  sensibilities  to  the  understanding  of  them. 
Able  reviewers  of  England  and  America  have  given 
their  doughty  opinions  upon  them  in  phrases  of  lit- 
erary worth,  and  with  a  wealth  of  diction  which  is  not 
at  my  command.  So  to  criticise  is  not  my  intention, 
but  merely  to  draw  your  attention  to  Meredith's  com- 
prehension of  the  intuitions,  idiosyncrasies  and  sensi- 
bilities of  women,  and  to  his  knowledge  of  the  diffi- 
culties of  their  environment,  which  stand  between 
them  and  their  perfect  development.  It  might  be 
questioned  whether  he  always  has  pity  for  women; 
I  think  he  always  has,  and  paints  them  with  a 
master  hand.  As  it  may  enable  you  to  recall  as  to 
whether  you  have  read  any  of  Meredith's  books  or  not, 
I  will  give  a  list  of  them:  "Evan  Harrington,"  "Harry 
Richmond,"  "The  Ordeal  of  Richard  Feverel,"  "Vit- 
toria,"  "Rhoda  Flemming,"  "Beauchamp's  Career," 
"The  Egotist,"  "Diana  of  the  Crossways,"  "The  Shav- 
ing of  Shagpat,"  "One  of  Our  Conquerors,"  and  "The 
Tragic  Comedians."  In  these  books  there  are  such 
instances  of  the  insight  and  self-denial,  the  tenderness  and  devotion  and  faithfulness 
of  women,  that  they  should  be  more  read  by  women  than  they  are,  and,  besides  this, 
they  are  enriched  with  a  humor  that  is  fascinating  in  its  variety;  for  instance,  "The 
phantom  half-crown,  flickering  in  one  eye  of  the  anticipatory  waiter,"  or,  "Dacier  has  a 
veritable  thirst  for  hopeful  views  of  the  world,  and  no  spiritual  distillery  of  his  own." 
"To  see  insipid  mildness  complacently  swallowed  as  an  excellent  thing  is  your  anecdotal 
gentleman's  annoyance."  "A  woman's 'never'  fell  far  short  of  outstripping  the  sturdy 
pedestrian  Time  to  Redworth's  mind."  "A  rough  truth  is  a  rather  strong  charge  of 
universal  nature  for  the  firing  off  of  a  modicum  of  fact." 

One  of  the  Scotch  reviewers,  J.  M.  Barrie,  I  think,  says  that  a  course  of  Mere- 
dith's novels  should  commence  with  "Rhoda  Flemming;"  but  I  do  not  agree  with  him. 
Though  less  intricate  in  its  relationships,  it  is  so  painful  a  lesson  upon  the  danger  of 
family  pride  that  some  readers  would  not  read  other  books  by  an  author  who  pro- 
duced so  dismal  an  impression.     In  this  book  we  have  before  us  Mrs.  Margaret  Lovell, 

Miss  Margaret  Windeyer  ie  a  native  of  New  South  Wales,  AuBtralia.  She  was  born  in  1866  at  Sydney.  Her  parents  are 
Sir  William  Charles  Windeyer,  LL.  D.,  Judge  of  the  Snpreme  Court  of  New  South  Wales,  and  Mary  Elizabeth  Windeyer, 
daughter  of  Rev.  R.  T.  Bolton.  She  was  educated  at  home  and  afterward  attended  university  classes  by  H.  C.  L.  Anderson. 
31.  A.,  at  Miss  Hooper's  school,  and  passed  junior  public  examination  in  five  subjects  in  1882.  She  has  traveled  in  Europe, 
Canada  £ind  the  United  States.  Miss  Windeyer  was  honorable  secretary  Department  Educational  in  the  Exhibition  of 
Woman's  Industries  held  in  Sydney  in  1888;  honorable  secretary  Woman's  Literary  Society.  August.  1890.  to  Aagost,  1892;  hon- 
orable secretary  Womanhood  Suffrage  League  of  New  South  Wales,  December,  1891,  till  March,  1893;  representative  New 
South  Wales,  World's  Congress  of  Representative  Women,  Chicago,  1893,  and  was  honorable  commissioner  for  New  South 
Wales  at  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition.  In  religions  faith  she  is  a  Unitarian.  Her  postoffice  address  is  Roslyn  Oar- 
dens,  Sydney,  N.  S.  W. 

(7)  97 


MISS   MARGARET  WINDEYER. 


98  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

who  belongs  to  that  company  of  women  at  whose  head  stands  Becky  Sharp.  "Boys 
adored  her.  These  are  moths.  But  more,  the  birds  of  the  air,  nay,  grave  owls  (who 
stand  in  this  metaphor  for  bewhiskered  experience)  thronged,  dashing  at  the  appari- 
tion of  terrible  splendour."  Mrs.  Fryar  Gunnett,  the  Countess  of  Saldar  and  Mrs. 
Marsett,  Lady  Blandish  and  Lady  Grace  Halley  are  all  different  species  of  the  siren 
genus  of  woman.  Rhoda  and  Dahlia  Flemming  are  sisters.  Dahlia  falls  into  the  toils 
of  Edward  Blanscove,  and  Rhoda,  to  save  her  sister's  reputation,  she  says,  but  really 
to  save  and  spare  her  own  and  her  father's  name,  arranges  a  marriage  between  Dahlia 
and  Nicholas  Sedgett.  After  the  marriage  has  taken  place  it  is  then  discovered  that 
Sedgett  has  a  wife  elsewhere.,  Poor,  broken-hearted  Dahlia,  doubly  wronged,  will  not 
marry  Blanscove  when  he  urges  it.  "There  was  but  one  answer  for  him,  and  when  he 
ceased  to  charge  her  with  unforgiveness,  he  came  to  the  strange  conclusion  that, 
beyond  our  calling  a  woman  a  saint  for  rhetorical  purposes  and  esteeming  her  as 
one  for  pictorial,  it  is  indeed  possible,  as  he  had  slightly  descried  in  this  woman's 
presence,  both  to  think  her  saintly  and  to  have  the  sentiment  inspired  by  the  over- 
earthly  in  her  person.  Her  voice,  her  simple  words  of  writing,  her  gentle  resolve, 
all  issuing  of  a  capacity  to  suffer  evil  and  pardon  it,  conveyed  that  character  to  a  mind 
not  soft  for  receiving  such  impressions." 

"  The  Tragic  Comedians "  contains  a  highly  dramatic  love  story.  Alvan  is  the 
hero,  the  incidents  taken  from  the  life  of  Ferdinand  Laysalle.  The  lesson  it  teaches 
is  that  one  should  accept  what  is  nearest  to  perfection  within  our  reach,  and  not  lose 
by  striving  for  the  unattainable  that  joy,  beauty  and  honor  which  comes  to  our  hand. 
Alvan  would  not  accept  his  bride  unless  she  came  to  him  dowered  with  the  sanction 
of  her  parents  to  her  marriage,  and  she,  her  mind  narrowed  and  cramped  by  conven- 
tional surroundings,  lacks  the  power  to  seize  the  highest  happiness  offered  to  her. 
When  we  contemplate  Alvan's  scorn  of  Julia's  want  of  moral  courage,  the  thought 
that  women  are  what  men  have  made  them  seems  borne  in  upon  one's  mind.  Men 
have  not  sought  in  woman  straightforwardness  and  moral  courage.  They  have 
decried  both.  They  have  rather  desired  them  to  be  "  educated  for  the  market,  to  be 
timorous,  consequently  secretive,  etc."  So  when  to  a  woman  of  fertile  brain  there 
comes  an  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  power,  it  is  perhaps  exerted  hy  Ji?iesse,  by 
dexterous  underhand  play,  and  then  are  women  held  up  to  scorn  as  not  having  the 
honesty  of  men  —  so  the  world  says.  "  Men  create  by  stoppage  a  volcano,  and  are 
then  amazed  at  its  eruptiveness." 

"  Diana  of  the  Crossways  "  is  the  story  of  a  beautiful,  clever,  generous,  high- 
spirited  girl,  who  at  nineteen  is  an  orphan.  She  acquires  that  difficult  position  known 
as  social  success,  and  finds,  to  quote  our  author,  that  "there  are  men  with  whom  it  is 
an  instinct  to  pull  down  the  standard  of  the  sex  by  a  bully-like  imposition  of  sheer 
physical  ascendency  whenever  they  see  it  flying  with  an  air  of  gallant  independence." 
Then  Sir  Lukin,  the  husband  of  Diana's  friend.  Lady  Dunstane,  by  his  behavior  in 
what  he  terms  "  a  momentary  aberration,"  closes  for  her  the  house  that  should  be  her 
home.  We  learn  how  Diana  concluded  that  in  marriage  was  her  only  safety,  and 
here  the  reader  will  find  passages  surcharged  with  weighty  ideas,  and  we  are  brought 
face  to  face  with  that  man  of  men,  Thomas  Redworth,  who  has  waited  to  tell  Diana 
that  he  loves  her  until  he  shall  be  able  to  give  her  a  home  which  shall  be  a  worthy 
setting  for  such  a  jewel.  Mr.  Warwich,  "the  gentlemanly  official"  whom  Diana 
married,  after  two  years  of  wedded  life  tries  to  obtain  a  divorce  from  her,  with  Lord 
Dannisbrough  in  the  position  of  defendant.  The  hearing  of  the  case  resulted  in  that 
the  plaintiff  was  adjudged  not  to  have  proven  his  charge.  About  a  year  after  this 
Diana  meets  Percy  Dacier,  Lord  Dannisbrough's  nephew,  at  the  Italian  Lakes,  and  a 
pronounced  friendship  results.  Six  months  after,  he  and  she  keep  watch  by  the 
mortal  remains  of  his  uncle.  Then  their  friendship  is  remarked,  and  we  come  to  the 
stage  where  they  agree  to  unite  their  fates.  Her  trunks  are  packed;  the  tickets  for 
Paris  are  taken;  he  waits  at  the  station  for  her;  she  does  not  come,  because  her  friend, 
Emma  Dunstane,  has  sent  for  her  in  the  extremity  of  illness.     The  author  says  that 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  99 

afterward,  on  the  safe  side  of  the  abyss,  it  wore  a  gruesome  look  to  his  cool  blood. 
A  year  after,  Diana  and  Percy  are  friends  again.  How  she  betrays  a  political  secret; 
how  cruel,  yet  how  comprehensible,  is  Dacier's  conduct,  the  reader  will  learn  in  chap- 
ters full  of  charm.  The  last  is  called  the  "  nuptial  chapter,"  and  relates  how  a  barely 
willing  woman  was  led  to  bloom  with  the  nuptial  sentiment. 

Meredith  portrays  the  modern  villain  unsparingly,  "  men  who  are  not  free  from 
the  common  masculine  craze  to  scale  fortresses  for  the  sake  of  lowering  flags."  He 
gives  some  noted  and  titled  examples,  and  in  treatment  of  such  characters  we  find 
these  words:  "  Men  appear  to  be  capable  of  friendship  with  women  only  for  as  long 
as  we  keep  out  of  pulling  distance  of  that  line  where  friendship  ceases.  They  may 
step  on  it;  we  must  hold  back  a  league." 

"The  Ordeal  of  Richard  Feverel "  I  do  not  advise  many  women  to  read,  as  it  is 
likely  to  produce  a  sense  of  helplessness,  with  which  will  come  hopelessness,  which 
we  must  avoid.  But  in  the  main,  from  reading  Meredith's  sermon-novels,  there  comes 
the  wish  not  to  leave  the  world,  but  to  set  it  straight.  The  light  of  every  soul  burns 
upward.  Of  course,  most  of  them  are  candles  in  the  wind;  and  then  Meredith  says: 
^'The  less  ignorant  I  become,  the  more  considerate  I  am  for  the  ignorance  of  others. 
I  love  them  for  it;"  which  speech  is  the  essence  of  the"  charity  "that  suffereth  long 
and  is  kind,"  the  pity  which  is  akin  to  love.  The  author  who  wrote,  "The  something 
sovereignly  characteristic  that  aspires  in  Diana  enchained  him.  With  her,  or,  rather, 
with  his  thought  of  her  soul,  he  understood  the  right  union  of  woman  and  man,  from 
the  roots  to  the  flowering  heights  of  that  rare  graft.  She  gave  him  comprehension  of 
the  meaning  of  love,  a  word  in  many  mouths  not  often  explained.  With  her  wound 
in  his  idea  of  her,  he  perceived  it  to  signify  a  new  start  in  our  existence,  a  finer  shoot 
of  the  tree  planted  in  good,  gross  earth,  the  senses  running  their  live  sap,  and  the 
minds  companioned,  and  the  spirits  made  one  by  the  whole-natured  conjunction," 
must  of  necessity  be  able  to  write  a  love-passage  with  tenderness  and  grace,  so  I  quote 
the  following:  "  It  was  not  in  him  to  stop  or  to  moderate  the  force  of  his  eyes.  She 
met  them  with  the  slender  unbendingness  that  was  her  own,  a  feminine  of  inspirited 
manhood.  There  was  no  soft  expression,  only  the  direct  shot  of  light  on  both  sides, 
conveying  as  much  as  is  borne  from  sun  to  earth,  from  earth  to  sun."  Passages  such 
as  these  lend  interest  to  the  life-loves  of  Evan  Harrington  and  Rose  Joselyn,  Beau- 
champ  and  Renee,  Richard  Feverel  and  Lucy,  Rhoda  Flemming  and  Robert  Eccles. 

There  is  such  painting  of  nature  in  Meredith's  novels  that  we  behold  the  scenes 
he  describes  instead  of  dimly  imagining  them,  and  the  metaphors  he  employs  have 
always  a  quaint  conceit,  which  makes  his  style  so  peculiarly  his  own.  This  picture  of 
a  sunrise  from  "One  of  Our  Conquerors:"  "Now  was  the  cloak  of  night,  worn  thread- 
bare and  gray,  astir  for  the  heraldingof  golden  day  visibly  ready  to  show  its  warmer 
throbs.  The  gentle  waves  were  just  a  stronger  gray  than  the  sky,  perforce  of  an  inter- 
fusion that  shifted  gradations;  they  were  silken,  in  places  oily  gray,"  maybe  fitly  hung 
beside  the  sunset  picture  in  "Diana  of  the  Crossways:"  "The  sunset  began  to  deepen. 
Emma  gazed  into  the  depths  of  the  waves  of  crimson,  where  brilliancy  of  color  came 
out  of  central  heaven,  preternaturally  near  our  earth,  till  one  shade  less  brilliant  seemed 
an  ebbing  away  to  boundless  remoteness." 

In  "The  Egotist,"  Sir  Willoughby  is  the  central  figure,  who,  in  his  lofty  conceit, 
rejoices  in  the  knowledge  that  Lastitia  Dale  pines  for  love  of  him.  The  vicissitudes 
of  his  love  affairs  make  a  charming  book,  in  which  wit  is  ever  sparkling,  and  although 
the  keynote  of  woman's  subjection  is  sounded,  there  is  no  undertone  of  tragedy. 
"One  of  Our  Conquerors"  is  remarkable  for  its  complete  presentation  of  the  Mere- 
dithan  style,  and  the  lessons  to  be  learned  from  the  characters  are  profound;  existing 
relations  between  men  and  women  are  diagnosed  thoroughly,  and  one  comes  from  the 
reading  with  a  longing  to  leave  the  world  a  little  better  than  he  found  it.  Metaphors, 
similes,  analysis,  all  the  fraternity  of  old  lamps  for  lighting  our  abysmal  darkness,  are 
scattered  through  the  pages  of  this  book.  I  shall  close  this  paper,  so  unworthy  of  this 
interesting  subject,  with  Meredith's  own  words:  "The  banished  of  Eden  had  to  put 


100 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 


on  metaphors,  and  the  common  use  of  them  has  helped  largely  to  civilize  us.  The 
sluggish  in  intellect  detest  them,  but  our  civilization  is  not  much  indebted  to  that 
major  portion." 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 

By  MRS.  WHITON  STONE. 

It  is  the  world's  high  noon — Meridian  height 

Of  the  great  Sun  of  Progress,  in  whose  light 

The  continents  are  bathed — blazing,  as  sign 
That  Thought  is  principle  of  Life  divine; 
That  Thought  is  God,  and  God  in  thought  must  shine; 
That  from  the  heavens,  its  primal  source. 
Has  lit  the  Past,  and  on  its  matchless  course 
Has  shone  with  ever  gathering  force, 
Until,  in  this  consummate  hour, 

The  Thought  of  all  the  Centuries  has  burst  to  splendid 
flower. 


MRS.  WHITON  STONE 


Upon  this  central  spot  we  stand. 
Encircled  with  immensity. 

Nay — by  infinity — 
Transfixed  with  wonder  at  the  grand 
Discoveries  of  human  souls — the  plans  conceived, 

The  mighty  deeds  achieved; 
The  engine's  lightning  speed — electric  speech — 
The  flashing  fires  that  far  off  shores  can  reach; 
The  current,  that  in  such  mysterious  way 
Connects  today  with  the  whole  world's  today; 
The  science,  art  and  music,  all  expressed 
In  genius  of  the  East,  and  genius  of  the  West, 

And  soaring  higher  than  Olympian  ways. 

Working  great  problems  out  in  rounded  days. 

Our  modern  Sapphos  sing  to  Heaven,  nobler  than  Lesbian  lays. 

Oh,  thou  great  Sun  of  Progress!     All  thy  glow 

Is  but  as  shadow  in  the  light  we  know 

Will  flood  the  coming  ages — Thought  will  grow. 

And  souls  a  larger  stature  gain. 

And  truths  divine  diviner  truths  attain; 

The  things  today,  that  we  have  known. 

Perchance,  shall  all  have  been  outgrown 

In  those  far  centuries'  Tomorrows, 

Yea!  even  human  sorrows: 
Thou  art  immortal  on  thy  dazzling  throne. 
Thou  wert  not  meant  for  Time  alone, 

For  Time 
Is  but  a  measure  in  Life's  song  sublime; 
And  thou  wilt  shine — shine  on  forevermore 
Lighting  the  way  to  that  mysterious  door, 
That  radiant  door — starred  with  the  mystic  seven 
From  out  the  world's  high  noon  to  the  high  noon  of  Heaven. 


101 


WOMEN    IN  THE   GREEK  DRAMA. 

EXTRACTS  FROM  JULIA  WARD  HOWE'S  LECTURE. 

In  some  of  the  comedies  of  Aristophanes  the  women's  cause  is  presented  in  a 
light  intended  to  provoke  ridicule. 

The  great  comedian,  it  is  thought,  was  moved  to 
present  these  impersonations  by  those  passages  in 
Plato's  republic  in  which  the  political  rights  of  women 
are  asserted  as  precisely  similar  to  those  of  men,  that 
is,  from  the  point  of  view  of  ideal  justice. 

Barring  the  indecencies  which  belong  to  the  com- 
mon taste  of  the  time,  and  which  are  largely  omitted 
in  translations,  the  Greek  of  Aristophanes  does  not 
appear  to  me  very  damaging  to  our  position  as  advo- 
cates of  the  rights  of  women.  In  one  of  these  plays, 
Lysistrata,  the  women  of  Athens,  weary  of  the 
absence  of  their  husbands  in  the  Peloponnesian  war, 
take  the  negotiation  of  the  peace  into  their  own 
hands.  Lysistrata,  the  leading  spirit  among  them, 
has  summoned  together  the  women  from  various 
parts  of  Greece,  with  the  view  of  wresting  the  man- 
agement of  public  affairs  from  the  hands  of  the  men 
entrusted  with  them,  and  of  putting  an  end  to  the 
sinuous  and  devastating  war.  Whether  intentionally 
"^  or  not,  Aristophanes  puts  very  sensible  reasoning  into 

MKs.  JULIA  WARD  HOWE.  ^^^  mouth  of  this  Icadcr  among  the  women. 

******* 

Aristophanes,  despite  his  satirical  intention,  preserves  for  us  pictures  of  the 
Athenian  women  of  his  own  time.  Quick  witted,  public  spirited,  as  far  as  opportu- 
nity will  allow,  devoutly  attached  to  married  life,  a  thrifty  domestic  worker  and  cal- 
culator, this  is,  or  was,  the  reality.  For  ideal  types  we  must  go  to  those  dramatists 
who  deal  with  the  historic  and  mythic  traditions  of  the  past.  I  have  before  me  at 
this  moment  a  vivid  picture  of  two  such  women  shown  in  startling  contrast 

The  Siege  of  Troy  is  over,  and  the  beacons  have  flashed  from  one  watch  tower  to 
another  the  signal  of  victory.  The  watchman,  weary  with  ten  years'  waiting,  thanks 
you  that  his  long  task  is  ended,  and  flies  to  communicate  the  good  news  to  Agamemnon's 
Queen,  Clytemnestra,  who  soon  appears  upon  the  stage  with  boastful  words  of  exulta- 
tion, beneath  which  she  veils  her  wicked  purpose.  A  herald  arrives  in  haste  to  confirm 
the  welcome  tidings  of  the  fall  of  Troy.  Clytemnestra  parleys  with  the  chorus,  express- 
ing the  joy  she  would  be  expected  to  feel  in  her  husband's  victory  and  near  return. 
She  says:  "What  light  more  welcome  to  a  woman's  eyes  than  this?  When  Heaven 
sends  back  her  husband  from  the  wars,  to  open  him  the  gates?  Go,  tell  my  lord  to 
come  at  his  best  speed,  desired  by  all;   so  would  he  find  at  home  a  faithful  wife,  just 

Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe  is  a  native  of  New  York  City.  She  was  born  May  27, 1819.  Her  parents  were  Samuel  and  Julia 
Cutler  Ward ;  she  was  educated  at  private  schools  in  New  York,  and  devoted  much  time  to  the  study  of  foreign  languages 
and  literature ;  has  traveled  six  times  to  Europe,  once  to  Egypt  and  Palestine,  and  twice  to  (California.  She  married  Dr. 
Samuel  Gridley  Howe,  the  eminent  philanthropist  and  teacher  of  Laura  Bridgman.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  inter- 
est of  literary  and  philosophical  culture,  and  of  woman  suffrage  and  higher  education  of  woman.  Her  principal  literary 
works  are  "Words  for  the  Hour."  "Trip  to  Cuba,"  "Later  Lyrics,"  "Life  of  Margaret  Fuller,"  "  From  the  Oak  to  the 
Olive,"  "  Modem  Society,"  and  "  Memoir  of  Dr.  Samuel  G.  Morse."  In  religious  faith  she  is  a  Unitarian  of  the  Channing 
or  James  Freeman  Clarke  Bcbool.    Her  postoffice  address  is  241  Beacon  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 

102 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  103 

as  he  left  her,  watch-dog  by  his  house,  to  him  all  kindness,  to  his  foes  a  foe,  and  for 
the  Test  unaltered." 

In  the  female  characters  put  upon  the  stage  by  Sophocles  we  can  trace  within 
the  influence  of  his  friend  Socrates,  or  the  sympathy  of  view  which  may  have  formed 
the  bond  between  them.  My  present  limits  will  only  allow  me  to  speak  of  two  of 
these  characters,  Electra  and  Antigone.  Both  of  these  women  are  rebels  against 
authority.  In  both  of  them  high  courage  is  combined  with  womanly  sweetness  and 
purity.  Electra  is  the  unhappy  eldest  daughter  of  the  murdered  Agamemnon,  con- 
demned to  live  in  the  daily  sight  of  her  mother's  contented  union  with  her  paramour, 
the  accomplice  of  her  bloody  crime.  In  this  crowned  triumph  of  evil  Electra  does 
not  for  one  moment  acquiesce.  Her  first  act  after  her  father's  death  had  been  to  con- 
vey her  child  brother,  Orestes,  to  a  place  of  safe  concealment.  Her  only  hope  in  life 
is  that  he  will  return  to  avenge  his  father's  untimely  end.  In  her  first  appearance 
upon  the  scene  she  bewails  the  tragedy  of  her  house. 

"  And  thou,  my  father,  hast  no  pity  gained, 
Though  thou  a  death  hast  died  so  grevious  and  so  foul; 
But  I,  at  least,  will  never,  while  I  live, 
Refrain  mine  eyes  from  tears, 
Nor  get  my  voice  from  wailings  sad  and  sore; 
But,lfke  a  nightingale  of  brood  bereaved. 
Before  the  gates,  I  speak  them  forth  to  all." 

In  the  Clytemnestra  of  /Eschylus  we  are  shown  the  full,  fiery  sweep  of  feminine 
passion,  in  the  height  and  boast  of  its  rebellion  redeemed  from  vileness  by  the  dread- 
ful antecedent  of  Iphigenia's  sacrifice,  and  the  unquenchable  anger  sternly  kindled  in 
the  mother's  breast.  In  his  Cassandra  we  have  the  wild  sibyl,  gifted  with  superhuman 
insight  and  touched  with  divine  fire,  but  all  unable  to  avert  the  doom  which  she  fore- 
sees. 

And  in  these  gracious  and  more  purely  feminine  types  presented  by  Sophocles, 
we  admire  the  union  of  womanly  tenderness  with  womanly  courage. 


NEEDLEWORK  AS  TAUGHT  IN  STOCKHOLM. 


By  MLLE.  HULDA  LUNDIN. 

Educational  methods  of  the  present  day  demand  that  instruction  in  general  shall 
be  given  according  to  a  carefully  considered  plan,  which  shall  be  at  the  same  time 

simple,  logical  and  progressive.  It  is  not  sufficient  to 
give  out  lessons  to  be  committed  to  memory;  these 
must  also  be  thoroughly  explained  and  illustrated  by 
the  teacher.  Suitable  mediums  of  instruction  must 
be  sought  and  class-teaching  maintained  in  order  to 
insure  thoroughness  and  inspire  interest.  It  is  a  mat- 
ter of  great  satisfaction  that  these  principles  have 
been  adopted  in  all  instruction  from  books;  but  if  one 
examines  the  methods  heretofore  employed  in  manual 
teaching  of  needlework  training  whose  educational 
value  can  hardly  be  overrated,  the  strange  fact  is  dis- 
covered, that  as  a  rule  not  one  trace  of  the  intelligent 
principles  governing  instruction  in  other  subjects  is 
to  be  found  here.  Therefore,  while  instruction  in  all 
other  branches  has  developed,  that  in  manual  training 
has  remained  in  its  old,  elementary  condition.  Man- 
ual training  has  been  regarded  as  an  outside  branch, 
not  subject  to  the  same  laws  as  other  educational 
branches,  whereas  it  ought  to  stand  side  by  side  with 
them,  because  it  has  the  same  educational  aim  to  ful- 
fill. The  aim  of  the  instruction  in  Girls'  Sloyd  (this 
term  embraces  in  Sweden  all  kinds  of  handiwork)  is: 
First,  to  exercise  hand  and  eye;  second,  to  quicken  the  power  of  thought;  third,  to 
strengthen  love  of  order;  fourth,  to  develop  independence;  fifth,  to  inspire  respect  for 
carefully  and  intelligently  executed  work,  and  at  the  same  time  to  prepare  girls  for 
the  execution  of  their  domestic  duties. 

The  instruction  has  two  objects  in  view:  {a)  It  shall  be  an  educational  medium; 
(d)  It  shall  fit  the  girls  for  practical  life.  But  if  the  desired  aim  is  to  be  reached,  the 
fundamental  principles  of  pedagogics  must  be  applied  to  manual  training. 

Formerly,  satisfaction  was  felt  with  purely  mechanical  skill  in  manual  training, 
when  the  only  thought  was  to  procure  even,  beautiful  stitches  in  sewing;  while  the 
practical  skill  required  in  measure-taking,  cutting-out  and  planning  a  piece  of  work, 
was  wholly  neglected.  The  introduction  of  the  sewing  machine  has  developed 
entirely  new  conditions.  We  must  now  tell  our  pupils  something  the  machine  cannot 
perform,  namely:  To  take  measures,  to  draft  patterns,  to  cut  out,  to  put  together  and 
to  arrange  garments;  also  to  train  them  to  skill  in  darning,  mending  and  marking  at 
the  same  time  that  we  teach  them  to  take  correct  stitches.  This  desired  result  is  not 
easily  attained,  but  experience  has  proved  that  it  is  best  reached  by,  first,  practical 

Mile.  Holda  Lundin  is  a  native  of  (^hrietianstad  (SkAne) ,  Sweden.  She  was  born  in  1847.  She  was  educated  at  various 
Swedish  schools  in  her  native  town  and  at  Stockholm.  She  has  traveled  in  England,  Scotland,  Italy,  Germany,  France,  Bel- 
gium, Denmark,  Norway,  Ireland  and  America.  As  one  of  the  leading  educators  of  today  she  has  an  established  position. 
Her  principal  literary  works  are  "Dressmaking"  (for  schools) ,  "Female  Sloyd,"  and  "French  Schools."  She  is  at  present 
superintendent  of  needlework  in  the  public  schools  of  Stockholm,  and  there  has  introduced  many  new  and  excellent  methods 
of  training.  In  religious  faith  she  is  a  Lutheran.  Belongs  to  Idun  (Woman's  Club),  Woman's  Suffrage  League,  and  varioas 
educational  societies.    Her  permanent  postoliice  address  is  Brunkevrgs  Hotel,  Stockholm,  Sweden. 

104 


MLLE.   HULDA  LUNDIN. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  105 

demonstration  on  the  subject;  second,  progressive  order  with  regard  to  the  exercises; 
third,  class  instruction. 

First:  Practical  demonstration  in  sewing  is  accomplished  by  means  of  a  sewing 
frame,  and  in  knitting  by  means  of  large  wooden  needles  and  colored  balls  of  yarn; 
at  the  same  time  blackboard  drawings  are  constantly  being  made.  "With  a  piece  of 
chalk  and  a  blackboard  a  teacher  can  work  wonders,"  I  once  heard  a  clever  teacher 
say.  Even  if  this  were  somewhat  overstated,  as  I  readily  admit,  it  is  nevertheless  true 
that  a  teacher  who  understands  the  value  of  these  media  can,  by  their  help,  reach 
remarkably  good  results.  French  schools  furnish  fine  proof  of  this.  As  no  one  is 
born  a  master,  and  as  we  cannot  afford  to  cast  away  material  at  hand,  it  is  necessary, 
until  skill  is  obtained,  to  make  use  of  preparatory  exercises,  but  much  judgment  must 
be  exercised  in  their  use.  I  consider  it  to  be  a  great  mistake  to  keep  pupils  engaged 
term  after  term  with  preparatory  exercises  which  they  may  not  put  into  practice  till 
long  after,  and  by  the  time  they  are  needed  have  perhaps  forgotten.  As  soon  as 
an  exercise  is  well  learned  it  should  be  applied  to  something  useful,  either  in  the 
school  or  at  home.  In  this  way  the  pupil's  interest  is  awakened  and  strengthened. 
The  child  will,  in  such  a  case,  see  a  result  of  its  work  such  as  it  can  understand.  And, 
moreover,  the  parents'  sympathy  with  the  instruction  is  won. 

Second.  Progressive  order  with  regard  to  the  exercises:  The  exercises  are 
planned  and  carried  out  in  the  most  strictly  progressive  order,  so  as  to  enable  the 
pupils  to  execute  well  the  work  required  of  them.  Nothing  is  more  discouraging  to 
see  than  a  badly  executed  piece  of  work.  "One  cannot  expect  more  of  a  child"  is 
given  as  a  kind  of  excuse.  This  may  sometimes  be  true,  but  one  can  expect  that  a 
teacher  will  not  give  a  child  exercises  beyond  its  capabilities  and  before  which  it  must 
fail.  To  fail  continually  has  an  injurious  effect  on  a  child's  character.  No;  let  us  take 
simple  exercises;  let  us  execute  them  well,  have  our  aim  well  in  view  and  not  be  dis- 
couraged even  if  the  result  looks  plain  and  simple.  In  other  words,  in  manual  train- 
ing, as  in  other  subjects,  there  should  be  a  systematic  plan,  which  is  simple,  logical 
and  progressive.  » 

Third.  Class  instruction:  When  instruction  became  obligatory  in  our  schools,  and 
it  was  necessary  to  have  from  thirty  to  forty  pupils,  and  sometimes  more,  in  one  class, 
class  instruction  became  an  absolute  necessity,  and  it  was  soon  found  that  develop- 
ment of  the  individual  was  better  secured  through  its  means  than  when  each  pupil 
received  instruction  by  herself.  Strangely  enough,  one  subject — manual  training — 
remained  unreformed,  to  the  great  injury  of  the  subject;  for,  by  appealing  to  the  whole 
class  at  once,  a  teacher  can  secure  the  attention  of  her  pupils  and  awaken  a  lively 
interest  in  the  work.  Her  teaching  can  then  be  deep  and  interesting.  The  teacher 
finds  time  to  talk  about  form,  size,  and  reasons  for  doing  this  or  that.  Yes,  the  pupils 
even  find  time  to  think  out  why  things  shall  be  so  and  not  so,  and  discover  the  best 
way  to  carry  out  an  exercise.  In  this  way  the  instruction  becomes  both  developing 
and  educating,  and  the  pupils  lay  a  firm  foundation  on  which  to  build  further  in  the 
future.  But  class  teaching  is  only  an  effect,and  should  not  be  an  aim.  One  must  not 
have  the  mistaken  idea  that  the  teacher  is  to  guide  every  step,  P'ar  from  it.  It  is  only 
the  new  in  every  exercise  which  should  be  explained  to  the  whole  class.  After  the 
pupils  have  learned  through  explanation  and  illustration  what  they  must  do,  and  how 
they  shall  do  it,  they  should  work  independently  of  each  other.  Meanwhile,  the 
teacher  should  go  around  the  class,  and  notice  whether  all  the  pupils  are  performing 
correctly  the  required  exercises.  She  should  at  the  .same  time  observe  the  position 
of  hand  and  body,  also  whether  the  pupils  hold  their  work  at  a  proper  distance  from 
their  eyes, so  that  they  may  not  gain  skill  at  the  expense  of  their  eyesight.  The 
teacher  of  manual  work  should  not  only  instruct,  but  also  educate  the  pupils  as  well. 
Therefore  the  choosing  of  teachers  is  not  an  insignificant  matter.  Besides  manual 
dexterity, teachers  ought  to  be  possessed  of  pedagogical  skill.  Therefore,  for  the 
training  of  teachers  in  manual  training  either  special  normal  schools  should  be  estab- 
lished, or— what  without  doubt  is  better— existing  normal  schools  should  place  man- 


106  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

ual  training  in  their  curriculum  on  an  equal  footing  with  other  branches  of  education. 
That  is  now  done  in  Sweden  and  in  several  other  countries  in  Europe.  Not  only  girls, 
but  the  younger  boys.should  be  instructed  in  girls'  sloyd.  The  boys  should  be  taught 
this  because  it  introduces  variety  and  interest,  trains  the  hand  and  eye,  and  renders 
them  able,  in  case  of  necessity,  to  darn  their  stockings  and  mend  their  garments. 
From  the  foregoing  we  deduce  the  following: 

First — Practical  demonstration  in  sewing  is  accomplished  by  means  of  a  sewing 
frame,  and  in  knitting  by  means  of  large  wooden  needles  and  colored  balls  of  yarn. 
At  the  same  time  blackboard  drawings  are  constantly  being  made. 

Second, — The  exercises  are  planned  and  carried  out  in  the  most  strictly  pro- 
gressive order,  so  as  to  enable  the   pupils  to  execute  well  the  work  required  of  them. 

Third. — The  instruction  in  sloyd  should — like  that  in  other  branches — be  given  to 
the  whole  class  at  the  same  time,  otherwise  the  time  which. the  teacher  could  devote 
to  each  pupil  separately  would  be  insufficient  to  secure  the  desired  results. 

In  order  to  illustrate  the  progress  from  the  simple  to  the  more  complex  in  the 
teaching  of  sloyd,  we  give  the  following  class  divisions  of  the  subjects  which  are  in 
use  at  the  present  time  in  the  public  schools  of  Stockholm: 

School  age,  seven  to  fourteen  for  both  girls  and  boys. 

Class  I. — Plain  knitting  with  two  needles — a  pair  of  garters.  Plain  knitting — a 
pair  of  warm  wristers. 

Class  II. — Plain  knitting — a  towel.  Practice  in  the  different  kind  of  stitches: 
running,  stitching,  hemming  and  overcasting — a  lamp  mat.  The  application  of  the 
already  named  stitches — one  small  and  one  large  needle  workbag. 

Class  III. — A  needlework  case.  Simple  darning  on  canvas — a  mat  for  a  candle- 
stick.    An  apron. 

Class  IV. — Girls.  Plain  and  purl  knitting — slate  eraser  and  a  pair  of  mittens. 
A  plain  chemise. 

Class  V. — Knitting — a  pair  of  stockings.  Drawing  the  pattern,  cutting  out  and 
making  a  chemise. 

Class  VI. — Patching  on  colored  material.  Plain  stocking  darning;  buttonholes. 
Buttons  made  of  thread.  Sewing  on  tapes,  hooks  and  eyes.  Drawing  the  pattern, 
cutting  out  and  making  a  shirt  or  a  pair  of  drawers. 

Class  VII, — Fine  darning  and  marking.  Drawing  the  pattern  for  a  dress.  Cut- 
ting out  articles  such  as  are  required  in  Standards  II-IV.  Drawing  the  pattern,  cut- 
ting out  and  making  a  dress. 

The  time  given  to  needlework:  Class  I,  two  hours  a  week;  Classes  II,  III  and 
IV,  four  hours  a  week;  Classes  V  and  VI,  five  hours  a  week;  Class  VII,  six  hours  a 
week. 


i 


COMPLETE   FREEDOM   FOR   WOMEN. 

By  MISS  AGNES  M.  MANNING.' 

I  advocate  freedom  for  the  woman  because  it  will  elevate  her  politically,  socially, 
financially  and  morally.  It  has  been  well  said  that  without  it,  on  the  roll  of  her 
country  she  has  no  recognized  status.  She  is  classified  with  minors,  idiots,  Indians 
and  criminals. 

Man  has  followed  the  words  liberty  and  equality  through  seas  of  blood  in  his 
attempts  to  wrest  their  meaning  to  apply  to  himself.  The  woman,  however,  who  stood 
by  his  side,  who  endured  his  hardships  and  followed  him  into  all  his  dangers,  who  was 
his  patient  slave,  his  uncomplaining  victim,  for  six  thousand  years,  he  has  never 
allowed  to  share  either  his  liberty  or  equality.  In  the  earlier  ages  he  made  no 
explanation  for  this  wrong.  He  did  what  the  Sioux  and  the  Apache  does  today — he 
condemned  her  to  be  a  mere  beast  of  burden,  performing  the  menial  task  he  con- 
sidered beneath  himself. 

Among  the  Hebrews,  a  woman  who  had  given  birth  to  a  child  was  excluded  from 
the  sanctuary  for  forty  days  if  it  were  a  son,  but  if  it  were  a  daughter  she  must  remain 
away  eighty  days.  In  Athens  the  father  of  a  girl  ordered  in  disgust  that  a  distaff 
should  be  suspended  outside  of  his  door,  instead  of  the  garland  of  olive  with  which  he 
had  hoped  to  announce  the  birth  of  a  boy.  In  Sparta,  of  every  ten  children  abandoned 
because  the  state  did  not  choose  to  rear  them  seven  were  girls.  In  Rome  every  newly 
born  child  was  placed  at  its  father's  feet.  If  he  took  it  up  it  was  the  signal  of  life  and 
care.  When  too  many  daughters  came,  he  turned  away,  and  the  unwelcome  girl  was 
condemned  to  death. 

Under  the  Feudal  system,  the  birth  of  a  girl  was  considered  a  misfortune.  When 
Jeanne  de  Valois  was  presented  to  her  father,  Louis  XL,  being  his  first  child,  he  would 
not  even  look  at  her,  and  forbade  all  public  rejoicing. 

We  know  how  the  Salic  law  of  France  came  to  shut  a  daughter  out  from  the 
throne.  It  was  an  old  barbaric  law  that  had  not  been  enforced  since  the  Franks  were 
converted  to  Christianity.  It  was  suddenly  sprung  upon  the  legitimate  heir, a  defense- 
less baby  girl.  She  was  defrauded  by  the  relative  that  should  have  been  the  first  to 
protect  her.  Nature,  as  if  in  revenge,  gave  him  only  a  daughter,  and  by  his  own 
decreed  law  she  could  not  succeed  him.  Napoleon  divorced  the  faithful  Josephine, 
but  the  son  he  coveted  never  reigned  in  France.  Fate  here,  too,  placed  the  grand- 
child of  the  wronged  Josephine,  by  her  first  marriage,  on  the  temporary  throne. 

In  England,  in  every  entailed  estate,  great  is  the  disappointment  at  the  birth  of  a 
girl  instead  of  a  boy  and  heir. 

"  In  France,"  says  a  well-known  writer,  "If  you  ask  a  peasant  about  his  family, 
he  answers:  '  I  have  no  children;  I  have  only  daughters.*"  The  Breton  farmer  says  to 
this  day  when  a  daughter  is  born,  "  My  wife  has  had  a  miscarriage." 

The  old  religion  of  our  Bible,  while  it  lifted  women  to  the  level  of  the  prophets 
with  one  hand,  branded  her  as  inferior  with  the  other.  The  harem  began  with  the 
Patriarchs.  They  took  the  vile  institution  from  Babylon.  The  early  kings  added  to 
their  wives  as  a  man  adds  to  his  acres.     They  were  the    visible  signs  of  his  wealth. 

Miss  Agnes  M.  Manning  is  principal  of  the  Webstor  School,  San  Francisco,  Cal.  She  has  lived  so  long  in  the  Golden 
State  that,  although  not  a  native  daughter,  she  calls  herself  a  Californinn.  Her  first  signed  literarj'  work  was  for  the  "Oak- 
land Monthly,"  when  Bret  Harte  was  editor.  Some  of  her  poems  have  been  published  in  a  volume  of  "  Californian  Writers." 
She  has  written  sketches  of  travel,  essays,  various  poems  and  short  stories.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Century  Club,  one  of  the 
Board  of  Directors  of  the  Pacific  Coast  Woman's  Press  Association,  and  also  member  of  the  California  Botanical  Clab.  Her 
postoifice  address  is  1215  Sutter  street,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

107 


108  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

No  polygamist  ever  rose  above  a  contempt  for  woman.  Every  libertine  has  it.  You 
are  safe  in  estimating  a  man's  character  by  his  valuation  of  your  sex. 

In  these  old  days,  and  for  long  generations  after,  no  woman's  consent  to  her  own 
marriage  was  asked.  Look  at  the  story  of  Leah  and  Rachel.  Leah  is  forced  upon 
Jacob  as  an  extra  animal  might  be,  and  accepted  in  the  same  manner.  A  woman 
was  only  valued  for  the  children  she  produced.  We  have  a  graphic  picture  of  the 
agony  and  despair  of  Rachel,  because  she  knew  if  she  were  childless  she  must  descend 
to  a  lower  social  level  than  her  unloved  sister. 

All  the  progress  of  civilization  has  been  retarded  through  unfairness  to  women. 
No  person,  people  or  race  that  is  discriminated  against  ever  attains  the  highest  possible 
development.  If  woman,  through  her  servitude,  ignorance  and  subordination  did  not 
help  to  raise  man,  she  yet  had  power  to  often  drag  him  down  to  her  own  low  standard. 
She  was  a  clog  in  his  advancement,  and  he  knew  it.  All  literature  is  full  of  the  biting 
scorn  for  the  poor  creature  who  was  content  to  take  the  role  he  gave  her.  No  man 
respects  the  woman  that  willingly  accepts  a  slavish  subordination.  No  man  ever  did 
respect  her,  and  when  he  enacted  such  brutalities  as  that  a  husband  might  chastise  his 
wife  with  a  stick  of  a  certain  thickness,  or  appropriate  her  fortune  or  her  earnings,  she 
was  his  slave  and  not  his  equal. 

Time,  and  a  certain  enlightenment,  have  made  him  ashamed  of  these  old  savage- 
ries. In  later  years  he  has  dropped  the  tone  of  the  tyrant  and  taken  up  that  of  the 
hypocrite.  He  now  pretends  that  he  allows  her  no  voice  in  the  making  of  her  own 
laws,  and  keeps  her  in  childish  subjection  for  her  own  good.  Fancy  any  man  allow- 
ing another  man  to  openly  defraud  him  of  all  real  liberty  under  any  such  flimsy  pre- 
tence. The  theory  would  be  blown  to  the  winds,  and  men  would  rise  in  revolution 
against  it.  Yet  this  is  what  many  men  expect  women  not  only  to  accept — they  have 
forced  them  to  do  that — but  also  to  believe. 

Man  likes  a  willing  slave,  and  so  for  all  the  ages  he  has  taken  care  to  have  her 
taught  that  her  highest  happiness  lies  in  belonging  to  him.  His  needs,  his  comforts, 
his  pleasures,  his  surroundings,  his  ambitions,  his  hopes  and  joys  are  her  chief  con- 
cern. He  has  taken  good  care  to  teach  her  that  her  prize  in  life  is  the  chance  of  min- 
istering unto  him.  He  has  implanted  in  her  mind  that  her  greatest  good  fortune  is  to 
be  chosen  by  him.  He  has  heaped  ridicule  through  the  ages  on  every  woman  that 
escaped  him.  He  has  taught  girls  to  look  on  a  woman's  single  life  as  a  waste  of 
herself  because  he  was  excluded  from  it.  The  highest  aim  of  a  woman  is  to  be  a  wife 
and  mother.  He  never  allowed  that  the  highest  aim  of  a  man  is  to  be  a  husband  and 
a  father.  Yet  all  that  is  high,  sacred  and  beautiful  in  wifehood  and  motherhood  was 
meant  by  a  just  Lord  to  be  equally  high,  sacred  and  beautiful  in  husbandhood  and 
fatherhood.  He  has,  moreover,  denied  her  any  other  means  of  earning  her  bread. 
For  long  centuries  he  gave  her  matrimony  or  starvation  to  choose  between;  often 
she  discovered  this  to  be  a  choice  between  evils. 

There  have  always  been  in  all  ages  small  minorities  of  men  who  have  opposed 
the  degradation  of  women.  True  religion  has  always  opposed  it.  The  Divine  Com- 
mandments were  not  given  to  a  woman.  They  were  given  to  Moses  to  be  kept  by 
men.  In  Christianity  you  find  no  doctrine  that  makes  one  color  of  a  sin  for  a  woman 
and  another  for  a  man.  On  the  contrary  their  sins  are  equal,  and  must  be  expiated 
the  same  way.  "  With  us,"  cries  the  great  St.  Jeromfe,  "  what  is  commanded  of  woman 
is  commanded  of  man."  The  laws  of  Christ  and  the  laws  of  emperors  are  not  the 
same.  The  old  law  stoned  a  woman  to  death  for  betraying  her  husband;  or  it  con- 
demned her  to  be  expelled  with  a  whip  from  under  the  conjugal  roof  and  chased  naked 
through  the  town,  or  exposed  on  a  pillar  in  the  public  square.  On  all  sides  curses  and 
blows  were  flung  at  her  by  men,  who  called  her  sin  a  "  fault"  only  when  it  was  com- 
mitted by  themselves. 

Among  such  laws  appeared  the  Master,  and,  lo!  the  unfortunate  is  dragged  before 
him.  His  answer  tore  the  veil  from  hypocrisy,  and  was  the  first  wedge  in  breaking 
the  heavy  chains  of  woman's  bondage. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  K)9 

God  does  not  send  sons  into  one  family  and  daughters  into  another.  He  sends 
them  together  to  grow  up  in  peace  and  love  around  one  hearth,  and  to  help,  not  to 
defraud,  each  other  in  after  life.  Society,  however,  as  man  has  made  it,  consistently 
tries  to  forget  the  lessons  of  Christianity.  It  deals  out  very  different  punishments  for 
the  sister  and  the  brother.  His  sins  are  "  wild  oats,"  errors  of  youth,  and,  if  continued 
into  age,  a  man's  mistakes;  but  hers  are  crimes  from  the  first,  and  no  life  of  penitence 
can  ever  wash  away  the  stain. 

I  advocate  the  complete  freedom  of  the  woman,  because  I  foresee  in  the  coming 
education  of  the  masses  she  will  need  all  her  freedom  to  preserve  her  best  interests 
and  the  best  interests  of  the  home  and  family.  If  I  have  read  history  aright,  I  havt, 
learned  this  lesson  from  it,  that  my  sex  has  not  received  justice  from  her  brother 
always  because  of  his  superior  knowledge. 

If  you  are  familiar  with  Greek  life  as  it  is  given  to  us  in  Homer,  you  are  aware 
that  woman,  though  from  our  standard  she  was  in  a  barbarous  position,  yet  she  was 
far  higher  than  she  was  four  centuries  after  in  the  time  of  Plato.  Yet  during  those  four 
centuries  the  Greeks  had  made  a  wonderful  advancement.  Plato,  whose  mind  and 
genius  were  of  the  greatest  that  ever  existed,  saw  through  the  thick  veil  of  prejudice 
and  wrong  that  shrouded  one-half  of  the  human  race.  He  saw  what  the  wise  have 
always  seen:  that  the  highest  human  effort  was  held  back  by  the  degradation  of 
women. 

We  know  that  the  Spartans  were  inferior  to  the  Athenians  in  all  the  arts  and  refined 
accomplishments;  yet  the  Spartan  women  possessed  far  more  influence  than  those  of 
Athens.  If  you  read  Euripides  you  will  understand  the  scorn  with  which  the  philoso- 
phers of  Athens  regarded  their  wives  and  sisters.  Women  then  despised  the  freedom 
they  were  denied,  as  many  despise  it  now.  A  Greek  woman  taunted  her  rival  that 
she  wanted  to  be  like  a  man,  and  go  in  through  the  front  door  of  a  house.  Under  our 
old  regime  "free  nigger"  was  the  greatest  term  of  reproach,  but  when  emancipation 
came,  which  of  the  scoffers  remained  in  bondage? 

Mr.  Horace  Piatt,  an  able  lawyer  of  San  Francisco,  in  an  address  of  much 
research,  recently,  dwelt  on  the  gloomy  picture  of  law  as  it  dealt  with  us  in  ancient 
times.  Yet  the  greatest  monument  that  has  comedown  to  us  from  the  Roman  Empire 
is  her  jurisprudence.  Our  laws  are  simply  copied  from  it.  Mr.  Piatt  did  not  tell  us, 
however,  that  many  of  the  worst  laws  of  England  and  Germany  against  women  were 
added  after  the  Reformation.  Many  of  the  old  brutal  statutes  that  had  well-nigh  died 
out  under  the  influence  of  chivalry  were  again  revived  against  her.  He  told  us  there 
was  one  later  Roman  enactment  in  favor  of  women  holding  property  that  was  in  oper- 
ation when  California  was  a  Mexican  province.  Our  state  adopted  this  law  into  its 
code  and  we  have  the  advantage  of  it.  Mr.  Piatt  did  not  tell  us,  however,  how  the 
Roman  women  wrested  this  law  from  their  masters.  He  did  not  tell  us  how  they  held 
meetings,  made  speeches,  and  pushed  themselves  into  the  Senate  Chamber  to  resist 
the  infamous  decrees  that  had  culminated  in  one,  that  no  daughter  should  inherit 
either  property  or  money  from  the  family.  About  the  year  600  there  lived  in  Rome 
Anius  Ansellus.*  He  had  acquired  a  large  fortune  in  trade.  He  had  only  one  child, 
a  daughter,  whom  he  idolized.  His  great  wealth  had  only  one  value  for  him,  that  it 
should  enrich  his  daughter;  yet  he  knew  that  according  to  law  she  could  not  inherit  it. 

Roman  citizens  were  divided  into  six  classes.  Five  of  these  classes  paid  taxes. 
The  sixth  class  were  people  too  poor  to  own  property,  and  were  excluded  from  all 
political  rights.  They  were  the  middle  class,  between  the  freeman  and  the  slave,  the 
citizen  and  the  alien.  To  belong  to  this  class  was  to  be  degraded,  yet  the  law,  as  if 
in  fine  sarcasm,  allowed  its  fathers  to  leave  all  their  effects  to  their  daughters. 
Ansellus,  because  of  his  great  love  for  his  child,  renounced  every  privilege  dear  to 
the  heart  of  a  Roman,  and  publicly  enrolled  himself  in  this  class.  He  gave  up  every 
honor  in  his  own  life  to  baffle  the  cruel  injustice  of  his  country,  and  leave  his  large 
fortune  to  his  daught-er. 

Mr.  Piatt  had  sought  for  no  such  illustration  as  the  story  of  Ansellus.     In  telling 

-"La  Caase  de  la  Mannmission  des  Femmes. 


110  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

us  of  our  modern  Wyoming,  he  did  not  mention  that  no  sooner  was  suffrage  conferred 
on  women  than  the  thieves,  tramps  and  hard  characters  that  infest  every  new  territory 
vanished.  The  social  evil  fled  from  Wyoming  when  the  first  woman  sat  on  the  jury. 
The  chief  justice  gives  his  testimony  that  after  years  of  trial,  woman's  suffrage  is  a 
success.  There  have  been  less  robberies  and  murders  in  Wyoming  than  in  any  state 
in  the  Union.    There  has  never  yet  been  a  woman  committed  to  the  penitentiary. 

It  surprises  me  how  a  man  like  Mr,  Piatt  can  go  so  far  in  his  contempt  for  injus- 
tice to  women,  and  yet  be  willing  to  perpetuate  it.  It  teaches  me  the  lesson  with  yet 
stronger  force,  that  we  women  must  make  our  own  laws,  and  trust  to  no  man's  senti- 
mental ideas  of  doling  out  to  us  a  standard  of  freedom  he  would  not  accept  for 
himself. 

The  distinguished  president  of  the  Stanford  University,  in  his  lecture  on  sex,  as 
it  is  treated  from  a  scientific  standpoint,  shows  how  the  old  theories  are  exploded. 
Alas,  how  much  of  the  story  of  the  sufferings  of  women  may  be  traced  to  this  sub- 
ject? Even  the  great  Aristotle  held  that  the  mother  was  only  the  nurse  of  the  child; 
she  was  but  as  the  field  that  nourishes  the  grain.  In  yEschylus  the  doctrine  laid  down 
is  that  the  son  is  not  a  parricide  because  it  was  only  his  mother  that  he  slew.  You  all 
know  the  story  of  how  Agamemnon  was  slain  by  Clytemnestra,  and  how  her  son 
avenged  the  death  of  his  father.  Apollo  himself  pleaded  for  Orestes.  He  said  the 
mother  does  not  generate  what  is  called  her  child. 

In  Greece  the  mother  has  no  other  part  in  the  marriage  of  her  children  than  to 
bear  the  nuptial  torch,  and  to  prepare  the  peculiar  repast  for  the  women.  In  the 
marriage  of  Iphigenia  at  Aulis,  the  mother,  Clytemnestra,  angrily  demanded  a  place 
near  her  daughter  during  the  ceremony  as  a  maternal  right.  Agamemnon  had  not 
asked  her  consent.  She  asks  him  anxiously  of  what  country  Achilles  is,  and  where 
he  will  carry  her  child. 

It  was  an  illustrious  French  physician  who  first  attacked  the  robbery  of  the 
mother.  Armed  with  all  the  resources  of  modern  science,  he  claimed  for  her  that 
she  was  equal  in  all  things  from  the  first.  Nature  had  always  proclaimed  the  equality 
of  the  mother  in  her  child.  She  suffers  for  it.  She  knows  neither  pain  nor  fatigue 
when  it  is  in  danger.  What  mother  ever  forgets  the  death  of  her  little  one?  The 
newly-made  mound  that  covers  it  is  always  fresh  in  her  memory.  Neither  the  mar- 
riage nor  the  death  of  her  children  divide  them  from  her.  For  them  she  has  endured 
through  the  ages  the  barbarity  of  men's  laws.  Many  a  husband  has  held  his  wife 
silent  under  the  worst  outrage  because  she  knew  he  would  strike  her  through  her 
children. 

Almost  all  famous  men  declare  they  owed  what  they  have  become  to  their  mothers. 
Schiller,  Lamartine  and  our  own  Washington  are  examples.  St.  Augustine  was  con- 
verted by  his  mother;  St.  Chrysostom  was  educated  by  his  mother;  St.  Basil  was 
saved,  he  tells  us,  through  maternal  love,  and  St.  Louis  was  sanctified  by  his  strong 
and  holy  mother.  Professor  Jordan  says  that  the  first  difference  came  from  the  female 
having  the  care  of  the  young.  The  male  works  to  feed  her  and  the  little  ones.  The 
valuation  of  the  male  by  the  female  is  measured  by  this  care  for  herself  and  young. 
Nature  here  stamps  the  legitimate  use  of  man.  He  was  made  to  toil  for  and  care  for 
his  family.  He  is  a  miserable  wretch  when  he  shirks  this  task;  he  is  so  made  that  he 
finds  his  chief  happiness  with  wife  and  child.  There  is  a  fiction  in  law  and  society 
that  all  men  support  their  families,  and  that  all  women  are  supported  by  them. 
Never  was  there  a  greater  fallacy.  Fully  two-thirds  of  the  women  of  today  earn  their 
own  bread.  In  San  Francisco,  one-half  of  the  married  women  of  the  poorer  class 
help  to  support  their  families.  In  my  school  of  more  than  one  thousand  pupils, 
more  than  half  the  mothers  support  their  children.  Numbers  of  them  are  not  widows, 
but  have  the  sole  support  of  their  families  because  of  worthless  husbands. 

No  man  of  the  nineteenth  century  has  had  a  wider  influence  on  its  thought  than 
John  Stuart  Mill.  No  man's  influence  of  our  time  will  last  longer  or  weigh  more  with 
the  generations  that  will  come  after  us.     If  there  is  a  woman  here  who  has  not  read 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  Ill 

Mill  on  "Liberty,  or  the  Subjection  of  Woman,"  I  would  advise  Herat  once  to  beg,  buy 
or  borrow  this  book.  Mill  demands  the  liberty  of  women,  not  alone  for  the  benefit 
that  it  will  confer  on  the  whole  human  race,  but  because  it  is  her  inalienable  right. 
Herbert  Spencer,  like  our  Mr.  Piatt,  has  shown  the  barbarities  of  the  subjugation  of 
women,  and  then  he  shirks  her  enfranchisement.  He  has  shown  that  the  fine  intuition 
possessed  by  women  would  be  of  incalculable  value  and  benefit  to  man  in  all  his 
researches,  if  she  were  only  educated  enough  to  use  her  God-given  faculties.  Henry 
Thomas  Buckle  declares  that  so  far  from  the  mind  of  women  being  inferior  to  that  of 
men,  those  men  who  have  gained  the  greatest  victories  in  science  have  approached 
their  studies  after  the  manner  of  women.  He  avers  that  the  flimsy  thing  called  woman's 
education  has  been  solely  to  blame  that  so  few  women  are  distinguished  in  thought. 
He  points  out  how  men  reason  from  induction.  They  collect  first  facts  and  build  their 
theories  from  these  facts.  This  is  the  modern  method  of  scientific  investigation,  but 
he  says  the  great  achievements  in  science  have  not  been  mastered  in  this  way.  Newton 
discovered  the  law  of  gravitation  because  he  had  great  imagination.  He  could  follow 
the  force  that  made  the  apple  fall,  to  great  heights — to  the  moon — and  saw  how  our 
Earth  kept  her  satellites  in  order.  From  this  he  followed  the  same  law  to  the  planets, 
and  saw  how  the  sun  held  them  in  their  courses.  There  was  no  inductive  reasoning  in 
this.  It  was  pure  deduction.  It  was  what  is  sneered  at  in  woman  as  intuition,  that 
grasped  the  mighty  problem.  It  was  the  same  sublime  power  of  imagination  that 
taught  Keppler  his  three  wonderful  laws,  that  revealed  a  true  knowledge  of  the  plan- 
etary worlds  to  us.  It  is  akin  to  the  mind  of  the  poet.  Shakespeare  had  it  when  he 
drew  forth  his  creations  of  real  beings,  who  live  through  all  the  generations.  Hamlet, 
Shylock,  Othello,  Rosalind,  Desdemona  and  Portia  are  as  real  to  us  as  they  were  to 
the  people  of  three  hundred  years  ago.  George  Eliot,  whom  the  foremost  critics  of 
our  age  declare  to  be  the  greatest  creator  of  character  since  Shakespeare,  who  is,  in 
fact,  the  only  writer  of  our  own  time  that  has  ever  been  classed  with  the  master,  had 
it.  This  woman,  whose  works  will  live  in  literature  with  increasing  value  as  the  ages 
come  and  go,  showed  what  might  be  accomplished  by  women  of  genius  if  they  were 
fully  educated.  Her  mind  did  not  receive  the  ordinary  training  of  her  sex.  It  was 
developed  and  strengthened  by  the  same  processes  that  go  to  build  up  scholarship  in 
men. 

Mr.  Buckle  also  points  out  to  us  that  it  was  the  womanly  intuition  or  poetic 
faculty  that  brought  about  the  greatest  discoveries  in  botany.  Everyone  who  takes 
up  this  interesting  study  now  knows  that  the  stamens,  pistils,  corolla  and  petals  are 
simply  modified  leaves.  These  parts,  unlike  in  shape,  color  and  function,  we  know 
are  the  successive  stages  of  the  leaf.  No  botanist  discovered  thissecret.  It  was  found 
by  the  greatest  poet  that  Germany  has  known.  When  Goethe  announced  his  discovery, 
the  botanists  received  it  with  scorn.  They  who  had  collected  their  facts  and  filled 
their  herbariums  were  the  ones  to  find  nature's  secret  of  the  morphological  generali- 
zation of  plants.  What  had  a  poet  with  his  verses  and  imagination  to  do  with  it? 
Nevertheless,  time,  that  works  out  her  slow  revenges,  saw  the  botanists  of  the  whole 
world  receive  Goethe's  idea  and  join  in  praise  of  it.  Nor  was  that  the  only  one  of  the 
poet's  discoveries.  Wandering  like  Hamlet  through  a  cemetery  he  came  upon  a  skull 
lying  on  the  freshly  turned  earth  beside  an  open  grave.  Like  Hamlet,  he  took  it  up 
and  mused  upon  it.  Suddenly  there  flashed  into  his  mind  the  then  unknown  truth 
that  the  skull  was  composed  of  vertebras,  that  the  bony  covering  of  the  head  was  an 
expansion  of  the  bony  covering  of  the  spine.  This  great  discovery  was  stubbornly 
fought  in  ELngland,  and  it  was  fifty  years  after  it  was  known  in  Germany  and  France 
before  English  anatomists  would  acknowledge  that  the  mind  of  the  poet  had  soared 
above  all  their  facts  and  dissections.*  What  the  world  has  lost  in  denying  the  mind 
of  women  free  development,  only  future  civilization  can  tell. 

Our  last  lecturer  on  this  subject,  Professor  Clark,  of  Stanford  University,  in  his 
excellent  paper,  gave  us  much  hope  for  this  future.     His  eloquent  appeal  to  women  to 

stand  by  their  cause  until  the  last  shackle  of  bondage  was  removed,  must  have  found 

• 

♦From  Henry  T.  Backle. 


112  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

an  answering  echo  in  every  heart  worthy  of  beating  in  the  nineteenth  century.  The 
woman  whom  such  an  appeal  does  not  reach  should  have  lived  in  the  feudal  age  and  not 
in  ours.  Professor  Clark  is  a  product  of  the  modern  education  of  the  West,  where  the 
boy  and  girl,  working  side  by  side  in  the  same  schoolroom,  learn  to  properly  respect 
each  other,  and  understand  that  brains  like  souls  are  sexless. 

I  claim  complete  freedom  for  women  because,  without  it,  she  cannot  be  the  equal 
of  father,  brother,  husband  or  son.  I  claim,  with  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  that  liberty 
for  a  nation  means,  liberty  for  every  individual  of  that  nation.  I  claim  for  women  an 
equal  voice  in  making  the  laws  that  govern  her,  and  an  equal  chance  in  developing 
the  gifts  with  which  a  just  God  has  endowed  her.  I  claim,  in  short,  an  equal  right  to 
all  that  man  claims  for  himself. 


HOMER   AND  HIS  POEMS. 


By  MRS.  NINA  MORAIS  COHEN. 

From  the  storm  and  stress  of  political  strife,  the  grand  old  man  of  England  turns 
to  Homer  for  rest.  In  an  age  so  supremely  subjective  as  our  own,  the  objective  out- 
look of  the  antique  life,  its  heroic  action  as  opposed 
to  the  introspection  of  our  time,  carries  the  sharp  salt 
breath  of  the  boundless  sea  to  the  dweller  in  crowded 
cities.  Let  us  also  turn  to  Homer  seeking  that  fair- 
flowing  fountain  of  the  young  world  for  a  draught 
which  shall  help  to  banish  the  "obstinate  question- 
ings" of  the  world  grown  old.  Our  talk  today  shall 
be  of  the  poet  and  of  his  winged  words — what  is 
known  of  his  personality  and  of  his  works.  We  shall 
review  briefly  his  stories,  linger  a  moment  upon  some 
of  his  beauties,  and  give  our  attention  especially  to 
the  Homeric  criticism  which  aims  to  decide  whether 
Homer  is,  or  is  not,  the  author  of  the  Iliad  and  the 
Odyssey. 

For  over  two  thousand  five  hundred  years  tradi- 
tion told  its  tale  of  a  blind  minstrel  of  Asia  Minor, 
who  begged  his  way  from  door  to  door  singing  his 
immortal  verses.  These  verses,  committed  to  mem- 
ory by  professional  singers  or  reciters,  became  the 
supreme  treasure  of  intellectual  Greece,  and  their 
text  was  as  familiar  to  the  ordinary  Greek  as  that  of 
the  Bible  to  the  English  peasant.  The  poems  entered 
into  the  curriculum  of  common-school  education;  they  were  the  authority  upon  the 
genealogies  of  families;  to  them  vexed  questions  in  theology  and  custom  were 
referred;  the  current  stock  of  quotation  was  mainly  drawn  from  them.  Learned  men  dis- 
cussed in  hair-splitting  debate  such  questions  as  these:  "Why  did  Nausicaa  use  clear 
water  instead  of  sea  water  to  wash  her  clothes?"  "In  which  hand  was  Aphrodite 
wounded?"  Alcibiades  did  not  scruple  to  strike  a  schoolmaster  who  did  not  possess 
a  "Homer";  and  Alexander,  it  is  well  known,  slept  with  a  gold-encased  copy  under  his 
pillow.  The  poems  were  inextricably  interwoven  with  the  life  of  the  most  cultivated 
nation  that  ever  existed.     What  did  this  people  know  of  Homer? 

Of  his  actual  life  nothing  was  known  in  historic  Greek  times,  nor  is  known  today. 
The  word  "Homerus"  means  fitted  together,  and  is  used  generally  to  denote  a  hostage 
in  war,  and  not  a  fitter  of  verses.  Gladstone  thinks  Homer  an  appellation  and  not  a 
genuine  name;  but  upon  this,  as  upon  almost  all  other  points  of  criticism,  the  doctors 
disagree. 

The  date  of  Homer's  existence  was  greatly  debated  among  the  ancients.  Aris- 
tarchus,  a  very  distinguished  critic  of  the  Alexandrian  school,  places  him  as  early  as 
1044  B.  C,  while  Herodotus,  the  historian,  thinks  850  the  proper  date.  Could  the 
question  of  time  be  settled  it  would  be  of  vital  import  as  bearing  upon  the  historic 

Nina  Morais  Cohen  is  a  native  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.  She  was  born  December  6,  1855.  Her  parents  were  S. 
MoraiB,  LL.  D.,  minister  of  the  Jewish  Congregation  Mecko6  Israel,  of  Philadelphia,  and  Clara  E.  Weil  Morais.  Her  father 
is  an  Italian  from  Leghorn,  her  mother  an  American.  Mrs.  Cohen  was  educated  in  Philadelphia.  She  married  Emannel 
Cohen.,  of  the  law  firm  of  Ketchel.  Cohen  &  Shaw,  Minneapolis,  Minn.  She  is  a  contributor  to  various  joarnals.  In  relig- 
ions faith  she  is  a  Jewess.  Her  postotfice  address  is  care  of  Mr.  Emanuel  Cohen,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 
(8)  "3 


MRS.  NINA   MORAIS  COHEN. 


114  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

authority  of  Homer;  for,  were  he  but  a  generation  or  two  later  than  the  events  described 
in  the  poems,  his  exposition  of  the  social  life,  religion,  morals,  learning  and  general 
character  of  the  Greeks  would  be  possessed  of  a  supreme  historic  value.  In  regard  to 
this  value  of  Homer,  modern  critics  form  a  sliding-scale  of  disagreement.  Gladstone 
believes  Homer  to  have  lived  at  a  very  ancient  date,  and  accepts  his  dictum,  in  gen- 
eral, as  a  final  test  of  the  Greek  status.  Prof.  Evelyn  Abbott,  at  the  other  pole, 
regards  the  Homeric  life  as  almost  entirely  imaginative.  If  it  be  true  that  the  author 
of  the  Iliad  composed  his  verses  several  centuries  after  the  Fall  of  Troy,  that  tale 
would,  for  obvious  reasons,  be  much  less  authoritative  as  a  standard  of  Greek  life  than 
George  Eliot's"  Romola"  is  of  life  in  Florence  during  the  Revival  of  Learning. 

Eight  biographies  of  Homer  were  known  in  historic  Greece,  but  by  general  ver- 
dict they  are  all  spurious.  We  know  that  "  Seven  cities  now  contend  for  Homer  dead, 
through  which  the  living  Homer  begged  his  bread,"  and  so  vigorous  did  this  conten- 
tion grow  that  the  people  of  Smyrna  displayed  Homer's  monument,  and  the  people  of 
los  his  grave.  The  general  belief  is  that  the  poems  were  brought  in  historic  times 
from  the  Ionian  cities  of  Asia  Minor  into  Greece  proper;  some  cities,  however,  claim 
that  the  poems,  being  very  ancient  and  originally  composed  in  Greece,  were  carried 
into  Asia  by  the  Achaeans  fleeing  from  the  Doric  invasion,  and  were  afterward  reim- 
ported  by  them.  Gladstone  brings  many  arguments  to  bear  in  support  of  this  view, 
the  most  important  being  Homer's  thorough  acquaintance  with  Greece  proper,  both 
on  the  coast  and  in  the  interior,  and  his  slight  descriptions  of  the  Asiatic  country. 

The  tradition  of  Homer's  blindness  seems  to  have  arisen  from  a  mention  thereof 
in  a  so-called  Homeric  hymn  to  Apollo,  which  is  considered  spurious.  In  support  of 
this  popular  notion  it  may  be  observed  that  the  minstrel  of  Scheria  in  the  Odyssey, 
praised  most  tenderly  by  Homer,  is  blind;  that  color  is  rarely  mentioned  in  the  poems, 
and  when  mentioned  not  very  appropriately.  But  the  descriptions  of  sea  and  shore, 
of  movement  and  action,  render  it  almost  impossible  that  Homer  should  have  been 
blind,  at  least  until  of  a  very  mature  age.  That  he  honored  the  office  of  bard  is  like- 
wise shown  in  his  characterization  of  the  same  blind  minstrel.  Minstrelship  in  his 
day  was  one  of  the  very  few  learned  professions,  and  it  was  held  in  great  honor.  The 
bard  was  usually  retained  by  some  noble  house;  but  this  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
Homer's  position,  as  he  left  no  traces  of  any  patron's  influence  upon  his  work — such 
traces  as  may  be  seen  in  the  writings  of  Horace  or  Tasso,  or  even  of  later  recipients 
•of  noble  patronage.  Thus  Homer  speaks  of  Demodocus,  the  Divine  minstrel  of 
Scheria: 

"Then  the  henchman  drew  near,  leading  with  him  the  beloved  minstrel,  whom 
the  Muse  loved  dearly,  and  she  gave  him  both  good  and  evil;  of  his  sight  she  reft 
him,  but  granted  him  sweet  song.  Then  Pontonus,  the  henchman,  set  for  him  a  high 
chair,  inlaid  with  silver,  in  the  midst  of  the  guests,  leaning  it  against  the  tall  pillar,  and 
he  hung  the  loud  lyre  on  a  pin,  close  above  his  head,  and  showed  him  how  to  lay  his 
hands  on  it.  And  close  by  him  he  placed  a  basket,  and  a  fair  table,  and  a  goblet  of 
wine  by  his  side,  to  drink  when  his  spirit  bade  him.  So  they  stretched  forth  their 
hands  upon  the  good  cheer  spread  before  them.  But  after  they  had  put  from  them 
the  desire  of  meat  and  drink,  the  Muse  stirred  the  minstrel  to  sing  the  songs  of  famous 
men." 

On  another  occasion  Odysseus,  the  hero,  thus  honors  the  minstrel: 

"  Lo,  henchman,  take  this  mess,  and  hand  it  to  Demodocus,  that  he  may  eat,  and 
I  will  bid  him  hail,  despite  my  sorrow.  For  minstrels  from  all  men  on  earth  get  their 
meed  of  honor  and  worship;  inasmuch  as  the  Muse  teaches  them  the  paths  of  song, 
and  loveth  the  tribe  of  minstrels." 

Homer's  works  are  traditionally  believed  to  be  the  Iliad  (the  story  of  Ilium  or 
Troy)  and  the  Odyssey  (the  adventures  of  Odysseus  on  his  return  home).  Several 
hymns,  smaller  epics  and  other  works  formerly  attributed  to  him,  are  now  generally 
considered  spurious.  "  Sing,  goddess,  the  wrath  of  Achilles"  are  the  opening  words  in 
the  poem  miscalled  the  Iliad.     It  is  essentially  the  tale  of  the  Wrath.     At  the  open- 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  115 

ingof  the  poem  the  Greeks  (then  called  Achaeans)  are  sitting  before  Troy  in  the  ninth 
year  of  the  siege.  The  story  of  the  seduction  of  Helen  is  not  set  forth  by  Homer,  nor 
any  of  the  now  famous  events  preceding  the  ninth  year;  neither  is  the  conclusion  of 
the  struggle  pictured,  nor  the  oft-foreboded  death  of  its  chief  hero,  Achilles.  The 
action  is  confined  to  a  few  days,  covered  by  the  Wrath  and  its  sad  termination. 

The  story  of  the  Iliad  is  as  follows:  In  the  distribution  of  spoil  after  the  plunder- 
ing of  the  town  of  Chryse,  Chryseis,  the  daughter  of  Chryses,  the  priest  of  Apollo,  had 
fallen  to  the  lot  of  Agamemnon,  chief  of  the  Achaeans.  The  father  of  the  maiden 
came  to  her  captor  with  a  ransom,  which,  being  refused,  the  old  man  prayed  to  Apollo 
to  revenge  his  wrong. 

"  So  spake  he  in  prayer,  and  Phoebus  Apollo  heard  him,  and  came  down  from  the 
peaks  of  Olympus  wroth  at  heart,  bearing  on  his  shoulders  his  bow  and  covered 
quiver.  And  the  arrows  clanged  upon  his  shoulders  in  his  wrath  as  the  god  moved; 
and  he  descended  like  to  night.  Then  he  sate  him  aloof  from  the  ships,  and  let  an 
arrow  fly;  and  there  was  heard  a  dread  clanging  of  the  silver  bow.  First  did  he  assail 
the  mules  and  fleet  dogs,  but  afterward,  aiming  at  the  men  his  piercing  dart,  he  smote; 
and  the  pyres  of  the  dead  burnt  continually  in  multitude." 

After  nine  days  of  the  plague,  a  council  of  the  nobles  is  summoned,  and  Agamem- 
non is  by  them  advised  to  return  the  maiden.  Now  the  chief  of  these  advisers  is 
Achilles,  fleet-footed,  golden-haired  Achilles,  like  unto  the  gods.  Agamemnon 
enraged  at  this  advice  threatens  to  take  from  Achilles  his  captive  maiden  Briseis, 
whom  Achilles  loves.  Words  wax  hot  between  them  and  Achilles  is  about  to  draw 
his  sword  when  the  gray-eyed  Athene  catches  him  by  his  golden  hair,  being  visible  to 
him  alone.  Terribly  shines  her  eyes  as  she  forbids  him  to  take  any  action.  So 
Achilles  must  needs  submit  to  the  loss  of  his  maiden,  but  he  nurses  his  resentment  in 
his  breast,  and  weeps  anon,  and  sits  upon  the  shore  of  the  gray  sea,  gazing  moodily 
across  the  boundless  main.  His  mother,  the  sea-nymph  Thetis,  arises  like  a  mist  from 
the  depths  at  the  prayer  of  her  son,  agrees  to  petition  Zeus  that  the  battle  may  go 
against  the  Achaeans,  so  that  they  may  bitterly  rue  the  injustice  done  to  Achilles. 
This  petition  Thetis  makes,  and  here  we  are  introduced  to  the  Olympic  Court,  which 
is  divided  in  interest  between  the  Achaeans  and  Trojans,  and  which  aids  and  frustrates 
the  various  heroes,  and  even  participates  in  the  combats.  Interesting  indeed  is  the 
theurgy  of  Homer;  distinct,  picturesque  and  full  of  subtle  individuality  are  his  char- 
acterizations of  gods  and  goddesses.  But  we  must  perforce  confine  our  attention  t*o 
the  main  action. 

Achilles  sulks  in  his  tent,  and  his  wish  is  fulfilled.  The  Achaeans  meet  fearful 
reverses.  During  the  retirement  of  Achilles  the  several  books  are  filled  with  accounts 
of  the  doings  of  the  various  chiefs,  with  descriptions  of  wounds  in  all  conceivable 
forms,  with  pictures  of  Troy  and  Trojan  life;  yet  so  rapid  is  the  movement  of  the 
poems,  so  vivid  the  individuality  of  each  chieftain,  that  these  details  rarely  drag. 
Even  the  famous  catalogue  of  the  ships  is  enlivened  by  bits  of  gracious  description 
and  fitting  epithet. 

After  serious  losses  Agamemnon  sends  ambassadors  to  the  tent  of  Achilles  with 
ample  apologies,  full  of  restitution  and  promises  of  large  gifts.  Achilles,  with  mar- 
velous eloquence,  refuses  all.  The  Trojans  continue  to  gain  upon  the  Achaeans,  driv- 
ing them  behind  their  ramparts,  and  setting  fire  to  their  ships.  All  the  noted  chieftains 
are  wounded  and  disabled.  At  this  juncture  Achilles'  dear  friend,  the  companion  of 
his  boyhood,  whom  he  loves  with  a  love  passing  that  of  woman,  Patroclus,  begs  Achilles 
to  join  the  combat.  Achilles  refuses,  but  he  allows  Patroclus  to  don  the  famous  armor 
of  Achilles  and  to  lead  the  Myrmidons  into  the  battle.  The  Trojans,  thinking  that 
Patroclus  is  Achilles,  are  driven  back  in  flight;  but  the  valiant  Hector,  leader  of  the 
Trojans,  fights  with  Patroclus  and  slays  him.  When  the  news  is  brought  to  Achilles 
he  tears  his  hair,  lies  in  the  dust  moaning  terribly,  and  swears  never  to  taste  food  until 
he  has  revenged  his  friend.  His  mother  and  her  sea-maidens  rise  from  the  deep  to 
comfort  Achilles.    Again  Thetis  proceeds  to  Olympus  with  a  petition  to  obtain  from 


116  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Hephaestos  (the  smith-god)  a  most  wondrous  suit  of  armor.  Clad  in  this  glittering 
mail,  the  light  of  his  shield  shining  afar  off,  as  shines  the  light  of  the  moon,  the  infu- 
riated Achilles  shouting  his  terrible  war-cry,  his  teeth  gnashing,  his  eyes  blazing,  dashes 
his  steeds  into  the  fight. 

Everything  yields  to  him;  the  Trojans  flee  within  their  gates;  the  River  Scaman- 
dros  rears  his  furious  wave  against  him.  But  the  gods  fight  for  Achilles,  and  Hector, 
in  the  sight  of  his  aged  parents,  is  slain,  mutilated,  bound  to  the  swift  chariot  of 
Achilles,  and  his  fair  head  trailed  in  the  dust.  Now  Achilles  had  sworn  to  give  the 
corpse  of  Hector  to  the  dogs;  but  the  gods  put  into  the  heart  of  old  Priam  the  thought 
of  going  in  person  to  Achilles  to  beg  the  body  of  his  son.  He  proceeds  to  the  tent. 
What  happens  Homer  shall  tell:  "But  they  were  unaware  of  great  Priam  as  he 
came  in,  and  so  stood  he  a-nigh  and  clasped  in  his  hands  the  knees  of  Achilles,  and 
kissed  his  hands,  terrible,  man-slaying,  that  slew  many  of  Priam's  sons  »  *  *  * 
So  Achilles  wondered  when  he  saw  god-like  Priam,  and  the  rest  wondered  likewise, 
and  looked  upon  one  another.  Then  Priam  spake  and  entreated  him,  saying:  '  Bethink 
thee,  O  Achilles,  like  to  the  gods,  of  thy  father  that  is  of  years  with  me,  on  the 
grievous  pathway  of  old  age.  Him  haply  are  the  dwellers  round  about  entreating 
evilly,  nor  is  there  any  to  ward  from  him  ruin  and  bane.  Nevertheless,  when  he  hear- 
eth  of  thee  as  yet  alive,  he  rejoiceth  in  his  heart  and  hopeth  withal  day  after  day  that 
he  shall  see  his  dear  son  returning  from  Troy  land.  But  I,  I  am  utterly  unblessed  since 
I  begat  sons,  the  best  men  in  wide  Troy  land,  but  declare  unto  thee  that  none  of  them 
is  left  *  *  *  *  Yea,  fear  thou  the  gods,  Achilles,  and  have  compassion  on  me, 
even  me,  bethinking  thee  of  thy  father.  Lo,  I  am  more  piteous  than  he,  and  have 
braved  what  none  other  man  on  earth  hath  braved  before,  to  stretch  forth  my  hand 
toward  the  face  of  the  slayer  of  my  sons. 

"Thus  spake  he,  and  stirred  within  Achilles  desire  to  make  lament  for  his  father. 
And  he  touched  the  old  man's  hand  and  gently  moved  him  back.  And  as  they  both 
bethought  them  of  their  dead,  so  Priam  for  man-slaying  Hector  wept  sore  as  he  was 
fallen  before  Achilles'  feet,  and  Achilles  wept  for  his  own  father  and  now  again  for 
Patroclus,  and  their  moan  went  up  throughout  the  house." 

So  Priam  takes  home  the  dear  son's  body;  and  Hector's  aged  mother,  Hekuba, 
and  his  sweet  young  wife,  Andromache,  make  lament;  and  Argive  Helen  wails  for 
him  who  was  ever  gentle  to  her  and  reproached  her  not — her  at  whom  all  men  shud- 
der. And  the  Trojans  make  a  lofty  pyre,  and  mourn  nine  days,  and  on  the  tenth 
they  hold  the  funeral  for  Hector,  tamer  of  horses.     So  closes  the  Iliad. 

Let  us  turn  now  to  the  fascinating  adventures  of  the  steadfast,  goodly  Odysseus, 
that  crafty  man  of  many  devices.  The  plot  has  been  admirably  told  in  a  simple  man- 
ner by  Charles  Lamb,  in  his  "Voyage  of  Ulysses."  But  in  simplicity  of  narration,  and 
in  absorbing  interest,  the  text  itself  is  supreme;  and  apart  from  any  poetical  value, 
the  story  is  a  never-failing  delight  to  the  imagination  of  old  and  young.  As  the 
Iliad  treats  of  war,  the  Odyssey  deals  mainly  with  domestic  life;  "  the  one,"  says 
Bentley,  "  is  for  men,  the  other  for  women." 

In  the  opening  chapter  Odysseus,  after  a  wandering  of  ten  years,  is  held  an  unwill- 
ing guest  by  the  loving  nymph,  Calypso,  on  her  Island  Ogygia;  but  the  gray-eyed 
Athene,  his  protectress,  prays  Zeus  to  restore  him  to  his  home.  Calypso,  commanded 
by  the  deathless  gods,  allows  Odysseus  to  build  a  raft  which  she  stores  with  provis- 
ions, and  then  reluctantly  she  sends  him  on  his  way.  During  the  time  of  Odysseus' 
long  absence  from  Ithaca,  his  son  Telemachus  has  grown  to  manhood,  and  his  wife, 
the  wise  and  gracious  Penelope,  is  besieged  by  suitors  in  marriage.  Now  Penelope, 
still  longing  and  hoping  against  hope  for  the  return  of  Odysseus,  tells  her  suitors  that 
she  will  choose  among  them  after  she  has  woven  a  web  that  shall  be  the  shroud  of 
her  father-in-law,  the  aged  Laertes.  This  she  weaves  in  the  day  and  ravels  by  night 
until  the  trick  is  discovered.  The  suitors  then  wax  clamorous;  they  remain  about  the 
house  of  Odysseus  and  devour  his  goods.  When  the  story  opens  Telemachus  resolves 
to  submit  to  the  waste  of  his  substance  no  longer,  and  impelled  by  Athene  he  fits  out 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  117 

a  vessel  and  goes  in  search  of  his  father.  He  visits  the  courts  of  Nestor  and  Mene- 
laus;  sees  the  beautiful  Helen  restored  and  repentant,  and  hears  many  stories  of  the 
war.  After  vain  seeking  he  returns  to  Ithaca.  Meanwhile  Odysseus  on  the  raft  of 
Calypso  is  wrecked  by  the  sea  god  Poseidon,  whose  anger  he  had  incurred  when  he  had 
put  out  the  one  eye  of  Poseidon's  son — the  Cyclops,  Polyphemus.  Saved  by  the  aid  of 
his  patron  Athene,  Odysseus  is  tossed  upon  the  rocky  shore  of  the  Island  of  Scheria, 
bleeding  and  exhausted.  Upon  this  island  dwell  a  colony  of  cultivated  Phoenicians. 
The  daughter  of  the  King  Alcinous  is  the  lovely  Princess  Nausicaa.  She  is  in  the 
dawn  of  womanhood,  and  into  her  gentle  heart  comes  the  dream  of  married  love;  so 
she  wishes  to  wash  her  linen  for  her  bridal  day.  But  she  does  not  acknowledge  her 
thought  even  to  herself,and  under  the  plea  of  washing  the  linen  of  the  king  she  drives 
with  her  maidens  to  the  shore  where  sea  and  river  meet.  After  trampling  the  clothes 
in  the  clear  wave,  the  maidens  play  at  games  and  so  disturb  Odysseus  asleep  among 
the  leaves.  Naked  and  bloody,  soiled  by  the  wave  and  the  earth,  he  appears  like  a 
wild  beast  before  the  maidens,  driving  them  back  in  a  fright.  But  his  ever  ready 
tongue  wins  the  heart  of  the  princess,  and  giving  him  clothing  she  tells  him  to  follow 
her  to  the  city  behind  the  wain,  yet  not  to  keep  close  to  her  after  they  reach  town, 
lest  the  gossips  should  talk.  So  Odysseus  throws  himself  upon  the  hospitality  of 
King  Alcinous  and  Queen  Arete,  and  having  rested  and  bathed  his  glorious  limbs,  he 
tells  to  his  wondering  listeners  his  adventures  from  the  time  of  the  F'all  of  Troy.  He 
speaks  of  his  hail -breadth  escape  from  the  one-eyed  giant  Polyphemus  whom  he 
had  blinded,  an  escape  made  by  suspending  himself  to  the  wool  on  the  belly  of  a 
ram;  of  the  gift  of  the  bag  of  the  winds  by  King  yEolus,  pierced  by  his  curious  fol- 
lowers, and  of  how  the  freed  winds  then  blew  them  to  and  fro  upon  the  wide  sea;  of  his 
life  on  the  Island  of  Circe,  on  which  his  men  were  turned  into  swine;  of  his  adventures 
in  dread  Hades,  where  he  converses  with  the  ghosts  of  the  dead  heroes;  of  his  sail 
through  the  Sirens'  Pass,  when  he  is  bound  to  the  mast  lest  he  should  be  beguiled  to 
destruction  by  the  entrancing  song;  of  his  passage  through  the  fearful  Straits  of  Scylla 
and  Charybdis;  and  of  other  enthralling  adventures  ended  by  total  loss  of  men  and 
ships  and  his  imprisonment  on  Calypso's  Island. 

Then  he  begs  of  his  host  to  give  him  safe  convoy  to  his  home  in  Ithaca.  This 
request  is  granted,  and  many  guests-gifts  are  bestowed  upon  the  man  whose  speech 
wins  all  hearts,  and  the  princess,  his  savior,  may  cherish  only  his  words,  but  worthy 
words  they  are:  "  May  the  gods  grant  thee  all  thy  heart's  desire;  a  husband  and  a 
home,  and  a  mind  at  one  with  his  may  they  give — a  good  gift,  for  there  is  nothing 
mightier  and  nobler  than  when  man  and  wife  are  of  one  heart  and  mind  in  a  house,  a 
grief  to  their  foes,  and  to  their  friends  great  joy,  but  their  own  hearts  know  it  best. " 

So  Odysseus  is  taken  by  his  friends  to  Ithaca,  and  there,  disguised  as  a  beggar,  he 
goes  to  the  hut  of  the  faithful  swineherd  Eumaius,  and  learns  all  that  has  occurred 
during  his  absence.  At  this  point  Telemachus  returns,  and  the  father  revealing  him- 
self to  the  son,  they  lovingly  embrace,  while  pitifully  falls  the  tears  beneath  their 
brows.  Then  the  two,  with  the  aid  of  Athene,  devise  a  plan  for  killing  all  the  suitors. 
Odysseus  goes  to  his  home  still  in  the  guise  of  a  beggar,  receives  the  insults  of  the 
suitors,  talks  with  Penelope,  and  is  nearly  betrayed  by  his  old  nurse  who  discovers  a 
familiar  scar  while  washing  his  feet.  The  suitors  make  trial  of  their  strength  by 
attempting  to  draw  the  bowjof  Odysseus,  but  no  one  can  draw  it  until  Odysseus  takes 
it  in  his  hand  and  easily  sends  the  arrow  through  the  twelve  axe-rings.  Then  he  turns 
upon  the  suitors,  and  by  the  aid  of  the  gods  all  are  slaughtered,  and  Odysseus  is  re- 
venged. The  wise  Penelope,  however,  refuses  to  believe  that  the  stranger  is  her  husband, 
and  tries  to  prove  him  by  ordering  the  nurse  to  bring  out  the  goodly  bed  ofOdysseus, 
which  he  made  for  himself.  But- says  Odysseus:  "  Verily,  a  bitter  word  is  this,  lady, 
that  thou  hast  spoken.  Who  has  set  my  bed  otherwhere?  Hard  would  it  be  for  one, 
how  skilled  soever,  unless  a  god  were  to  come,  that  might  easily  set  it  in  another 
place,  if  so  he  would.  But  of  men  there  is  none  living,  howsoever  strong  in  his  youth, 
that  could  lightly  upheave  it,  for  a  great  marvel  is  wrought  in  the  fashion  of  the  bed, 


118  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

and  it  was  I  that  made  it  and  none  other.  There  was  growing  a  bush  of  olive,  long  of 
leaf,  and  most  goodly  of  growth,  within  the  inner  court,  and  the  stem  as  large  as  a 
pillar.  Round  about  this  I  built  the  chamber,  till  I  had  finished  it,  with  stones  close 
set,  and  I  roofed  it  over  well  and  added  thereto  compacted  doors  fitting  well.  Next  I 
sheared  off  all  the  light  wood  of  the  long  leaved  olive,  and  rough-hewed  the  trunk 
upwards  from  the  root,  and  smoothed  it  round  with  the  adze,  well  and  skillfully,  and 
made  straight  the  line  thereto,  and  so  fashioned  it  into  the  bed-post,  and  I  bored  it  all 
with  the  auger.  Beginning  from  this  head-post,  I  wrought  at  the  bedstead  till  I  had 
finished  it,  and  made  it  fair  with  inlaid  work  of  gold  and  of  silver  and  of  ivory.  Then 
I  made  fast  therein  a  bright  purple  band  of  ox-hide.  Even  so  I  declare  to  thee  this 
token,  and  I  know  not,  lady,  if  the  bedstead  be  yet  fast  in  his  place,  or  if  some  man 
has  cut  away  the  stem  of  the  olive  tree  and  set  the  bedstead  otherwhere.  So  he  spake 
and  at  once  her  knees  were  loosened,  and  her  heart  melted  within  her,  as  she  knew 
the  sure  tokens  that  Odysseus  showed  her.  Then  she  fell  a-weeping,  and  ran  straight 
toward  him  and  cast  her  hands  about  his  neck,  and  kissed  his  head." 

Absorbing  are  the  plots  of  these  poems,  and  wondrous  the  literary  dexterity  with 
which  they  are  handled;  yet  these  features  are  the  least  of  those  which  make  them  a 
joy  forever.  In  the  drawing  of  individual  character,  Homer  has  never  been  excelled; 
and  while  in  range  he  is  at  least  equaled  by  our  Shakespeare,  it  seems  to  me  that  the 
English  poet  never  breathed  the  breath  of  life  into  so  god-like  yet  human  a  creation 
as  Odysseus,  skilled  in  devices.  Both  poets  are  eminently  objective;  each  is  at  home 
equally  in  the  hut  and  the  palace,  but  Shakespeare,  living  in  a  more  enlightened  age^ 
has  given  us  no  sweeter  specimen  of  girlhood  than  the  Princess  Nausicaa  of  the  Odys- 
sey, nor  of  wifely  dignity  and  grace  than  the  wise  Penelope,  nor  of  gentle  loveliness 
than  poor  Andromache.  Achilles,  noble  but  resentful,  may  be  compared  in  these 
qualities  with  Coriolanus,  but  the  beauteous  golden-haired  Achaean  is  infinitely  more 
lovable  than  the  stern  Roman.  Old  Adam  in  "As  You  Like  It"  is  but  a  silhouette  of 
the  well-rounded  picture  of  Eumaeus,  the  swineherd  of  Ithaca.  Even  the  gods  and 
goddesses  of  Homer  are  endowed  with  pulsating  life,  and  forever  remain  with  us  the 
gray-eyed  Athene,  the  ox-eyed,  white-armed  Hera. 

Of  the  form  in  which  these  images  of  genius  present  themselves,  it  may  be  said 
that  Homer  wrote  in  the  most  beautiful  language  that  was  ever  spoken  by  human 
tongue;  of  it  he  had  supreme  command.  He  fitted  sound  to  sense  as  no  other  poet 
has  done.  "No  one  who  is  a  stranger  to  Greek  literature,"  says  Professor  Jebb,  "has 
seen  how  perfect  an  instrument  it  is  possible  for  human  speech  to  be."  In  clear- 
ness, in  flexibility,  the  Greek  is  unrivaled,  having  by  force  of  its  particles  the  power 
of  expressing  delicate  shades  of  thought,  untranslatable  except  by  tedious  circumlo- 
cution. The  measureof  the  poems  iscorrespondent  to  our  iambic  hexameter,  of  which 
the  most  notable  example  in  English  is  Longfellow's  "Evangeline" — 

"  Silently,  one  by  one,  in  the  infinite  meadows  of  Heaven, 
Blossomed  the  lovely  stars,  the  forget-me-nots  of  the  angels." 

This  is  a  classic  measure,  foreign  to  the  genius  of  our  English  tongue,  and  no  satisfac- 
tory translation  of  Homer  in  the  native  meter  has  ever  been  made.  In  fact,  while 
translations  are  legion,  no  adequate  rendition  as  a  whole,  in  any  form,  has  been  pro- 
duced. The  necessities  of  English  versification  so  pervert  the  simple  directness  of 
Homer's  style,  so  retard  his  swift-winged  flight,  that  a  sympathetic  presentation  in 
prose  best  conveys  to  mind  of  the  English  readers  the  characteristic  traits  of  Homer's 
style.  Such  a  version  is  Leaf,  Myers  &  Lang's  of  the  Iliad,  and  Butcher  &  Lang's  of 
the  Odyssey — the  translations  used  in  this  paper.  Yet  it  will  readily  be  seen  that  to 
those  who  read  Homer  in  translation,  the  charm  of  his  literary  style  must,  in  a  large 
measure,  be  missing.  Matthew  Arnold,  in  his  delightful  essays  on  translating  Homer, 
expresses  the  hope  and  the  belief  that  an  English  poet,  capable  of  handling  Homer  in 
his  native  meter,  will  yet  be  born.  "The  perfect  translator,"  says  Arnold,  "must  be 
rapid  in  movement,  simple  in  style,  plain  in  language,  natural  in  thought,  eminently 
noble — in  grand  manner." 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  119 

But  while  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  flavor  of  his  style  is  reserved  for  the  scholar 
in  keenness  of  wit,  in  tenderness  of  pathos,  in  fitness  of  epithet,  in  loveliness  of  senti- 
ment, in  grandeur  of  simile,  Homer  appeals  to  the  unlearned  as  well  as  to  the  scholar. 
I  wish  that  I  had  the  time  to  read  to  you  such  passages  as  the  parting  of  Hector  and 
Andromache;  the  meeting  of  Odysseus  with  his  old  father,  or  with  his  neglected  dog, 
who  moans  and  dies  upon  once  more  beholding  his  beloved  master;  or  that  I  might 
show  you  the  glorious  Hector  bursting  through  the  Achaean  gate,  his  face  like  the 
sudden  night,  shining  in  wondrous  mail,  with  two  spears  in  his  hands. 

Would  that  I  might  take  you  to  the  shore  of  the  unharvested  sea,  where  the  dark 
wave  singeth  about  thestorm,and  roareth  on  the  long  beach,  while  the  main  resoundeth. 
And  again  to  this  same  echoing  beach,  where  the  sea-wave  lifteth  up  itself  in  close 
array  before  the  driving  of  the  west  wind;  out  on  the  deep  doth  it  first  raise  its  head, 
and  then  it  breaketh  upon  the  land,  and  belloweth  aloud,  and  goeth  with  arching 
crest  about  the  promontories,  and  speweth  the  foaming  brine  afar.  I  would  show  to 
you  the  assembling  of  the  people  like  thronging  bees  from  a  hollow  rock,  ever  in 
fresh  procession,  flying  among  the  flowers  of  spring,  some  on  this  hand  and  some  on 
that. 

So  much  for  Homer  and  the  poems  ascribed  to  him  —  so  much  for  Homer,  the 
poet,  as  he  appeals  to  a  lover  of  poetry.  His  value  to  the  student  of  comparative 
religions  and  folk-lore,  to  the  archaeologist  and  ethnologist,  to  the  historian  and 
sociologist,  we  shall  not  even  touch  upon.  For  we  have  set  our  faces  toward  the 
long  vista  of  Homeric  criticism,  and  of  this  criticism  Seneca  said  in  his  day,  that  life 
was  too  short  to  enable  one  to  arrive  at  a  just  conclusion.  But  we  will  pause  for  a 
passing  glance  and  be  not  tempted  to  consider  too  curiously. 

The  first  authentic  point  in  the  literary  history  is  the  fact  that  the  poems  were 
publicly  recited  by  the  rhapsodists  at  the  festivals  of  Athene  in  the  sixth  century, 
B.  C.  Of  the  manner  of  their  perpetuation  from  the  prehistoric  days  of  Homer,  noth- 
ing positive  is  known.  A  tradition  tells  that  Homer  left  a  school  of  disciples,  and 
there  seems  to  have  existed  a  society  or  guild  called  the  Homeridae  in  Chios.  But 
whether  these  were  a  literary  society,  or  descendants  of  Homer  by  blood,  or  really 
custodians  of  his  verse,  does  not  appear.  When  the  rhapsodists  come  upon  the 
historic  stage  as  the  authorized  reciters  of  Homer,  Solon  orders  that  they  should 
"  proceed  with  promptings,"  thus  implying  that  the  prompter  held  a  recognized  text 

Pisistratus,  the  enlightened  tyrant  of  Athens  who  followed  Solon,  is  generally 
credited  with  having  caused  a  commission  of  learned  men  to  collect  and  put  in  proper 
order  the  songs  of  Homer.  On  the  one  hand,  it  is  claimed  that  this  commission 
merely  gave  forth  what  would  be  termed  in  our  time  a  correct  edition.  On  the  other 
side, it  is  contended  that  the  commission  collected  "stray  songs,"  vaguely  known  as 
Homer's,  making  additions  and  subtractions  which  they  deemed  suitable  to  the  con- 
struction of  a  harmonious  work  of  art;  in  fact,  that  Pisistratus  made  our  Homer.  The 
latter  view  is  weakened  by  the  recorded  custom  of  promptings  in  Solon's  time  before 
cited,  and  by  the  statement  of  Hipparchus,  the  son  ol  Pisistratus,  in  a  Platonic 
dialogue.  Hipparchus  there  tells  us  that  the  rhapsodists  took  up  each  other  in  order 
"  as  they  still  do."  This  leaves  no  doubt  as  to  Plato's  opinion,  and  to  the  current 
opinion  in  Plato's  day  concerning  the  traditional  character  of  the  text. 

The  first  study  of  Homer  that  can  really  be  called  critical  was  made  in  the  Alex- 
andrian Age.  Then  arose  a  school  of  Separatists  (about  170  B.  C.)  who  believed  that 
the  Iliad  and  the  Odyssey  were  by  different  authors.  Zenodotus,  the  first  chief  of 
the  great  mu.seum,  wa.s  also  the  first  critic  of  the  Homeric  text,  and  he  was  soon  fol- 
lowed by  Aristarchus,  the  greatest  of  ancient  critics,  to  whom  is  ascribed  the  present 
division  of  Homer  into  books.  Aristarchus  discovered  a  number  of  spurious  passages 
in  the  poems,  but  he  had  no  doubt  that  Homer  was  virtually  their  author. 

At  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  there  was  found  in  V'enice,  in  the  library  of 
St.  Mark,  a  manuscript  of  the  Iliad,  dating  from  the  tenth  century.  Around  this 
transcription  were  marginal  notes,  called  "scholia."    These  were  textual  criticisms  by 


120  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Aristarchus  and  other  learned  grammarians.  The  finding  of  the  "scholia"  gave  a  new 
impulse  to  Homeric  criticism,  and  led  to  the  famous  Recension  of  the  Iliad  by  the 
German  scholar,  Frederick  Augustus  Wolf,  in  1795.  Previous  to  Wolf,  the  idea  that 
Homer  was  not  the  sole  author  of  epics  ascribed  to  him  had  been  suggested  by 
Bentley,  Rousseau,  and  others  in  modern  times,  and,  it  is  said,  by  Josephus,  Cicero,  and 
others  in  ancient  times.  But  no  serious  attempt  at  proof  had  ever  been  made  until 
Wolf,  in  his  revolutionary  Prolegomena  (preface  to  his  edition  of  the  Iliad),  shook  the 
literary  world  to  its  foundations,  and  inaugurated  a  new  era  of  literary  criticism.  The 
celebrated  Wolfian  theory,  is  in  the  main,  as  follows:  Alphabetic  writing,  according 
to  Wolf,  was  not  known  to  the  Greeks  until  about  600  B.  C.  There  is  no  evidence 
that  the  laws  were  written  until  that  time,  and  certainly  a  prose  literature,  which  calls 
for  writing,  was  not  in  existence  previously.  It  is  true  that  many  verses  were  older, 
but  verse  was  the  original  form  of  extemporaneous  oratory  or  chanting,  and  the 
profession  of  rhapsodist  was  that  of  one  who  recites  from  memory.  In  Homer  him- 
self, there  is  but  a  single  mention  of  a  message  by  characters,  and  that  is  the  case  of 
Bellerophon,  "who  bore  tokens  of  woe,  graven  on  a  folded  tablet,  many  deadly 
things,"  to  the  King  of  Lydia.  This  was  in  some  form  a  written  message  to  the  king,  in 
which  the  writer  requests  him  to  slay  Bellerophon,  and  it  was  not  until  the  tenth  day  of 
Bellerophon's  visit  that  the  king  asked  to  see  "what  token  he  bore."  Now,  this  token 
on  the  folded  tablet  does  not  by  any  means  imply  alphabetic  writing,  and  throughout 
the  rest  of  the  poems  we  hear  of  no  communication  as  passing  between  any  of  the 
chiefs  in  Troy  and  their  families  at  home.  Even  if  letters  were  known,  nobody  read, 
and  wooden  or  leaden  tablets  were  unable  to  contain  lengthy  works.  If  the  poems 
were  not  written,  it  is  impossible  that  the  text  could  have  been  preserved  from  cor- 
ruption during  several  centuries.  Besides,  there  are  manifest  discrepancies  in  the 
poems  themselves.  In  one  case  a  chief,  who  has  been  killed  in  an  early  book,  is  made 
to  attend  the  funeral  of  his  son  in  a  later  book,  and  there  are  other  discrepancies  of 
time,  place  and  style.  Then,  too,  the  exploits  of  all  the  chiefs  have  nothing  to  do 
with  the  story  of  the  Wrath  of  Achilles,  and  are  manifestly  inserted  to  glorify  local 
heroes.  These  are  the  main  grounds  of  the  Wolfian  theory.  The  conclusion  is  that 
the  Iliad  is  a  series  of  short  songs  put  together  in  a  later  age.  In  regard  to  the 
Odyssey,  the  opinion  of  the  Wolfian  school  is  that  it  is  of  different  authorship 
altogether  from  the  Iliad. 

Wolf's  theory  has  been  violently  attacked,  learnedly  defended,  and  largely  elab- 
orated. Grote,  the  historian  of  Greece,  makes  two  distinct  works  of  the  Iliad:  One 
he  calls  the  Wrath  of  Achilles,  mainly  by  Homer;  the  other  the  Iliad,  composed  of  float- 
ing songs.  Lachman,  a  celebrated  German  scholar,  finds  in  the  Iliad  all  the  joints  of 
sixteen  small  works.  Mr.  Walter  Leaf  has  recently  issued  his  edition  of  the  Iliad, 
compiled  by  getting  together  twenty-six  passages  from  different  books  of  the  poems. 
He,  of  course,  has  scholarly  reasons  for  considering  all  the  rest  spurious.  "The 
Nation,"  in  reviewing  this  work,  declares  that  "in  a  century  after  the  promulgation 
of  the  Wolfian  idea  (that  is,  in  1895),  ^^e  number  who  believe  in  the  theory  of  genu- 
ineness of  Homer's  works  as  traditionally  received,  will  be  so  small  that  first-class 
scholars  will  not  consider  it  worth  while  to  waste  time  in  endeavoring  to  convince 
them  of  its  untenableness." 

A  singular  feature  in  all  these  later  criticisms  is  the  fact  that  the  very  noblest 
portions  of  the  poem  are  considered  not  Homeric.  The  embassy  to  Achilles,  con- 
taining the  finest  eloquence  of  the  poem;  the  meeting  of  Achilles  and  Priam,  contain- 
ing the  noblest  pathos — these  and  other  passages  of  like  significance  are  relegated  to 
floating  songs  of  unknown  poets,  and  the  Iliad  becomes  to  the  layman  a  Hamlet  with- 
out the  Prince. 

But  the  Wolfian  theory  and  its  progeny  have  not  gone  unchallenged  by  eminent 
scholars.  The  English  critics  are  its  choicest  defenders.  The  answers  to  the  theory 
are  mainly  these: 

First.     Writing  may  have  existed  at  the  time  of  Homer,  for  the  Greeks  were  in 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  121 

close  communication  with  the  Phcenicians  as  early  as  iioo  B.  C.  The  Phoenicians 
were  skilled  in  writing,  and  the  quick-witted  Greeks  would  not  be  slow  to  imitate  so 
useful  an  art. 

Second.  Even  if  writing  were  unknown,  transmission  by  memory  was  not  at  all 
impossible.  Rhapsodists  were  a  professional  class,  trained  purely  for  the  purpose  of 
memorizing,  and  the  public  recitations  in  which  each  might  criticise  the  other,  insured 
the  integrity  of  the  text.  Extraordinary  feats  of  memory  are  not  unknown  in  our  own 
times.  Macaulay  could,  without  effort,  recite  half  of  "Paradise  Lost;"  Dr.  Bathurst  is 
said  to  have  known  the  whole  Iliad  in  Greek  when  a  boy.  If  such  performances  are 
possible  by  non-professional  reciters  in  an  era  when  writing  has  weakened  the  power 
of  memory,  they  certainly  were  not  impossible  in  a  trained  and  picked  class  of  mem- 
orizers  who  could  not  depend  on  writing. 

Third.  There  are  discrepancies,  it  is  true;  but  they  are  only  such  as  might  occur 
in  long  poems  by  a  single  author,  especially  if  not  written;  and  while  some  interpola- 
tions may  be  granted,  they  are  not  sufficient  to  disturb  the  general  integrity  of  the 
text. 

Fourth.  The  plots  are  essentially  bound  together  by  an  underlying  unity;  the 
style  and  turn  of  language  and  thought  in  both  poems  are  those  of  the  one  master; 
and  if  the  author  of  the  Iliad  and  he  of  the  Odyssey  are  not  the  same,  then  nature 
must  have  produced  bountifully  the  supreme  poetic  inspiration  when  the  world  was 
young. 

This  is,  in  very  small  mold,  the  modern  Homeric  question;  its  bibliography  is  enor- 
mous, although  the  controversy  is  really  in  its  incipiency.  Its  solution  will  be  aided 
by  archaeological  researches,  by  studies  in  comparative  mythologies  and  folk-lore,  by 
philological  investigation.  The  work  ofSchliemann  on  the  Hill  of  Hissarlik  (his  Troy), 
which  promised  so  much  in  confirmation  of  the  Iliad,  is  now  being  taken  into  question. 
His  so-called  tomb  of  Agamemnon  is  said  to  be  that  of  a  barbarian  woman  of  a  much 
later  age.  I  shall  conclude  my  paper  with  two  charming  fragments  of  translation. 
The  first,  by  Dr.  Hawtrey,  gives  to  the  English  ear  the  swing  and  meter  of  the  Greek 
hexameter.  Helen  has  been  called  by  Priam  to  the  walls  of  Troy  to  tell  him  the 
names  of  the  Greek  chieftains.     She  says: 

"Clearly  the  rest  I  behold  of  the  dark-eyed  sons  of  Achaia; 
Known  to  me  well  are  the  faces  of  all;  their  names  I  remember; 
Two — only  two — remain  whom  I  see  not  among  the  commanders; 
Castor,  fleet  in  the  car,  Polydeuces  brave  with  the  cestus— 
Own  dear  brethren  of  mine— one  parent  loved  us  as  infants. 
Are  they  not  here  in  the  host,  from  the  shores  of  loved  Lacedaemon, 
Or,  though  they  came  with  the  rest  in  ships  that  bound  through  the  waters, 
Dare  they  not  enter  the  fight  or  stand  in  the  council  of  Heroes, 
All  for  fear  of  the  shame  and  the  taunts  my  crime  has  awakened? 
So  said  she;  they  long  since  in  earth's  soft  arms  were  reposing, 

There  in  their  own  dear  land,  their  fatherland — Lacedaemon." 
'  I 

The  other  is  a  noble  blank  verse  rendition  by  Tennyson  of  one  of  the  loveliest 

passages  in  the  Iliad: 

"So  Hector  spake;  the  Trojans  roared  applause; 
Then  loosed  their  sweating  horses  from  the  yoke, 
And  each  beside  his  chariot  bound  his  own; 
And  oxen  from  the  city,  and  goodly  sheep 
In  haste  they  drove,  and  honey-hearted  wine 
And  bread  from  out  the  houses  brought,  and  heap'd 
Their  firewood,  and  the  winds  from  off  the  plain 
Roll'd  the  rich  vapor  far  into  the  heaven. 
And  these  all  night  upon  the  bridge  of  war 
Sat  glorying;  many  a  fire  before  them  blazed; 


122  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

As  when  in  heaven  the  stars  about  the  moon 
Look  beautiful,  when  all  the  winds  are  laid, 
And  every  height  comes  out,  and  jutting  peak 
And  valley,  and  the  immeasurable  heavens 
Break  open  to  their  highest,  and  all  the  stars 
Shine,  and  the  Shepherd  gladdens  in  his  heart; 
So  many  a  fire  between  the  ships  and  stream 
Of  Xanthus  blazed  before  the  towers  of  Troy, 
A  thousand  on  the  plain;  and  close  by  each 
Sat  fifty  in  the  blaze  of  burning  fire; 
And  eating  hoary  grain  and  pulse,  the  steeds 
Fixt  by  their  cars,  waited  the  golden  dawn." 


DEVELOPMENT  IN  EASTERN  WASHINGTON.* 


MRS.  JENNIE  F.  WHITE. 


By  MRS.  JENNIE  F.  WHITE. 

The  theme  assigned  me  for  this  address  is  "Art  and  Educational  Facilities  for  the 
Women  of  Eastern  Washington."  These  are  both  influenced  much  by  the  surround- 
ings and  conditions  of  life.  What  a  country  for  art  is 
our  loved  Washington!  Here  are  the  well-known 
Palouse  or  Yakima  valleys,  responding  to  the  invita- 
tion of  man  with  fruit-burdened  tree,  rich  green  grass 
and  waving  golden  grain,  bursting  forth  so  wonder- 
fully prolific  as  to  astonish  their  owners,  and  in  many 
places  retaining  a  moisture  beneath  the  surface  which 
sustains  them  in  the  greatest  degree  of  abundance  in 
fruitage  and  harvest,  even  though  for  months  not  a 
drop  of  rain  falls. 

Where  still  uncultivated  the  prairies  are  dotted 
with  flowers  of  every  hue,  which  succeed  each  other 
in  order,  spreading  a  perfect  carpet  of  golden  butter- 
cups first  in  the  springtime,  followed  by  purple,  pink, 
Scarlet  or  blue,  each  in  its  season  predominating, 
though  hundreds  of  varieties  can  often  be  found  in  a 
day's  collecting. 

Through  these  valleys  wander  ever  beautiful  riv- 
ers, carrying  the  bright  sparkling  waters  from  the 
mountain  rills  and  snows.  Gradually  rise  the  foot 
hills,  or  suddenly  the  rocky  bluffs,  while  far  away  and 
above  tower  the  ever  snow-capped  mountain  peaks, 
and  when  one  of  our  glorious  sunsets  floods  all  in  golden  glory;  when  clear  across 
the  sky  flames  the  crimson,  gold  and  amber,  touching  the  edge  of  every  cloud  into  a 
radiant,  dazzling  brilliancy,  while  every  shade  from  these  to  deepest  purple  may  be 
traced,  so  softly  blended;  then  these  snowy  peaks  are  capped  with  living, blazing  gold, 
as  if  the  dear  old  mountains  sought  to  express  to  man  their  knowledge  of  the  pure 
gold  and  silver  hidden  below. 

Dead  indeed  would  be  the  soul  not  stirred  as  by  a  master's  power;  poor  indeed 
the  talent  not  inspired  by  such  scenes,  ever  changing,  yet  always  grand,  bold,  sublime. 
Washington  has  been  ever  courteous  to  her  daughters  in  many  ways.  There  are 
no  schools  from  which  they  are  excluded  within  her  boundaries,  and  there  was  a  time 
when  they  voted  in  all  elections,  united  with  their  brothers  in  the  work  of  caucus 
and  copimittee,  sat  on  juries  and  served  in  positions  of  trust  not  usually  open  to 
v,^omen;  yet  we  believe  our  women  are  as  gentle  and  womanly,  as  good  and  true  as 
any  in  the  whole  wide  world,  and  we  try  very  hard  indeed  not  to  ape  airs  masculine. 
Today  we  vote  at  school  elections  and  serve  on  school  boards;  but  the  greater 

Mrs.  Jennie  F.  Drake  White  was  born  in  .Maine.  Her  parents  were  Joseph  T.  Drake  and  Betsy  Lonnf  ellow  Chapman 
Drake  (arelativeof  the  poet  Longfellow).  She  was  edncated  in  the  seminary  now  known  as  Ricker  Classical  Institute, 
Houlton,  Me.  She  has  traveled  extensively  in  America  and  Eastern  Canada.  She  married  Robinson  G.  White  in  1879,  and  is 
the  mother  of  one  son.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  nuraeroos  poems,  essays,  addresses  and  sermons.  Her  profession 
is  that  of  a  joarnalist,  at  present  a  member  of  the  editorial  staff  of  the  Spokane  Daily  and  Weekly  Chronicle.  In  reliRious 
faith  she  is  a  Universalist,  and  occasionally  supplies  the  pulpit  of  that  church,  though  she  is  not  a  minister.  Mrs.  White  is 
still  young,  being  little  more  than  thirty  years  of  age.  and  is  now  at  work  on  a  novel  bearing  on  social  conditions,  which 
critics  declare  will  win  notice,  being  quite  unusual  in  lines  of  thought.  Her  postoifice  address  is  Chronicle  office,  Spo- 
kane, Wash. 

*The  title  of  the  address  as  read  was :  ".A.rt  and  Educational  Facilities  for  the  Women  of  Eastern  Washington.'* 

123 


124  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

privileges  or  responsibilities  have  been  removed  from  our  hands.  Many  hesitate 
about  coming  to  the  great  Northwest  with  their  families,  fearing  the  loss  of  educa- 
tional advantages  in  our  savage  wilds.     They  are  greatly  surprised  when  they  arrive. 

No  state  in  America  has  more  beautiful,  commodious  and  improved  school  build- 
ings than  we  have  in  the  new  State  of  Washington,  or  better  conducted  schools  within 
them.  A  hamlet  is  started  on  some  quiet  hillside  near  a  running  stream,  a  few  cots,  a 
mill,  a  store,  a  schoolhouse,  and,  later,  when  the  children  are  provided  for,  a  church, 
and  in  a  year  quite  a  little  village,  with  electric  lights,  water  plant  and  other  modern 
necessities,  has  appeared  as  if  by  magic. 

The  High  School  of  Spokane  is  a  beautiful  brick  structure,  with  neat  play- 
grounds and  green  sloping  yards.  A  photograph  of  it  may  be  seen  in  the  Washing- 
ton school  exhibit,  as  well  as  an  excellent  model  carved  in  wood  by  the  pupils.  In 
every  part  of  the  city  stand  similar  buildings,  though  not  so  commodious,  and  other 
cities  of  our  state  are  equally  well  provided.  We  have  agricultural  colleges,  business 
colleges,  church  colleges,  and  in  aU  of  them  excellent  teachers  in  every  department. 

In  giving  you  a  brief  sketch  of  the  departments  of  art  and  educational  work  in 
which  Washington  women  are  interested,  I  will  present  my  own  city  of  Spokane  as 
the  type,  and  you  will  please  remember  that  we  have  many  other  cities  which  to  a 
greater  or  less  degree  are  repetitions  of  what  is  really  the  leading  city  of  Eastern 
Washington,  though  not  the  oldest. 

That  art  is  highest  which  is  most  free  from  things  material,  hence  the  goddess  of 
music  leads  them  all.  And  we  are  great  music  lovers  in  the  Northwest.  At  the  con- 
cert given  as  a  test  of  the  ability  of  six  young  ladies  to  represent  us  as  state  singers 
from  Washington  at  this  great  fair,  in  this  yet  greater  Chicago,  our  large  opera  house 
was  packed  to  the  doors  and  hundreds  were  unable  to  enter. 

The  young  ladies  rendered  classical  selections  in  a  manner  to  win*  storms  of 
applause.  Numerous  floral  tributes  crossed  the  footlights,  and  when  Miss  Berry  of 
Walla  Walla  sang,  a  shower  of  roses  and  lilies  fell  around  her  from  boxes  and  balcony. 
The  state  has  a  host  of  charming  singers,  and  Palouse  City  is  the  happy  possessor  of 
a  ladies'  brass  band,  which  is  the  pride  of  Eastern  Washington.  They  play  with  much 
skill  and  accuracy  many  difficult  selections,  and  are  highly  applauded  in  every  locality. 
Their  uniforms  are  neat  and  becoming,  and  they  are  cultivated  ladies,  every  one  of 
them. 

Our  Conservatory  of  Music  is  conducted  entirely  by  women,  with  the  best  teachers 
obtainable  in  vocal  and  instrumental  music,  physical  culture  and  voice  training. 

We  have  a  Mozart  Club,  which  employs  a  professor  of  high  musical  ability  as 
instructor,  and  which  presents  the  compositions  of  the  old  masters  in  a  manner  to  win 
applause  from  a  critical  audience,  and  which  for  variety  occasionally  favors  the  pub- 
lic with  light  opera. 

We  have  a  school  of  oratory,  also  classes  in  elocution  and  movements,  excellently 
managed  by  women.  Spokane  is  also  very  proud  of  its  Young  Ladies'  Seminary, 
where  all  departments  of  modern  education  are  taught,  with  teachers  who  have  had 
the  advantage  of  foreign  travel  and  years  of  study  in  Germany  in  painting  and, music. 

The  citizens  of  Washington  are  fortunate  in  all  lines  of  education,  and  the  ad- 
vantages offered  their  children,  and  especially  so  in  the  knowledge  that  their  daugh- 
ters can  have  such  care  and  instruction  at  home.  If  the  work  continues  as  it  is  now 
so  well  begun,  St.  Mary's  will  ere  long  rival  the  famous  schools  of  the  East,  to  which 
our  daughters  have  been  accustomed  to  go  for  finished  education. 

Several  art  studios  are  owned  by  women  who  teach  in  every  department  of  draw- 
ing and  painting.  An  art  league  is  in  active  work,  with  excellent  teachers  in  land- 
scape painting,  china  decoration,  wood  carving,  molding  and  art  needlework.  Lessons 
are  given  by  the  League,  which  numbers  more  ladies  than  gentlemen  by  far,  at  low 
prices,  to  those  who  desire  to  learn  and  who  cannot  afford  private  lessons. 

The  paintings  in  the  Washington  State  buildings  are  largely  the  work  of  her 
daughters,  as  are  the  collection  of  three  hundred  varieties  of  wild  flowers  done  in 
water  colors,  and  well  worth  the  time  of  looking  over. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  125 

A  kindergarten  is  also  sustained  in  each  of  these  schools,  and  private  kindergar- 
tens in  different  parts  of  the  state  are  preparing  the  little  ones  for  the  next  step  in 
life's  advancement,  aiding  as  well  in  building  up  healthy,  robust  bodies  for  the 
spirit's  dwelling-place.  Each  of  these  is  duplicated  again  and  again.  Walla  Walla» 
having  the  best  of  educational  privileges;  Yakima  being  ornamented  by  school  build- 
ings which  are  a  credit  to  the  enterprise  of  her  citizens.  Ellensburgh  has,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  other  departments  of  knowledge,  which  are  her  pride,  our  State  Normal 
School,  Pullman  our  Agricultural  College,  and  all  the  lesser  towns  and  cities  their 
fair  proportion  of  honors  educational. 

In  women's  clubs  Spokane  has  the  Cultus  Club,  with  membership  limited  to  twenty- 
five,  holding  weekly  parlor  meetings  devoted  to  the  study  of  literature,  music,  art, 
science  and  theology,  giving  entertainments  frequently  and  having  as  its  aim  mutual 
improvement  and  social  enjoyment.  The  Spokane  Indians  use  the  word  "Cultus,'' 
meaning  "  no  good,"  or  "  know  nothing."  The  Spokane  Sorosis,  named  for  the  New 
York  Club  so  well  known  to  you  all,  contains  a  larger  membership  studies  parliament- 
ary usages,  the  constitution  and  national  laws,  and  includes  literature,  history,  art, 
science  and  questions  of  the  day  in  its  discussions. 

The  Daughters  of  Rebekah  and  the  Eastern  Star  Lodge  are  large,  well  organized 
societies,  while  Daughters  of  Veterans,  young  ladies'  institutes  and  similar  societies 
add  much  to  social  pleasures,  and  the  aid  ever  derived  from  intelligent  conversation, 
well  written  papers  and  discussion,  such  as  are  of  frequent  occurrence  at  regular  and 
special  meetings  prevailing  under  the  direction  of  each  of  these. 

In  literature  we  have  many  prolific  writers  of  prose  and  poetry,  whose  bright 
original  style  in  both  lines  of  literature  promises  to  bring  them  recognition  even 
beyond  the  confines  of  the  West.  Several  woman  journalists  are  connected  with  the 
editorial  staffs  of  our  daily  papers,  and  contribute  also  to  journals  and  magazines  of 
the  East,  where  their  writings  are  gladly  made  use  of.  That  we  have  no  great  writers, 
as  yet  is  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  we  are  too  young;  but,  where  every- 
thing else  is  so  great,  even  our  trees,  our  rivers  and  our  vegetables,  surely  our  writers, 
when  fully  developed,  will  measure  up  to  the  average.  Allow  me  to  close  with  a  poem 
rendered  by  the  poet  of  our  Washington  Press  Association,  who  is  a  woman: 

"  Dear  is  this  West  to  us; 

Dear  as  a  cause  becomes  to  men  who  fight 

With  odds  against  them  for  a  righteous  end, 

'Till,  from  the  blood  they  shed,  springs  greater  love. 

We  each  to  the  upbuilding  of  this  land 

Have  freely  given  our  manhood's  fullest  strength. 

The  strenuous  push  of  youth's  hot  energy. 

And  ripened  judgment  of  our  later  days. 

At  first,  we  came  planning  our  own  success; 

Thought  but  to  build  that  we  might  enter  in; 

Possess  the  land.     But  zeal,  lit  at  this  brand. 

In  all  our  hearts  mounts  to  a  higher  flame. 

Which  of  us  all  would  now  betray  his  place? 

Or  which  be  recreant  to  his  chosen  trust? 

We  who  preach  hope  when  our  own  hearts  despair, 

And  hold  them  firm,  though  coward  prudence 

Whispers  our  defeat,  are  pledged  to  courage. 

We  bear  the  colors  and  they  hold  us  true. 

From  our  high  hopes  failure  has  gleaned  new  pain 

Since  we  have  hoped  for  more  than  selfish  gain. 

And  yet  this  land  for  which  we  toil  and  pain 

Is  not  our  home.    -To  every  one  of  us 

Home  is  some  other  place,  and  at  the  word 

Springs  a  swift  vision,  to  each. different. 


126  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Yet  all  seen  through  the  golden  haze  of  time, 

That  mists  our  eyes  with  tender  memories. 

To  me  a  village  street — above  the  road 

The  May  flushed  maples  meet  in  Spring's  caress. 

To  you  a  low  gray  farmhouse,  at  whose  door 

A  dear  old  face  smiles  at   you  through  its  tears; 

For  each  of  us  that  dear,  familiar  face, 

We  dare  not  think  if  we  may  see  again. 

Home  is  with  them,  and  we  are  exiles  here, 

To  build  for  others  who  come  after  us; 

To  whom  this  fruitful  land  shall  be  sweet  home; 

That  is  our  part,  and  no  ignoble  one. 

Then  let  us  build,  that,  in  the  coming  years. 

When  youth,  untempted,  strong  in  self-belief, 

Puts  our  life-work  to  its  untarnished  test, 

We  may  stand  up  and  dare  to  meet 

The  searching  inquest  of  those  clear  young  eyes. 


^ 


THE  WOMEN  OF  BOHEMIA. 

By  MRS.  JOSEFA  HUMPAL  ZEMAN. 

You  have  heard  how  in  the  beautiful  forests  of  Bohemia  there  blossom  millions  of 
sweet  scented  violets,  modestly  hiding  their  drooping  heads  beneath  the  velvet  moss; 

they  live  their  short  life  quietly,  yet  steadily,  per- 
forming the  duty  assigned  to  them  by  their  Creator; 
they  live  and  breathe  the  sweet  breath  that  fills  the 
air,    invigorating    the    wearied    passer-by   with   new 

a  strength  for  his  daily  toil;  intoxicating  the  nightin- 
gales, who,  bursting  in  songs  of  joy,  soothe  and  inspire 
souls,  who,  like  Keats,  need  new  vigor  to  enliven  tneir 
k  fainting  hearts.     And  like  these  violets  that  blossom 
B  in  the  bosom  of  our  forests,  so  the  women  of  Bohe- 
^  mia  live  quietly,  hidden   within  the  sacred  walls  of 

^  '  their  homes,  unostentatiously  performing  their  duties; 

and  yet  their  influence  has  filled  the  air  with  the  sweet 
scent  of  encouragement,  and  inspired  our  men  to 
deeds  of  heroism.  Our  women  always  have  lived 
closer  to  the  men  than  the  women  of  the  western  na- 
tions. They  have  been  their  true  helpmates  in  home 
and  national  life,  and  not  unfrequently  have  their 
words,  their  faith,  their  example,  poured  fresh  vigor 
t^--  into  the  fainting  hearts  of  the  worn-out  warriors.     As 

^  ^  far  back  as  legend  and  history  can  reach  we  find  our 

w„=  ,^c.,r.»  .^„v.n*T  ,rMAv  women  participating  in  national  welfare.     The  third 

MRS.  JOSEFA  HUMPAL  ZEMAN.  r     ,  i  i^  i  t    -i  i    •       • 

ruler  of  the  Czechs  was  a  woman,  Libuse,  and  it  is 
said  that  under  her  rule  the  nation  prospered,  and  today  she  lives  as  an  embodiment 
of  all  that  is  desirable  in  a  good  king;  as  noble,  just,  kind  and  wise  queen  !  Later, 
Drahomira  was  another  brave  queen,  and  among  the  first  Christian  women.  St.  Lud- 
mila  is  a  good  illustration  of  the  interest  that  women  have  shown  in  public  life  as  far 
back  as  the  eighth  and  tenth  centuries,  A.  D. 

In  the  times  of  the  great  tribulations  that  came  to  Bohemia  during  the  Hussite 
wars,  when  whole  armies  of  Catholic  soldiers  swept  into  the  quiet  regions  of  Bohemia, 
tearing  away  from  the  hearts  of  the  people  that  which  was  most  sacred  to  them— their 
religion  and  their  mother  tongue — it  was  then  that  our  women  showed  their  heroic 
nature,  sending  their  husbands  away  to  war,  and  they  themselves  marching  with  them. 
They  carried  stores,  nursed  the  wounded,  and  frequently  stepped  into  the  place  of 
their  husbands  and  sons  when  the  cruel  shot  swept  these  out  of  their  places.  Thou- 
sands of  women  left  their  homes,  their  friends,  and  went  into  exile,  when,  after  the  fall 
of  Bohemia  on  the  White  Mountain,  in  1620,  after  the  long  Thirty  Years'  War,  Rome 
and  the  Hapsburgs  were  victorious;  and  all  those  Bohemians  who  would  not  become 

Mrs.  Josefa  Hampal  Zeman  is  a  native  of  Bohemia.  She  was  born  Jannarjr  9, 1870.  Her  father  waa  a  prominent 
Bohemian  leader  and  speaker,  who  came  to  this  conntry  in  1873.  She  was  educated  in  the  pablic  schools  of  Chicago,  and 
later  spent  two  years  in  studying  at  the  High  School  of  Pisek,  Bohemia,  where  her  parents  returned,  and  since  1800  has  been 
studying  at  the  Woman's  College,  Western  Reserve  University,  Cleveland,  Ohio.  She  has  traveled  extensively  in  Austria, 
Germany,  England  and  America.  She  married  a  Bohemian  editor,  Robert  Zeman,  in  1887.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the 
interest  of  the  women  of  her  own  nationality,  philanthrophic  and  educational.  All  her  literary  works  have  been  published  in 
the  varioas  Bohemian  journals.  She  is  a  Christian  and  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  She  is  a  regular  contributor 
to  all  the  leading  Bohemian  journals.  As  a  lecturer  she  is  intelligent,  sparkling  and  attractive,  and  the  only  Bohemian 
woman  speaker  in  America.    Her  postoffice  address  is  No.  513  Arcade,  Eoclid  Avenue,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

127 


128  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Roman  Catholics  were  exiled,  their  property  confiscated  and  given  to  foreigners,  who 
filled  the  land  like  ravens,  preying  upon  helpless,  suffering  Bohemia.  In  the  Middle 
Ages  our  women  were  queens  of  the  castle,  and  often  were  very  learned.  Many 
wrote  in  Latin,  Greek,  and  some  even  knew  the  Hebrew.  We  have  traces  of  literary 
efforts  done  by  these  women  as  early  as  1502,  and  all  through  the  so-called  "Golden 
Age"  of  Bohemian  literature  in  the  sixteenth  century.  The  "old  embroideries"  prove 
the  high  artitsic  talents  of  women,  for  the  designs  are  all  made  by  women  copying 
the  creations  of  nature  in  their  beautiful  embroidering.  The  blending  of  colors  and 
choosing  of  design,  all  testify  to  a  great  development  of  aesthetic  tastes  and  love  of 
nature  "for  its  own  sake."  It  is,  however,  this  century  that  best  unveils  to  us  the 
hearts  of  our  women.  Standing  by  the  side  of  our  poets,  they  went  from  village  to 
village,  from  house  to  house,  awakening  the  people  to  new  life  and  new  courage,  carry- 
ing with  them  literature,  and  teaching  the  peasants  how  to  read  and  write.  This  is  the 
time  that  Mme.  Bozena  Nemcora  formed  her  little  salon,  and,  like  Madame  De 
Stael,  gathered  about  her  the  best  sons  of  Bohemia,  inspiring,  helping  and  teaching 
them.  She  was  the  "good  star"  of  the  brave  men  who  tried  to  resurrect  the  nation 
from  a  death  of  more  than  two  centuries. 

During  those  days  of  tumult  and  strife,  when  the  Bohemian  language  was  almost 
forgotten,  when  it  was  a  shame  to  be  a  Bohemian  in  his  own  fatherland,  when  there 
was  no  literature  left — for  the  Roman  clergy  had  burned  all  that  came  within  its  grasp, 
because  the  best  class  of  literature  was  written  by  the  "Bohemian  Brethren,"  a  Prot- 
estant sect — it  took  more  than  courage  to  stand  up  as  a  patriot,  and  Madame  Nemcora, 
braved  the  storms.  She  is  the  first  one  who  cultivated  novel  writing,  and  her  "Babicka" 
or  "Grandmother"  has  been  translated  into  German,  Russian,  Polish,  French,  and  by 
Frances  Gregor  into  English  (published  by  McClurg,  Chicago).  It  is  a  classic  in  the 
language.  Her  literary  productions  would  fill  a  small  library.  She  is  to  Bohemian, 
what  George  Sand  is  to  French,  and  George  Eliot  is  to  English.  Around  her,  during 
the  first  half  of  this  century,  in  the  time  of  revolutions  and  upheavals  in  society, 
gathered  nearly  thirty  women,  who  began  to  cultivate  "  Belles-lettres  "  and  help  in  the- 
patriotic  efforts  of  the  men.  Up  to  this  time  the  girl's  sphere  was  limited.  She  had 
been  brought  up  like  the  girls  of  other  nations,  to  regard  household  duties  as  her 
proper  sphere.  The  Bohemian  housekeeper  was  well  known,  the  Bohemian  cook  was 
famous,  and  so  each  young  woman  was  carefully  trained  in  these  arts.  Fancy  work, 
fine  embroidery,  a  little  music,  French  and  German  were  about  all  the  arts  which  were 
opened  to  the  girls.  The  women  of  lowest  class,  the  "laboring"  women,  were,  how- 
ever, allowed  "equal  rights"  with  the  men,  and  could  work  in  fields,  in  winter  spin,  and 
in  the  cities  these  women  often  worked  with  the  masons,  carrying  brick  and  mortar 
and  doing  such  rude  work.  The  life  of  the  "laboring  class"  of  women  is  a  hard 
one  indeed;  but  they  don't  complain,  they  remain  loyal  to  their  homes, and  often  from 
these  lowly  homes  come  the  greatest  men,  and  many  of  these  men  have  thanked 
their  mothers  for  their  success  in  life. 

The  "  Middle  Class  "  consists  of  the  families  of  the  professional  men,  merchants, 
officials,  and  such  as  have  income  enough  to  keep  their  families  in  comfort.  In  this 
class  the  women,  as  a  rule,  do  not  help  the  men  to  earn  the  living.  The  daughters  in 
these  families,  in  addition  to  the  elementary  education  received  in  the  public  schools, 
receive  a  supplementary  one,  which  is  to  put  a  sort  of  varnish  over  the  other.  They 
are  taught  a  little  German,  French,  music,  a  little  painting  and  a  good  deal  of  fancy 
work.  But  all  this  is  done,  not  with  the  view  to  enabling  them  to  earn  their  own  living, 
but  rather  of  giving  them  some  accomplishments  to  help  them  to  win  a  husband. 
These  women  expect  to  be  supported  by  some  man,  since  there  is  no  way  open  to 
them  by  which  they  may  earn  their  living.  The  "  Nobility  "  of  course,  live  like  the 
same  class  everywhere  else:  besides,  we  have,  with  very  few  exceptions,  no  nobility  that 
is  really  Bohemian.  Since  1870  the  condition  of  our  women  has  changed,  and  there 
are  now  certain  professions  opened  to  them.  These  are  the  teachings  (there  are  twelve 
hundred  teachers  in  Bohemia  now),  nursing,  type-writing,  telegraphing,  clerking  and 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  129 

some  trades.  There  are  only  two  physicians,  and  these  studied  in  Zurich,  and  are  not 
allowed  to  practice  in  Bohemia,  although  the  government  has  acknowledged  their 
ability  by  appointing  them  to  be  regular  staff  physicians  in  Bohemia  among  the 
Mohammedan  women. 

These  openings  for  self-support  to  young  women  have  been  made  by  the  organ- 
ization of  "The  Bohemian  Women  Commercial  and  Industrial  Society,"  organized  by 
our  great  novelist,  Mme.  Karolina  Svetla,  in  1870.  This  organization  has  a  school 
in  Prague,  where  the  girls  are  taught,  in  addition  to  various  branches  of  higher  studies, 
all  kinds  of  handiwork,  mainly  dressmaking,  millinery,  bookkeeping,  type-writing, 
cutting  and  various  fancy  works.  The  school  can  only  accommodate  about  five  hundred 
students,  and  hundreds  of  promising  girls  must  be  turned  away  because  the  society  has 
not  funds  enough  to  enlarge  its  school.  A  similar  school  is  also  sustained  at  Briinn  by 
the  women  of  Moravia.  The  school  is  something  like  Drexel  Institute  in  Philadel- 
phia. This  society  has  also  founded  the  first  and  best  Bohemian  "  Woman's  Journal," 
whose  editor  is  the  famous  poetess,  Eliska  Krasnohorska,  the  founder  of  "  Minerva,"  a 
society  composed  of  the  best  men  and  women  in  Bohemia,  under  whose  auspices  a 
Gymnasium  for  girls  was  established  in  1890.  The  Gymnasium  is  the  first  school  of  its 
kind  in  Eastern  Europe,  and  has  now  been  copied  by  the  German  and  Austrian  women. 
The  students  are  to  be  prepared  for  admission  to  the  University.  The  funds  for  sup- 
porting the  school  are  raised  by  Madame  Krasnohorska,  the  indefatigable  author  and 
worker  in  the  cause  of  women.  The  school  now  numbers  more  than  eighty  students. 
It  is  a  task  of  great  importance  and  very  difficult,  since,  with  the  exception  of  the 
University  of  Zurich,  no  university  in  Northern  Europe  opens  its  doors  to  women. 
There  are  not  less  than  one  hundred  and  eighty  societies  of  women  in  Bohemia,  and 
yet  out  of  all  there  is  none  that  we  might  call  a  "  suffrage  club,"  although  the  Society  of 
Bohemian  Teachers  in  Prague  has  given  considerable  attention  to  this  subject,  hav- 
ing arranged  for  lectures,  and  many  of  its  members  write  articles  upon  the  theme. 
Bohemia,  like  all  of  Austria,  has  not  universal  suffrage,  and  only  those  who  have  prop- 
erty can  vote.  In  many  towns  and  cities  the  women  vote  also;  in  others  they  are 
represented  indirectly.  In  some  towns  they  may  even  vote  for  the  delegates  to  the 
state  Diet;  but  not  for  those  of  the  Reichsrath.  Although  in  some  cases  they  may 
vote,  they  themselves  are  ineligible  to  office.  Some  towns  have  a  committee  of 
women  appointed  to  oversee  the  work  in  the  primary  and  industrial  schools  for  girls. 

As  I  have  said  before,  since  the  "Mediaeval  Era"  of  the  Bohemian  literature, 
women  appear  in  the  ranks  of  authors,  and  today  some  of  the  most  popular  authors 
of  drama,  poetry  and  novels  are  women.  The  Bohemian  women  exhibited  and 
donated  to  the  Woman's  Building  three  hundred  and  twenty  books,  all  original,  not 
one  translated,  written  exclusively  by  women.  This  is  a  good  showing,  when  we 
remember  that  the  nation  is  continually  in  a  fierce  struggle  for  self-preservation; 
that  until  recently  no  avenues  of  higher  education  were  opened  to  women,  and  that 
the  nation  is  comparatively  small,  of  only  five  million  inhabitants.  The  German 
women  had  only  five  hundred  copies,  and  the  French  women  only  .seven  hundred.  But 
not  only  do  the  Bohemian  women  write  poetry,  novels  and  drama;  they  have  made  some 
very  successful  attempts  in  scientific  and  educational  literature,  some  having  written 
well  in  history,  hygiene,  physiology,  geology,  travels,  and  as  art  critics.  There  is  one 
remarkable  fact  which  I  wish  to  note  in  closing,  and  that  is  that  all  the  students  of  the 
University  of  Prague  are  very  friendly  to  the  attempts  made  by  women  pleading  fur 
admission.  The  women  of  Bohemia  have  done  this  work  quietly;  they  are  pressing 
toward  the  same  mark  to  which  the  women  of  the  whole  civilized  world  are  directing 
their  desires  and  ambitions;  but  whatever  they  do,  for  whatever  they  may  long,  they 
never  forget  their  obligation  to  the  nation,  and  are  first  patriots  and  then  women. 
They  stand  in  the  ranks  of  soldiers,  fighting  for  the  sacred  right  of  Bohemia,  bearing 
the  heat  and  smoke  of  the  battle,  ministering  to  the  wounded,  and  yet  performing 
their  duties  as  wives,  mothers  and  sisters.  They  cannot  point  to  glorious  buildings, 
clubs  and  enterprises,  for  every  penny  is  needed  by  the  country,  and  no  one  can  under- 

(9) 


180  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

stand  the  difficulties  and  burdens  that  are  laid  upon  the  shoulders  of  our  women.  It 
is  harder  for  them  to  get  a  penny  than  for  people  of  this  country  to  secure  dollars. 
Their  efforts  may  appear  small,  but  to  those  who  know  the  hard  situation  in  Bohemia 
they  speak  of  zeal,  enthusiasm  and  perseverance,  such  as  only  a  Slavonic  woman, 
endowed  with  her  splendid  physique,  could  accomplish.  We  are  only  in  the  dawn  of 
the  morning.  Before  us  lie  the  whole  possibilities  of  a  splendid  day,  and  I  can  only 
say  that  the  Bohemian  women  are  on  the  march,  and  they  will  keep  step  with  the 
ranks  of  all  womanhood  marching  on  to  progress. 


AN  AFRICAN  EXPEDITION. 

By  MRS.  MAY  FRENCH  SHELDON,*F.  R.  G.  S. 

During  the  month  of  January,  1891,  in  order  to  put  to  the  test  a  long-cherished 
and  carefully-considered  plan,  I  made  preparations  to  leave  England,  and  essay  to 

organize,  equip  and  personally  lead  and  command  an 
.  independent   caravan  of  blacks — solely  at  my  own 

expense,  without  the  assistance  or  companionship  of 
white  or  black  men  or  women  above  the  rank  of  ser- 
vitors— through  a  much-reviled  section  of  East  Africa 
among  alleged  hostile  as  well  as  some  peaceful  tribes. 
"  For  what  good?"  "  Why?"  "  What  prompted 
you?"  are  inquiries  confronting  me  on  all  sides. 
Inbrief:  Having  listened  unwillingly  to  the  officious 
opinions  volunteered  by  all  classes  and  conditions  of 
men  and  women,  as  to  the  utter  absurdity  of  my  pro- 
ject; denounced  universally  as  a  fanatic,  entertaining 
a  mad  scheme,  if  not  mad  myself — principally  mad 
because  the  idea  was  unique,  a  thorough  innovation; 
there  was  no  precedent  on  which  to  predicate  action 
or  draw  deductions  upon  which  to  formulate  a  feasible 
line  of  procedure;  it  never  had  been  done,  never  even 
been  suggested,  hence  it  must  be  beyond  the  conven- 
tional pale  of  practicability;  and  above  all,  having 
ever  flouted  in  my  face  the  supercilious  edict  that  it 
was  outside  the  limitation  of  woman's  legitimate  pro- 
vince, I  determined  to  accomplish  the  undertaking. 
Success  resulted.  I  seriously  contemplate  a  second  expedition,  animated  by  innumer- 
able desires  to  investigate  personally  and  independently  the  mooted  difficulties  of  an 
African  expedition,  and  craving  the  opportunity  to  study  raw  natives  before  tampered 
with  or  tainted  by  so-called  civilization,  and  thereby  be  enabled  to  interpret  Natives  as 
Naturals,  with  a  mind  that  repudiates  the  idea  that  all  aboriginals  are  savages  to  be 
subdued,  coerced,  forced  into  an  alien's  mental,  moral  and  civic  condition  under  the 
vaunted  pretense  of  wresting  the  benighted  ones  of  creation  from  degradation,  and 
having  always  resented  the  verdict,  given  from  the  white  man's  standpoint,  that  all 
natives,  irrespective  of  environment,  and  without  weighing  circumscribed  opportun- 
ities, are  inherently  deficient  in  mental  scope,  devoid  of  the  best  and  ennobling  traits 
of  human  nature  as  exemplified  in  white  races. 

After  eight  years  of  study  to  acquaint  myself  with  the  methods  of  procedure  pat- 
ent to  almost  all  would-be  colonizers,  civilizers  and  treaty-makers,  I  resolved  to  make 
a  peaceful,  unprejudiced  attempt.     Then,  too,  the  inadequate  accounts  of  the  women 

Mrs.  May  French  Sheldon  was  born  in  Bridgewater,  Pa.,  May  10,  1B47.  Her  parents  were  Col.  Joseph  French,  a 
civil  engineer  of  note  and  a  grand-nephew  of  Isaac  Newton,  and  Elizabeth  J.  Poonnan  French.  The  daughter  was  educated 
in  New  York  and  abroad,  and  in  1876  married  Eli  Lemon  Sheldon,  American-bom,  bat  later  a  bcmker  and  publisher  in  London, 
England.  Mrs.  Sheldon  is  widely  known  as  the  translator  of  "Salammbo"  and  as  the  author  of  a  number  of  successful  novels, 
short  stories  and  essays.  She  is  the  owner  of  the  publishing  house  of  Saxon  &  Co.,  of  London,  which  issues  "Everybody's 
Series."  She  has  studied  art  and  produced  a  number  of  portrait  busts,  and  lias  also  made  a  study  of  medicine  under  Euro- 
pean specialists.  In  1891  she  undertook  an  exploring  expedition  into  Africa,  unattended  by  any  white  man  or  woman,  and 
succeeded  in  circumnavigating  Lake  Chala,  an  exploit  which  has  attracted  universal  attention.  Her  exhibits  of  objects  of 
interest  from  the  region  visited  received  medals  in  three  departmenta  of  the  C/olnmbian  Exposition.  She  has  been  electee)  a 
Fellow  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  of  Great  Britain, and  is  a  meml>er  of  the  Writer's  Club,  of  the  Anthropological 
Society,  Washington,  and  of  similar  organizations  of  note. 

131 


MRS.  MAT  FRENCH  SHELDON,  F.  R. 


132  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

and  children,  the  home  life,  have  ever  been  portrayed  from  a  superficial,  biased  point 
of  view;  for  the  white  man  has,  by  his  own  confession,  been  denied  a  full  and  com- 
plete acquaintance  with  the  more  intimate  lives  of  the  East  African  women. 

It  is  a  conceded  fact  that  a  caravan  going  into  the  interior  or  up  country  in  Africa 
is  like  a  migratory  community;  and,  with  forethought  and  great  discrimination,  must 
be  provisioned  and  armed  for  the  entire  term  of  the  expedition,  whether  for  three 
months  or  three  years.  Sufficient  goods,  consisting  of  iron,  brass  and  copper  wire  of 
different  sizes,  beads  of  all  colors,  styles  and  sizes,  cotton  cloths,  ten  or  twelve  varie- 
ties, to  barter  with  the  natives  and  itinerant  Arab  traders  for  food  and  to  purchase 
the  right  of  way,  called  toll  or  hongo,  as  well  as  blackmail,  through  a  sultanate;  also  a 
nameless  variety  of  all  sorts  of  articles  varying  from  penknives  to  music  boxes,  vel- 
vets and  brooches,  shawls  and  fancy  blankets  to  trumpery  trinkets  for  tribute  and 
gifts  to  natives  of  importance  or  merely  as  souvenirs.  Then,  too,  there  must  be  a 
good  supply  of  medicines  and  certain  tinned  goods  and  little  luxuries  and  camp- 
ing outfit,  for  one  must  live  under  canvas. 

As  a  community,  a  caravan  on  Safari  must  have  order  and  laws  of  its  own  for  the 
safety  of  the  every  individual  and  the  whole;  it  must  in  itself  form  a  body  politic  to 
enforce  these  laws  and  each  and  every  one  conform  to  or  assist  in  the  preservation  of 
order  and  discipline.  The  first  manifestation  of  insubordination  or  mutiny  has  to  be 
promptly  quelled  and  as  promptly  chastised.  Responsibilities,  anxieties  and  hardships 
grew  apace,  yet  I  was  not  willing  to  shirk  or  relegate  to  hirelings  any  part  of  the  same 
which  legitimately  belonged  to  a  leader.  My  caravan  consisted  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty-eight  slaves,  porters  and  subsequently  recruits,  raising  the  number  to  two  hundred, 
coming  from  every  tribe  throughout  Africa,  and,  with  few  exceptions,  only  a  brief 
time  removed  from  their  primitive  condition,  but  called  collectively  Zanzibaris.  A 
Zanzibari  porter  proper  never  carries  a  load  on  his  shoulders  or  back,  and  his  head 
seems  provided  with  a  thickness  of  scalp  for  his  accustomed  duty  peculiar  to  his  race. 
The  loads  are  carefully  apportioned  and  weighed  so  as  not  to  exceed  fifty-six  to 
sixty  pounds. 

The  native  porters  have  been  denounced  as  untrustworthy,  lazy,  vagabondish^ 
unfaithful  and  doing  nothing  without  full  compensation.  This  much  am  I  con- 
strained to  say — that  when  I  looked  with  considerable  amazement  over  all  the* 
strange  black  and  every  conceivable  shade  of  brown  faces  of  my  caravan,  discerning 
much  brutality  imprinted  thereupon,  with  few  exceptions,  I  marveled  if  I  should 
always  be  able  to  control  them  and  make  them  subservient  to  my  commands,  and  for 
a  moment  was  somewhat  dubious  as  to  my  ability;  however,  after  experience  with 
them,  when  I  had  to  trust  my  life  to  them,  they  proved  faithful,  uncomplaining,  chival- 
rous, and  marvels  of  patience,  endurance,  and  consistent   marching  day  after  day. 

Useless  to  deny  that  constantly  obstacles  arose  on  all  sides,  and  many  a  time  I 
quaked  silently  under  the  forecast  of  possible  defeat;  but  I  soon  learned  that  several 
honest  failures  need  not  necessarily  mean  defeat,  but  to  the  contrary  developed  cau- 
tion and  latent  resources  which  eventually  made  success  more  secure. 

My  aim  was  ever  to  protect  the  natives,  to  meet  the  men  of  tribal  importance  in 
their  own  sultanates,as  a  woman  of  breeding  should  meet  the  highest  officials  in  any 
land,  under  any  circumstances,  and  be  civil  and  polite  for  favors  granted;  to  extend 
amity  to  those  who  are  amicable,  and  avoid  disturbances  with  those  who  might  decline 
the  friendship  of  a  white  woman.  Having  at  heart  the  desire  to  study  the  natives' 
habits  and  customs  in  their  homes;  to  know  the  women  as  wives,  mothers  and  sisters; 
to  know  the  men  as  husbands,  fathers,  brothers  and  lovers,  and  see  the  children  as 
they  were;  in  fact,  to  obtain  an  unprejudiced  insight  into  the  general  social  condition, 
and  consider  the  future  possibilities  of  these  people,  it  would  have  been  more  than 
rash  to  have  entered  Africa  as  a  freebooter. 

It  seems  to  be  the  popular  thing  for  travelers  to  demonstrate  how  exceedingly 
difficult  and  hazardous  have  ever  been  their  expeditions;  they  delight  in  depicting  in 
graphic  language  thrilling  adventures  and  hair-breadth  escapes  from  the  dangers  which 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  133 

have  beset  them,  and  especially  do  they  portray  in  gruesome  colors  the  hopeless 
depravity  of  the  African.  I  found  the  people  and  conditions  very  much  what  I 
aspired  to  make  them,  and  certainly  the  natives  are  not  so  black  as  painted,  and  are 
peculiarly  amenable  to  gentleness  and  kindness,  and  tractable  through  their  vanity 
and  love  of  power.     They  are  all  of  one  piece  of  a  common  humanity. 

In  their  homes  and  villages  the  universal  evidences  of  personal  familiarity  or  fel- 
lowship had  something  very  quaint  and  unlooked  for  in  its  various  manifestations.  A 
group  of  dusky  natives  equipped  for  war.  while  holding  their  palavers  and  reviewing 
their  plan  of  action,  would  loll  one  upon  another,  with  hands  clasped  over  the  shoul- 
ders or  on  the  hips  of  the  forward  man.  The  women,  too,  when  convened  socially  with 
their  swarthy  companions,  although  men  and  women  alike  perfectly  nude,  unencum- 
bered with  any  clothing,  if  quantities  of  metal  and  bead  belts,  fringes,  chains,  necklaces, 
bracelets  and  anklets  are  excluded  from  the  semblance  of  such,  exhibited  a  certain 
fearless  freedom,  and  yet  I  never  witnessed  a  single  indelicate  or  indecent  action. 

They  have  but  few  manners  of  evincing  affection — spit  upon  each  other  in  lieu  of 
kissing — and  the  only  embrace  I  ev^er  witnessed  exchanged  between  brother  and  sister, 
man  and  wife,  friend  and  friend,  lover  and  sweetheart,  was  a  clasping  of  the  hands  over 
the  shoulder  of  the  one  addressed,  a  little  apparent  pressure  applied,  and  a  slow  draw- 
ing of  the  unclasping  fingers  apart,  and  in  a  cat-like  way  stretching  them  wider  and 
wider  until  the  muscles  grew  quite  tense;  then  a  gradual  drawing  together  and  reclasp- 
ing,  all  the  while  clinging  to  the  shoulder. 

They  loan  their  ornaments  and  charms  or  medicine  necklaces  or  armlets.  They 
share  food,  and  without  let  or  hindrance  participate  in  their  brewed  drinks  called  pombe 
and  tembo.  Men,  women  and  children  among  many  tribes  carry,  slung  over  their  shoul- 
ders, a  gourd  ladle,  ever  ready  to  help  themselves  to  the  beverage  as  they  circulate 
about  from  boma  to  boma.  The  land  is  fertile,  crops  prolific,  food  in  abundance;  except 
when  the  tsetse  fly  is  a  plague,  their  cattle,  sheep,  goats,  and  in  some  parts  donkeys, 
thrive.  They  also  have  vast  bee  ranges,  and  make  honey  and  butter,  and  pound  in 
wooden  mortars,  with  wooden  or  stone  pestles,  banana  and  maize  to  an  impalpable 
flour.  Chickens  thrive,  but  only  the  eggs,  not  the  fowl,  are  eaten  by  the  natives,  and 
these,  also,  when  very  high,  and  a  spoiled  egg  with  African  gourmets  is  decidedly  2i  pot 
au  fell. 

Blacksmiths — fundis — or  craftsmen  in  metal  work,  have  attained  great  skill,  and 
their  products  perfection,  and  throughout  Chaga  Land  the  renowned  blacksmiths  all 
have  been  or  are  celebrated  chiefs  or  sultans,  whose  deftness  in  foiging spears,  knives, 
pipes,  agricultural  implements,  tools,  bells,  and  most  delicate  little  charms,  necklaces, 
armlets  and  leglets,  as  well  as  various  metal  ornaments,  has  given  the  sultans  a  dis- 
tinctive prestige  in  other  spheres  of  tribal  significance.  The  men  are  great  hunters, 
and  skilled  in  tanning  hides.  The  women  do  all  the  agricultural  labor,  and  herd  the 
cattle  and  flocks,  which  are  as  a  rule  stall-fed.  The  fertility  of  the  soil  makes  their 
duties  far  from  arduous,  and  they  are  happy  and  content.  By  a  strange  reversion  of 
the  conventions  of  civilization,  the  men  do  all  the  needlework,  and  embroider  their 
own  and  the  women's  bead  and  metal  belts  and  ornaments,  and  also  do  the  fighting; 
and  the  women  are  the  unmolested  purveyors  between  hostile  tribes  when  they  are  at 
war.  The  young  men  are  great  dandies,  dawdling  about  the  villages  with  their  hair 
coiffured  in  marvelous  fashion,  their  skins  .stained  with  yellow  clay,  and  sometimes 
painted  in  splotches.  Many  and  various  are  the  dances  to  signalize  certain  fetes,  or 
merely  to  give  vent  to  youthful  exuberance.  Some  exclusively  indulged  in  by  one 
sex  or  the  other,  whereas  others  are  participated  in  together. 

Marriage  is  first  by  purchase;  then  by  mock  capture,  which  is  followed  by  an 
atrocious  practice.  Polygamy  existent  among  them  is  to  my  mind  a  geographical 
incident — a  matter  of  topographical  environment  or  necessity  in  a  land  where 
there  are  no  workers  except  slaves  or  wives,  and  not  prompted  by  the  licentiousness 
of  Oriental  countries.  A  man  accumulates  more  land  or  more  cattle  than  his  first  wife 
can  attend  to  without  becoming  a  toilsome  task,  he  takes  another  wife,  and  so  on.   The 


134  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

established  wife  or  wives  are  far  from  being  jealous  of  one  another;  to  the  contrary- 
are  delighted  to  welcome  a  new  wife,  and  make  great  preparations  for  her  home- 
coming, realizing  that  the  work  of  all  will  be  commeasurably  lessened.  Each  woman 
has  her  own  personal  boma,  or  hut,  and  is  not  housed  as  in  harems  of  other  peoples. 
Also  every  wife  is  allotted  a  certain  amount  of  property,  and  each  child  also  has 
property  given  on  birth.  No  change  of  times  or  circumstances  deprives  either  of 
their  titles.  Their  individual  families  are  small,  and  the  mother  has  supreme  right 
over  her  children.  Women  are  permitted  to  enjoy  exactly  the  same  moral  freedom 
and  standard  as  the  men,  only  declassed  when  she  may  be  indiscreet  and  holds  a  liai- 
son with  porters  in  a  caravan,  or  with  an  enemy  of  her  tribe. 

Women  when  ill  are  doctored  by  the  old  women  of  the  tribe,  who  are  very  skill- 
ful; however,  as  a  rule  they  enjoy  immunity  from  the  sufferings  of  their  civilized  sis- 
ters. The  men  are  doctored  by  men,  and  magic  doctors  are  supported.  In  true 
Spartan  fashion,  the  deformed,  the  disabled,  the  infirm,  are  quietly  sent  to  la  la  (sleep) 
— no  matter  the  sex.  This  is  common  to  many  people  exposed  to  the  elements  and 
the  attacks  of  wild  beasts,  or  surrounded  by  inimical  tribes,  and  deemed  a  mercy 
often  pathetically  enjoined,  and  even  earnestly  besought  by  the  victims.  Emblems  of 
war,  likewise  of  peace,  play  an  important  role.  Observance  of  the  same,  especially 
the  peace  emblems,  have  much  to  do,  if  not  all,  with  my  attaining  immediate  admis- 
sion among  tribes  disposed  to  be  forbidding,  and  at  times  hostile.  Familiarity  with 
several  of  their  dialects  permitted  me  a  better  understanding  of  the  people  by  sparing 
me  the  delusion  of  misinterpretation  or  careless  and  garbled  reports.  Moreover,  the 
Africans  are  eloquent  in  gestures  and  facial  expression.  An  observer  can  comprehend 
without  a  word  there.  Their  dialect,  however,  is  musical,  circumscribed,  epigram- 
matic, full  of  metaphor,  and,  above  all,  ceremonious. 

They  are  far  from  being  inept.  To  the  contrary,  are  quick  to  imitate;  without, 
however,  wise  discretionary  powers  to  guide  them  as  to  what  to  avoid  or  what  to  adopt. 
After  deliberate  contemplation  it  appears  to  me  the  true  method  of  civilizing  Africa 
is  by  the  establishment  of  industrial  manual  training  stations  and  medical  and  nurses* 
posts,  and  the  presence  of  practical,  honest,  sober,  decent,  industrious  white  men  and 
women,  whose  daily  life  will  carry  the  highest  precepts  of  enlightenment.  Africa  is 
no  place  for  impractical  zealots  of  any  kind,  nor  should  the  natives  be  made  the  wards 
of  an  enervating  philanthropy,  robbing  them  of  self-support,  and  ennobling  individual 
responsibility. 

My  geographical  work  consisted  in  circumnavigating  Lake  Chala,  situated  on  the 
northeastern  slope  of  the  African  Olympus,  Mount  Kilimanjaro  -30°  22'  south  lati- 
tude, 37"^  17'  east  longitude,  3,000  feet  above  the  sea.  My  pride  in  the  triumph  is  pardona- 
ble considering  that  no  less  an  explorer  than  Thompson  writes  respecting  the  inacces- 
sibility of  this  sheet  of  water,  cupped  within  the  escarped  walls  of  an  extinct  crater. 
"  I  went  all  around  it,  and  although  I  am  not  deficient  in  enterprise  or  nerve,  I  saw  no 
place  I  dare  descend,  not  even  if  I  could  have  swung  from  creeper  to  creeper  like  a 
monkey." 

In  fine,  without  bloodshed,  without  loss  of  but  one  man,  who  was  killed  by  a  lion, 
by  peaceful,  tactful,  humane  measures,  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  traverse  the  coun- 
try of  thirty-five  African  tribes,  and  return  to  the  coast  with  all  my  porters,  leaving 
behind  a  record  women  need  never  blush  to  consider. 

Conclusion:  It  was  worth  while  if  my  venture  may  be  instrumental  in  bringing  about 
peaceful,  humane  methods  of  would-be  colonizers,  and  banish  forever  the  military 
attitude  of  aliens,  when  intruding  themselves  upon  the  Arcadians  of  East  Africa.  In 
due  course  I  propose  to  return  and  lend  my  efforts  to  a  "  common-sense  "  method  of 
colonization,  and  substantiate  the  principles  many  explorers  look  askance  at,  and 
criticise  as  too  Utopian  for  Africa. 


WOMAN'S  PLACE  IN  LETTERS. 

By  MRS.  ANNIE  NATHAN  MEYER. 

I  am  going  to  begin  by  telling  you  something  very  pleasant.     An  officer  of  the 
A.  A.  W.  told  me  the  other  day  that  when  the  association  first  began  to  hold  con- 
gresses, twenty-one  years  ago,  they  had  great  diffi- 
culty in  keeping  the  annual  reports  down  to  anything 
like  the  necessary  economical  limit.    All  the  speakers 
^^^^t^^  were  so  very  anxious  to  see  themselves  in  print,  and 

j^^^^^^fcl^  so  unaccustomed  to  it,  that  any  attempt  at  condensa- 

f  V  *'°"  ^^^  fiercely  resented,  while  to  omit  a  paper  was 

tHv|H||k  ^B  to  offend  deeply.     "We  have  difficulty  with  our  re- 

w  V  ports  now,"  she  continued,  "  but  it  is  a  difficulty  of 

another  kind.  A  difficulty  in  securing  a  sufficient 
number  of  the  addresses  to  make  a  respectable  show- 
ing ;  for  the  women  who  address  the  annual  con- 
gresses today  are  loath  to  give  their  papers  for  the 
report,  because  they  can  command  their  own  price  in 
the  leading  magazines."  We  know  that  women  are 
writing  a  great  deal  today,  and  are  doing  some  very 
good  work.  They  are  doing  so  much  that  it  would 
be  absurd  to  attempt  to  treat  this  subject  fully.  I 
shall  merely,  therefore,  look  at  certain  phases  of  the 
subject.  I  am  interested  particularly  in  the  question: 
Has  woman  something  specific,  something  sui  gen- 
eris to  contribute  to  literature?  One  of  our  women  writ- 
ers tells  us:  "Once  let  woman  wield  the  pen  and 
thoughts  will  be  put  into  books  that  have  never  been  put  there  before,  or  at  least 
some  of  the  old  things  will  be  told  from  a  side  never  before  dreamed  of.  Unfor- 
tunately I  am  so  constituted  that  when  I  encounter  an  interesting  theory  I  always  ask 
myself.  Is  it  true?  It  is  so  easy  to  be  philosophical  and  learned  if  one  does  not  hap- 
pen to  be  hampered  by  knowing  very  much  about  one's  subject.  We  are  told  by 
Browning,  Sludge  the  medium:  "  Don't  let  truth's  lump  rot  stagnant  for  the  lack  of 
a  timely  helpful  lie  to  leaven  it."  But  I  think  on  the  contrary,  with  Ameil,  that  "An 
error  is  dangerous  just  according  to  the  amount  of  truth  it  may  contain." 

Much  as  I  would  be  interested  in  believing  that  woman,  with  the  pen  in  her  hand, 
has  turned  a  new  page  of  life  before  us,  candor  compels  me  to  admit  that  if  there  is 
such  a  thing  as  sex  in  literature,  I  have  not  succeeded  in  discovering  it.  I  look  about 
me  and  observe  that  the  very  subjects  upon  which  one  would  naturally  expect  women 
to  throw  a  new  light  have  really  inspired  the  masterpieces  of  men.  No  woman, 
burning  with  the  sense  of  wrong,  could  have  painted  the  injustice  of  the  social  code  of 
morals  more  forcibly,  more  tragically  than  Thomas  Hardy  did  in  his  "  Test  of  the 
d'Urbervilles."  No  woman,  eager  to  reconstruct  and  ennoble  our  ideal  of  marital 
obligation,  could  have  held  up  its  pitiable  sham  and  conventionality  with  more 
inspired  pen  than  was  wielded  by    Henrik    Ibsen  in  his  "Ghosts  and   Doll-house." 

Annie  Nathan  Meyer  was  born  in  New  York  City,  1867.  Her  parents  were  Robert  Weeks  Nathan  and  Annie  Florence 
Nathan.  Mrs.  Meyer  is  a  remarkably  bright  and  attractive  young  woman,  having  mach  worth  and  great  influence.  She  mar- 
rieti  Dr.  Alfred  Meyer  of  New  York.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  woman's  education,  having  been  largely 
instrumental  in  founding  Barnard  College.  Her  principal  literarj'  works  are.  "  Helen  Brent,  M.  D.,"  "Woman's  Work  in 
America,"  and  various  essays  and  stories  appearing  in  periodicals.  In  religions  faith  she  is  a  Jewess.  Mrs.  Meyer  is  a  mem- 
ber of  A  A.  W.    Her  postoffice  address  is  749  Madison  Avenue,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

135 


MRS,  ANNIE  NATHAN  MEYER. 


136  .  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Could  any  woman  have  depicted  more  sympathetically  the  hard,  dull  life  of  the  faith- 
ful woman  of  the  fields  and  prairies  than  Hamlin  Garland  and  Major  Kirkland  and 
Bret  Harte  have  done  it?  There  was  a  little  anonymous  story  that  appeared  in  the 
*'  Century"  a  couple  of  years  ago — I  think  it  was  called  "  A  Common  Story" — and  I 
remember  every  one,  myself  included,  was  certain  that  only  a  woman  could  have 
written  it,  because  only  a  woman  could  possibly  have  had  the  necessary  insight.  It 
revealed  the  love  story  of  an  old  maid,  and  it  struck  a  note  that  must  have  vibrated 
in  every  woman's  heart.  Yet  this  story  was  by  that  gifted  young  man,  Walcott  Bales- 
tier.  I  have  heard  various  receipts  for  discovering  the  sex  of  an  author,  but  have 
seen  them  all  go  down  ingloriously  before  the  simple  strategy  of  the  nom  de  plutne. 
It  was  generally  conceded  that  no  one  but  a  man  could  have  painted  the  rugged 
solemnity  of  the  Tennessee  Mountains  and  the  primitive  poetry  of  the  lives  of  the 
mountaineers  as  Charles  Egbert  Craddock  did.  At  least  it  was  conceded,  before  Mary 
Murfree  modestly  appeared  before  the  startled  eyes  of  the  editor  of  the  "  Atlantic 
Monthly;"  and  I  am  sure  that  the  claims  of  a  certain  man  to  the  novels  of  George 
Eliot  were  immensely  strengthened  by  the  current  view  that  it  would  be  absurd  to 
abscribe  the  simple,  vigorous  strength  of  "Adam  Bede"  to  the  hand  of  a  woman.  When 
we  turn  to  those  that  would  theorize  about  woman's  place  in  the  republic  of  letters, 
what  ideas  do  we  find  current:  First,  and  I  think  this  reasoning  is  not  entirely  un- 
familiar to  you;  we  hear  them  say:  "  Woman  is  the  heart,  and  man  the  mind.  Woman 
stands  for  the  emotions  and  man  for  the  intellect."  Therefore  we  should  find  that  women 
may  write  charming  love  stories,  but  that  it  will  be  impossible  for  them  to  reveal  any 
intellectual  grasp;  impossible  for  them  to  probe  down  into  the  deeper  problems  of 
life. 

What  do  we  find  as  an  actual  fact?  We  find  the  men  critics  showering  anathe- 
mas at  the  authors  of  "Robert  Elsmere"  and  "John  Ward,  Preacher,"  for  bringing  into 
the  domain  of  a  novel  serious  problems  and  non-emotional  material  that  properly 
belong  rather  to  the  domain  of  philosophy  or  theology.  Then,  of  course,  we  are  told 
that  women  lack  the  broad  sympathy  that  is  so  necessary  to  the  novelist  of  today. 
As  Mrs.  Browning's  Romney  tells  Aurora,  "Women  are  sympathetic  to  the  personal 
pangs,  but  hard  to  general  suffering."  And  yet,  think  of  the  exquisitely  tender  delin- 
eation of  the  forbidding  New  England  old  maid  by  Mary  Wilkins,  and  those  two 
great  stories  that  immortalized  the  wrongs  of  two  races,  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin"  and 
"Romola."  Then  we  are  told  that  it  is  easy  for  women  to  write  on  fashionable  soci- 
ety or  of  the  village  sewing  circles,  but  in  the  very  nature  of  things  women  are  limited 
in  their  scope.  It  is  impossible  for  them  to  depict  the  rough  pimitive  life  of  the  fields 
and  mines,  and  yet  right  here  in  America  we  have  Mary  Hallock  Foote,  Octave 
Thanet,  and  Miss  Elliot,  the  author  of  "Jerry,"  and  so  many  others  who  seem  to  have 
gone  straight  down  to  the  soil  for  inspiration.  Then,  of  course,  women  have  not  had 
what  are  called  "experiences."  How  can  a  woman  in  her  sheltered  innocence  know 
anything  of  certain  phases  of  life,  or  if  she  does  possess  sufficient  imagination,  how 
will  she  treat  it?  Surely  she  can  only  give  us  what  some  one  has  called:  "The  moral 
harshness  of  copy-book  maxims,"  and  yet  with  what  passion  and  fireMrs.  Humphery 
Ward  has  given  us  the  Parisian  episode  in  the  life  of  David  Grieve;  and  think  of 
Elizabeth  Stewart  Phelps'  powerful  and  pitiful  story,  "Hedged  In,"  and  the  breadth 
and  insight  of  Olive  Schreiner.  I  am  sure  no  one  has  dealt  with  the  character  of  a 
guilty  woman  more  exquisitely,  more  tactfully,  more  sympathetically,  and  yet  with 
more  powerful  irony  and  pathos  than  Mrs.  K.  Clifford  did  with  her  Mrs.  North  in  her 
story,  "Aunt  Anne."  While  her  Mrs.  Walter  Hibbert  is  a  capital  hit  at  the  timid  atti- 
tude of  the  average  "good  woman." 

Iheard  the  other  day  that  Mr.  Brander  Mathews  so  keenly  misses  the  sense  of  humor 
in  woman  that  he  has  resolved  the  next  time  he  marries  to  marry  a  man.  No,  I  am 
not  going  to  get  angry  about  it,  it  hits  Mrs.  Mathews  so  much  harder  than  it  hits  me; 
nor  am  I  going  to  assist  Mr.  Mathews  to  prove  his  cause  by  taking  his  skit  too  seri- 
ously.    But  I  cannot  resist  just  a  reference  to  the  delightful  quality  of  the  humor  of 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  '  137 

Agnes  Repplier,  Mary  Wilkins,  Sarah  Orme  Jewett,  Mrs.  W.  K.  Clifford,  and  Mrs. 
Craigie,  who  is  generally  known,  by  her  pen  name  of  John  Oliver  Hobbs.  The  humor 
of  the  last  is  so  subtle,  so  whimsical,  and  so  utterly  pervasive  that  I  have  a  suspicion 
in  my  mind  that  Mr.  Mathews,  in  his  ignorance  of  t\\&  nom  de plume,  \\2iS  thinking 
of  taking  a  certain  Mr.  John  Oliver  Hobbs  as  that  second  wife. 

Let  me  here  say  something  in  connection  with  that  terrible  tirade  that  was 
launched  forth  by  a  certain  Molly  Elliott  Seawall,  a  writer  herself  of  novels  of  no 
common  order.  She  said:  "If  all  that  women  have  ever  done  in  literature  was  swept 
out  of  existence,  the  world  would  not  lose  a  single  masterpiece."  I  was  amused  the 
other  day  by  a  lady  saying  that  it  was  our  own  dear  president,  Mrs.  May  Wright 
Sewall,  who  was  the  author  of  this  attack.  "Do  you  think,"  I  said,  when  I  had  recov- 
ered from  laughter  sufficiently  to  speak,  "that  the  president  of  the  Woman's  Interna- 
tional Council  could  say  such  things  without  suffering  impeachment?" 

I  am  not  discouraged  by  such  remarks,  although  I  think  it  absurd  to  say  that 
women  had  produced  no  masterpieces,  yet  I  am  perfectly  willing  to  admit  that  they 
have  produced  no  genius  of  the  very  highest  rank,  the  rank  of  Dante  and  Shakespeare 
and  Milton  and  Goethe.  But  do  you  know  the  same  thing  precisely  has  been  said  of 
American  literature?  It  is  not  interesting  that  they  say  both  of  American  literature 
and  woman's  literature,  if  I  may  coin  the  phrase,  that  it  has  produced  some  clever  and 
delightful  writers,  but  no  genius  of  the  very  highest  rank.  Mr.  James  Bryce  has  a 
good  deal  to  say  oi  this  on  his  work  on  America,  and  he  puts  a  good  deal  of  the  onus 
on  the  shoulders  of  our  hurried,  interrupted,  unrestful  life.  But  he  thinks  that  America 
in  time  will  Settle  down  to  create  the  highest  kind  of  literature.  That  the  time  will  come 
when  America  (and  the  same  thing  is  true  of  woman)  will  no  longer  feel  the  necessity 
of  proving  her  right  to  be.  I  am  cheered  by  the  words  of  Emerson:  "The  scholar  of 
the  first  age  received  into  him  the  world  around;  brooded  thereon;  and  uttered  it 
again.     *     *     *     It  came  into  him  life;  it  went  out  from  him  truth  and  poetry." 

Well,  woman  is  still  in  her  first  age.  She  is  slowly  awakening  from  a  long  sleep, 
and  is  just  beginning  to  look  about  her  and  see  the  world  around.  She  is  still  brood- 
ing thereon.  I  am  sure  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  she  shall  translate  life  into 
forms  of  perfect  truth  and  poetry. 


COOKERY.* 

By  MRS.  DAVID  A.  LINCOLN. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  in  this  paper  on  cookery  to  give  you  any  new  recipes,  or  to 
discuss  methods  of  making  the  latest  variety  of  cake,  or  the  most  fanciful  combina- 
tion for  dessert.  Indeed,  when  I  think  of  the  vast 
amount  of  information  which  is  now  offered  on  this 
subject,  from  the  household  column  of  the  local 
papers  to  the  scores  of  household  magazines;  from 
the  dainty  collections  of  recipes  compiled  by  our 
church  fair  committees;  on  through  the  legions  of 
cook  books  of  all  sizes,  shapes  and  styles,  some  of 
them  devoted  to  one  branch  of  the  culinary  art,  and 
others  encyclopedias  of  it,  it  would  appear  that  noth- 
ing more  could  be  said  or  written.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  when  I  remember  the  self-styled  "competent 
cooks,"  who  spend  their  time  alternately  ruling  in  our 
kitchens  or  lounging  in  the  intelligence  offices,  warily 
waiting  for  new  victims  to  their  skill;  when  I  recall 
the  multitude  of  housekeepers  who  prepare  the  daily 
meals  after  a  stereotyped  or  hap-hazard  plan,  with  no 
knowledge  of  the  principles  of  culinary  science,  and 
whose  ambition  as  cooks  is  satisfied  so  long  as  the 
food  they  provide  can  be  eaten  by  hard-working  hus- 
band and  ravenous  children;  when  I  hear  school-girls 
fret  and  resent  any  suggestion  from  mother  that  a 
portion  of  their  holiday  time  be  spent  in  helping  in 
the  kitchen;  when  I  see  young  ladies  willing  to  assume  the  highest  office  of  woman- 
hood, and  yet  boasting  of  their  ignorance  of  household  duties,  caring  more  to  learn 
the  latest  and  craziest  design  of  decoration,  or  how  to  fashion  dainty  raiment,  than 
for  any  true  knowledge  as  to  how  to  perfect  their  own  physical  condition  and  keep 
the  health  of  those  entrusted  to  their  care  on  the  highest  plane  of  development;  when 
I  think  that  such  ignorance  and  indifference  can  exist,  notwithstanding  all  that  has 
been  taught,  is  it  not  enough  to  make  one  long  for  the  wisdom  of  a  Solomon,  and  for 
strength  to  enable  her  to  use  every  opportunity  to  convince  women  of  the  importance 
of  a  better  knowledge  of  cookery;  an  occupation  which  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  igno- 
ble labor  or  drudgery,  but  as  one  of  the  highest  and  most  essential  arts?  It  is  encour- 
aging to  note  the  interest  in  this  subject  of  cookery,  which  seems  to  be  widespread 
and  constantly  on  the  increase.  Magazines  devoted  to  the  household,  and  especially 
to  culinary  art,  are  springing  up  all  over  the  land.    Nearly  every  paper  has  its  column 

Mrs.  Mary  J.  Lincoln  was  born  in  South  Attleboro,  Mass.  Her  father  was  the  Rev.  John  B.  M.  Bailey,  of  the  Con- 
gregational Charch.  She  lost  her  father  at  seven  years  of  age  and  was  reared  by  her  widowed  mother,  a  "woman  of  model 
character  and  much  ability,  who  trained  her  three  children  in  early  youth  to  be  useful  and  economical.  She  indelibly 
impressed  upon  them  that  character  and  education  were  the  finest  garments  in  which  they  could  be  clothed.  Mrs.  Lincoln 
was  educated  at  Wheaton  Seminary.  The  summer  after  she  left  school  she  married  Mr.  David  A.  Lincoln,  who  was  already 
established  in  business.  Her  natural  ambition  to  do  well  whatever  she  undertook  led  her  to  study  with  care  the  prepara- 
tion of  every  dish  she  pl&ced  on  her  own  table,  and  fame  as  a  teacher  of  cooking  came  to  her  gradually  and  unexpectedly. 
She  first  taught  in  Boston,  afterward  at  Lasell  Seminary.  Mrs.  Lincoln  has  delivered  many  lectures  and  published  many 
books  on  the  subject  of  cooking,  all  of  which  are  full  of  merit.  Her  postoflBce  address  is  Wollaston,  Mass.  (Comfort  Cot- 
tage). 

*  The  full  title  of  the  article  was  "Extracts  from  Cookery,  or  Art  and  Science  versus  Drudgery  and  Luck." 

138 


MRS.  DAVID 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  139 

of  "  household  hints."  "  Cooking  Clubs  "  are  formed  among  experienced  housekeepers 
as  well  as  among  those  just  assuming  domestic  responsibility,  and  even  among  the 
little  children. 

Many  ladies  who  have  been  unusually  successful  in  some  special  culinary  work 
pose  before  the  public  as  teachers  of  cookery,  or  offer  their  work  for  sale.  Private 
cooking  schools  and  training  schools  for  teachers  are  heard  of  in  nearly  every  large 
city.  Now,  what  does  all  this  interest  in  cookery  mean?  Does  it  mean  that  we  are 
tired  of  the  good  old  ways  of  our  mothers  and  grandmothers?  That  we  are  disgusted 
with  the  miserable  compounds  offered  us  by  inefficient  cooks  who  demand  the  wages 
of  skilled  workers?  Is  it  simply  a  desire  for  new  combinations  of  food  that  shall 
tickle  our  palates?  For  surely  we  have  not  many  new  food  materials.*  Are  we  actu- 
ated mainly  by  a  desire  to  emulate  those  who  have  become  experts  in  the  art?  Or 
are  we  merely  seeking  our  own  interests  and  thinking  of  the  work  only  as  a  means  of 
getting  a  living?  We  think  that  it  means  that  many  of  our  people  have  awakened  to 
the  fact  that  eating  is  something  more  than  animal  indulgence,  and  that  cooking  has 
a  nobler  purpose  than  the  gratification  of  appetite  and  the  sense  of  taste.  Cooking 
has  been  defined  as  "  the  art  of  preparing  food  for  the  nourishment  of  the  human 
body." 

There  is  no  such  thing  as  "luck"  or  "guesswork"  in  good  cookery,  and  though 
good  results  will  sometimes  follow  hap-hazard  work,  a  person  cooking  successfully  in 
this  way  really  has  learned  certain  facts,  and  follows,  though  unconsciously,  certain  laws. 
In  a  general  way  we  all  know  that  we  need  food  to  keep  us  alive;  but  how  many  of  us 
understand  the  threefold  purpose  of  food,  which  is,  to  generate  heat,  to  give  us 
strength,  and  to  furnish  material  for  growth  and  repair  of  bodily  tissues?  To  render 
this  threefold  service,  our  food  should  consist  of  such  materials  as  will  give  out  heat, 
and  are  similar  to  or  capable  of  being  changed  into  substances  which  can  be  built 
into  the  various  tissues  of  the  body.  Hence,  a  knowledge  of  the  composition  of  the 
body  and  of  food  substances  is  indispensable.  Without  it  we  cannot  properly  select 
our  food.  Our  choice  of  food  may  be  partly  determined  by  instinct  or  appetite,  and 
possibly  might  be  wholly  so  were  it  not  that  by  the  law  of  inheritance,  or  our  own 
indiscretion,  the  vigor  and  promptitude  of  operation  of  this  natural  guide  have  been 
greatly  impaired.  We  must,  therefore,  summon  reason  and  intelligence  to  our  aid  in 
selecting  proper  food.  A  knowledge  of  the  needs  of  the  body,  and  of  the  elements  of 
our  common  food  substances,  will  help  us  greatly  in  combining  our  food  so  that  our 
daily  diet  shall  supply  the  daily  need;  for  a  substance  which  fulfills  only  one  of  the 
purposes  required  in  our  food  will  not  support  life.  A  man  cannot  live  on  water  or 
salt,  yet  he  would  soon  die  without  them.  If  our  clothing  be  torn,  we  do  not  repair  it 
with  sand.  So,  if  the  muscles  are  worn  out  by  hard  work,  we  cannot  replace  them  by 
eating  sugar  or  fat.  If  more  fat  be  taken  than  the  oxygen  will  burn,  or  than  is  needed 
for  storage,  we  may  suffer  in  many  ways.  Many  articles  of  food  do  not  contain  all  the 
necessary  elements,  and  few  foods  contain  them  in  the  right  proportion.  It  is  neces- 
sary, therefore,  to  have  different  kinds  of  food,  and  to  prepare  them  rightly,  so  that 
one  kind  will  supply  what  another  kind  lacks.  We  need  not  so  much  a  great  variety 
of  foods  at  each  meal,  but  a  variation  in  our  daily  bills  of  fare,  and  just  here  is  where 
many  of  our  American  housekeepers  err.  Our  choice  of  food  must  also  be  adapted  to 
the  state  of  one's  health,  and  to  the  various  circumstances  of  age,  occupation,  climate 
and  means.  It  is  also  well  for  every  woman  to  know  why  we  need  to  prepare  or  cook 
our  food.     First,  it  is  to  save  time  and  energy. 

Some  one  has  said:  "Man  is  the  only  animate  object  that  has  both  to  seek  and 
prepare  his  food."  Plants  have  their  food  prepared  for  them,  and,  provided  they  are 
surrounded  by  it,  they  take  it  in  continually  and  make  it  into  food  for  the  animal. 
Animals  wander  about  and  seek  their  food,  but  take  it  very  much  as  they  find  it;  and 
some  of  them  have  nothing  else  to  do  but  to  eat  and  build  up  this  plant  food  into  their 
own  flesh,  ready  for  man.  Savages  take  all  their  food  with  little  or  no  preparation, 
and  go  for  long  periods  without  any  while  hunting,  then  gorge  themselves  to  the 


140  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

utmost  limit  and  sleep  until  digestion  is  complete.  But  civilized  man  has  to  seek  his 
food  and  carefully  select  and  prepare  it.  The  higher  he  is  in  civilization,  the  more 
time  and  thought  must  be  given  to  its  preparation,  that  he  may  have  some  of  the 
large  amount  of  energy  that  would  be  spent  in  making  this  food  into  a  part  of  himself, 
to  use  for  some  other  purpose.  Many  food  substances  can  be  eaten  in  their  natural 
state,  but  the  greater  part  of  them  require  to  be  changed  or  especially  prepared  before 
they  can  be  eaten,  and  all  foods  require  to  be  in  a  state  of  solution  before  they  can  be 
made  into  our  bodies. 

This  change  in  food  is  made  first  by  cooking,  or  the  combined  action  of  heat, 
water,  air  and  other  agencies;  and,  second,  by  digestion,  or  the  muscular  motion  of  the 
walls  of  the  alimentary  canal,  combined  with  the  solvent  action  of  several  digestive 
fluids.  Cooking  develops  and  improves  the  flavor,  changes  the  texture,  odor,  and 
taste,  and  by  tempting  the  appetite,  increases  our  enjoyment  of  food,  and  thus  aids 
the  second  change  or  process  of  digestion.  The  end  and  aim  of  all  this  changing  of 
food  is  solubility,  for  only  in  a  state  of  solution  can  food  penetrate  through  the  walls  of 
the  digestive  canal,  and  become  a  part  of  the  body.  By  this  it  neqd  not  be  inferred 
that  we  must  take  all  our  food  in  a  state  of  solution,  but  we  should  understand  the 
process  of  digestion  and  how  to  make  food  digestible,  or  soluble.  If  we  study  diges- 
tion, we  find  that  the  process  varies  with  the  different  kinds  of  food,  the  albuminous 
foods  being  digested  in  the  stomach  by  an  acid  fluid,  and  the  starches  in  the  intestines 
by  an  alkaline  fluid.  The  fats  are  only  separated  from  the  others  in  the  stomach,  but 
in  the  intestines  they  are  converted  into  an  emulsion.  Both  of  these  processes  of  the 
changing  of  food  are  really  one  process,  and  may  be  regarded  as  a  kind  of  cooking, 
for  cooking  means  "  changing  by  the  application  of  heat."  In  all  the  processes, 
heat  is  the  permanent  factor,  and  food  is  cooked,  or  prepared  for  us,  first,  by  the  heat 
of  the  sun,  then  by  our  application  of  artificial  heat,  and  lastly  by  internal,  anfmal 
heat.  Water  is  equally  necessary  in  these  changes,  and  it  is  therefore  highly  impor- 
tant to  understand  the  effects  of  water  and  heat  on  the  different  food  substances,  and 
how  best  to  use  them. 

When  we  know  what  substances  we  need  to  use  as  food,  and  the  proportion  of 
each,  and  how  to  prepare  them,  great  care  should  be  taken  that  each  shall  be  the  best 
of  its  kind,  not  necessarily  the  highest  priced,  but  that  from  which  we  can  get  the 
most  nourishment  and  which  has  the  fewest  objectionable  qualities.  We  may  not  be 
able  to  detect  all  the  tricks  of  adulteration,  but  we  can  easily  learn  how  to  select  good 
flour,  sweet  butter,  sound  fruit  and  vegetables,  and  the  name,  location  and  food  value 
of  the  different  cuts  of  meat. 

Another  point  which  should  receive  especial  attention  is  the  preservation  of  food. 
Science  has  taught  us  much  on  this  subject.  Care  must  be  taken  not  to  expose  food 
to  the  action  of  bacteria,  unpleasant  odors,  or  contact  with  unclean  substances. 
Scrupulous  neatness  in  personal  habits  of  those  who  prepare  food,  and  cleanliness  of 
all  utensils  used,  and  of  storage  places,  are  no  minor  matters. 

All  labor  in  the  preparation  of  food,  which  does  not  tend  to  make  the  food  more 
digestible,  or  is  done  solely  to  give  variety,  or  to  cater  to  an  unnatural  appetite,  is 
unprofitable.  Except  in  cases  of  illness  or  convalescence,  if  a  person  has  a  fickle 
appetite,  and  he  cannot  enjoy  a  meal  of  good,  wholesome  food,  simply  and  carefully 
prepared,  you  may  be  sure  that  the  trouble  is  somewhere  else,  and  tempting  the  appe- 
tite is  not  the  true  remedy. 

Women  would  lessen  the  labor  of  cooking  greatly  if  they  would  cease  making 
mixtures  of  food  materials  which  require  much  time  and  labor  in  their  preparation, 
and  also  the  expenditure  of  great  digestive  energy.  Why  should  we  take  anything 
so  simple  and  delicious  as  a  properly  roasted  or  boiled  chicken,  and  expend  time  and 
labor  in  chopping  it,  mixing  it  with  so  many  other  things  that  we  cannot  detect  its 
original  flavor,  then  shaping,  egging  and  crumbing  it,  and  making  it  more  indigestible 
by  browning  it  in  scorching  fat?  Butter  and  cream  are  the  most  wholesome  forms  of 
fat,  and  fat  is  necessary  to  a  perfect  diet,  and  is  digestible  if  not  too  closely  enveloped 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  141 

in  starch,  or  if  not  subjected  to  so  great  degree  of  heat  as  to  change  it  into  acid  and 
acrid  substances.  Pure  sugar,  taken  in  suitable  quantities,  is  easily  digested,  and  enters 
quickly  into  the  circulation,  giving  us  its  carbon  for  warmth.  Eggs  eaten  raw,  or 
properly  prepared,  that  is,  cooked  at  only  a  moderate  degree  of  heat,  are  palatable  and 
easily  digested;  but  when  hardened  by  intense  heat  they  become  difficult  of  digestion. 
Knowing  this,  why  should  we  overtax  our  muscular  strength  by  beating  butter,  sugar 
and  eggs  together,  mixing  them  with  milk  and  flour  and  baking  them  as  cakes,  or 
rolling  and  frying  them  as  doughnuts,  when  these  same  perfect  food  substances  might 
be  as  palatable  if  prepared  with  far  less  labor?  Why  should  we  subject  food  materials 
to  the  intense  heat  necessary  to  cook  them  when  prepared  in  these  compounds,  when 
less  heat  would  suffice,  if  they  were  more  simply  prepared?  Or  why  make  them 
indigestible  by  uniting  so  closely  substances  which  must  be  digested  separately;  or 
by  over-heating  the  albumen  and  scorching  the  sweet  globules  of  fat,  or  entangling 
them  in  starch  and  albumen? 

Why  will  women  be  so  foolish?  I  cannot  say,  unless  it  be  that  we  are  still  slaves 
to  the  ways  of  our  mothers  and  grandmothers,  or  to  the  latest  freak  of  fashion,  and 
think  we  cannot  keep  house  without  our  patchwork  quilts  and  an  unlimited  supply  of 
cakes,  gingersnaps,  cookies,  wafers;  tarts,  doughnuts  and  pies,  or  dare  not  invite  a 
friend  to  luncheon  without  serving  croquettes,  patties  and  some  novel  ice  or  cream. 

I  hope  I  shall  see  the  time  when  this  subject  of  food  in  all  its  various  phases,  from  the 
chemistry  of  its  formation  to  the  physiological  changes  in  its  effects,  shall  be  a  science 
by  itself,  and  taught  in  all  our  schools  made  a  leading  feature  of  the  curriculum. 

A  beginning  has  been  made  in  this  direction  by  the  teaching  of  cooking  in  our 
public  schools.  For  seven  years  classes  have  been  successfully  conducted  in  Boston 
in  school  kitchens  especially  fitted  for  the  purpose.  New  Haven,  Providence,  Phila- 
delphia, Pittsburg,  New  York,  Milwaukee  and  other  cities  have  followed  in  the  good 
work.  Recently  some  of  our  Massachusetts  legislators  are  considering  the  question 
of  introducing  cooking  into  the  high  schools  of  every  city  of  twenty  thousand  inhab- 
itants. Many  objections  have  been  urged  against  the  teaching  of  cookery  in  the  pub- 
lic schools — want  of  time  that  should  be  devoted  to  other  studies,  home  the  best  place 
for  such  instruction,  etc.  But  in  many  homes  no  such  instruction  can  be  given,  for 
there  is  no  knowledge  of  anything  but  the  mechanical  part,  and  often  not  the  best  of 
that;  and  where  it  can  be  given  there  certainly  is  no  study  that  could  be  more  effect- 
ively carried  on  by  the  combined  and  happy  working  together  of  the  school  and  the 
home. 

Girls  should  be  taught  the  magnitude  of  this  responsibility,  and  while  they  are 
still  girls,  for  no  one  can  tell  how  early  in  life  it  may  be  thrust  upon  them.  The  com- 
fort, purity  and  influence  of  the  future  homes  of  this  country  are  in  the  hands  of  our 
school-girls.  It  is  for  them  to  determine,  that  out  of  the  love-lit  center  husband  and 
children  shall  go,  not  with  the  lagging  step  and  downward  look  of  disappointment, 
doubt  and  ill-regulated  passions,  but  full  of  the  sweet  courage  and  hopes  that  spring 
from  the  noblest  human  aspirations. 

It  has  been  urged  that  cooking-schools  only  increase  the  work  of  the  already 
over-worked  housekeeper;  that  many  new  and  costly  utensils  are  required,  and  that 
the  new  dishes  are  too  expensive,  too  elaborate,  etc.,  etc.  I  admit  that  these  objec- 
tions might  well  be  raised  if  the  teacher's  only  aim  has  been  to  show  you  how  to  make 
novelties  and  unwholesome  combinations,  or  to  outshine  your  friends  in  your  enter- 
tainments. But  no  teacher  who  is  in  earnest  in  prompting  this  reform  would  make 
these  objects  paramount.  I  have  for  a  long  time  felt,  instead  of  teaching  my  pupils 
how  to  prepare  elegant  dinners  of  many  courses,  and  to  compete  with  chefs  and  cater- 
ers, I  should  spend  more  time  in  teaching  them  to  prepare  the  essential  dishes  per- 
fectly, and  until  they  can  do  that  to  give  no  time  to  elaborate  menus. 

Cooking  is  only  one  of  the  duties  of  the  housekeeper,  but  it  is  the  most  important 
one;  for  the  body  plays  so  important  a  part  in  this  world  that  its  preservation  in 
comeliness  and  health  is  one  of  our  first  duties.     But  alas!     How  many  of  us  allow  its 


142  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

outward  adornment  to  be  the  chief  aim  in  life.  The  preservation  of  the  body,  the 
temple  and  instrument  of  the  soul,  can  be  secured  only  by  observing  the  laws  of  hygiene 
in  all  our  habits,  especially  in  the  choice,  preparation  and  eating  of  our  food.  I  do 
not  advocate  devoting  all  our  time  and  thought  to  this  subject  of  cooking.  We  should 
avoid  the  two  extremes:  on  the  one  hand  that  of  indifference,  which  follows  a  mistaken 
interpretation  of  the  Biblical  injunction,  "Take  no  thought  what  ye  shall  eat,  or  what 
ye  shall  drink;"  and  on  the  other  hand,  the  untiring  vigilance  which  examines  every 
particle  of  food,  weighs  to  the  fraction  of  an  ounce  each  portion,  and  analyzes  every 
sensation  after  eating.  Between  these  two  there  is  a  happy  middle  ground,  where  all 
may  safely  roam. 

I  think  that  all  will  agree  with  me  that  if  we  would  have  our  food  serve  its  highest 
purpose  it  should  be  prepared  by  those  who  can  combine  culinary  taste,  mechanical 
skill,  imitation,  invention  and  general  intelligence  with  scientific  principles.  But  if 
these  words  of  mine  fail  to  impress  you  with  the  importance  of  a  correct  understand- 
ing of  the  preparation  of  food,  allow  me  to  remind  you  of  the  mythological,  Biblical 
and  practical  requirements  which  Mr,  Ruskin  considers  necessary  in  a  good  cook. 

He  says:  "Cookery  means  the  knowledge  of  Circe  and  Medea,  and  of  Calypso 
and  Helen,  and  of  Rebekah  and  of  all  the  queens  of  Sheba.  It  means  the  knowledge 
of  all  fruits  and  balms  and  spices,  and  of  all  that  is  healing  and  sweet  in  fields  and 
groves  and  savory  in  meats.  It  means  carefulness,  inventiveness,  watchfulness,  will- 
ingness and  readiness  of  appliance.  It  means  the  economy  of  your  great-grand- 
mothers and  the  science  of  modern  chemistry.  It  means  much  tasting  and  no  wasting. 
It  means  English  thoroughness  and  French  art  and  Arabian  hospitality.  It  means,  in 
fine,  that  you  are  to  be  always  and  perfectly  defined  '  ladies,'  which  in  its  true  signifi- 
cance means  'loaf-givers;'  and  as  you  are  to  see  imperatively  that  everybody  has 
something  pretty  to  put  on,  so  you  are  to  see  still  more  imperatively  that  everybody 
has  something  good  to  eat." 


POWER  AND  PURPOSES  OF  WOMEN. 


By  MRS.  HELEN  L.  BULLOCK. 

We  are  all  doubtless  aware  ere  this  that  Columbus  discovered  America.  America's 
uncrowned  queen,  Miss  Frances  E.  Willard,  once  said,  "The  greatest  discovery  of  the 

nineteenth  century  is  the  discovery  of  woman  by 
herself."  This  wonderful  Woman's  Building,  in 
which  are  represented  fifty  woman's  organizations, 
with  its  woman's  library,  and  these  congresses,  have 
demonstrated  the  truth  of  this  statement.  Even  the 
new  revision  of  God's  Holy  Word  has,  in  at  least  one 
instance,  inspired  woman  with  new  courage  for  her 
work  by  giving  a  truthful  and  unbiased  interpretation 
of  the  eleventh  verse  of  the  sixty-eighth  Psalm.  In 
the  old  version  it  reads:  "The  Lord  gave  the  Word; 
great  was  the  company  of  those  that  published  it." 
In  the  revised  version,  so  ably  and  critically  trans- 
lated, the  same  verse  reads,  "The  Lord  giveth  the 
Word  and  the  women  that  publish  it  are  a  great  host." 
Even  the  little  colored  girl  in  the  mission  school  in 
benighted  Africa  has  made  a  discovery  in  this  century 
which  solves  the  problem  regarding  the  reason  for 
there  being  more  women  then  men  in  the  world.  She 
wrote  a  composition  on  "Girls,"  in  which  she  said: 
"  The  Bible  which  the  missionary  gives  us  says,  that 
in  the  beginning  God  made  the  world  and  then  He 
made  a  man,  but,  not  being  quite  satisfied,  thought  he 
could  do  better,  so  he  tried  again  and  made  a  woman.  He  saw  that  she  was  so  much 
nicer  than  man  that  he  has  made  more  women  than  men  ever  since."  Rev.  Dr.  Black 
says:  "Whatever  difference  of  opinion  may  exist  concerning  the  range  of  woman's 
intellect,  there  can  be  no  question  as  to  her  superior  moral  and  religious  status.  In 
all  ages  of  the  Christian  chxirch  women  have  constituted  a  large  proportion  of  its 
membership,  and  in  the  realm  of  philanthropy  women  predominate,  therefore  it  is  for 
the  best  interests  of  humanity  everywhere  to  utilize  woman's  power  and  influence  in 
the  most  effective  possible  manner,  especially  in  all  the  activities  of  religion  and 
philanthropy." 

The  first  law  ever  enacted  in  the  interest  of  woman's  education  was  in  New  York, 
in  1818.  Through  the  earnest  efforts  of  Mrs.  Emma  Willard,  Gov.  Dewitt  Clinton 
was  induced  to  urge  the  passage  of  a  bill  to  make  appropriations  for  schools  for 
women  as  well  as  for  men,  and  it  was  done. 

Only  by  actual  experience  are  all  our  grandest  theories  demonstrated,  and  realiz- 
ing all  the  barriers  which  have  been  placed  in  the  way  of  woman's  progress,  we  can 

Mrs.  Helen  L.  fiallock  was  born  in  Norwich,  N.  Y.,  April  29, 1838.  Her  parents  were  Joseph  Chapel,  of  Connecticut 
and  Phebe  Chapel,  of  Maseachnsetts.  She  was  edacated  in  Norwich  Academy'and  by  private  tntors,  studied  mosic  with  S.  B, 
Mills  of  New  York  City  and  others,  and  has  traveled  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States,  sometimes  eleven  thousand  miles  in 
a  year.  She  married  Mr.  Daniel  S.  Bullock.  Her  special  work  at  present  is  in  the  interest  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Tem- 
perance Union.  For  the  past  eight  years  she  has  made  pnblio  speeches  and  four  years  been  national  organizer.  Her 
department  is  narcotics,  organizing  and  rescue  work  for  girls.  She  is  president  of  the  "  Anchorage  "  in  Elmira,  a  rescue 
home  for  girls.  Her  principal  literary  works  are,  "  Improved  Musical  Catechism,"  and  "Scales  and  Chords."  Mrs.  Bullock 
was  a  teacher  of  piano,  organ  and  guitar  music  for  thirty-five  years.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church.  Her  poetoiBce 
address  is  Elmira,  N.  Y. 

143 


MRS.  HELEN  L.  BULLOOK. 


144  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

but  acknowledge  that  we  get  but  a  faint  glimpse  of  her  power  by  what  she  has  in  the  past 
been  able  to  accomplish.  First  in  the  home — we  have  only  to  point  to  Queen  Esther, 
who  risked  her  life  to  save  her  people  by  coming  unbidden  into  the  presence  of  the 
king.  She  knew  the  danger  of  incurring  her  husband's  displeasure,  but  trusted  in  the 
God  of  Heaven  to  move  upon  his  heart,  and  give  her  power  over  him,  which  would 
save  her  oppressed  people. 

All  through  the  ages  illustrious  men  without  number  have  attributed  their  great- 
ness to  the  power  of  mother  love,  thus  the  true  woman  manifests  her  power  in  the 
home,  according  to  the  depth  of  her  affection  and  the  strength  of  her  character.  Lucy 
Webb  Hayes,  true  to  her  total  abstinence  principles,  bravely  bore  the  criticisms  of  the 
aristocratic  devotees  of  fashion,  lifted  a  standard  in  Washington  society  which  caused 
an  arrest  of  thought,  and  abandonment  by  the  best  and  most  conscientious  of  our  leaders 
in  social  life  of  the  dangerous  custom  which  has  sent  thousands  of  our  brightest  men 
and  women  to  a  drunkard's  eternity.  From  that  day  the  power  of  her  influence  has  been 
felt  for  good  throughout  the  entire  social  fabric  of  this  nation.  Across  the  Atlantic 
our  Margaret  Bright  Lucas,  and  Lady  Henry  Somerset,  with  tongue  and  pen,  have 
stirred  the  social  circles  of  England  on  the  same  moral  question,  thus  banishing  the 
wine  and  ale  from  dinner-table  and  banquet-hall  in  thousands  of  homes. 

In  1821  Mary  Lyon  became  assistant  principal  of  an  academy  of  Ashfield,  Mass., 
a  position  never  before  occupied  by  a  woman.  Later,  at  Derby,  N.  H.,  she  gave  the 
first  six  diplomas  received  by  young  women  for  a  three  years'  course  of  study.  She 
saw  the  need  of  a  seminary  for  women,  and  pleaded  for  an  endowment.  The  public  was 
apathetic  and  her  appeals  fruitless. 

In  1834  she  determined  to  found  a  permanent  institution  designed  to  train  young 
women  for  the  highest  usefulness.  She  laid  her  plans  before  a  few  gentlemen  in . 
Ipswich,  Mass.  They  were  pronounced  visionary  and  impracticable;  her  motives 
misunderstood  and  misinterpreted.  The  domestic  feature  of  her  seminary  was  regarded 
as  unwise;  but  the  peculiar  features  of  her  plan  became  its  success,  and  within  two 
months  she  collected  Si, 000  from  women  of  Ipswich,  She  obtained  a  few  large  gifts, 
but  chose  to  gain  the  intelligent  interest  of  the  many  with  their  smaller  sums,  and  in 
1836  the  corner-stone  of  Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary  was  laid.  Three  years  later  the 
school  opened,  filled  with  eager  students,  who  knew  that  twice  their  number  were 
waiting  to  take  their  places.  As  the  preparation  required  to  enter  this  seminary  was 
in  advance  of  what  had  generally  been  regarded  as  a  finished  education  for  girls,  it 
was  feared  that  students  could  not  be  found  to  fill  the  building;  but  on  the  contrary, 
two  hundred  students  were  refused  the  first  year  for  lack  of  room,  and  nearly  four 
hundred  the  second  vear. 

Although  Latin  and  French  were  taught  from  the  first,  she  waited  ten  years  before 
she  could  get  Latin  included  in  the  course,  such  was  public  opinion  on  woman's  edu- 
cation. She  lived,  however,  to  realize  much  of  the  fruitage  of  her  seed-sowing,  and 
Mary  Lyon  and  Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary  will  never  be  forgotten  by  the  thousands  who 
were  lifted  to  a  higher  educational  plane  by  her  heroic  efforts. 

Within  the  last  generation  (1852)  we  have  pointed  with  pride  to  Maria  Mitchell, 
who  was  the  first  woman  to  receive  the  title  of  LL.D.  from  Hanover  College.  She 
was  astronomer  in  Vassar  College  for  twenty-three  years,  and  was  the  first  woman 
elected  to  the  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences. 

Alice  Freeman  Palmer  was  for  six  years  president  of  Wellesley  College,  and  has 
since  been  one  of  its  trustees  and  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  board  of  education. 
When  girls  were  first  admitted  to  the  public  schools  of  Massachusetts  in  1822,  no  one 
would  have  dreamed  that  in  sixty-six  years  a  woman  would  have  been  president  of 
one  of  its  most  noted  colleges  and  a  member  of  its  state  board  of  education. 

Mary  H.  Hunt  has  shaken  the  physiological  world  from  center  to  circumference, 
made  liquor  dealers  and  tobacconists  tremble  for  their  deadly  merchandise,  has 
turned  on  the  light  of  science,  and  through  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  set  in  motion  influences 
which  have  convinced  the  legislatures  in  thirty-nine  states,  as  well  as  our  representa- 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  145 

tives  in  Congress,  that  the  hope  of  this  nation  is  in  teaching  total  aostinence  in  the 
public  schools.  The  celebrated  Henry  Thomas  Buckle  says:  "When  we  see  how 
knowledge  has  civilized  mankind,  when  we  see  how  every  great  step  in  the  march  and 
advance  of  nations  has  been  invariably  preceded  by  a  corresponding  step  in  their 
knowledge;  when  we,  moreover,  see  what  is  assuredly  true,  that  women  are  constantly 
growing  more  influential,  it  becomes  a  matter  of  great  moment  that  we  should 
endeavor  to  ascertain  the  relation  between  their  influence  and  our  knowledge." 

Notwithstanding  all  the  di.scouragements  in  the  way  of  woman  she  holds  a  high 
place  in  the  literary  world.  Our  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning,  whose  poetic  gems  enrich 
the  choicest  library,  our  Charlotte  Bronte,  whose  name  is  familiar  in  every  home 
of  culture,  and  our  George  Eliot,  whose  rare  literary  worth  was  quickly  recognized 
and  acknowledged  when  the  world  thought  her  a  man,  have  few  equals  as  writers. 

Pardon  a  little  personal  experience  to  show  you  how  prejudice  against  woman's 
work  has  reached  all  classes. 

A  few  years  ago,  from  sense  of  duty  to  her  profession  as  a  teacher  of  music,  your 
speaker  published  some  musical  studies,  and  a  catechism,  and  one  of  the  largest  pub- 
lishing houses  in  New  York  bought  the  copyrights,  but  modestly  asked  that  the  pre- 
fix of  "Mrs."  be  omitted  before  the  initials  of  the  name  of  the  author,  that  the  public 
might  suppose  they  were  written  by  a  man,  and  thus  the  sale  of  the  same  might  not 
be  hindered  by  the  prejudice  against  woman  as  a  musical  author.  Caring  only  for  the 
advancement  of  her  life  work,  the  author  was  glad  to  escape  publicity,  and  quickly 
consented,  never  dreaming  at  that  time  of  the  injustice  of  robbing  woman  of  the  little 
crumb  of  encouragement  which  even  that  humble  effort  would  afford. 

Prejudice  hindered  woman  in  the  medical  profession,  although  all  will  admit  her 
natural  fitness  and  power  of  endurance  as  a  nurse.  Elizabeth  Blackwell  found  the 
doors  of  medical  colleges  closed  to  women,  but  after  severe  trials  and  repeated  efforts 
she  gained  entrance  to  the  Geneva  Medical  School,  where  she  graduated  with  the 
highest  honors  of  her  class  in  1847.  ^^e  also  traveled  in  Europe,  visiting  hospitals 
and  medical  institutions  in  order  to  acquire  a  fitness  for  her  calling,  but  on  locating  in 
a  metropolis  of  America  was  ostracised  by  the  profession  solely  on  account  of  her  sex. 
Since  she  opened  this  door,  thousands  of  brave,  cultured  women  have  entered  and 
today  stand  in  the  forefront  of  the  profession,  skillful,  conscientious,  disarming  preju- 
dice and  winning  their  way  to  the  hearts  and  homes  of  the  people. 

In  the  philanthropic  world  Grace  Darling  and  Ida  Lewis  risked  their  own  lives 
on  the  stormy  ocean  to  save  those  imperiled  there.  A  multitude  of  earnest  conse- 
crated women  have  left  home  and  friends,  being  maligned  and  persecuted,  have  taken 
their  lives  in  their  hands,  going  forth  at  the  call  of  God  to  protect  the  homes  which 
are  the  foundation  stones  of  the  nation,  and  open  up  avenues  of  usefulness  and 
development  to  women.hitherto  unknown.  Josephine  Butles,  of  England,  and  Amer- 
ica's Mary  A.  Livermore,  Mary  Clement  Leavitt,  Susan  B.  Anthony,  our  loved  and 
revered  Frances  E.  Willard,  and  hosts  of  others,  are  today  in  the  field  toiling  for  the 
uplifting  of  humanity  and  to  save  the  homes  of  this  world.  The  enemy  scoffs  and  the 
narrow-minded  question  the  right  of  woman  even  to  save  souls  outside  the  sacred 
place  she  calls  home,  but  she  hears  the  voice  as  did  the  Maid  of  Orleans,  "  Daughter 
of  God,  go  on,  go  on;  I  will  be  thy  help,"  and  she  will  never  waver  or  turn  back. 

The  work  of  Lady  Huntington  stands  out  before  us  as  an  enduring  monument  of 
woman's  power  in  the  church.  Leaving  her  high  position  with  its  many  social  pleas- 
ures and  advantages,  she  bravely  met  rebuffs  from  associates  of  her  own  rank  and 
made  the  watchword  of  her  life,  "My  God,  I  give  myself  to  thee."  She  established 
sixty-four  chapels  (selling  her  jewels  to  build  one  of  them),  organized  a  mission  in 
North  America,  and  maintained  a  college  for  the  education  of  ministers  in  Trevecca, 
Wales.  Doddridge,  Whitefield,  Berridge,  the  Wesleys  and  Doctor  Watts  were  among 
her  chosen  friends. 

Wesley  justified  female  preaching  on  the  same  ground  on  which  he  defended  lay 
preaching.     The  following  are  his  words:   "What  authority  have  I  to  forbid  the  doing 

(10) 


146  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

what  I  believe  God  has  called  them  to  do?  He  encouraged  such  grand  women  as 
Sarah  Crosby,  Mary  Fletcher  and  others.  After  Wesley's  day  female  preaching 
became  common  among  the  Friends,  and  Elizabeth  Fry  began  her  ministry  in  1810, 
after  feeling  for  twelve  years  that  God  called  her  to  this  work.  The  results  of  her 
public  labors  were  marvelous,  and  her  own  family  of  eleven  children  were  never  neg- 
lected. Hers  was  a  model  household,  and  her  work  for  unfortunate  women  in  New- 
gate was  the  beginning  of  prison  reform  which  commanded  the  respect  of  the  world. 
Seventeen  European  sovereigns  honored  themselves  by  honoring  her.  When  she 
first  entered  the  prisons  their  condition  was  most  revolting,  and  it  was  considered 
unsafe  to  do  so  without  a  guard.  The  thought  of  reforming  these  inmates  of  both 
sexes,  and  all  grades  of  crime,  huddled  together  like  wild  beasts,  seemed  the  apex  of 
madness.  The  keepers  remonstrated  with  her,  but  the  love  of  Christ  constrained  her, 
and  with  no  protector  save  Daniel's  God  she  was  locked  in  the  prison  with  a  band  of 
fiends  in  human  shape.  As  her  sweet  voice  rang  out  in  those  grand  old  hymns  she 
awed  them  into  silence.  So  heartfelt  and  eloquent  was  her  appeal  that  hope  sprang  up 
in  the  hearts  of  these  degraded  creatures  and  hundreds  were  saved.  Industries  and 
schools  were  introduced  into  prisons,  sanitary  conditions  improved,  and  the  criminal 
jurisprudence  of  the  civilized  world  was  revolutionized  in  some  of  its  aspects  through 
her  instrumentality.  In  London  the  Elizabeth  Fry  Refuge  stands  today  as  a  fitting 
memorial  of  her  life  and  labors.  The  first  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  America 
was  started  in  New  York  City  by  Barbara  Heck,  whose  unwavering  fidelity  to  Christ 
gave  her  the  moral  courage  to  sharply  rebuke  the  sins  of  the  converts  of  Wesley  who 
had  come  to  America  and  grown  cold  in  the  cause. 

But  you  hear  little  of  Barbara  Heck;  it  is  the  old  story  of  Betsy  and  I  killed  the 
bear,  but,  friends,  Betsy  is  coming  to  the  front.  Again  we  turn  the  pages  of  history 
and  see  what  she  has  accomplished  in  the  government,  even  while  surrounded  by  walls 
of  prejudice  and  hindered  by  ridicule  and  criticism.  Let  us  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  won- 
derful Maid  of  Orleans.  She  believed  God  had  called  her,  and  by  her  modest  and 
wise  replies  to  the  many  insults  of  learned  priests  and  powerful  nobles,  she  won  their 
confidence  and  obedience.  This  noble  woman  died  for  her  country  in  the  most 
ignominious  manner  after  rendering  it  such  unprecedented  service;  and  not  until 
twenty  years  afterward  was  tardy  justice  done  her  memory.  It  is  now  over  four  hun- 
dred years  since  this  great  event  of  the  world's  history,  and  most  impressive  services 
and  festivals  annually  commemorate  the  great  victories  won  by  this  brave,  godly 
woman.     Many  beautiful  monuments  have  been  erected  in  honor  of  her  work. 

Queen  Victoria  has  proved  herself  a  wise  ruler  of  a  great  government,  and  none 
the  less  a  faithful,  true  wife  and  mother,  Isabella,  Queen  of  Spain,  born  1451,  was  pro- 
claimed queen  at  twenty-three  years  of  age,  and  at  once  applied  herself  to  reform  the 
laws,  to  encourage  literature  and  arts,  and  to  modity  the  stern  and  crafty  measures  of 
her  husband  by  the  influence  of  her  own  gentle  and  elevated  character.  She  intro- 
duced the  first  printing  press  into  Spain,  and  clad  in  armor,  personally  directed  the 
operations  of  the  army  that  besieged  Grenada.  She  established  the  first  field  hos- 
pitals and  appointed  surgeons  to  attend  her  army.  But  for  her  cheerful  endorsement 
of  Columbus,  and  her  ready  self-denial,  we  might  not  be  able  to  celebrate  this  four, 
hundredth  birthday  of  America, 

And  now  having  spoken  of  the  power  of  woman,  let  us  consider  for  a  few  moments 
her  purposes.  For  what  does  she  desire  higher  education  except  to  prepare  her  better 
to  fulfill  her  mission  to  help  the  world  upward?  For  what  does  she  desire  to  enter 
various  avocations  heretofore  denied  her?  I  answer  that  she  may  honorably  maintain 
herself  and  those  dependent  upon  her  in  an  occupation  for  which  God  has  naturally 
fitted  her,  and  in  which,  for  this  reason,  she  will  best  succeed.  Why  does  she  desire 
to  enter  the  ministry?  For  the  same  reason  that  her  brother  desires  to  save  souls  in 
the  way  that  he  can  reach  the  largest  number,  hoping  thereby  to  best  glorify  God. 
For  what  reason  does  she  desire  to  aid  in  governing  the  nation?  Aside  from  her 
natural  and  God-given  right,  I  believe  the  highest  purpose  of  woman  in  her  desire  to 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  147 

stand  side  by  side  with  man  in  the  government  is  to  purify  it,  protect  the  home  and 
make  the  world  better  and  more  Christ-like. 

Is  she  not  in  a  great  measure  robbed  of  her  power  to  do  this? 

I  saw  in  Pomona,  Cal.,  a  beautiful  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  banner 
which  impressed  me  deeply.  Painted  on  white  satin  was  the  picture  of  a  charming 
young  mother,  holding  with  her  left  arm  her  little  boy  as  high  as  possible  above  the 
serpent  coiled  about  her  feet,  with  head  raised  ready  to  strike  her  darling.  In  her 
right  hand  she  held  a  dagger  with  which  she  was  trying  to  destroy  the  deadly  serpent, 
but  that  hand  was  chained  to  the  ballot  box  below,  and  she  was  powerless  to  save  her 
beautiful  boy.  So  are  the  purposes  of  woman  thwarted  in  protecting  her  home  and 
the  children  which  God  has  given  her;  but  a  better  day  is  dawning,  and  our  noblest 
brothers  are  already  convinced  that  to  best  uplift  humanity  and  advance  Christianity 
is  to  confer  upon  woman  her  right  of  suffrage.  To  Mrs.  Potter  Palmer,  Mrs.  James 
P.  Eagle,  and  the  brave  self-sacrificing  women  who  have  so  grandly  served  on  this 
board  of  managers,  thus  advancing  the  interests  of  the  womanhood  of  the  world,  we 
owe  more  than  we  can  now  realize;  but  as  the  years  go  by  we  shall  see  more  of  the  far- 
reaching  and  wonderful  results.  Your  power  has  been  felt,  and  your  purpose  for  the 
advancement  of  woman  has  been  served.  Gerald  Massey  beautifully  describes  the 
struggles  of  woman  during  this  century: 

Our  hearts  brood  o'er  the  past,  our  eyes 

With  smiling  futures  glisten; 
Lo  !  now  its  dawn  bursts  upon  the  sky; 

Lean  out  your  souls  and  listen. 
The  earth  rolls  freedom's  radiant  ways, 

And  ripens  with  our  sorrow; 
And  'tis  the  martyrdom  today 

Brings  victory  tomorrow. 
'Tis  weary  watching  wave  by  wave, 

And  yet  the  tide  heaves  onward; 
We  climb  like  corals,  grave  by  grave. 

Yet  beat  a  pathway  sunward. 
We're  beaten  back  in  many  a  fray. 

Yet  newer  strength  we  borrow; 
And  where  our  vanguard  rests  today, 

Our  rear  shall  rest  tomorrow. 


HOW  CAN  WE  AID?* 

By  MRS.  AGNES  L.  D'ARCAMBAL. 

All  along  the  seacoast  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans,  out  on  rivers  and  down 
into  the  lakes,  our  government  has  built  the  lighthouse  for  the  safety  and  relief  of  the 

storm-tossed  ships.  Within  every  lighthouse  theie 
are  lifeboats  and  life  preservers,  and  lights  and  life 
lines  to  throw  out  to  the  drowning  crew  and  traveler. 

So  upon  the  shores  of  the  stormy  ocean  of  vice, 
which  surges  in  and  through  the  great  city  of  Chicago 
and  all  other  cities,  we  find  life-saving  stations  for 
the  help  and  restoration  of  poor,  perishing  souls. 
Here,  too,  are  lights  and  life  lines  thrown  out  by  lov- 
ing, strong  arms  to  draw  in  to  rescue  the  weak  and 
erring  girls. 

When  a  vessel,  its  crew  and  passengers,  are 
wrecked,  thousands  and  thousands  of  people  hear 
and  repeat  over  and  over  the  tale  of  dreadful  disaster. 
"  That  fearful  shipwreck,  the  loss  of  life  and  prop- 
erty." The  daily  press  reports  and  the  people  tell 
with  exactness  just  the  number  of  souls  on  board, 
and  mourn  that  freight  and  vessel  have  gone  down — 
lost.  Alas!  who  knows  of  the  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  weak  and  erring  girls  that  are  going  down,  down, 
lost,  perishing  in  this  sea  of  vice  that  rolls  in  and 
about  us  on  every  side.     The  press  may  tell  a  part — • 

MRS.  AGNES  L.  D'ARCAMBAL  i  i    ^1  i    i  i  Mi-  ,        ,      11  1,-1  1 

doubtless  would  be  wilhngtotell  more — but  the  people 
draw  the  veil,  saying,  "  It  is  too  horrible  to  read  of  such  things  in  our  daily  papers." 
Many  good  people  condemn  the  papers  and  the  reporters  for 'giving  to  the  public 
"  these  horrible  details."  Even  those  who  deem  themselves  the  Christian  people  of 
the  city  may  read;  but  they  rush  by  the  wrecks  with  upturned  faces,  but  few  lips  dar- 
ing to  speak  and  few  arms  outreached  to  rescue,  even  a  girl,  though  she  be  but  a 
child.  Yet  it  is  characteristic  of  this  age  in  which  we  live  to  employ  all  forms  and 
oflfices  of  Christian  charity  and  sympathy,  indeed  to  the  most  elaborate  and  far-reach- 
ing organizations  and  societies.  We  have  homes  for  the  foundling,  homes  for  the 
aged,  the  blind,  the  deaf  and  the  dumb,  homes  for  sailors  and  soldiers,  homes  for  the 
inebriate,  homes  for  the  incurable,  asylums  and  hospitals  everywhere. 

And  so  broad  and  wide  and  strong  are  the  arms  of  this  great  spirit  of  loving 
kindness  to  all  the  human  family,  it  still  has  place  and  thought  for  the  dumb  animals 
and  the  fowls  of  the  air,  their  rights  are  made  incorporate  among  the  laws  of  our 
land.  Generously  are  all  these  homes  and  asylums  supported  by  a  generous  people. 
All  are  proudly  mentioned  from  the  pulpit  and  by  the  press.  Only  one  stands  out  in 
the  loneliness  of  its  unpopularity — the  refuge  for  erring  girls — the  home  for  fallen 
women.  This  one  true  Christian  charity,  as  it  were,  stands  alone,  unpopular,  almost 
an  orphan,  for  few  venture  to  adopt  this  child  of  sin  and  sorrow.     I  assure  you,  kind 

Mrs.  Agnes  L.  Harrington  d'Arcambal  is  a  native  of  Bnrlington.  Vt.  She  was  born  March  8, 1832.  Her  parents  wer© 
William  and  Eliza  Harrington.  Has  traveled  thronghont  the  United  States.  She  married  Charles  L.  d'Arcambal,  a  native 
of  France.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  suffering  humanity.  She  has  been  for  twenty-five  years  a  voluntary 
worker  in  several  lines  of  charity.    In  religions  faith  she  is  a  Christian.    Her  postotfice  address  is  Detroit,  Mich. 


♦The  original  title  of  the  address  as  read  was :  "  How  Can  We  Help  the  Weak  and  Erring  Girls  and  Women?" 

148 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  149 

friends,  that  it  is  with  gravest  feelings  of  a  deep  responsibility  that  I  stand  before  this 
congress  to  speak  on  this  important  subject:  *'  How  can  we  help  the  weak  and  erring 
girls?" 

I  wish  I  could  tell  of  this  work;  how  it  was  made  the  loving,  consecrated  work  of 
a  man  over  two  thousand  years  ago;  "a  man  who  went  about  doing  good,"  and  whose 
loving  service  to  humanity  stands  out  so  plainly  the  work  of  his  heart — the  pardon 
and  purification  of  lost  wornen.  It  is  through  the  divine  history  of  this  man  that 
hearts  have  been  inspired  to  enter  the  vineyard,  and  with  loving  hands  and  kind 
words  reclaim  many  a  weak,  sinful  girl,  and  draw  her  away  from  sin  and  hell  up  into 
a  purer  and  better  atmosphere  of  light  and  life. 

The  reformation  of  women,  "  How  to  help  the  weak  and  erring,"  is  a  work  and 
subject  that  has  many  sides,  and  is  fraught  with  the  deepest  interest  to  the  entire 
human  family.  We  all  acknowledge  that  "  prevention  is  better  than  cure,"  yet  we  all 
realize  that  humanity  is  and  has  ever  been  prone  to  err.  So  we  must  find  some  way  to 
reach  these  unfortunate  creatures.  With  many  years  of  experience  behind  me  in  this 
kind  of  work,  I  realize  that  to  be  successful  and  to  bring  about  good  results  there  must 
be  intelligent  organization  and  co-operation.  I  find  where  homes  or  houses  of  refuge 
have  been  founded  they  gradually  grow  into  favor  and  usefulness.  I  know  there 
come  many  struggles,  often  sad  disappointments,  sighs  and  tears  to  the  women  who 
are  brave  enough  to  associate  themselves  with  this  reform  work  for  their  own  sex.  No 
worker  can  be  half-hearted  or  faint-hearted  who  enters  the  places  where  they  find 
these  poor  abandoned  girls.  Eyes  they  must  have  to  see  and  realize  the  depth  of  sin 
and  degradation  of  their  living  hell.  Ears  to  hear,  not  the  scoff  and  jeers,  but  the 
sad  confession  of  some  sin-sick  soul.  Hearts  of  pity  and  grace  from  God  and  the 
divine  love  and  patience  of  the  loving  Saviour,  the  gentle  Jesus  who  dried  the  sinful 
woman's  tears  and  bade  her  sin  no  more.  When  this  Son  of  God  began  His  ministry 
in  His  native  town.  He  took  this  text:  "The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because 
He  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  poor.  He  hath  sent  me  to  heal 
the  broken-hearted  and  preach  deliverance  to  the  captive  and  the  restoring  of  sight 
to  the  blind;  to  set  at  liberty  those  who  are  bruised."  He  is  the  preacher,  and  His 
preaching  has  inaugurated  all  the  sympathy,  all  the  love,  all  the  humane  movements 
of  our  modern  world.  All  the  leading  spirits  of  this  reform  have  avowed  again  and 
again  that  the  reformation  of  these  unfortunate  women  is  a  religious  question,  and 
that  unless  the  worker  in  this  uninviting,  unpopular  field  is  sustained  by  the  religious 
sentiment  of  the  community,  and  upheld  by  the  faith  and  prayers  and  sympathy  and 
co-operation  of  both  Christian  men  and  women,  they  may  as  well  lay  down  their 
arms.  I  hold  that  we  as  workers  hav^e  a  right  to  expect  from  every  Christian  com- 
munity intelligent  sympathy  with  the  work,  and  the  moral  support  of  an  educated 
public  sentiment,  and  the  creation  of  an  atmosphere  of  hopeful  feeling  in  which  the 
rescued  and  the  reformed  may  breathe  and  live  again.  This  work  demands  tenderness, 
humanity  and  self-sacrifice.  You  and  I  as  Christian  people  carry  in  our  hands  and 
hearts  the  power  to  give  life  and  bring  it  unto  these  abandoned  creatures.  God's 
command  is:  "Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 

This  is  the  true  inspiration  of  all  work  for  the  outcast.  There  is  no  soul  so  far 
steeped  in  sin  that  it  cannot  be  saved  by  Jesus.  Some  who  hear  my  voice  and  know 
of  my  work  may  find  fault  with  me  for  stooping  to  aid  these  poor  outcasts  of  society. 
But  listen.  There  arises  the  story  of  Christ  and  the  abondoned  woman,  and  His 
words,  "Let  him  who  is  without  sin  cast  the  first  stone."  Herein  is  the  inspiration 
of  this  work. 

I  must  tell  you,  for  I  am  sure  it  will  interest  you,  the  story  of  a  poor,  innocent  girl. 
Twenty-five  years  ago — twenty-five  years  tell  many  hopeful  results,  for  even  at  that 
time  I  was  as  zealous  a  worker  as  I  am  this  day;  our  poormaster  often  called  to  ask 
my  assistance,  some  child  was  sick,  or  some  poor  family  might  be  tided  over  and  kept 
from  the  poor  house  if  a  little  help  were  given  them,  therefore  I  was  not  surprised  to 
receive  a  call  from  him  at  any  hour.     This  time  he  came  in  haste,  and  asked  me 


150  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

whether  I  would  go  down  to  a  saloon  on  Water  street,  where  a  young  woman  lay 
dying.  Poor  thing,  dying  of  consumption,  and  in  such  a  place.  He  said  to  me:  "  Can 
you  go  soon?  You  will  know  better  than  I  how  to  say  a  word  to  the  poor  girl.  She 
evidently  does  not  belong  to  the  class  that  frequents  saloons."  I  readily  promised  to 
go,  provided  myself  with  a  few  lemons  and  a  glass  of  jelly,  and  got  all  the  Christ-love 
possible  into  my  heart,  for  I  well  knew  what  it  must  be  and  what  it  meant  to  go  into- 
"  a  saloon  on  Water  street."  As  I  neared  the  building  I  saw  a  coarse  looking  man 
standing  in  the  door.  The  blinds  had  not  been  removed,  and  evidently  he  was  expect- 
ing me,  for  the  poormaster  had  promised  to  send  me.  I  asked,  "  Is  there  a  sick  woman 
here?"  He  replied,  "Yes,  good  woman,  hurry  up  those  stairs.  Poor  thing,  she  don't 
belong  here.  No  such  sort  as  the  other  girls.  But  my  wife  is  awful  tender  hearted; 
she  found  this  girl  at  one  of  the  hotels,  where  she  was  trying  to  wash  dishes  to  pay  for 
her  board.  Poor  thing;  dying  by  inches.  My  wife  brought  her  over  here,  and  we 
gave  her  the  best  little  room  we  had  upstairs,  and  my  wife  has  been  a  mother  to  her. 
But,  poor  bird,  it  is  all  up  with  her.  I  wasn't  going  to  open  up  this  place  or  take 
down  these  blinds.  Can't  do  it.  She  was  a  good  girl,  only  everybody  deserted  her 
because  she  was  sick  and  couldn't  work.  I  reckon  she  is  true,  and  would  keep  her 
virtue  even  if  she  starved.  Please,  good  lady,  hurry  up  to  her.  I  hear  that  dreadful 
cough."  I  hastened  upstairs,  and  in  a  little  room  several  gaudily  dressed  girls  stood 
around  the  bed — girls  with  the  marks  of  dissipation  on  their  faces  so  plainly  that  there 
was  no  mistaking  the  kind  of  life  they  were  leading.  Over  the  sufferer  bent  a  plain 
but  motherly  woman,  whose  strong  arms  were  pillowing  the  head  of  a  beautiful  girl,, 
for  she  could  scarcely  be  called  a  woman.  Her  jet  black  hair  fell  in  long  curls  in  one 
rich  mass  over  the  pillow.  For  an  instant  all  was  silent.  The  coughing  ceased,  but 
only  for  an  instant.  The  girls  who  were  watching  the  woman  wipe  the  blood-stained 
lips  of  the  beautiful  sufferer  cried,  "She  is  dying""  The  woman  looked  up  and  said^ 
"  Silence;  she  breathes."  As  she  held  a  cup  to  her  lips  she  said,  "  Darling  child,  take 
a  drop  of  this,  it  will  soothe  you;  drink,  dear."  Oh,  what  a  scene.  I  shall  never  for- 
get it  to  my  dying  hour.  I  stepped  forward,  for  I  had  not  been  noticed  by  the  girls 
or  the  woman,  they  were  weeping  and  wringing  their  hands.  One  of  the  girls  had 
just  remarked,  "That  woman  (meaning  me)  will  never  come.  Oh,  Daisy  is  dying;  do- 
hold  her  up  !  Open  wide  the  windows,  bring  a  fan,  call  somebody — get  help!"  I 
moved  toward  the  bed,  untied  my  bonnet  and  handed  it  to  one  of  the  girls.  I  then  and 
there  realized  where  I  was — in  one  of  the  low  dens,  a  house  of  prostitution — realized 
through  the  creatures  before  me.  A  dying  girl,  whom  the  poormaster  and  the  man 
of  the  house  told  me  was  innocent  and  a  helpless  creature.  The  woman  who  was- 
partner  in  the  house  had,  from  the  goodness  of  her  heart,  brought  the  girl  to  her  home^ 
th^t  "the  child,"  as  she  called  her,  might  die  in  a  comfortable  bed.  Another  fit  of 
coughing,  and  the  sufferer  turned  her  eyes  toward  me  and  motioned  to  me,  reaching 
out  her  cold,  cold  hand.  She  cried,  "  I  am  dying!  Oh  must,  must  I  go  to  hell?"  She 
sank  exhausted  on  the  pillow  and  the  arm  of  the  woman,  whose  rough  cheeks  were 
being  washed  with  the  flowing  tears.  She,  too,  had  seen  me,  and  said,  "  Daisy  wanted 
you,  and  the  poormaster  said  you  would  come."  I  offered  to  relieve  the  woman  who 
was  so  tenderly  caring  for  this  poor  stranger  under  such  strange  circumstances.  The  poor 
child  looked  up  at  me  for  a  moment.  Oh,  those  big,  brown  eyes.  Can  I  ever  forget 
them.  And  her  words,  "lam  dying,  and  must  I  go  to  hell?"  Holding  that  tired 
head  close  to  my  own  I  whispered,  "No,  no,  dear  child;  I  hear  the  Saviour  calling 
you.  Jesus  and  the  angels  are  waiting  your  coming.  There,  don't  move  and  fret 
about  that.  It  makes  you  cough,  and  I  want  you  to  listen.  Hark!  Listen!  Keep  very- 
quiet.  Hark!  don't  you  hear  that  voice  whispering,  'Come  home,  poor  wanderer, 
come  home.'  Please,  Daisy,  drink  a  drop  of  this  lemon  water.  Don't  move.  We'll 
help  you.  There,  hush,  dear  girl,  the  Saviour  calls."  The  poor  girl  believed.  A  faint 
"  Yes  "  came  from  her  lips;  one  slight  struggle  for  breath,  and  her  hand,  holding  fast  to- 
mine,  she  whispered  so  low  and  faint,  yet  clearly  audible,  "  I  do  hear  the  sweetest 
music  " — and  she  was  dead.     Dare  you,  my  hearers,  or  I  say  that  Daisy  did  not  hear 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  151 

the  sweet  music  of  Jesus'  voice.  Dare  you  pass  judgment  and  tell  me  I  committed  a 
sin  or  gave  a  false  impression  when  I  told  the  poor  dying  girl — dying  in  an  atmos- 
phere of  prostitution,  and  in  the  presence  of  those  abandoned  creatures — dare  anyone 
say  that  Jesus  was  not  there,  with  a  band  of  waiting  angels,  to  wing  the  spirit  of  Daisy 
to  the  heavenly  home?  The  woman  and  the  girls  stood  weeping  and  crying,  "What 
shall  we  do;  what  shall  we  do?"  A  moment's  silent  thought  and  I  answered,  "Seek 
pardon  here  and  now.  While  Jesus  is  waiting  to  hear  you,  ask  him  to  wash  your  sins 
away.  He  is  calling  to  you  now  to  give  up  this  fearful  life."  Two  of  the  girls 
promised  over  the  dead  body  of  Daisy  to  seek  another  home. 

A  Christian  burial  was  given  poor  Daisy,  and  through  her  great  sorrow  and  suffer- 
ing two  souls  were  led  to  seek  pardon  and  entered  into  a  new  life. 

To  save  the  souls  of  the  sinful,  to  lift  the  fallen  and  say  to  the  outcast,  "  There 
is  hope  for  you  in  the  love  of  Jesus,"  this  is  something  that  all  can  do,  and,  moved  by 
this  Christ-love,  will  do. 

I  believe  that  those  who  have  gone  on  before  and  are  now  in  Heaven  are  gathered 
from  all  lands  and  all  nations  and  classes,  from  the  sinful  and  from  the  moral,  for,  for 
such  the  blessed  Jesus  died. 


THE  FATE  OF  REPUBLICS. 


By  REV.  ANNA  HOWARD  SHAW. 

The  study  of  the  rise  and  fall  of  great  republics  shows  a  remarkable  corre' 
spondence  in  them  all.     They  all  had  like  beginnings,  having  been  established  by  a 

body  of  people  whose  views  were  in  advance  of  the 
age  and  the  people  among  whom  they  dwelt;  who 
were  driven  forth  from  their  native  country  or  became 
voluntary  exiles,  wandering  into  new  lands,  establish- 
ing a  new  system  of  government,  the  central  idea  of 
which  was  civil  and  religious  liberty.  About  this 
central  idea,  by  industry,  perseverance,  indomitable 
courage  and  patriotism,  republics  have  grown  more 
rapidly  and  attained  to  their  period  of  glory  in  much 
shorter  time  than  any  other  form  of  government. 
They  have  also  decayed  and  come  to  their  ruin  more 
rapidly  than  other  equally  great  nations,  until  states- 
men are  beginning  to  ask.  Is  it  possible  for  a  republic 
to  become  a  permanent  form  of  government?  Re- 
publics have  also  grown  along  like  lines,  and  have 
come  to  their  ruin  from  similar  causes.  The  lines  of 
growth  correspond  with  those  elements  in  human 
nature  where  men  are  superior  to  women.  Point  out 
a  line  of  strength  which  is  peculiarly  masculine,  and 
}'ou  will  find  a  corresponding  line  of  marked  prog- 
ress in  all  great  republics — business  enterprise,  and 
inventive  genius,  the  aggressive  spirit  and  warlike 
nature,  are  the  lines  of  strength  in  all  of  the  great  republics  of  the  world. 

On  the  other  hand,  Republics  have  decayed  along  the  lines  of  our  human  nature 
in  which  men  are  inferior  to  women.  Those  of  morality  and  purity,  temperance  and 
obedience  to  law,  of  loyalty  to  the  teachings  of  religion  and  a  love  of  peace.  No 
republic,  ancient  or  modern,  ever  died  from  the  lack  of  material  prosperity.  Rome, 
Greece,  Carthage,  the  Dutch  Republic,  all  manifested  evidences  of  decay  while  rich 
and  powerful.  Vice  followed  in  the  wake  of  great  wealth,  corruption  close  following 
on  vice,  then  barbarism,  the  final  fate  of  all.  When  we  find  a  uniform  result  in  any 
system  of  government,  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  seek  for  the  cause,  and  if  the  result 
is  disastrous  to  the  best  interests  of  the  nation,  it  is  then  the  duty  of  patriots  to 
remove  the  cause,  regardless  of  prejudice  or  precedent. 

It  is  an  axiom  in  political  economy  "  that  in  a  republic,  the  class  which  votes 
affects  the  government  in  the  long  run  along  the  lines  of  its  nature."  Following  this 
law,  it  will  readily  be  seen  why  republics  into  whose  structure  men  have  built  their 
own  nature,  have  manifested  in  all  their  lines  of  growth  the  strength  of  the  masculine 
character;   and   on   the   other    hand,    since    women    have    been  excluded    from  all 

Anna  Howard  Shaw  is  a  native  of  Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  England.  Was  born  February  14,  1847.  Her  parents 
were  Thomas  Shaw  of  Manchester  and  Nicolas  Stott  Shaw  of  Alnwick,  She  was'educated  at  Abion  College,  Michigan,  and 
took  degrees  from  the  Boston  University  in  theology  and  medicine,  and  has  traveled  extensively  in  the  United  Slates,  Canada 
and  Europe.  Her  work  is  in  the  interest  of  women  in  all  her  broader  fields  of  usefulness.  In  religious  faith  she  is  Methodist 
Protestant,  is  a  clergyman  and  member  of  the  New  York  Conference.  For  eight  years  after  her  graduation  in  theology  she 
was  pastor  of  two  churches  in  Massachusetts,  of  the  last  one,  at  East  Dennis,  pastor  seven  years.  Since  then  she  has  been 
lecturing,  traveling  more  than  40,000  miles  each  year.  She  is  a  most  eloquent  and  logical  orator.  Her  postoffice  address  ia 
HomertoD,  Philadelphia,  Pa, 

152 


REV,   ANNA   HOWARD  SHAW. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  I53 

participation  in  governmental  affairs,  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  their  nature  have 
never  been  developed  in  the  nation's  life,  therefore  republics  have  always  become 
weak  and  have  ultimately  come  to  their  death  through  the  decay  of  the  moral  and 
spiritual  side  of  their  life. 

The  question  before  us  then  is  this:  Is  there  anything  in  the  nature  of  woman, 
differing  from  the  nature  of  man  in  such  a  manner,  that  if  women  were  permitted  to 
vote  it  would  enable  them  to  affect  the  government  differently  from  the  way  in  which 
men  affect  it?  In  a  speech  made  in  Kansas  some  time  since  a  United  States  senator 
said,  "  The  nature  of  woman  is  as  different  from  the  nature  of  man,  as  the  East  is  from 
the  West."  From  which  fact,  he  drew  the  conclusion  that  women  ought  to  be  dis- 
franchised. He  further  states  that,  "If  women  were  permitted  to  vote,  the  result  would 
not  be  changed,  as  the>'  would  affect  the  government  just  as  men  affect  it."  In  his 
speech  the  senator  made  a  strong  plea  for  the  superiority  of  his  sex  on  the  ground  of 
their  reasoning  and  logical  powers,  and  said:  "Women  cannot  reason,  but  arrive  at  their 
conclusions  intuitixely."  On  reading  the  senator's  speech  one  is  led  to  inquire  what 
woman's  head  he  borrowed  to  enable  him  to  arrive  at  his  conclusions  from  the  premises 
with  which  he  started.  If  in  a  republic  every  class  that  votes  affects  the  government 
in  the  long  run  along  the  line  of  its  nature,  and  the  nature  of  woman  differs  from  the 
nature  of  man  as  the  East  differs  from  the  West,  how  can  any  reasoning  or  logical 
mind  conclude  that  the  votes  of  women  would  affect  the  government  exactly  as  those 
of  men?  Reason,  or  intuition,  or  by  whatever  mental  process  women  reach  their  con- 
clusions, they  would  claim  the  result  of  woman's  voting  to  be  as  different  from  that  of 
men  as  the  East  is  from  the  West. 

We  need  no  argument  to  prove  that  the  liquor  class  is  able  to  affect  the  govern- 
ment, and  that  it  influences  it  because  of  its  power  in  the  caucus,  at  the  ballot  box  and 
in  halls  of  legislation.  Recent  laws  tn  many  states  show  us  how  men  interested  in 
many  forms  of  gambling  and  vice  are  able  to  affect  the  government  through  the  power 
of  the  ballot.  In  one  of  my  old  parishes  in  Massachusetts,  a  body  of  men  interested 
in  cranberry  culture  were  equally  successful  in  defeating  another  body  of  men  engaged 
in  the  fishing  industry,  because  the  cranberry  men  elected  their  candidate  to  the  legis- 
lature, who  through  his  ability  to  exchange  votes,  secured  the  passage  of  a  bill  in  the 
interests  of  his  constituents.  Had  women  owned  the  property,  in  whose  behalf  legis- 
lation was  secured,  they  could  have  done  nothing  but  watch  the  shiny  herring  swim 
up  and  down  the  stream  which  was  dammed  by  legislative  enactment,  until  the  last 
trump  had  sounded;  because,  not  having  votes, they  could  have  sent  no  represent- 
ative to  the  legislature  to  look  after  their  special  interests.  If  in  a  republic  liquor 
men,  gambling  men  and  cranberry  men  having  votes  are  able  to  affect  the  govern- 
ment, and  to  affect  it  along  the  line  of  their  nature,  then  women,  if  they  have  votes, 
could  affect  it  along  the  line  of  their  nature;  and  if  women  differ  from  men,  as  the 
East  does  from  the  West,  then  the  effect  of  their  participation  in  government  would 
differ  less  from  that  of  men  in  like  manner. 

Wherein  does  the  nature  of  women  differ  from  that  of  men  in  such  a  way  that  if 
they  voted  they  would  be  able  to  affect  the  government.  It  is  universally  admitted 
that  w^omen  are  more  moral  than  men.  The  great  moral  factor  of  the  world  is  its 
womanhood.  Men  recognize  this  fact  even  more  than  women,  as,  in  all  their  argu- 
ments against  the  extension  of  suffrage  to  women,  they  claim  it  would  degrade  them 
to  the  level  of  men.  In  the  congressional  debate  over  the  admission  of  Wyoming 
territory  into  the  Union  as  a  state,  every  gentleman  who  opposed  it  based  his  argu- 
ment upon  the  woman  suffrage  plank  in  its  constitution,  urging  that  women  are  "  too 
good  and  pure  to  vote."  For  the  first  time  in  history  goodness  and  virtue  were  made 
the  basis  of  disfranchisement.  In  response  to  this  sentiment  Mr.  Carey,  the  United 
States  delegate  from  Wyoming,  declared  this  very  characteristic  of  womanhood  had 
compelled  both  great  political  parties  in  that  territory  to  nominate  their  best  men  in 
the  caucuses,  since  the  women  defeated  the  immoral  men  at  the  polls.  Said  a  woman 
in  Wyoming:    "We  are  not  particular  to  hold  offices  ourselves,  but  we  ar^  very  par- 


154  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

ticuiar  who  do  hold  office."  Women  are  more  temperate  than  men;  yet  when  the 
state  has  a  temperance  question  to  settle,  the  ballot  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  every 
distiller,  every  brewer,  every  saloonkeeper,  every  bartender  and  every  male  drunkard, 
and  is  kept  out  of  the  hands  of  the  women,  the  great  temperance  factor  of  the  world, 
which,  to  our  intuitive  natures,  is  a  mark  of  very  poor  statesmanship.  Women  are 
also  more  religious  than  men;  nearly  three-fourths  of  the  church  members  are  women, 
^nd  nine-tenths  of  the  spiritual  and  philanthropic  work  of  the  world  is  done  by  them. 
Yet  when  it  comes  to  building  up  the  life  of  a  republic  this  spiritual  factor  is  counted 
out.  And  this  men  call  statesmanship.  It  is  charged  that  women,  if  possessed  of 
political  power,  would  seek  to  unite  church  and  state.  This  statement  is  wholly  with- 
out foundation;  knowing  as  we  do  that  such  a  union  would  be  disastrous  to  both  church 
and  state,  women  would  oppose  it  even  more  than  men.  Yet  we  answer  the  gentle- 
man who  claimed  that,  "there  is  no  place  in  the  politics  of  this  country  for  the  deca- 
logue and  the  golden  rule,"  that  if  it  be  true,  then  there  is  no  place  in  God's  universe 
for  the  politics  of  this  country.  He  has  no  place  for  the  politics  of  any  country  in 
which  there  is  no  room  for  the  decalogue  or  the  golden  rule.  What  we  need  more 
than  the  settlement  of  any  of  the  problems  which  are  at  present  agitating  the  political 
mind  is  an  infusion  of  the  golden  rule  into  politics,  and  of  the  decalogue  into  the  laws 
of  the  land.  This  cannot  be  accomplished  either  by  putting  the  name  of  Deity  into 
the  Constitution,  or  by  the  union  of  church  and  state,  but  by  bringing  to  bear  upon  the 
government  the  influence  of  that  class  of  people  who  are  the  spiritual  strength  of  the 
church. 

Again,  women  are  more  peace-loving  than  men.  This  has  led  some  to  say  that' 
women  ought  not  to  vote  because  they  cannot  bear  arms  This  claim  is  usually  made 
by  men  who,  in  the  hour  of  their  country's  need,  sent  substitutes  to  the  army,  or  fled 
to  Canada;  or  else,  by  the  young  men  who  have  been  born  since  the  close  of  the 
war.  The  class  who  never  make  the  statement  that  the  ballot  and  the  bayonet  go 
together,  are  the  heroes  maimed  in  battle  or  broken  in  health,  and  prematurely  old 
because  of  exposure  and  suffering  in  their  country's  behalf.  They  know  the  value  of 
women  in  war  time,  and  that  women  do  go  to  war.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  forty 
thousand  women  who  went  to  the  hospitals,  visited  the  camps  and  battle-fields  to  care  for 
our  wounded  heroes,  there  are  thousands  with  us  today  who  would  never  have  seen 
home  or  friends  again,  but  who  would  be  sleeping  in  unknown  graves.  These  heroes 
remember  not  only  the  services  of  the  women  in  the  field,  but  the  great  sanitary  com- 
mission, sending  its  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  those  things  which  were  made  for  health 
and  comfort,  to  hospital  and  fields  during  those  terrible  years  of  suffering.  But,  best 
of  all,  they  remember  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  that  staid  at  home,  who, 
when  the  citizen  soldiers  laid  down  the  implements  of  peace,  to  take  up  the  weapons 
of  war,  took  those  implements  of  peace  and  went  to  the  workshop,  the  factory,  the 
counting-room,  the  store  and  the  farm,  filling  the  places  of  men  and  earning  the  live- 
lihood for  the  family,  when  prices  were  such  as  had  never  been  known  in  the  histore 
of  our  time;  and  when  the  news  came  flashing  over  the  wire  that  they  who  had  gone 
forth  would  never  more  return,  the  broken-hearted  wives,  forgetting  the  agony  of  their 
own  loss,  gathered  their  children  about  their  knees,  and  asked  God  that  they  might 
be  both  father  and  mother  to  their  fatherless  little  ones;  and  alone  and  single-handed 
all  over  the  land  women  have  reared  to  manhood  and  womanhood  the  children  left 
by  their  dead  heroes  as  their  only  legacy.  Then  some  man  who  never  struck  a  blow 
in  behalf  of  his  country  exclaims:  "Women  must  not  vote,  because  they  cannot 
fight."  In  the  face  of  the  loyalty  of  America's  Womanhood  the  darkest  stain  on  the 
escutcheon  of  our  country  is  its  utter  forgetfulness  of  their  services.  From  the  begin- 
ning of  its  history  to  the  present  hour,  by  no  act  of  Congress  or  of  any  state  legislat- 
ure has  there  ever  been  any  public  recognition  of  the  services  of  its  women.  By  no 
monument  of  granite,  or  marble,  or  bronze  has  it  ever  commemorated  the  memory 
of  their  patriotism.  They  are  as  utterly  forgotten  as  if  they  had  never  lived,  suffered 
or  died  for  their  country. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  155 

When  a  committee  appealed  to  Congress,  asking  that  when  the  negroes  were  enfran- 
chised the  loyal  women  might  share  their  freedom,  Congress  answered:  "It  is  the 
negro's  hour,  women  must  wait."  The  negro's  hour  struck,  again  women  asked  for 
liberty,  and  were  again  assured  that  Congress  had  weightier  measures  to  consume 
its  time  and  attention — it  had  the  South  to  reconstruct,  and  the  North  to  bring 
back  to  a  sound  business  basis.  The  severest  form  of  punishment  it  could  devise 
for  the  crime  of  treason  was  disfranchisement,  reducing  traitors  to  the  level  of  loyal 
women,  who  had  given  all  they  had  for  their  country,  and  this  is  the  only  recognition 
that  Congress  has  ever  granted  them.  I  have  traveled  in  many  countries,  and  in  every 
one,  save  in  these  United  States,  I  have  seen  stately  monuments  erected  in  grateful 
memory  of  the  patriotic  services  of  women.  We  had  a  faint  hope  of  at  least  a  part  in 
one,  when  we  learned  that  a  national  monument  to  the  Pilgrims  was  to  be  unveiled 
at  Plymouth,  Mass.  On  the  great  day,  scores  of  women  gathered  to  witness  the 
ceremonies.  We  were  told  that  this  government  had  taught  the  nations  of  the 
world  the  great  principle  that,  "taxation  without  representation  is  tyranny."  We 
sighed  as  we  remembered  the  taxes  we  had  paid,  and  yet  were  still  refused  representa- 
tion. We  were  also  told  that  in  this  country  under  God  the  people  rule,  and  yet  the 
constitution  of  every  state  in  the  Union,  at  that  time,  declared  it  was  the  males,  and  not 
the  people  who  rule.  The  orator  again  assured  us  that  the  powers  of  this  government 
were  just,  since  governments  derive  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed; 
but  they  recently  hung  a  woman,  in  one  of  these  just  states,  who  had  never  given  her 
consent  to  the  law  under  which  she  was  executed,  nor  had  the  consent  of  women,  her 
peers,  ever  been  asked  regarding  it.  Then  we  were  told  that  as  the  voice  of  the  peo- 
ple is  the  voice  of  God,  and  this  was  repeated  both  in  Latin  and  in  English,  that  there 
might  be  no  doubt  in  regard  to  it,  that  the  laws  of  our  land  were  the  crystallized  voice 
of  Deity.  The  speaker,  forgetting  that  in  the  compass  of  the  people's  voice  there  is  a 
soprano  as  well  as  a  bass,  and  that  if  the  voice  of  the  people  is  the  voice  of  God,  we 
will  never  know  what  His  voice  is  until  the  bass  and  soprano  unite  in  harmonious 
sound,  the  resultant  of  which  will  be  the  voice  of  God.  After  many  other  statements 
of  a  similar  character,  which  are  true  in  spirit,  but  had  never  been  practiced  by  any 
nation,  the  monument  was  unveiled,  and  our  hearts  sank  with  intense  disappointment 
when  we  read  the  inscription,  "Erected  by  a  grateful  country  in  honor  of  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers."  We  had  again  witnessed  the  evidence  of  a  country's  easy  forgetfulness  of 
its  debt  to  women.  We  felt  just  as  we  do  when  we  gaze  on  that  picture  so  familiar  to 
you  all;  a  ship  in  the  background,  between  it  and  the  shore  is  a  man  carrying  what 
seems  to  be  a  woman  in  his  arms,  on  the  beach  kneel  a  company  of  people,  and  farther 
up  the  beach  stand  another  group  with  uplifted  hands,  thanking  God  for  their  deliv- 
erance. They  look  like  men  and  women.  You  wonder  what  company  of  people  it  is, 
and  read  the  inscription  beneath  the  picture  to  learn,  that  it  is  not  a  company  of  men 
and  women  at  all,  but  is  a  representation  of  "The  landing  of  the  Forefathers."  You 
instinctively  exclaim  how  kind  the  forefathers  were  to  carry  each  other  ashore,  and 
how  much  some  of  them  resemble  mothers,  but  they  were  not  mothers,  they  were  all 
fathers,  every  mother  of  them. 

There  never  was  another  country  which  had  so  many  parents  iis  we  have  had,  but 
they  have  all  been  fathers — pilgrim  fathers,  Plymouth  fathers,  forefathers,  revolutionary 
fathers,  city  fathers  and  church  fathers,  fathers  of  every  description — but,  like  Topsy, 
we  have  never  had  a  mother.  In  this  lies  the  weakness  of  all  republics.  They  have 
been  fathered  to  death.  The  great  need  of  our  country  today  is  a  little  mothering  to 
undo  the  evils  of  too  much  fathering.  Like  Israel  of  old,  when  the  people  were 
reduced  to  their  utmost  extremity, in  order  to  save  the  nation,  there  was  needed  a 
ruler  who  was  at  once  a  statesman,  a  commander-in-chief  of  the  armies  and  a  right- 
eous judge,  who  would  render  justice  and  be  impervious  to  bribes.  God  called  a 
woman  to  rule,  and  Deborah  tells  us  in  her  wonderful  ode  that  the  great  need  of  the 
nation  in  this  hour  of  its  extremity  was  motherhood  applied  to  government,  when  she 
exclaims,  "Behold  the  condition  of  Israel  when  I,  Deborah,  a  mother  in  Israel,  arose." 


156  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

"Then  was  there  peace  in  Israel"  and  prosperity  and  success,  as  "Deborah  ruled  the 
people  in  righteousness  for  forty  years." 

Women  are  more  law-abiding  than  men.  It  is  universally  accepted  that  the  class 
of  people  who  best  obey  the  laws  are  best  fitted  to  make  them.  It  is  also  stated  that 
everything  in  a  republic  depends  upon  the  obedience  of  the  citizens  to  law.  I  visited  the 
penitentiary  of  a  state  whose  senator  made  this  statement,  and  asked  the  warden  how 
many  prisoners  he  had.  He  replied,  "Eight  hundred  and  eighty-nine,  of  whom  eight 
hundred  and  eighty  are  men  and  nine  are  women,"  so  that  in  the  State  of  Kansas 
the  women  are  a  hundred  times  more  law-abiding  than  the  men.  In  the  United  States 
the  same  year  there  were  sixty-eight  thousand  and  five  prisoners,  of  whom  fifty-three 
thousand  were  men  and  only  five  thousand  and  five  were  women,  showing  that  in  the 
whole  United  States  there  were  ten  times  as  many  men  criminals  as  women. 

It  has  been  claimed  that  the  small  number  of  women  prisoners  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  women  have  no  part  in  politics,  for  in  the  thought  of  some  people  politics  and 
prisons  are  synonymous  terms.  If,  however,  this  statemen.  were  true  of  women,  then 
where  they  are  most  in  politics  they  would  be  most  in  prison  We  have  but  one  state  to 
which  we  can  turn  for  statistics.  At  the  close  of  the  census  in  1890  Mrs.  Clara  Bewick 
Colby,  of  Washington,  consulted  the  statistics  of  crime,  and  learned  to  our  great  satis- 
faction that  the  only  state  in  the  Union  in  which  there  was  not  a  woman  criminal  in 
jail  or  penitentiary  was  Wyoming,  the  state  where  women  had  voted  for  twenty-one 
years. 

It  has  also  been  charged  that  on  account  of  her  emotional  nature  woman's  mental 
condition  would  be  unsettled  if  she  engaged  in  anything  so  exciting  as  public  affairs. 
But  Mrs.  Colby  also  learned  from  the  same  source  that  the  only  state  in  which  there 
was  not  an  insane  woman  in  public  or  private  asylum  was  the  State  of  Wyoming, 
where  women  have  been  voting  for  twenty-one  years.  She  also  learned  that  Wyom- 
ing was  the  only  state  in  which  but  few  men  were  insane — only  three — and  concludes 
that  the  exercise  of  suffrage  makes  women  so  peaceable  to  live  with  that  very  few 
men  go  insane.  The  same  authority  points  to  the  fact  that  Wyoming  is  the  only 
state  in  which  during  the  last  two  decades  the  per  cent  of  marriage  has  increased 
over  the  per  cent  of  divorce. 

If,  then,  in  a  republic  the  class  which  \otes  affects  the  government  in  the  long 
run  along  the  line  of  its  "nature,  and  women  are  more  moral,  more  temperate,  more 
religious,  more  peace-lov^ing  and  more  law-abiding  than  men,  then  if  they  were  per- 
mitted to  vote  they  would  affect  the  government  along  these  lines.  It  needs  but  a 
glance  at  the  world's  history  to  show  that  these  are  the  lines  of  weakness  in  republics, 
and  that  they  have  all  died  because  of  their  immorality,  licentiousness,  intemperance, 
their  disregard  of  their  own  laws,  the  violation  of  the  statutes  of  God  and  by  their 
warlike  nature,  and  they  can  only  become  strong  by  the  incoming  of  that  class  of 
people  who  are  strong  where  they  are  weak.  Then  shall  the  voice  of  the  people 
become  the  voice  of  God,  and  for  the  first  time  in  history  the  voice  of  God  shall  be 
crystallized  into  the  laws  of  a  republic. 


WOMEN  IN  iWODERN  ITALY. 


By  MADAME  FANNY  ZAMPINI  SALAZAR. 

Social  customs,  family  habits,  popular  prejudices  and  individual  opinions  differ 
GO  utterly  from  the  north  to  the  south  of  Italy  that  to  give  a  fair  view  of  the  subject  I 

should  exhibit  two  different  studies  of  my  country- 
women, if  I  did  not  feel  it  my  duty  not  to  trespass 
on  your  kind  attention.  So  I  must  try  to  generalize 
my  study  and  mark  briefly  the  differences  existing 
between  one  and  another  part  of  modern  Italy,  the 
north  being  far  in  advance  of  the  south.  Since 
national  culture  began  to  offer  means  to  educate  the 
minds  of  the  people,  some  women  earnestly  profited 
by  this  light  of  the  soul,  and  today  we  have  groups 
of  learned,  enlightened  women  who  seriously  strug- 
gle for  the  elevation  of  our  sex  in  Italy.  Here  also 
we  must  take  into  consideration  the  difference  of 
these  groups  in  the  different  provinces,  and  notice 
how  the  north  is  still  in  advance  of  the  south  as  far  as 
these  groups  are  concerned.  This  may  be  explained 
by  the  fact  that  the  south  was  for  long  years  the  prey 
of  ignorant  rulers,  while  the  north  was  governed  by 
more  intelligent  sovereigns,  though  no  less  tyrannical 
and  oppressive,  who  did  not,  however,  consider  it  im- 
proper to  offer  means  of  culture  to  their  people. 

And  while  this  happened  in  the  north  and  south, 
in  the  two  extreme  parts  of  Italy,  the  central  portion 
was  no  better  off  under  the  dominion  of  the  popes,  whose  religious  mission,  unfortu- 
nately, changed  into  a  political  one.  Since  1870  this  political  aim  has  increased  and 
spread  all  over  Italy,  the  priesthood  regarding  it  as  a  duty  to  keep  control,  not  only 
over  souls  and  religious  matters,  but  in  other  concerns  in  life,  and  above  all  in  politics. 
Feeling  that  men  escape  such  control,  priests  concentrate  all  their  efforts  to  keep  women 
under  their  influence.  Allow  me  an  explanation.  If  such  influence  was  exercised  in 
good  faith  and  for  pure  religious  purposes,  all  that  is  best  might  come  of  it.  But 
unfortunately  the  strangest  anti-patriotic  feeling  rules  their  behavior.  The  ardent 
dreams  dreamed  by  our  patriots,  in  prison  and  in  exile,  during  the  long  years  of  sub- 
jection, and  realized  in  the  union  of  Italy,  with  Rome  for  a  capital,  leaves  them  worse 
than  cold  and  indifferent — dissatisfied  and  angry.  Hence  a  perpetual  struggle  to 
regain  temporal  power  makes  of  the  purest  of  human  feelings,  religion,  a  question  of 
politics ;  not  in  view  of  the  welfare  and  the  popularity  of  the  nation,  but  for  the  meanest 
ends  of  worldly  ambition.  Men  influenced  by  women,  though  often  unconsciously, 
are  kept  from  taking  any  part  in  elections;  and  these  being  left  mostly  to  ignorant  and 

Signora  Fanny  Zampini  Salazar  is  a  native  of  Italy,  danghter  of  Demetro  Salazar.  She  traveled  in  England,  stodying 
the  industrial  institutions  for  women  in  that  country,  made  a  report  to  the  government  of  Italy  which  was  favorably  received 
and  an  appointment  was  given  her  for  like  service  in  America.  At  one  time  she  published  a  paper,  The  Queen,  in  the 
interest  of  Italian  women,  for  whom  she  has  been  a  zealous  worker,  endeavoring  to  raise  both  the  industrial  and  intellectual 
standards.  Among  her  published  works  are,  "  A  Glance  at  the  Future  of  Woman  in  Italy,"  "  Life  and  Labors  of  Demetro 
Salazar,"  "  Guides  to  Physical  and  Moral  Health  of  Italian  Children,"  "Old  Straggles  and  New  Hope«."  She  was  sent  as  an 
Italian  representative  to  the  Congress  of  Representative  Women,  which  met  in  Chicago  in  1898.  She  was  also  elected  one  of 
the  judges  of  awards  of  the  Columbian  Exposition.  She  is  a  graceful  writer,  a  jmoet  charming  lecturer,  bat  above  all  • 
noble  woman,  devoted  mother  and  faithful  wife. 

157 


.MADAME   FANNY  ZAMPINI  SALAZAR. 


158  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

ambitious  people,  are  used  for  mean  personal  ends  of  obtaining  power,  fortune  and 
influence.  The  results  are  what  lately  created  shameful  scandals  and  made  the  hearts 
of  true  Italians  bleed  with  sorrow  at  these  disgraceful  facts.  And  while  the  priest- 
hood, in  hope  of  repressing  progress  and  reconquering  Rome,  work  in  every  way, 
extending  their  influence  even  over  persons  whose  position  and  interest  ought  to  keep 
them  far  from  their  reach,  the  Italian  government,  for  a  sort  of  counteraction,  has 
no  religious  culture  in  public  schools.  The  result  is  a  relaxation  in  morality  to  the 
great  detriment  of  religion  and  politics,  regarded  in  the  highest  sense  of  their  noble 
meaning.  Women  consider  themselves  pious  if  they  follow  religious  practices,  and 
men  good  citizens  if  they  look  on,  complaining  if  all  does  not  go  right  in  the  country, 
but  seldom  rising  to  the  consciousness  of  their  great  responsibility  as  pertains  to  their 
political  duties.  All  this  has  its  origin  in  and  is  the  consequence  of  the  general  indif- 
ference to  all  that  concerns  politics. 

Uncultivated  women  cannot  understand  what  noble  influence  they  might  exert 
for  the  welfare  of  their  country,  and  the  elevation  of  the  family  and  of  society.  The 
few  who  realize  such  a  duty  and  try  to  accomplish  it  are  wearied  by  misunderstand- 
ings, opposition  and  unfair  criticism.  Men  are  more  easily  led,  in  general,  by  the 
so-called  feeble  women  who  rule  over  them,  and  who  seem  to  be  entirely  subjected 
to  their  will.  Strong,  earnest,  noble-minded  women,  whose  interest  in  educational, 
social  and  political  matters,  combined  with  their  culture,  makes  their  conversation 
much  prized  in  society,  though  admired,  are  feared,  and  are  kept  carefully  apart  because 
of  a  strange  sort  of  prejudice  about  their  becoming  too  influential  in  the  country. 
Of  course,  men  wish  to  keep  their  predominance,  and  though  willingly  disposed  to 
accept  privately  woman's  seasonable  advice  and  moral  help,  they  take  great  care  not 
to  make  her  conscious  of  her  power,  and  in  society  they  make  much  more  of  light, 
wel  -dressed,  insignificant  women,  whose  influence  they  fear  not,  being  unconscious  in 
this  case  that  such  negative  influence  leads  them  down  to  the  lower  level  of  such 
charming,  empty-minded,  useless  creatures. 

Again,  the  great  difference  to  be  found  in  the  various  social  classes  makes  it  difiicult 
to  define  a  woman  of  typical  character  in  Italy.  We  have  aristocracy,  from  which  class 
little  is  to  be  hoped.  In  this  class  a  few,  a  very  few,  exceptions  are  worthy  of  notice 
for  giving  their  lives  a  really  noble  aim.  In  general,  old  prejudices,  ignorance,  pride, 
a  sybaritical  conception  of  life,  considered  with  the  most  selfish  views  of  satisfactions 
of  a  mere  material  order,  reign  supreme  in  that  part  of  society  which  might  so  easily 
do  so  much  good.  The  middle  class  has  good  elements,  cultivated  persons  actively 
busy  in  some  sort  of  serious  aim  in  life.  We  have  there  a  group  of  intelligent,  learned 
women,  gifted  with  modern  ideas,  and  trying  to  their  utmost  to  contribute  to  social 
progress.  They  do  not  turn  to  the  higher  classes  for  help;  none  or  very  little,  indeed, 
would  come  to  them  from  that  source;  but  they  look  to  the  common  people  hopefully 
for  the  future  moral  regeneration  of  Italy.  We  have,  indeed,  all  to  hope  from  this 
much  neglected  and  greatly  oppressed  social  class. 

The  Italian  people  have  the  best  human  instincts;  with  a  little  culture  and  much 
love  anything  may  be  made  of  them.  But  allow  me  to  observe  that  we  must  not 
judge  the  Italian  people  by  some  specimens  of  poor  emigrants,  stupefied  with  the  long 
struggle  with  want  and  sorrow  before  they  make  up  their  minds  to  break  the  old  home- 
ties  of  the  beloved  fatherland.  In  general,  Italians  belonging  to  the  popular  classes 
are  full  of  heart  and  kindness,  frugal,  simple,  much  attached  to  their  families  and  the 
place  where  they  were  born.  They  only  need  the  enlightenment  of  culture  to  rise, 
strong  and  powerful,  in  the  full  consciousness  of  their  most  sacred  rights,  to  a  nobler 
life.  But  here,  again,  priesthood  and  prejudice,  political  fears  and  negligence  neutral- 
ize the  few  efforts  made  in  favor  of  their  elevation.  They  are  flattered  when  their 
service  is  required,  helped  occasionally  by  the  humiliating  charity  offerings,  and  kept 
down  in  the  dark  regions  of  ignorance  and  poverty.  Badly  fed,  badly  paid,  oppressed 
by  heavy  taxes,  often  without  work — no  wonder  their  life  is  a  hard  struggle  to  keep 
it  up  in  sacrifice  and  suffering,  unconscious  of  any  right  to  a  brighter  one.     I  have 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  159 

often  tried  in  the  southern  provinces  and  in  Rome  to  arouse  humanitarian  feelings  in 
the  idle  upper  classes,  speaking  and  writing  about  all  that  had  been  done  in  England 
for  the  moral  and  intellectual  elevation  of  women  and  the  people  generally;  but 
I  only  obtained  praises  and  nice  words,  without  ever  being  able  to  begin,  even  on  a 
small  scale,  something  practical  in  the  way  of  associations  of  cultivated  persons  to 
promote  popular  classes,  artistic  societies  in  favor  of  these  neglected  portions  of  our 
country-people. 

The  press  in  Italy  encourages  such  a  movement;  but  the  fearful  indifference  of 
the  public,  and  the  opposition  of  the  officials,  of  the  clergy,  and  other  prejudiced  per- 
sons are  still  to  be  overcome. 

This  work,  I  consider,  must  be  undertaken  by  women,  and  I  am  glad  to  be  able  to 
say  that  we  have  begun  to  undertake  it  in  the  northern  provinces,  and  I  trust  that 
persevering  through  all  difficulties  it  will  bring  its  fruit  in  time. 

In  Bologna,  the  ancient  university  town,  where  learned  women  taught  one  day  in 
the  character  of  acknowledged  professors,  in  Milan  and  in  Turin, associations  exist 
and  are  being  established  with  the  view  of  promoting  woman's  progress  and  culture. 
In  Bologna  ladies  have  been  at  work  for  the  past  two  years;  and,  indeed,  it  is  there  I 
noticed  the  most  important  group  of  intelligent  women  actively  busy  in  promoting 
the  interests  of  their  moral  and  judicial  condition.  What  struck  me  in  Bologna  was  the 
solidarity  of  these  cultivated  women  so  earnestly  at  work  together.  It  is  there  that 
the  noble  influence  of  one  of  our  greatest  Italians,  Mazzini,  is  deeply  felt,  for  a  nobly- 
gifted  Englishwomen,  whose  soul  was  given  to  Italy  in  marrying  Mazzini's  best  friend, 
Aurelio  Saffi,  has  perseveringly  been  at  work  in  the  sunny  years  of  her  happy  youth, 
and  the  sad  ones  of  her  widowhood,  always  endeavoring  in  all  ways  to  elevate  those 
with  whom  she  comes  in  contact.  She  has  established  at  Forli  women's  associations, 
the  objects  of  which  are  to  promote  culture,  sisterly  help  in  need,  and  to  find  work  for 
all.  In  the  fullness  of  a  richly  gifted  nature,  Giorgini  Saffi  honors  our  sex  in  Italy, 
andsimply  goes  on  with  her  noble  work,  blessed  by  all  that  know  her.  Nor  did  this  work 
prevent  her  from  educating  most  highly  her  sons,  and  giving  always  the  example  of  a 
beautiful  life  spent  for  the  welfare  of  all  those  around  her.  I  fully  believe  that  the 
higher  level  of  the  women  at  Bologna  is  due  to  her  influence. 

In  Milan  we  have  a  very  remarkable  group  of  intellectual  women,  but  which  is 
disintegrated,  each  working  in  her  own  way,  very  few  of  them  following  together  the 
same  high  purpose.  But  these  few,  who  are  just  beginning  to  aggregate,  have  felt  the 
need  of  establishing  an  association  to  promote  the  interests  of  their  sex.  When  I  was 
there  lately  Pauline  Schiff,  a  learned  university  teacher  of  German  origin,  published 
the  program  of  an  important  association,  to  which  many  gave  their  names.  In  Milan 
are  some  very  excellent  schools  and  institutions  for  girls.  I  met  there  a  most  remark- 
able woman,  Alexandrina  Navizza,  whose  life  is  entirely  devoted  to  good  works,  and 
who  has  no  end  of  trouble  to  go  on  with  them,  because  she  would  have  nothing  to  do 
with  the  clergy,  and  is  full  of  human  pity  and  sorrow  for  unfortunate  girls  whom  she 
tried  to  help  and  save  from  disgrace.  In  Turin  is  also  a  very  interesting  group  of  cul- 
tivated women,  actively  busy  trying  to  unite  their  efforts  to  establish  some  useful 
association  of  like  character  to  those  at  Milan  and  Bologna.  In  Rome  we  have  two 
societies,  but  of  quite  a  different  order,  most  conservative  in  their  aims  and  views. 
One  was  lately  established  by  the  persevering  efforts  of  a  brilliant,  earnest,  learned 
young  professor  and  deputy,  Angelo  Celli,  who  succeeded  in  interesting  a  band  of  cul- 
tivated ladies  of  the  aristocracy  in  the  fate  of  poor  women  struggling  in  want  of  work 
and  help.  The  society  is  called  "  Work  and  Help,"  and  was  organized  two  years  ago 
under  the  patronage  of  our  Queen  Margherita.  It  is  now  prospering,  and  much  good 
comes  of  it.  Poor  women  find  work  and  help  during  times  of  sickness  or  want,  their 
young  children  being  cared  for  during  hours  of  work  m  a  sort  of  nursery  school  estab- 
lished by  the  daughters  of  the  ladies  who  aided  Professor  Celli  to  organize  the  society. 
Still,  useful  as  it  is,  no  attention  is  given  to  intellectual  culture  or  recreation  as  is 
done  for  similar  institutions  in  England.    The  other  society  in  Rome  was  established 


160  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

in  1873,  twenty  years  ago.  It  was  established  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the  edu- 
cation and  general  culture  of  women,  but  it  is  such  a  mystification  that  it  deserves 
honest  criticism.  I  think  nothing  could  better  reveal  the  subjection  of  our  women  to 
prejudices  and  old  ideas  than  this  association  of  theirs,  which  pretends  to  promote 
woman's  culture  by  a  weekly  lecture,  mostly  regarding  ancient  history,  and  carefully 
excluding  any  and  all  of  the  modern  questions  regarding  social,  educational,  legal  or 
political  matters.  In  place  of  awakening  the  mind  to  examine  these  most  important 
subjects,  it  seems  that  the  aim  of  this  society  is  to  put  it  to  sleep  by  the  constant  repe- 
tition of  that  which  we  all  can  read  or  have  more  or  less  been  learning  at  school. 
Now  and  then,  very  rarely,  some  beautiful  and  interesting  lecture  is  given,  but  in  gen- 
eral they  are  very  dull  indeed.  Fashionable  ladies  go  because  the  Queen  goes,  but  I 
have  often  noticed  how  uninterested  they  seem  to  be  in  the  lecturer's  old-fashioned 
theme.  Another  strange  feature  of  this  society  is  that  lady  lecturers  are  excluded 
from  giving  lectures  there,  though  we  have  now  in  Italy  a  large  number  of  successful 
lady  lecturers.  I  believe  that  this  society,  infused  with  modern  spirit  and  purpose, 
can  be  made  a  powerful  factor  in  the  promotion  of  woman's  culture  and  education. 

Three  years  ago  Prof.  Angelo  de  Gubernatis,  with  the  purpose  of  associating 
all  who  were  willing,  and  offering  them  a  study  of  the  progress  made  by  women  of 
Italy,  organized  in  Florence  an  exhibition  of  woman's  work,  and  also  arranged  for  a 
course  of  lectures  along  this  line,  to  be  given  by  ladies.  These  lectures  were  published 
in  book  form,  and  some  of  them  are  worthy  of  notice  because  of  the  originality  of 
thought  and  ideas.  But  the  exhibition  and  lectures  were  a  source  of  great  trouble  to 
the  professor,  mainly  because  he  could  not  obtain  the  patronage  of  persons  in  high 
position  who  obstinately  refused  to  recognize  the  question  of  woman's  development 
in  Italy. 

Considering  woman's  education  in  modern  Italy,  I  have  not  much  to  say.  We 
have  public  schools  for  elementary  work,  higher  schools  for  girls,  but  a  lack  of  com- 
petent teachers  for  them,  and  normal  schools  for  those  wishing  to  become  teachers; 
but  no  proper  training  college  for  them,  and  the  course  of  study  is  defective  in  nearly 
every  department.  Our  present  minister  of  instruction,  Ferdinando  Martini,  is  for- 
tunately a  high-minded  man  of  modern  ideas  regarding  woman's  culture,  and  he  is 
studying  a  project  for  the  entire  reform  of  education  for  both  sexes.  His  work  is  very 
hard,  for  in  Italy  much  is  expected  from  the  government  because  of  the  great  lack  of 
individual  effort.  Women  are  now  admitted  to  the  universities,  lyceums  and  gym- 
nasiums, but  there  are  none  of  these  exclusively  for  women.  This,  with  the  indiffer- 
ence of  the  parents  as  regards  the  education  of  girls,  or  their  opposition  to  mixed 
schools,  leaves  little  profit  from  these  institutions  to  girls.  Schools  of  art  are  open  to- 
girls,  but  the  same  objection  obtains  here  also,  and  the  young  men  who  attend  these 
schools  are  not  always  as  refined  as  they  should  be.  In  the  way  of  education  we  have 
still  much  to  do,  as,  in  general,  not  all  understand  that  culture  is  one  thing  and  edu- 
cation another,  and  that  both  are  demanded.  We  easily  find  such  a  thing  in  some 
private  schools,  established  by  refined  and  cultivated  women,  whose  personal  influence 
has  a  good  effect  upon  the  pupils. 

Two  such  institutions  in  Naples  I  visited  with  great  interest.  One  is  a  daily 
school,  kept  by  the  Misses  Vittori,  daughters  of  a  most  superior  woman,  who,  having 
lost  her  husband,  and  been  left  with  a  young  family  to  support,  very  courageously 
determined  to  do  it  with  her  work.  She  studied  to  obtain  her  degrees,  and  was  soon 
entitled  to  a  principal's  position  as  inspector  of  girls'  schools.  With  this  she  had  also 
taken  private  pupils  to  teach,  and  withal,  she  succeeded  in  bringing  her  children  up 
nobly,  and  they  are  now  the  crown  of  her  old  age,  one  of  the  girls  being  a  distin- 
guished pianist,  and  the  others  are  very  good  teachers.  Their  school  is  considered  one 
of  the  very  best  in  Naples.  The  other  private  institution  is  a  boarding-school  for  girls, 
situated  in  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  healthful  country  places,  a  few  miles  from 
Naples.  There  are  Froebelian  kindergartens,  and  from  the  elementary  to  the  higher 
classes,  and  normal  classes  for  those  wishing  to  become  teachers.     This  school  has 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  161 

been  very  courageously  started  by  the  six  daughters  of  Garibaldi's  friend,  Dr.  Occhi- 
pinti.  It  is,  indeed,  just  opened,  but  the  oldest  girl  has  a  very  good  head,  and  sound, 
practical  ideas  on  education,  and  truly  she  deserves  full  praise  and  encouragement  for 
having  taken  upon  herself  such  a  difficult  enterprise.  It  is  prospering,  however,  many 
families  sending  their  children  as  day  students,  and  a  few  boarders  have  already  been 
admitted,  and  I  left  my  own  dear  daughters  there,  being  sure  that  they  could  not  be  bet- 
ter off  elsewhere.  The  Misses  Occhipinti  are  religious,  but  Italians  before  all,  having 
been  raised  under  Garibaldi's  noble  influence.  I  am  sure  that  in  time  this  school  will 
be  one  of  the  first  in  Naples.  This  school  is  called,  by  royal  permission,  after  our 
Queen,  "College  Queen  Margherita."  The  two  very  best  schools  we  have  in  Naples 
besides  those  named,  are  due  to  the  private  enterprise  of  foreigners.  They  are  Mrs, 
Julia  Salis  Schwabe's  School  and  Seminary,  which  takes  girls  from  childhood  in  the 
kindergarten  to  the  seminary,  which  they  leave  with  the  degree  of  teacher.  Still, 
before  seeing  this  splendid  institution  prospering  as  it  is  now,  Mrs.  Salis  Schwabe  had 
to  overcome  no  end  of  difficulties  and  opposition.  I  am  proud  to  remember  the  help 
given  her  then  by  my  dear  father,  who  was  always  ready  to  encourage  all  intellectual 
pursuits.  The  other  is  an  International  College  for  girls,  where  they  receive  a  most 
complete  education,  and  are  also  taught  to  speak  the  principal  modern  languages. 

We  have  also  in  Italy  several  professional  schools  for  the  working-classes,  and 
these  answer  their  purpose,  though  I  think  they  ought  to  provide  for  more  mental 
culture,  and  not  limit  their  aim  to  manual  work.  This  I  generally  regard  as  the  prin- 
cipal defect  in  most  of  our  Italian  schools,  the  little  or  no  regard  that  exists  for  the 
moral  culture — that  culture  which  tends  to  elevate  the  soul  and  give  it  a  high  concep- 
tion of  life,  and  of  the  high  and  sacred  duties  that  make  it  full  and  worthy  to  be  lived. 
The  teaching  of  mere  reading,  writing  and  other  branches  is  nothing  if  with  it  the 
mind  is  not  led  to  think  and  consider  life's  problems,  its  duties  and  its  rights,  to  make 
it  noble  and  beautiful.  Some  new  and  well-organized  institutions  answer  such  an 
end,  for  they  are  the  work  of  noble  hearts  and  highly  gifted  Italians.  One  is  the 
Suor  Orsola  College  in  Naples  for  girls,  entirely  reformed  by  the  Princess  Strongoli 
Pignatelli,  a  learned,  high-minded  woman,  whose  life  is  entirely  devoted  to  good 
works.  She  is  one  of  Queen  Margherita's  most  esteemed  and  beloved  ladies  of  honor. 
Besides  having  reformed  this  college,  where  girls  receive  a  complete  homely  educa- 
tion, and  whose  hearts  are  guided  to  high  principles  by  the  constant  care  of  the  dis- 
tinguished lady  principal,  Princess  Strongoli  Pignatelli  has  also  established  in  Naples, 
together  with  Contesse  Sansa  Verino  Vimercati  Tarsis,  another  college  for  poor  orphan 
girls.  A  beautiful  college  for  the  daughters  of  public  teachers  was  also  lately  organ- 
ized by  one  of  our  greatest  Italians,  Ruggero  Bonghi,  This  college  is  near  Rome,  in 
a  pleasant,  old-fashioned  country  place,  and  is  fairly  prospering.  Her  Majesty,  the 
Queen  of  Italy,  patronizes  it,  and  it  bears  her  name,  "Margaret  College  of  Savoy."  In 
Naples  we  have  three  remarkable  old  colleges  for  girls,  bound  to  old-fashioned,  con- 
ventual systems  of  education.  But  to  give  you  an  idea  of  our  customs,  I  only  state 
that  while  the  entire  staff  is  composed  of  ladies,  most  of  whom  reside  in  the  colleges, 
the  institutions  are  superintended  entirely  by  gentlemen.  Two  of  these  are  distin- 
guished young  writers,  the  Duke  Richard  Carafa  D'Andria  and  Benedetto  Croce,  The 
superintending  of  the  schools  by  ladies  has  never  even  been  thought  of.  That  women 
are  competent  to  take  part  in  public  affairs  of  any  kind  is  still  a  hard  thing  to  establish 
in  Italy,  Even  when  obliged  to  work  but  few  ways  are  opened  to  their  activity  besides 
teaching,  and  the  only  reason  is  the  strong  prejudice  existing  against  women.  They 
are  not  considered  fit  to  work,  and  are  not  much  trusted.  If  they  follow  the  superior 
studies  and  obtain  a  degree  they  are  actually  prevented  from  competing  with  men  in 
any  but  the  medical  profession.  A  young  Turinese  lady,  Miss  Lydia  Poet,  having 
followed  successfully  the  university  courses,  obtained  some  years  ago  her  degree  in 
law.  Well,  men  got  so  frightened  at  such  competition  that  they  managed  to  exclude 
her  from  the  practice  of  her  profession,  stating  that  it  would  demoralize  the  Tribunal 
if  women  were  allowed  to  work  therein.     The  press  tried  to  explain  the  injustice  and 

(U) 


162  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

illegality  of  such  a  proceeding,  and  quite  a  fuss  was  made  about  it,  but  nothing 
resulted.  No  other  woman  took  the  law  course,  and  the  noble  girl,  who  had  a  right 
to  the  profession  she  had  chosen,  was  obliged  to  give  it  up,  though  privately  she 
works  in  the  law  office  of  her  brother,  who  considers  her  a  most  useful  aid.  As  medi- 
cal doctors  women  could  have  a  large  practice  and  a  most  important  field  of  action; 
but  here  again  prejudice  is  against  them,  although  our  Queen  gave  her  moral  support 
to  the  profession,  naming  as  her  honorary  medical  attendant  a  Turinese  lady.  Miss 
Mary  Valeda  Fame.  This  learned  and  well-known  woman  would  have  a  brilliant 
career  anywhere  else,  as  she  was  also  appointed  medical  assistant  at  the  principal  hos- 
pital in  Rome  by  one  of  our  greatest  doctors,  Bacelli;  but  she  could  not  overcome 
public  prejudice  and  she  must  be  satisfied  with  her  small,  though  very  select,  practice. 

Music  is  a  profession  allowed  to  women  in  Italy,  and  several  struggle  on  as  music- 
teachers,  and  a  few  rise  to  the  summit  of  art  as  opera  singers  or  concertists.  I  may 
name  as  one  of  the  leading  concertists  Miss  Castellani,  and  also  a  sweet  young  girl 
just  at  the  threshold  of  her  career,  Margaret  Brambilli,  who  promises  to  rise  high. 
We  have  in  Italy  very  good  conservatories,  where,  besides  music  and  singing,  a  proper 
literary  education  is  given.  The  most  noted  of  our  conservatories  are  at  Naples,  Rome 
and  Milan. 

In  Italy  women  may  occupy  positions  in  the  post,  telegraph  and  telephone  offices, 
but  the  competition  for  these  positions  is  so  strong  that  they  are  most  difficult  to 
obtain. 

So  the  highest  public  position  a  woman  may  hope  to  obtain  in  Italy  is  something 
connected  with  the  educational  work,  the  highest  position  therein  being  inspector  or 
principal  of  the  highest  government  schools.  These  positions  are  much  sought  after 
notwithstanding  that  at  the  yery  best  they  seldom  pay  more  than  one  thousand  dol- 
lars per  year. 

However,  we  have  now  a  remarkable  number  of  women  who  are  fairly  struggling 
for  economic  independence  by  their  own  work.  The  larger  number  of  these  are  wait- 
ers, some  of  whom  succeed  in  making  a  living,  though  a  very  modest  living  at  the  best. 
Publishers  seldom  pay  more  than  from  one  hundred  dollars  to  four  hundred  dollars  for 
a  book,  which  they  sell  in  no  less  than  a  thousand  copies  in  one  edition,  thus  receiving 
about  eight  hundred  dollars  for  it,  even  when  the  book  has  little  or  no  success; 
but  when  three  or  five  thousand  copies  are  sold,  the  publishers'  profits  are  immense. 
Printing  is  not  costly  in  Italy,  and  so  we  have  rich  publishers,  but  I  know  of  no 
writers  who  have  made  a  fortune  with  their  pen.  My  esteemed  and  dear  friend. 
Miss  Alice  Howard  Cady,  of  New  York,  who  came  to  Italy  last  year,  worked  hard 
to  induce  our  lady  writers  to  send  their  books  to  the  World's  Fair.  They  thought 
their  productions  did  not  deserve  such  honor,  for  one  of  the  characteristics  of  my 
charming  country-women  is  a  remarkable  modesty  or  shyness.  So  several  of  them 
wrote  to  Miss  Cady  in  that  sense,  that  they  were  flattered  and  interested  to  be  con- 
sidered worthy  of  notice,  and  felt  grateful  to  Miss  Cady,  etc.,  etc.  The  latter  suc- 
ceeded, however,  in  gaining  her  point  and  winning  their  confidence  and  friendship. 
Only  to  aid  Miss  Cady  in  her  noble  efforts,  I  published  an  appeal  to  Italian  women 
employed  in  literary,  scientific,  artistic  and  educational  work,  explaining  their  patriotic 
duty  to  join  in  an  exhibition  wherein  women  from  the  world  over  would  send  their 
intellectual  productions.  However,  lately,  in  my  tour  through  Italy,  I  found  that 
many  women  had  not  sent  their  books,  simply  because  of  that  timidity  which  they 
could  not  overcome.  Still  many  others  gave  me  their  books,  which  I  had  the  honor 
to  present  to  the  beautiful  library  in  this  building.  Because  of  the  fact  that  the  pro- 
ductions of  Italian  women  are  not  as  fully  represented  as  they  might  have  been  in  this 
great  international  exhibition,  you  must  not  judge  us  by  our  display.  Besides,  woman's 
intellectual  work  is  not  encouraged  in  Italy,  not  even  by  those  who  should  regard 
it  as  a  duty,  and  so,  without  encouragement  or  organization  to  that  end,  one  band 
of  distinguished,  cultivated  women  could  not  manage  to  send  all  their  intellectual 
productions. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  163 

As  for  industry,  the  beautiful,  artistic  lace  work  my  country-women  do  will 
prove  this  to  the  fullest  advantage.  Much  honor  is  due  to  your  noble  country-woman, 
Countess  Cora  di  Brazza,  for  it  is  to  her  intelligent  efforts  and  spirit  of  organization 
that  we  owe  all  that  is  to  be  admired  in  the  Italian  section  of  the  Woman's  Building. 
The  rich  historical  laces  of  our  royal  family  she  obtained  herself  from  the  Queen,  and 
many  others  from  personal  friends.  But  her  perseverance  in  organizing  schools  for, 
and  teaching  lace-making  herself,  so  as  to  give  easy  and  beautiful  work  to  our  Italian 
peasant  girls,  is,  indeed,  worthy  of  all  praise.  Many  noble  ladies  have  lately  become 
interested  in  this  industry  in  Italy,  foremost  of  whom  was  the  late  lamented  Countess 
Marcelio,  who  revived  the  old  lace  manufactories  in  Venice,  and  the  Countess  Maria 
Pasolini,  one  of  the  few  ladies  in  the  aristocracy  remarkable  for  her  culture  and  her 
interest  in  the  girls  of  the  working  classes. 

As  for  women's  papers,  we  have  a  few  nicely  written,  but  of  a  light  literary  kind, 
and  several  stupid  ones,  devoted  exclusively  to  French  fashions.  Having  dared,  sev- 
eral years  ago,  at  my  own  expense  and  alone,  to  establish  a  review  for  promoting  the 
intellectual,  moral,  and  legal  interests  of  women,  after  fourteen  months  I  was  com- 
pelled to  give  it  up,  although  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  interest  the  Queen  and  a  large 
number  of  intellectual  women.  But  the  review  did  not  please  the  clergy,  that  so  ener- 
getically opposes  woman's  promotion,  and  they  managed  things  so  well  that  the  paper 
had  to  come  to  an  end.  So  tired  was  I  that  I  would  then  and  there  have  given  up  my 
work  but  for  the  promptings  of  duty  to  the  contrary.  This  led  me,  lately,  to  publish 
a  book,  in  which  is  an  account  of  the  struggles  during  the  best  twelve  years  of  my  life, 
spent  in  endeavoring  to  raise  the  intellectual  standard  of  the  women  in  Italy.  Indeed, 
I  am  happy  and  proud  to  say  that  I  owe  to  that  book  my  presence  here,  as  the  Italian 
Minister  of  Instruction  asked  me  to  write  a  similar  report  of  woman's  institutions  in 
America.  This  book,  besides  containing  the  lectures  I  have  delivered  on  the  subject 
of  woman's  intellectual  development,  also  contained  my  report  to  the  Italian  govern- 
ment of  woman's  culture  and  work  in  England.  It  also  cleared  away  many  misunder- 
standings, and  was  considered  by  eminent  writers  of  both  sexes  to  contain  a  true 
conception  of  the  true  ideal  of  womanhood  we  have  yet  to  attain  in  Italy.  During  my 
last  tour  in  Italy  I  had  the  pleasure  to  observe  a  great  change  in  the  general  public 
opinion  regarding  the  woman  question.  Many  ideas,  not  understood  ten  years  ago, 
are  now  perfectly  admitted.  So  I  look  forward  hopefully  to  the  future,  trusting  in  the 
reviving  of  education  to  promote  the  much  needed  reforms  in  our  laws  to  control  the 
fearful  injustice  that  oppresses  womankind  in  Italy. 

This  leads  me  to  say  a  few  words  about  the  legal  condition  of  women  in  Italy,  and 
for  this  I  have  only  to  repeat  what  I  said  four  years  ago  on  this  subject  in  England: 
*'If  we  look  at  the  civil  and  penal  code  of  Italy  concerning  women,  and  at  the  laws 
concerning  their  rights,  their  culture  and  their  work,  we  easily  see  that  a  general  opin- 
ion of  their  moral  weakness  inspired  these  laws.  It  is  commonly  believed  in  Italy  that 
a  woman  is  morally,  intellectually,  and  physically  inferior  to  man;  that  she  can  not 
stand  by  herself  in  life,  nor  presume  to  be  respected  and  considered  if  she  is  not  sup- 
ported by  the  protection  of  man."  What  this  protection  often  means  is  misery  to 
reveal! 

Italians,  both  men  and  women,  have  very  distinct  characteristics,  of  which  we 
must  also  take  notice  to  understand  better  their  present  condition  and  the  reforms 
required  for  their  social  and  intellectual  progress.  Above  all,  they  are  intensely  pas- 
sionate people,  and  family  links  are  very  strong;  this  much  more  in  the  south,  where 
woman's  individuality  rarely  exists.  Woman  lives  the  life  man  makes  for  her.  As  a 
child,  a  girl,  she  blindly  obeys  her  father;  and  as  a  woman,  her  will  submits  entirely  to 
her  husband,  whom  she  regards  as  the  absolute  master  of  her  body  and  soul.  If  she 
does  not  marry,  old  as  she  may  become,  she  remains  always  the  obedient  child  of  her 
father  or  brother,  and  never  dares  regard  herself  as  a  free  human  being.  This  is  the 
worst  of  all — the  general  want  of  a  consciousness  of  one's  own  individual  rights. 
Very  often  I  tried  to  arouse  such  feelings  in  some  naturally  intelligent  women  of  our 


164  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

southern  provinces.  They  looked  at  me  with  wide-open  eyes,  as  if  I  spoke  some 
unintelligible  language  !  In  the  northern  provinces  the  chains  exist  too,  but  of  a  dif- 
ferent sort,  lighter,  because  women  have  a  relative  liberty,  and  easier  to  bear  because 
more  apparent  than  real,  more  in  form  than  in  substance. 

So  all  reforms  pertaining  to  women  in  Italy  must  tend  to  simultaneous  training 
of  mind  and  heart,  the  intellectual  and  moral  faculties,  bearing  in  consideration  the 
eminently  passionate  instincts  of  the  race,  which,  well  developed  and  controlled, 
would  make  splendid  characters  of  our  people.  Humanitarian  feelings  are  latent  in 
the  souls  of  Italians,  and  intelligently  developed  would  become  the  best  agent  for 
the  development  of  the  people.  It  is,  I  fully  believe,  by  kind,  affectionate,  earnest 
interest  and  sympathy  in  each  other  that  life  could  be  made  easier  and  brighter  for 
all  throughout  the  whole  world. 

To  accomplish  this  most  sacred  duty,  and  see  Italy  as  great  and  powerful  as  our 
fathers  wished  it  to  be,  we  cannot  trust  in  the  help  of  those  who  are  satisfied  with 
everything,  when  all  their  personal  concerns  prosper.  We  must  rely  on  the  efforts  of 
the  pure  and  enthusiastic  souls  of  our  young  people,  principally  our  sweet  girls,  whose 
ideal  of  life  is  noble  and  high,  who  feel  in  their  hearts  the  needs  of  modern  times,  and 
wish  to  live  a  true  life,  uncorrupted  by  the  homage  to  appearances. 

The  need  of  elevating  life  is  felt  all  around  the  world;  we  are  near  a  great  change. 
The  cry  of  woman  for  freedom  and  her  rights  appeals  to  all  those  God  blesses  with  a 
right  mind  and  a  kind  heart;  and  I  cannot  help  but  believe  that  to  us  women,  the 
mothers  of  the  race,  a  great  part  is  reserved  in  this  grand  work;  and  I  think  we  are 
all  willing  to  undertake  it,  feeling  what  a  sweet  and  holy  mission  is  entrusted  to  us,  a 
mission  that  will  highly  bless  our  lives,  even  among  the  difficulties  we  have  to  overcome 
and  the  sorrows  we  are  called  upon  to  bear  and  endure.  United  all  around  the  world 
in  this  glorious  effort,  we  must  feel  sure  of  winning  gloriously  at  last  in  the  name  of 
the  purest  and  highest  ideal  of  human  brotherhood.  The  dream  of  the  age  lies  in  the 
enfranchisement  of  the  human  race,  and  when  life  shall  be  built  on  truth,  in  respect 
to  holy  natural  laws  which  govern  the  great  mystery  of  our  existence,  and  all  human 
beings  shall  be  equally  considered,  socially  and  legally,  without  any  privilege  for  one 
sex  or  one  class  above  another,  then  human  kind  will  be  great,  and  the  nations  will 
for  them  be  great,  and  the  world  reconquer  then  its  Paradise  Lost! 


MEMBERS  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  LADY  MANAGERS. 


1.  Miss  Hattie  Toney  Hundley,  2.  Mrs.  Anna  M.  Fosdick,  8.  Mrs.  James  P.  Eagle, 

Alabama.  Alabama.  Arkatuat, 


4.  Mrs.  Rollin  A.  Edgerton, 

Arkansas. 


5.  Mrs.  Partiienia  P.  Rue, 

California, 


6.  Mrs.  James  K.  Deane, 

California. 
7.  Mrs.  Robert  J.  Coleman,  8.  Mrs.  M.  D.  Thatcher,  <i.  Miss  Frances  8.  Ives, 

Colorado.  Colorado.  ConnecticuU 

10.  Mrs.  Isabella  Beccher  Hooker,  11.  Mrs.  Mary  Richards  Kinder,  12.  Mrs.  J.  Frank  Ball. 

Connecticut.  Delaware.  Delaware. 


rs 


THE  WIFE  OF  BLENNERHASSETT. 

By  MRS.  MARY  T.  W.  CURWEN. 

Little  is  known  of  Blennerhassett,  still  less  of  his  wife.  It  is  not  much  more  than 
fifty  years  since  she  died,  but  in  examining  the  details  of  her  life  they  assume  a 

strange  indefiniteness.     To  write  her  history  is  like 

making  a  picture  from  "  the  shadow   of  a   dream." 

Her    grandfather,    Brigadier-General     Agnew,     was 

killed  in  the  Battle  of  Germantown,  October  4,  1777. 

Her  father  was  for  many  years  Lieutenant-Governor 

of  the   quaint,  picturesque    Isle   of   Man.     To   have 

spent  her  childhood  and  youth  in  that  museum  of 

antiquities,  to  have  lived  among  the  weird  sights  and 

peculiar  people  of  that  island  must  have  influenced 

her  character. 

L^.^.  ^'  Ideas  of  wild  adventure  would  take  root  in  the 

ICZ^      w  soil  of  a  mind  so  prepared.     The  most  improbable 

^^^^    m^  hopes  might  bloom  out  in  such  an  atmosphere.     The 

ff^^Tj^^^^-  ^^^^  ^^  ^^"  '^  ^  kingdom  by  itself,  a  beautiful  wonder- 

JK^^H^f^^.-  _  land.     The  mild,  equable  climate,  tempered  by  the 

jmB^^^^t  sea,  makes  the  whole  country  a  garden.     Geraniums 

grow  all  the  year  round  in  the  open  air,  and  their  red 
vv^  clusters  look  in  at  the  second  story  windows  of  the 

'**^  peasants'  homes.     Ambitious  fuchsias  drape  the  rocks 

and  hang  their  crimson  eardrops  twelve  feet  high  on 
MRS.  MARY  T.  w.  CURWEN.  ^^^  branchcs  of  the  forest  trees.     The  men  are  stal- 

wart, the  women  rosy  and  handsome,  for  they  live  out 
of  doors  and  breathe  the  invigorating  sea  air.  To  the  Manx  people  life  is  indeed  a  bless- 
ing. Fashion  has  not  found  much  foothold  among  this  primitive  people.  They  do 
as  their  forefathers  did.  Fishermen's  daughters  wear  the  same  quaint,  striped  petti- 
coats and  blue  jackets  which  constituted  the  costume  of  their  great-great-grand- 
mothers. Still  the  Manx  fishermen,  descendants  of  the  Vikings,  in  their  herring  fleet 
expeditions,  trust  to  the  guidance  of  the  gulls  to  lead  them  to  a  school  of  herring,  just 
as  their  ancestors  had  done  hundreds  of  years  before. 

This  unique  island  is  only  thirty  miles  long  and  twelve  broad,  but  every  foot  of 
land  is  historical.  From  the  low  northern  point  of  Ayr,  where  women  and  children 
wait,  singing  songs  for  the  returning  fishing  boats,  to  the  Spanish  headland  at  the 
south,  where  the  red  and  blue  revolving  light  plays  down  hundreds  of  feet  below,  and 
the  waves  sing  triumphantly  of  how  they  dashed  to  pieces  the  ships  of  the  Armada, 
the  whole  air  is  as  full  of  inspiration  as  it  is  of  ocean  spray. 

No  piece  of  Western  limestone  is  more  closely  packed  with  petrifactions  than  the 
Isle  of  Man  with  the  remains  of  former  races. 

The  youthful  daughter  of  the  governor  could  scarcely  take  a  walk  without 
encountering  some  relic  of  superstition,  some  suggestion  of  antiquity  or  patriotism. 

Mrs.  Mary  Thew  Wright  Curwen  was  born  in  Cincinnati,  O.  Her  falher,  Hon.  Nathaniel  Wright,  of  New  Hampshire, 
was  a  distingaished  member  of  the  Cincinnati  bar.  Her  mother,  Caroline  Angnsta  Thew,  of  New  York,  was  a  granddaughter 
of  Dr.  William  Barnet,  Surgeon-General  in  the  Army  of  the  Revolution.  Mrs.  Cnrwen  has  travele<l  extensively,  both  in  this 
country  and  in  Europe.  In  1855  she  was  married  to  Marshall  Ewing  ("nrwen,  a  native  of  Philndelphia,  then  a  prominent 
member  of  the  Cincinnati  bar.  Mr.  Curwin  died  in  London  in  1888.  Mrs.  Cnrwen  has  written  a  number  of  short  stories, 
mostly  for  children.    Her  postoffice  address  is  27  Mason  Street,  Mt.  Auburn.  Cincinnati,  O. 

165 


166  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

There  are  the  frightful  dungeons  beneath  Castle  Rusline,  its  Doric  columns  with 
inscriptions  in  Latin  and  Greek  placed  there  before  the  Christian  Era.  The  Druidical 
remains  are  the  most  perfect  in  Great  Britain.  Relics  of  St.  Patrick,  crosses,  religious 
emblems,  ruined  churches  which  remind  us  that  in  1488,  before  America  was  discovered,. 
Pius  II.  named  the  Isle  of  Man  the  "Sacred  Isle." 

To  be  sure  inscriptions  in  Greek  and  Arabic  get  mixed  up,  and  are  found  in  the 
most  miscellaneous  manner  on  door-steps,  stiles  and  other  places.  They  are  merely 
put  there  for  ornament.  The  schoolmaster  not  being  abroad,  they  cannot  often  be 
deciphered. 

Sometimes  the  epitaph  of  a  Saxon  warrior  has  been  transported  to  the  grave  of  a 
child.  We  read  with  wonder  of  the  death  on  the  battle-field  of  this  three-year-old  who 
might  have  died  with  the  measles.  There  are  mysterious  secrets  hid  in  Runic  characters, 
often  upside  down,  which  have  been  transported  to  the  sides  of  barns  or  humble 
cabins.  But  in  spite  of  this  grotesque  vandalism  there  is  an  air  of  romance  and 
antiquity  throughout  the  island. 

This  little  island,  so  far  behind  the  world  in  many  things,  is  in  advance  in  others. 
Women  have  always  voted  in  the  Isle  of  Man.  Their  right  is  never  questioned.  From 
time  immemorial  women  had  the  legal  right  to  dispose  of  half  of  their  property,, 
independently  of  their  husbands.  Would  you  know  why  they  are  more  privileged 
than  their  English  sisters?  Ask  some  Manx  peasant  woman  to  tell  you.  Her  eye 
kindles  and  she  stops  her  spinning  to  relate  the  story.  "Long,  long  ago  the  Danes 
attacked  the  little  Island  of  Man.  The  battle  was  going  against  her  people — the  king 
was  desperately  wounded,  the  bravest  warriors  lay  dead  upon  the  ground,  when  a 
band  of  women  rushed  into  the  midst  of  the  fight,  snatched  the  weapons  from  the 
hands  of  the  dead  and  drove  the  enemy  to  their  ships.  Many  a  woman  fell  by  the 
side  of  her  dead  husband,  but  the  country  was  free.  Our  land  is  small,  but  Manx 
women  own  it  with  the  men.  Our  voices  led  to  victory,  and  we  can  raise  them  on 
Tynwald  Mount  on  election  day  with  the  best  and  bravest  of  the  men." 

The  Isle  of  Man  has  a  masculine  sound,  but  there,  women  without  asking  have 
their  rights. 

Everything  in  this  island  is  quaint,  made  after  a  type  of  its  own.  The  little  cats 
have  six  toes  and  no  tails  to  swell  out  in  fury  at  the  sight  of  a  dog.  Was  there  ever  so 
absurd  a  coat  of  arms  as  three  armed  legs  with  no  body  or  head,  only  the  motto^ 
"Whichever  way  you  throw  me  I  stand!"  A  sort  of  kicking  defiance  to  the  three 
larger  neighbor  islands.  ' 

It  was  in  this  mysterious  island  that  Margaret  Agnew  grew  up,  reveling  in  the 
antiquities  and  traditions  of  the  place.  To  her  the  life  of  adventure  offered  by  a  resi- 
dence in  the  New  World  had  great  charms.  There  was  a  fascination  in  the  very  vast- 
ness  of  the  Western  Continent. 

Harmon  Blennerhassett  was  the  son  of  a  wealthy  Irish  gentleman,  though  he  was 
born  in  Hampshire.  After  studying  law  in  King's  Inn,  Dublin,  he  visited  France.  It 
was  soon  after  the  destruction  of  the  Bastile.  He  did  not  agree  with  his  friends,  the 
Emmets,  but  believed  that  a  revolution  would  be  bloody  but  hopeless  for  Ireland.  He 
was  already  wealthy  when  by  the  death  of  his  father  he  inherited  a  great  estate. 

Scholarly,  devoted  to  science,  he  determined  to  leave  the  Old  World  and  make  his 
home  in  America.  Amid  the  agitations  and  political  excitements  of  Europe  he  sought 
repose.  He  visited  his  sister  in  Kingsale  to  bid  her  farewell.  She  was  the  wife  of 
Admiral  De  Courcy — Lord  Kingsale.  How  all  the  patriotism  and  chivalry  of  the 
English  heart  is  wakened  up  by  the  name  of  De  Courcy!  "The  fearless  De  Courcy^ 
who  fought  for  the  honor  of  England,  but  not  for  false  King  John." 

I  believe  were  I  an  Englishman  I  would  rather  give  up  the  Magna  Charta  than 
the  story  of  De  Courcy,  perpetuated  as  it  is  by  the  honor  granted  to  his  discendants: 

"And  the  sons  of  that  line  of  heroes 
To  this  day  their  right  assume. 
And  when  every  head  is  unbonneted 
They  walk  in  cap  and  plume." 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  167 

At  all  events  it  would  be  hard  to  choose  between  our  rights  and  our  romance. 
People  will  get  their  rights  some  time,  but  romance  may  escape  us. 

While  visiting  Lady  De  Courcy,  Blennerhassett  met  Miss  Agnew.  She  was  a 
young,  beautiful,  enthusiastic  girl,  trained  in  a  school  of  romance  and  with  a  passionate 
love  for  her  island  home.  With  great  energy  of  character,  intelligence  and  a  wealth 
of  affection,  in  Blennerhassett  she  met  her  fate.  Such  a  woman  must  have  a  hero  to 
worship;  the  young  Irishman  was  her  ideal.  They  were  married,  I  believe,  in  1796. 
Mrs.  Blennerhassett  never  wavered  in  her  affection  for  her  husband.  She  always 
believed  in  him.  Eagerly  adopting  his  views  about  settling  in  America,  she  was 
charmed  to  go  with  him  to  that  land  of  her  dreams. 

Mr.  Blennerhassett  was  kindhearted,  devoted  to  science,  but  could  not  adapt  him- 
self to  those  around.  He  certainly  lacked  common  sense.  He  was  one  of  those  students 
who  are  more  careful  in  their  cross-examinations  of  nature  than  of  humanity.  Such 
people  are  often  made  game  of  by  the  average  boy.  Though  a  gentleman  in  all  his 
feelings,  he  was  not  quick  to  see  those  side  lights  upon  a  subject  which  result  in  humor 
or  wit  in  many  minds,  and  keep  people  from  being  absurd,  but  in  the  eyes  of  his 
wife  he  was  perfect.  The  young  girl  had  absolute  faith  in  her  husband.  Was  he 
imposed  upon,  she  never  blamed  him;  did  he  fail  in  any  undertaking,  it  was  the  fault 
of  adverse  fate;  did  he  stoop  as  he  walked,  it  was  only  a  proof  of  his  devotion  to 
science.  So  thought  his  devoted  wife.  What  cannot  a  glowing  imagination  paint 
when  it  is  inspired  by  love! 

How  shall  I  describe  Lady  Blennerhassett?  Not  ennobled  by  anyearthly  monarch, 
but  by  the  grace  of  God,  who  made  her  what  she  was,  and  by  the  unrecorded  vote  of 
those  among  whom  she  lived,  and  who  best  know  her,  so  she  was  universally  called 
in  her  Western  home,  and  so  we  must  speak  of  her. 

Lady  Blennerhassett!  The  glamor  has  not  yet  faded  from  her  name.  She  was 
taller  than  most  women,  but  exquisitely  proportioned.  Fair,  with  Grecian  features — 
but  we  can  not  bring  her  before  you  by  a  catalogue  of  her  beauties  of  mind  and  person. 
Her  winning,  gracious  manner  would  have  adorned  a  court.  It  was  prompted  by  a 
warm  heart  and  quick  interest  and  sympathy  in  all  that  appealed  to  her,  either  in 
enjoyment  or  misfortune. 

In  1797  these  two  favorites  of  fortune  started  for  the  New  World.  Like  the  prince 
and  princess  in  the  fairy  tale,  they  went  to  seek  their  fortune  in  an  unknown  country. 
Mr.  Blennerhassett  took  his  chemicals,  his  retorts,  his  telescope  and  extensive  library 
with  him.  A'  large  fortune  placed  almost  everything  at  his  command;  the  hopeful 
nature  and  enthusiasm  of  his  beautiful  wife  was  more  than  any  mine  of  gold  in  its 
promise  of  happiness.  They  crossed  the  AUeghanies,  and  a  keel  boat  carried  them 
from  Pittsburg  to  Marietta,  Ohio.  Four  miles  below  this  town,  and  two  below  the 
Little  Kanawha,  they  were  entranced  by  the  sight  of  Bacchus  Island.  The  willows 
dipping  into  the  water  and  forest  trees  garlanded  with  vines  made  a  magical  picture  to 
the  two  homeseekers. 

Mr.  Blennerhassett  paid  forty-five  hundred  dollars  for  the  upper  part  of  the  island. 
The  house  that  he  built  upon  it  cost  sixty  thousand  dollars. 

The  mansion  has  been  variously  described.  As  it  has  long  since  been  burned  to 
the  ground,  no  mirage  eludes  us  more  effectually  than  the  truth  about  it.  One  author- 
ity speaks  of  the  magical  effect  of  this  palace  on  the  voyagers  descending  the  river: 
**  The  colored  glass,  the  groups  of  turrets  are  not  unlike  a  Moorish  palace  in  Anda- 
lusia, as  embowered  by  shrubbery,  with  long,  sweeping  vistas,  showing  grand  forest 
trees,  and  suggesting  wilder  scenes  of  sylvan  solitude."  On  the  other  hand,  Parton, 
resenting  Wirt's  flowery  description  on  the  trial  (as  if  the  beauty  of  the  house  made 
Burr  more  guilty),  speaks  of  it  as  "  the  country  seat  of  an  eccentric,  romantic,  shiftless 
Irishman,  who  contrived  to  spend  a  fortune  in  building  a  house  of  original  ugliness." 
He  says,  "  It  suggests  the  idea  of  semi-circular  barracks,  though,  of  course,  there  were 
gardens  and  bits  of  primeval  wilderness,  forming  a  pleasant  but  not  very  sumptuous 
residence."  Oh  for  a  good  photograph!  Prejudice  does  not  influence  the  sun.  He 
gives  us  impartial  pictures. 


168  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN 

In  this  fairy  isle  Lady  Blennerhassett  passed  eight  years  of  ideal  happiness. 
Devoted  to  her  husband  and  children,  she  still  entered  with  quick  sympathy  into  the 
sports  of  her  friends  and  neighbors.  The  corn-huskings  lost  much  of  their  rusticity, 
but  none  of  their  merriment,  when  she  was  present.  She  adorned  the  primitive  feasts 
of  log-rolling  and  barn-raising,  and  was  the  ruling  spirit  of  every  assembly.  She  was 
interested  in  wrestling  matches,  foot  and  boat  races.  In  deer  hunts  and  parties  for 
chasing  the  fox  she  was  a  Diana  Vernon.  Her  grace  in  dancing  was  the  poetry  of 
motion.  She  was  beloved  everywhere  and  inspired  everyone  to  do  their  best.  She 
w^as  a  fearless  horsewoman,  and  attired  in  her  scarlet  broadcloth  habit  and  cap,  whose 
ostrich  plume  fell  over  her  shoulders,  she  was  a  delightful  vision.  A  young  farmer 
rented  a  cornfield  on  the  island  simply  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  Lady  Blennerhassett  in 
her  daily  walks  and  rides.  It  was  a  oelight  to  her  to  teach  her  slaves  to  read,  to  visit 
the  sick,  and  often  to  act  in  plays  in  her  own  house.  She  was  particularly  fond  of 
Shakespeare's.  This  woman  made  people  good  by  first  making  them  happy.  Her 
life  was  brimming  with  enjoyment.  She  was  universally  called  "  The  Queen  of  the 
Isle."  Poetry  she  composed  with  ease  and  pleasure.  The  poems  that  I  have  seen 
were  written  after  the  sad  change  in  her  life,  and  their  pathos  disarms  all  criticism. 

And  now  Colonel  Burr  appears  upon  the  scene.  In  considering  the  life  of  this  bril- 
liant man,  we  must  bear  in  mind  the  words  of  St.  Augustine:  "  The  human  mind  is  never 
altogether  a  sanctuary,  or  altogether  a  sewer.  There  are  potentialities  of  good  in  the 
felon  and  of  evil  in  the  saint."  We  all  know  how  the  fascinating  Aaron  Burr  entered 
this  paradise,  and  won  the  heart  of  the  lady  of  the  mansion  to  his  views.  Guileless 
herself,  she  had  no  conception  of  his  treachery.  By  forged  papers,  purporting  to  be 
government  endorsements,  and  plausible  arguments.  Burr  obtained  complete  control  of 
the  Blennerhassetts.  He  ruined  them  financially  and  in  reputation,  and  then  sacrificed 
them  remorselessly.  We  cannot  but  pity  Blennerhassett  after  the  President's  procla- 
mation, calling  for  all  residents  of  the  United  States  to  bring  to  punishment  all  per- 
sons engaged  in  such  treasonable  enterprises  as  Burr's  Expedition.  The  unfortunate 
Blennerhassett  was  sitting  in  the  cabin  of  a  flatboat  with  Burr — betrayer  and  betrayed — 
when  one  dark,  dreary  night  they  sunk  the  chest  of  arms  in  the  middle  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River.  So  ended  all  the  hopes  of  the  success  of  Burr's  conspiracy.  Though 
Burr  was  acquitted  by  jury  of  the  crime  of  treason,  the  verdict  of  the  nation  was 
guilty,  and  Blennerhassett  shared  the  odium. 

Whether  we  see  Lady  Blennerhassett  in  her  scarlet  riding  dress  flying  along  in 
the  sunshine,  the  embodiment  of  hope  and  womanly  beauty,  the  guardian  spirit  of  the 
"  Fairy  Isle,"  or  on  a  December  midnight,  escaping  with  her  sons  in  a  flat-boat,  cheer- 
ing, encouraging  the  frightened  boatmen  as  the  ice  crashed  and  ground  around  them; 
or  whether  we  see  her  supplying  her  husband  with  energy  and  pluck  in  his  last 
venture  on  a  cotton  farm  in  Mississippi,  energy  which,  but  for  the  embargo,  would  have 
retrieved  their  fortunes,  we  see  hope,  blossom  of  immortality, ever  alive  in  her  heart.  We 
behold  her  again  in  the  Old  World,  sustaining  her  husband  in  his  miserable  search  after 
health  and  employment.  We  see  her  standing  by  his  deathbed  in  the  Island  of  Guern- 
sey; but  though  the  shadows  close  around  her,  and  the  air  is  full  of  minor  music,  she  is 
always  the  same  unselfish,  noble  woman,  who  cannot  be  subdued  by  circumstances, 
because  undying  affection  gives  her  strength.  Unconquered,  she  had  seen  her  home 
rifled,  destroyed  by  Virginia  militia;  she  had  looked  calmly  upon  its  ashes,  and  beheld 
an  utter  ruin  where  she  had  once  reigned  queen. 

After  her  husband's  death  Lady  Blennerhassett  used  every  effort  to  support  and 
educate  her  children  in  England.  It  was  in  vain.  She  determined  to  return  to 
America.  She  petitioned  the  government  of  the  United  States.  Her  house  and 
furniture  had  been  destroyed  by  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  a  government  pledged  to 
protect  its  citizens.  Her  husband  had  been  put  to  great  expense  in  defending  himself 
in  Richmond.  She  asked  for  her  rights,  not  for  alms.  Robert  Emmet  forwarded  the 
memorial  of  his  friend's  widow  to  Henry  Clay,  who  was  in  the  United  States  Senate. 
It  prayed  for  redress  for  her.     Mr.   Clay   presented   the   memorial   and   eloquently 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  169 

advocated  its  justice.  The  committee  to  whom  it  was  referred  returned  a  report, 
"  Not  to  grant  this  memorial  would  be  unworthy  a  wise  and  just  nation." 

But  it  was  too  late.  Before  any  compensation  reached  her  Lady  Blennerhassett 
died  in  a  humble  chamber  in  New  York  City.  She  was  tended  in  her  last  hours  by 
Sisters  of  Charity. 

Alone,  in  a  foreign  land,  under  a  darkened  sky,  she  drifted  from  our  sight  to  that 
shore  where  "  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling  and  the  weary  are  at  rest." 


ADVANTAGES  AND  DANGERS  OF  ORGANIZATION. 


■Vfi. 


By  REV.  ANNA  GARLIN  SPENCER. 

I  know  no  better  exercise  for  man  or  woman  capable  of  real  thought  than  the 
study  of  this  problem  which  we  may  phrase  briefly  thus:  What  is  the  just  and  true 

relation  of  the  individual  to  the  social  organism?  Let 

such  a  student  take  the  question  on  its  political,  its 

industrial,  its  religious  or  ethical,  or  its  more  flexible 

side  of  custom  and  convention;  in  any  direction  he 

will  find  such  difificulties  as  courage  feeds  upon  and  as 

appall  all  intellectual  cowardice  or  moral  pessimism. 

I    will   speak   more   particularly  of   the  voluntary 

organization  of  women.     What  is  its  history,  what  its 

■^  ^        "W^^       growth  and  tendency,  what  its  advantages,  what  its 

^^KM^  '^'  IP  dangers? 

^^^^B  %^  In  the  first  place,  let  us  distinctly  recognize  one 

^^^^^^^^  ,_  ^*        fact,  for  herein  lies  the  kernel  of  the  matter;  let  us 

j^^^^^^  .^■.«^. .  i  distinctly  recognize  one  fact,  namely,  the  history  of 

^^^IIHl  ^B^SHl.  ^^^  voluntary  organization  of  women  in  every  depart- 

^^^^f'~  'W^^^%    -fe  ment  of  thought  and  action  begins  with  the  self-con- 

sciousness and  self-assertion  of  woman's  individuality. 
So  long  as  women  were  universally  considered  by 
themselves,  as  well  as  by  men,  nothing  but  the  attaches, 
wards  and  subordinates  of  the  masculine  half  of  crea- 
tion, women  never  dreamed  of  cooperation  with  each 
other  upon  any  line  either  of  resistance  to  tyranny, 
or  self-improvement,  or  of  philanthropic  effort.  In 
religion,  which  contained  in  the  ancient  world  all  germs  of  growth,  so  long  as  it  was 
doubtful  whether  women  had  a  soul  of  her  own  to  save,  no  women  dreamed  of  uniting, 
even  in  the  most  subdued  and  modest  form,  in  helping  to  save  other's  souls.  We  read 
that  in  old  times,  in  the  earliest  history  of  Christianity,  this  or  that  man  "was  converted 
and  was  baptized  with  his  whole  household."  The  mference  is  that  the  household 
followed  the  head  from  paganism  to  Christianity,  without  anyone  waiting  for  the  indi- 
vidual assent  from  the  wife.  Yet  in  this  same  history  of  early  Christianity  is  abun- 
dant evidence  that  the  individuality  of  woman  in  religion  was  awakened  and  sustained 
by  the  new  gospel  in  a  way  previously  unknown  in  the  Pagan  world.  The  sharpest 
criticism  made  by  learned  and  moral  Pagan  writers  against  the  new  faith  was  that 
women,  mothers,  wives,  daughters  and  sisters  were  forsaking  their  family  gods  and 
turning  deaf  ears  to  the~authority  of  the  heads  of  their  families  to  follow  the  humble 
Nazarene.  And  when  we  realize,  faintly  only  and  for  one  moment,  the  tremendous 
power  of  ancient  Pagan  religion,  we  can  better  imaginewhat  amarvelous  fascination  for 
women  was  in  the  new  faith  that  they  could  thus  break  free,  as  individuals,  from  the 
inherited  bonds. 

Kev.  Anna  Garlin  Spencer  is  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  U.  S.  A,  She  was  born  April  17, 1851.  Her  parents  were  Francis 
L.  Garlin  and  Nancy  Mason  Carpenter  Garlin,  of  old  New  England  stock.  She  was  educated  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  public  schools 
and  by  private  instruction.  She  married  William  H.  Spencer,  a  Unitarian  clergyman,  in  August,  1878.  Her  special  work  has 
been  in  the  interest  of  religious,  ethical  and  educational  concerns.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  varied  contributions  to 
daily  papers  and  magazines,  lectures  and  sermons.  Mrs.  Spencer  is  an  ordained  minister,  and  is  now  settled  over  an  inde- 
pendent religious  society  connected  with  Bell  St.  Chapel,  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  ministering  to  a  large  congregation,  and  her 
husband  is  settled  over  the  Fourth  Unitarian  Parish  of  the  same  city.  In  religious  faith,  Unitarian.  Her  postoffice  address 
is  Providence,  R.  I. 

170 


REV.  ANNA   GARLIN  SPENCER. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  171 

In  Pagan  religion  woman  was  a  passive  receptacle  and  channel  for  the  transmission 
of  all  life,  physical  and  spiritual.  When  she  married  her  father  passed  her  from  the 
charge  of  his  own  family  deity  into  the  keeping  of  her  husband's  family  deity.  And 
the  worship  of  the  male  heads  of  the  family  after  death,  ancestor  worship  in  its  purest 
and  most  powerful  form,  made  her  subordination  a  part  of  her  most  vital  religious  life. 
The  Pagan  philosophy,  indeed,  which  had  for  its  leaders  men  of  the  most  exalted  char- 
acter and  of  as  high  thinking  upon  great  problems  as  the  world  has  known,  penetrated 
the  veiled  individuality  of  some  women  before  Christianity  was  born.  The  noble  stoics 
were  not  all  men.  And  the  growth  of  the  plebeian  class  in  Roman  civilization,  the 
growth  of  this  class  in  learning,  wealth  and  all  national  power  cut  deeply  into  the 
patrician  stronghold  of  the  religious  subordination  of  women;  so  much  so  that  the 
plebeian  divorced  wife  of  a  patrician  noble  acquired  with  that  divorce  a  social  and 
legal  independence  unparalleled  in  history.  But  these  influences,  strong  beyond 
measure  in  the  few,  penetrated  so  slightly  the  great  mass  of  womanhood  in  the  ancient 
world,  that  I  hold  it  true  to  history  to  say  that  until  the  advent  of  the  Christian 
religion,  the  sense  of  individuality  was  not  a  part  of  the  consciousness  of  women  in 
general.  The  family  sense  was  theirs,  the  sense  of  high  worth  and  use  as  humble 
purveyors  of  spiritual  and  physical  life  forces,  the  sense  of  dignity  as  loyal  guardians 
of  ancient  virtues  and  powers,  the  sense  of  social  service  wherein  all  personal  wish  or 
vagary  is  swallowed  up  in  devotion  to  superior  ideals  of  inherited  order.  Hut  to  the 
woman  passionately  devoted  to  the  old  Pagan  religions  of  Greece  and  Rome  there 
was,  there  could  be,  no  glimmering  of  the  modern  sense  of  rightful  individual  choice, 
of  personal  responsibility,  of  that  spherical  unity  of  the  single  soul  which  is  the  core 
of  today's  religion. 

The  Christian  appeal  in  religion  was  to  the  single  soul,  the  separate  individuality; 
not  to  family  feeling,  not  to  state  allegiance,  not  to  linked  bonds  of  any  sort  of  human 
association.  And  this  religious  appeal,  always  the  most  potent  in  effect  upon  the 
feminine  nature,  woke  women  generally  to  a  sense  that  their  souls  were  their  own. 
And  in  spite  of  bad  laws  of  Christendom,  in  spite  of  priestcraft  and  formal  literalism, 
in  spite  of  insults  heaped  upon  the  woman  nature  during  the  Middle  and  Dark  ages,  in 
spite  of  church  intolerance,  which  puts  woman  in  an  inferior  position  professedly  by 
the  will  of  God,  in  spite  of  all  this,  the  call  of  the  Christian  religion  to  each  soul  of 
man  or  woman,  of  bond  or  free,  to  work  out  its  own  salvation,  was  womanhood's 
Declaration  of  Independence,  for  our  inherited  civilization  at  least.  Therefore,  we 
may  say  that  sense  of  individuality  in  woman,  which  is  the  only  patent  of  her  co-oper- 
ative power  in  modern  life,  was  born  when  she  learned  that  her  soul  was  her  own. 
At  first,  and  for  long  generations,  she  knew  nothing  of  aught  save  purely  religious 
applications  of  that  truth.  She  had  no  refuge  from  oppression  in  family  or  state  but 
the  martyr's  death,  or  the  devotee's  renunciation.  But  gradually,  very  slowly,  the  soul 
that  owns  itself  has  come  to  believe  that  it  has  right  to  some  freedom  of  growth  and 
expression.  At  first  the  growth  of  women  in  these  directions  was  strictly  along  the 
line  of  the  newly  awakened  individualism.  The  great  persons  among  the  mass  of 
women  lifted  themselves  to  freedom  and  power.  And  the  practical  result  has  been 
that  the  individualism,  which  once  awoke  the  few  women  to  revolt  for  their  own  sakes, 
has  now  touched  with  stimulating  power  the  multitude  of  women  to  organization  for 
personal  development  and  world  service. 

And  just  as  soon  as  the  main  body  of  womanhood  began  to  sense  the  freedom 
and  opportunity  which  the  specially  endowed  had  procured  for  them,  the  principle  of 
voluntary  organization  began  to  permeate  all  departments  of  woman's  thought  and 
work.  So  today,  to  take  a  leap  in  history,  what  have  we?  We  have  the  general 
benevolence  of  women  organized  for  independent, or  well-nigh  independent,  action,  so 
far  as  man's  control  is  concerned.  We  have  the  intellectual  craving  of  women  organ- 
ized in  clubs  of  women,  in  collegiate  alumnae  associations  from  women's  colleges. 
We  have  the  desire  for  full  freedom  among  women  organized  in  woman  suffrage 
associations  and  leagues,  and  in  special  combinations  for  securing  juster  laws.     We 


172  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

have  the  protective  power  of  women  organized  in  friendly  societies  to  succor  young 
and  exposed  women  seeking  work  in  strange  places;  in  associations  which  aim  to 
guard  those  solitary  children  and  women  whom  God  has  not  set  in  families;  in  indus- 
trial and  educational  unions  which  aim  to  surround  the  less  favored  feminine  life  of 
great  cities  with  the  dignity,  the  power,  the  uplifting  self-respect  which  the  best  and 
strongest  womanhood  displays;  and  we  have  the  moral  conservatism  of  women 
organized.  We  have  the  wonderful  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  with  its 
temperance  center  and  its  ever  widening  circumference  of  purification  and  moral 
growth  in  almost  all  directions  of  woman's  power.  And  last,  we  have  the  new  move- 
ment which,  like  the  charity  organizations,  aims  to  make  a  synthesis  of  those  analyzed 
.specialties.  We  have  the  movement  toward  a  national  and  international  conference 
of  women  which  shall  leave  each  smallest  club  and  most  insignificant  association  free 
to  do  its  work  in  its  own  way,  but  link  all  together  in  an  army  where  weakness  shall 
gather  strength,  ignorance  shall  gather  wisdom,  bigotry  shall  gather  tolerance,  and 
selfish  exclusion  shall  gather  world  sympathy,  by  the  elbow  touch  of  a  common  aim 
to  grow  freely  toward  goodness  and  truth,  and  give  generously  what  is  received  from 
the  universe  to  the  world's  poorer  souls  and  bodies.  I  look  upon  this  latest  move- 
ment among  women  inaugurated  in  that  wonderful  Washington  meeting  as  the  finest 
flower  of  woman's  special  organization. 

We  have  traced  the  history  of  woman's  organization  for  specific  development  of 
power,  private  and  social,  back  to  its  germ  in  the  religious  call  to  a  personal  consecra- 
tion. We  have  traced  it  by  hints  through  its  era  of  self-assertion  of  the  great  few, 
which  self-assertion  we  find,  even  in  its  coarsest  and  most  selfish  aspects,  has  contrib- 
uted mightily  to  the  inherited  freedom  and  individual  power  of  the  modern  woman. 

This  all  means  what?  In  brief  this:  When  woman  found  herself,  when  she  began 
to  learn  that  she  was  a  person  and  not  merely  a  passive  conveyor  of  personality  from 
generation  to  generation,  she  began  to  see  also  two  other  things;  not  clearly  at 
first,  but  little  by  little  has  her  sight  come  in  these  two  great  lines.  The  first  thmg 
woman  began  to  see  was  that,  being  a  person  as  man  is  a  person,  being  herself  an 
individual  and  not  merely  a  purveyor  to  the  individuality  of  men,  she  had  both  a 
right  and  a  duty  to  intrepret  her  own  nature  and  grow  according  to  the  law  written  in 
her  own  being.  This  meant  freedom  to  learn  for  herself,  freedom  to  outline  her  own 
powers  and  uses.  This  meant  again  resistance  to  such  crippling  laws  and  conditions 
as  forbade  free  expansion.  This  meant  again,  do  you  not  see,  the  joining  together  of 
such  isolated  women  as  had  come  to  self-knowledge  and  self-respecting  love  of  free- 
dom, in  order  that  these  crippling  laws  and  conditions  might  be  more  successfully 
resisted,  and  these  opportunities  for  growth  and  self-development  might  be  increased, 
as  single  effort  was  powerless  to  increase  them.  You  can  have  no  esprit  de  corps 
among  slaves  who  are  slaves  in  spirit.  It  is  only  when  they  are  united  in  a  common 
impulse  toward  freedom  that  they  can  depend  upon  one  another  for  support.  So 
long  as  they  look  for  personal  advantage  in  slavery  they  are  treacherous,  and  know 
no  loyalty  save  to  their  masters.  So  of  women,  until  they  had  come  to  a  time  when 
they  looked  not  to  manhood  for  reflected  power  and  conferred  privilege,  but  to  their 
own  womanhood  for  patent  of  their  own  nobility,  they  could  not  work  together. 

Men  have  an  easy  comradeship  which  does  not  strike  deep;  they  have  a  free  and 
happy  ignoring  of  little  differences  in  opinion  and  taste  which  it  is  the  first  duty  of 
large-minded  women  to  imitate;  they  have  a  breadth  of  view,  a  sense  of  proportion 
in  working  together  for  special  ends  which  conscientious,  fastidious  women  must 
emulate,  if  they  are  to  do  some  of  the  things  they  wish  to  undertake. 

The  first  joining  of  hands  of  gifted  women  for  mutual  improvement  was  along 
religious  lines  and  generally  within  church  bonds.  But  when  neighborhood  meeting 
grew  to  the  city  club,  the  local  church  gathering  to  the  county  conference,  and  these 
both  grew  again  to  the  state  or  national  association,  women's  organization  also  en- 
larged. Nor  will  we  forget  the  second  insight  which  came  to  woman  with  awakening 
individuality.     Not  only  did  it  become  increasingly  clear  to  her  that  being  a  person  as 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  173 

man  is  a  person,  she  had  right  and  duty  to  interpret  her  own  nature  and  grow  accord- 
.  ingto  the  law  of  her  own  being,  but  it  became  also  increasingly  clear  to  her  that,  being 
a  person  like  and  yet  different  from  man,  she  had  a  right  and  a  duty  of  world-service 
which  she  alone  could  fitly  discover  and  fulfill.  Hence,  hand  in  hand  from  the  first, 
the  organizations  of  women  for  self-development  and  for  others  helping,  have  climbed 
the  road  toward  freedom  and  power.  With  some  leaders,  the  master  impulse  has  been 
justice;  with  others,  the  master  impulse  has  been  duty.  With  some,  the  watchword 
has  been  rights;  with  others,  the  watchword  has  been  service.  With  some,  the  call  has 
been,  "  Make  the  most  of  yourself."  With  others,  the  cry  has  been,  "Behold  a  world 
in  sin  and  sorrow;  behold  how  faint  home's  light  shines  upon  the  highway;  behold 
how  virtue  cries  for  knightly  service  and  innocence  for  succor;  behold  the  weak,  the 
ignorant,  the  tempted,  the  despairing.  Linger  not  by  the  hearth-fire  in  selfish  com- 
fort. Go  out  and  share  the  light  and  cheer  it  has  brought  you.  Give,  oh  woman,  of 
your  own  store,  nor  suffer  longer  any  fiat  of  man's  bigotry  or  hindrance  that  would 
cramp  your  giving,  nor  tremble  at  any  penalty  of  publicity  which  sets  the  seal  of 
devotion  to  a  suffering  world." 

It  is  true  that  the  aims  and  methods  of  women  thinkers  and  workers  have 
deepened  and  widened  with  the  growth  among  them  in  power  of  organization.  The 
charity  that  gave  without  question  to  him  that  asked  is  fast  becoming  the  wise  help- 
ing that  takes  for  motto,  "  Not  alms,  but  a  friend."  The  religion  that  exacted  minute 
shadings  of  its  shibboleth  for  fellowship  is  fast  growing  to  that  faith  which  sees  a 
temple  of  the  Divine 

"Wherever  through  the  ages  rise 
The  altars  of  self-sacrifice." 

The  advantages  of  organization  among  women  are  patent-beyond  all  cavil.  The 
isolation  of  woman  when  she  was  a  fragment,  or  a  "  relict,"  must  have  been,  beyond 
all  present  understanding,  terrible  and  dwarfing.  The  mind  of  a  feminine  Shakes- 
peare, the  moral  devotion  of  a  feminine  Savonarola,  the  heart  of  a  feminine  St.  John, 
must  have  been  smothered  in  such  loneliness  and  misunderstanding  as  marked  the  lot 
of  all  exceptional  women  in  the  older  time.  We  feel  but  thrills  of  pity  and  indigna- 
tion when  we  read  of  the  saintly,  dignified  Quaker  maiden,  Abby  Kelly,  being  dragged 
out  of  a  meeting  feet  foremost  because  she  lifted  up  a  woman's-  voice  for  the  slave. 
We  think  with  shame  of  the  lonely  Harriet  K.  Hunt  and  Elizabeth  Blackwell  seeking 
in  vain  so  long,  the  one  in  Boston,  the  other  in  London,  for  a  respectable  house  to 
shelter  them,  because  they,  being  women,  determined  to  be  also  doctors.  But  those 
who  had  learned  to  speak  and  to  do,  and  who  were  no  longer  in  spiritual  bonds,  the.se 
were  those  glorious  and  not  unhappy  martyrs  who  wear  the  crown  while  yet  the  pang 
is  sharp! 

But  for  the  ancient  women,  those  daughters  of  illustrious  men,  in  whose  veins 
throbbed  the  dominant  blood  of  generations  of  conquerors,  for  the  ancient  women 
who  could  only  beat  helplessly  against  an  unyielding  cage,  for  these  we  sigh.  What 
poet  shall  yet  arise  who  can  fitly  sing  in  epic  tragedy  their  pathetic  fate,  their  martyr 
service? 

Today,  not  only  the  exceptional  but  the  common  woman  can  do,  without  greatly 
daring,  almost  her  full  pleasure.  Today  a  cord  of  helpfulness,  formed  of  great- 
hearted and  clean-handed  womanhood  encircles,  almost  without  break,  the  least  of 
women's  needs  and  desires.  And  if  one  arise,  a  prophet  of  miraculous  gift  in  an 
unawakened  country  like  India,  she  finds,  as  found  Dr.  Joshu  and  Pundita  Ramabai. 
a  sisterhood  to  help  her  from  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  In  face  of  such  facts, 
it  almost  seems  ungracious  to  speak  of  the  dangers  of  organization  connected  with 
women  and  their  work. 

Yet  as  soon  as  perfection  of  one  era  is  in  sight  for  the  multitude,  the  elect  .souls 
who  are  in  the  vanguard  of  progress  see  the  next  step  of  modification  or  balancing 
change.  And  there  are  two  classes  of  danger  in  that  organized  effort  of  women  and 
for  humanity  which  make  a  special  glory  of  our  epoch. 


174  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

The  first  danger  is  of  woman's  organization.  The  second  danger  is  of  women's 
organization. 

The  first,  then,  of  woman's  organization. 

The  time  has  come  in  the  development  of  individual  power  and  associated 
effort  when  a  large  minority  of  women  can  work  not  only  as  women,  with  women, 
for  women,  and  undeveloped  men,  but  as  human  beings,  with  women  and  men,  for 
every  sort  of  human  interest;  a  minority,  I  say,  yet  a  large  minority.  Men  have 
widened  and  sweetened  and  grown  more  just,  until  they  now  welcome  a  great  woman 
almost  everywhere.  And  all  elect  women,  having  the  requisite  balance  of  powers, 
can  find  numberless  openings  for  co-operation  with  men  on  broad  grounds  for  highest 
ends.  And  there  is  no  question  but  such  co-operation  has  in  it  greater  promise  of 
self-development  for  both  men  and  women,  as  well  as  of  full-orbed  usefulness  to  the 
world  than  associations  under  sex  limits  can  be  at  their  very  best.  Today,  however,  we 
witness  a  curious  phenomena  in  social  life.  In  religion,  philanthropy,  intellectual 
culture  and  social  enjoyment,  women,  the  minority  of  the  best  and  strongest  women, 
are  doubly  organized,  with  men  and  without  men. 

In  intellectual  lines,  many  colleges  are  open  to  both  sexes,  many  associations  of 
mature  thinkers  give  women  equal  rights  and  privileges  with  men.  Yet  women's  col- 
leges, from  which  male  youths  are  excluded,  are  growing  in  numbers,  and  the  gradu- 
ates of  these  colleges  work  by  themselves  for  women's  higher  education  instead  of 
throwing  their  weight  of  influence  with  men  for  co-educational  effort. 

In  social  science  and  natural  science,  the  two  National  associations  in  America, 
founded  by  men,  offer  membership  on  equal  terms  to  women,  and  give  official  plat- 
form representation  to  women  almost  commensurate  with  the  proportion  of  feminine 
membership.  Yet  the  "A.  A.  W."  seeks  to  do  a  similar  work  for  women  by  women 
only,  and  many  scientific  women  limit  their  appeals  and  efforts  to  sex  lines. 

Women's  clubs  also,  and  associations  for  mutual  improvement,  are  increasing  very 
fast,  and  do  not  move  in  the  least  in  the  direction  of  seeking  vital  union  with  existing 
men's  clubs  for  the  same  object,  or  in  the  line  of  greater  hospitality  to  harassed  and 
busy  men,  who  are  not  progressive  enough  to  have  clubs  of  their  own!  Now  the 
expression  of  any  misgiving  lest  this  tendency  create  an  extreme  sex  feeling  on  the 
part  of  women  is  met  with  one  invariable  answer,  viz.:  that  only  a  few  women  have 
the  courage  and  ability  to  command  equal  recognition  for  their  word  and  work  among 
men,  and  that  the  great  majority,  even  of  progressive,  cultivated,  earnest  women  need 
the  separate  drill  by  themselves  for  many  years  before  they  can  take  a  balanced  part 
in  the  associated  effort  of  men  and  women.  All  very  true.  Yet  it  is  not  the  whole 
truth.  Women  in  clubs  and  associations,  when  they  compare  themselves  with  men, 
select  for  comparison  only  the  best  drilled  men,  professional  men,  master  specialists. 
But  take  men  and  women  jn  America  as  a  whole,  and  the  women  are  better  educated 
and  more  drilled  in  the  understanding  and  discussion  of  everything  but  technical, 
political  and  financial  questions  than  are  men.  The  average  girl  stays  in  school  longer 
than  the  average  boy.  In  many  circles  in  society,  where  the  brother  is  almost  sure  to 
be  dedicated  to  mercantile  or  manufacturing  business,  the  sister  is  trained  for  a  teacher. 
And  the  wife  and  mother,  although  overburdened  and  often  overmastered  by  cares, 
has  still  in  America,  as  a  rule,  in  the  great  middle  class,  which  sets  the  common  stand- 
ard of  thought  and  conduct,  a  better  chance  for  intellectual  and  moral  development 
than  the  husband  and  father.  The  proof  of  this  is  in  the  fact  that  her  old  age  is  gen- 
erally richer  than  his  in  all  that  makes  life  happy  and  helpful — in  the  fact  that  she, 
oftener  than  he,  finds  elevating  work  for  intellectual  and  moral  ends  when  the  drudgery 
of  personal  cares  is  lifted.  In  how  many  families  the  men  live  only  for  business;  the 
women  do  all  the  higher  spiritual  work!  How  many  husbands  let  their  wives  represent 
the  entire  family  interest  in  education,  in  philanthropy  and  in  religion,  and  perhaps 
cannot  help  it,  so  voraciously  do  business  demands  devour  the  whole  man. 

But  if  this  tendency  of  the  average  husband  and  father  to  be  absorbed  in  financial 
specialties  until  taste  for  general  culture  becomes  obsolete;  and  for  the  average  wife 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  175 

and  mother,  with  widening  opportunities  and  freedom,  to  become  more  and  more  gen- 
erally cultured;  if  this  tendency  increases  I  say,  a  gulf  will  be  fixed  between  women 
and  all  but  professional  and  learned  mcH  which  will  be  as  hurtful  to  both  as  the  older 
forms  of  sex  separation.  I  hate  to  see  this  tendency  divide  as  often  as  it  does  today, 
I  should  fear  its  extreme  as  a  social  menace.  Therefore,  I  believe  that  now  that  the 
average  woman  has  learned  the  delight  and  value  of  women's  work  with  women,  for 
women;  the  exceptional  women  should  make  haste  to  assume  their  places  as  human 
beings,  with  men,  in  associated  effort  for  highest  ends.  It  is  time  that  the  most  clear- 
eyed  women  should  cease  to  spend  themselves  chiefly  in  women's  things,  and  should 
press  wider  open  the  doors  now  ajar  which  lead  to  channels  of  high  commerce  of 
mind  and  heart  transcending  sex  limits. 

And  lest  a  new  caste  of  sex,  in  which  women  shall  show  themselves  the  selfish 
superiors,  shall  be  created,  I  think  it  high  time  that  women  whose  husbands  are  too 
busy  to  make,  or  too  ignorant  to  enjoy,  literary  and  philanthropic  clubs,  should 
patiently,  sweetly,  charmingly  woo  their  other  halves  to  the  delights  they  them- 
selves feed  upon! 

Next,  the  danger  of  women's  organization. 

Did  we  not  agree  that  sense  of  individuality  preceded  power  of  associated  effort 
in  the  growth  of  womanhood? 

Then  is  it  not  equally  clear  that  m  the  individual  woman  all  healthful  develop- 
ment must  follow  the  self-same  order?  Is  it  not  clear  that  until  a  woman  has  some 
understanding  of  her  own  nature,  its  worth,  its  use,  its  social  power,  its  supreme  obli- 
gations, she  can  gain  nothing  vital  by  associated  life  with  others?  Mind,  I  do  not  say 
the  ignorant  woman  must  grow  wise  before  she  belongs  to  a  club  seeking  wisdom.  On 
the  contrary,  in  the  associated  scheme  she  may  gain  far  more,  and  sooner  learn  to  give 
as  she  gains,  than  in  any  separate  study.  But  this  I  do  say,  the  ignorant  woman  must 
know  her  ignorance  and  long  to  grow  wise  before  she  can  gain  anything  but  a  foolish, 
make-believe  knowledge  from  the  brightest  club. 

Mind,  I  do  not  say  the  religious  woman  must  first  outgrow  her  selfishness  before 
she  can  join  with  profit  a  society  for  philanthropic  effort.  But  this  I  do  say,  the 
selfish  woman  must  sense  her  selfishness  and  long  to  grow  nobler  before  she  can  gain 
much  but  self-righteousness  even  from  the  communion  of  saints. 

Mind,  I  do  not  say  the  woman,  stung  by  some  personal  injustice  to  a  new  appre- 
hension of  sex  wrongs,  must  first  learn  impartial  and  abstract  justice  before  she  can 
usefully  work  with  other  women  for  equal  rights.  But  this  I  do  say,  the  woman  who 
does  not  sense  her  union  to  what  has  been  and  what  shall  be,  and  long  to  understand 
it,  can  never  gain  true  breadth  of  view  even  from  the  sages  of  woman's  leadership. 

Today  the  organization  of  woman's  effort  in  thought  and  action  has  reached  a 
position  of  such  dignity,  such  power,  such  charm,  such  helpfulness,  that  small  natured, 
pretentious,  vain  and  selfish  women  see  its  advantages,  and  seek  to  share  them  in  some 
form  or  other.  And  the  chief  danger  of  it  all  lies  just  here,  that  on  the  one  side 
the  leaders  will  be  "  leveled  down  "  as  the  membership  is  leveled  up,  and  a  half- 
growth  only  be  secured;  and  on  the  other  hand  that  pride  of  form,  devotion  to  the 
letter  of  woman's  association,  shall  kill  its  spirit.  Look  at  the  question  as  it  relates  to 
religion  and  charity,  the  first  specialties  of  woman's  associated  effort.  An  item  from 
a  society  journal  which  I  clipped  not  long  ago  will  illustrate  my  thought  In  the 
column  of  "  Correspondence  "  the  question  is  asked,  "  How  may  I,  a  stranger  in  New 
York,  with  ample  means,  but  with  no  first-class  letters  of  introduction,  best  acquire 
social  standing?"  The  response  was  this:  "  Hire  an  eligible  sitting  in  a  church  fre- 
quented by  people  of  high  social  influence,  join  two  or  three  popular  charitable  asso- 
ciations managed  by  society  women,  subscribe  liberally  to  their  work  and  get  elected 
if  possible  on  their  boards  of  directors."  Comment  on  this  seems  unnecessary,  but  I 
wonder  if  any  of  us  fully  realize  how  degraded  from  its  high  uses  a  church  and  a  char- 
itable organization  must  become,  if  a  majority  of  its  membership  considered  it  only  in 
the  light  of  a  ladder  to  social  distinction. 


176  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Nor  is  the  danger  less  in  intellectual  ways.  "  It  is  fashionable  in  Boston  to 
patronize  classical  music,"  says  a  cynic  observer;  "  so  people  lie  by  the  thousands. 
They  say  they  like  it  and  go  to  the  concerts, to  be  bored,  or  else  outrage  true  music 
lovers  by  whispering  and  stirring  about."  We  may  well  say,  better  a  fashion  for  high 
things  not  understood,  or  yet  really  liked,  than  a  fashion  for  bull-fights  or  coarse  min- 
strel jokes.  Yes;  but  true  growth  for  the  individual,  and  so  for  the  social  organism,  is 
along  lines  of  sincerity.     And  a  pretence  never  truly  educated  anyone. 

It  is  fashionable  in  many  circles  for  women  to  belong  to  a  literary  or  artistic 
"club."  A  good  fashion,  infinitely  better  than  the  set  "  party  "  with  its  horrors  of 
commonplace,  or  an  informal  tea  with  slander,  spiced  gossip  or  belittling  gabble 
called  conversation.  Yes;  but  many  a  woman  thinks  she  is  "  cultivated  "  because  she 
hears  swiftly-forgotton  "papers  "  by  the  bushel;  and  snubs  women  far  superior  to  her- 
self who  modestly  disclaim  absorbing  devotion  to  literature. 

Beware  of  danger  in  intellectual  club-life  if  it  makes  you  only  willing  to  accept 
all  that  wisdom  and  knowledge  can  pour  into  you  from  another's  thought  and  study. 
No  woman  grows  from  club-life  as  she  can  and  ought  who  does  not  feel  stimulated 
by  it  to  individual  study  and  personal  strenuous  thinking. 

Beware  of  the  danger  in  charitable  club-life  if  it  makes  you  contented  only  with 
giving  in  the  mass  to  the  mass.  No  woman  is  ennobled  by  such  effort.  What  is 
wanted  for  all  true  growth  for  the  individual  woman  as  for  the  sex  is  the  awakening 
to  self-knowledge,  the  stimulation  to  personal  study  and  work.  And  herein  lies  one 
of  the  great  gifts  of  the  Woman  Suffrage  Association  to  woman's  growth.  By  its  very 
nature,  so  broadly  inclusive  and  so  sharply  logical  is  it,  the  woman  suffrage  demand 
has  been  debarred  an  easy  popularity.  It  has  never  had  any  social  distinction  to  care 
for,  any  personal  ambition  to  serve  which  might  not  be  more  easily  and  quickly 
attained  from  other  sources.  Always  has  its  emphasis  been  strongest  of  all  the 
organizations  of  women  upon  the  full  and  free  development  and  expression  of  the 
individual.     And  in  it  men  and  women  have  always  worked  side  by  side. 

Beware  of  the  danger  in  associated  demand  for  rights  and  privileges  if  it  leads 
you  to  forget  personal  duty  toward  your  inferior,  in  nature  or  circumstances,  in  the 
abstract  demand  for  equality  of  rights.  No  woman  grows  in  individual  justice  by 
*'  resolutions,"  or  even  by  most  strenuous  and  wise  labors  which  base  themselves  on 
that  virtue,  unless  her  homage  and  service  to  the  universal  principle  constantly  leads 
her  to  practice  it  downward  as  well  as  demand  it  upward. 

I  have  known  a  woman  visit  "slums"  with  benevolence,  and  beat  down  the  wages 
of  her  children's  governess.  I  have  known  a  woman  gloat  over  a  fine  essay  at  a 
club  and  neglect  the  simplest  rules  of  intellectual  development  in  her  own  life  and 
family.  I  have  known  a  woman  to  spend  unceasing  devotion  in  defending  and 
establishing  abstract  principles  of  justice,  who  never  stopped  to  inquire  if  the  money 
on  which  she  lived  was  unstained  by  oppression,  or  if  the  labor  she  exacted  from  her 
servants  was  righteously  compensated. 

But  say  you  all,  I  am  sure,  just  here,  such  women  are  not  made  worse  by  the 
associated  effort;  they  have  only  not  yet  pulled  themselves  up  to  their  own  standard. 
Yes,  true;but  a  subtle  danger  to  character,  unknown  to  the  isolated  woman,  lies  in  these 
modern  associations,  the  danger  that  we  pretend  to  be  what  we  are  not,  that  we  think 
ourselves  leading  in  the  march  of  progress  when  we  are  only  tagging  on  because  the 
crowd  attracts  us. 

The  "Time  Spirit"  speaketh  these  words,  I  repeat.  Individual  Development 
Associated  Effort. 

Beware  lest,  as  was  said  of  George  Eliot  by  a  too  severe  critic,  "  we  keep  our 
ethics  only  for  foreign  export." 

Beware  lest  the  show  of  learning  cheat  us  of  the  substance,  of  that  true  knowledge 
which  must  be  fibered  upon  our  own  thought  to  produce  fruit  of  wisdow. 

Beware  lest  the  lazy,  modern  way  of  getting  smatterings  of  things  deceive  us  as  to 
the  leanness  of  our  own  mental  cupboards. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 


177 


Beware  lest  we  join  on  to  things  from  shallow  motives  before  there  is  anything  in 
us  fit  to  root  itself  in  the  eternal  laws  of  growth. 

Beware  of  the  tyranny  of  organization,  of  that  partizan  spirit  which  exacts  wor- 
ship of  some  intellectual  or  artistic  "cult"  as  if  these  were  absolute  truth  and  beauty. 

Beware  of  that  spiritual  dogmatism  which  makes  the  phrasing  more  than  the 
message  in  all  that  feeds  life's  nobler  part. 


az) 


THE  KINDERGARTEN.* 


By  MRS.  VIRGINIA  THRALL  SMITH. 

The  world  moves  notwithstanding  the  assertion  of  fault-finders  to  the  contrary, 
and  intelligence,  goodness  and   unselfishness  do   increase  as   time  goes  on.      It    is 

nowhere  more  conclusively  proven  than  in  a  look  at 
the  wise  efforts  made  in  solving  the  problem  of  what 
is  true  charity.  That  a  wise  discrimination  and  care- 
ful benevolence  is  to  be  maintained  by  thinking 
people  will  be  seen  by  close  observation  of  methods 
now  quite  universally  in  active  operation  in  all  our 
large  cities  and  in  many  of  our  smaller  towns. 

^  ^  ^  ^  ^  ^  ^ 

The  most  hopeful  of  all  charities  are  those  which 
elevate  the  very  young.  Every  community  stands 
under  a  moral  obligation  to  give  to  every  helpless  child 
born  within  its  border  the  best  possible  chance  to 
grow  into  honesty  and  virtue.  The  expense  to  the 
community  of  prevention  will  be  far  less  than  that  of 
any  attempt  at  care  in  all  the  moral  diseases  caused  by 
the  poverty,  ignorance  or  vicious  surroundings  of  its 
young  children. 

The  poorest  children  in  a  community  now  find  the 
beneficent  kindergarten  open  to  them  from  the  age 
of  two  and  a-half  to  six  years.  Too  young  heretofore 
to  be  eligible  to  any  public  school,  they  have  acquired 
in  their  babyhAod  the  vicious  tendencies  of  their  own 
depraved  neighborhoods;  and  to  their  environment  at  that  tender  age  has  been  due 
the  loss  of  decency  and  self-respect  that  no  after  example  or  education  has  heen 
able  to  restore  to  them.  The  kindergarten  comes,  in  these  helpful,later  days,  to  these 
moral  standings  with  sweet  attractiveness,  happy  entertainment,  wise  development  and 
instruction  for  little  heads,  hands  and  hearts,  and  with  many  a  motherly  lesson  in 
cleanliness  and  those  heretofore  undreamed  of  amenities  of  life  out  of  which  we  may 
hope,  in  some  far  day,  may  be  evolved,  "  Peace  on  Earth,  and  Good-Will  to  Men." 

The  testimony  at  hand  already  as  to  the  prosperity  and  value  of  the  kindergarten 
is  absolutely  convincing.  It  is  essentially  a  woman's  work.  It  is  natural  that  it  should 
be,  as  it  is  simply  for  the  period  of  infancy,  and  is  only  an  extension — a  disciplined 
and  orderly  extension — of  the  development  and  training  of  little  children  in  nice 
homes  with  wise  and  loving  mothers. 

The  kindergarten  system  is  based  upon  the  belief,  laid  down  by  the  greatest 
authorities  on  education,  that  the  most  important  formative  period  in  youth  is  before 
the  child  has  finished  seven  years  of  life,  and  before  the  regular  training  of  the  public 
school  belongs  to. him  by  right  of  age.     Habits,  associations,  desires  and  experiences 

Mrs.  Virginia  T.  Smith  was  born  in  Bloomfleld,  Conn.,  and  educated  in  the  common  schools,  the  Suffleld  Institute 
and  Mount  Holyoke  Seminary.  She  married  young,  and  many  years  were  devoted  to  the  duties  and  pleasures  of  domestic 
life  with  which  she  combined  philanthropic  work.  Mrs.  Smith  has  held  the  position  of  city  missionary  for  sixteen  years, 
and  served  as  a  member  of  a  board  of  charities  for  nine  years.  Mrs.  Smith  established  the  first  free  kindergarten  in  Connecti- 
cut, and  finally  secured  a  law  attaching  kindergartens  to  the  public  schools;  and  is  receiving  hearty  support  in  her  effort  to 
establish  a  State  Home  for  incurable  children.    Her  postofRce  address  is  Hartford.  Conn. 

♦The  title  under  which  this  address  was  delivered  was:  "  The  Kindergarten:  Fresh  Air  Work  and  Family  Homes  for 
Children.  " 

178 


MRS.   VIRGINIATHRALL  SMITH. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  179 

are  acquired  which  last  through  life.  The  faculties  are  developed,  the  senses  quick- 
ened, and  good  behavior,  discipline,  self-control,  manners,  morals — all  begin  with  the 
first  awakening  powers  of  the  child. 

One  writer  says  :  "The  kindergarten  attempts  to  do  for  children  what  should  be 
done  for  them,  but  is  not  always  done,  in  the  family  at  home.  It  is  a  lament- 
able fact  that  all  mothers  are  not  fitted  to  train  up  infants  in  the  way  they  should  go. 
Even  in  the  well-to-do  classes  there  is  a  lack  of  knowledge,  of  the  right  temper,  of 
experience,  or  of  leisure  to  give  the  young  child  the  kind  of  discipline  that  ensures 
good  manners,  good  morals,  or  the  kindly  development  of  his  natural  powers. 
Home  training  of  the  right  sort  is  no  doubt  the  best  training.  There  is  no  education 
in  the  world  so  valuable  as  that  unconsciously  imbibed  in  a  refined  and  cultivated 
household  before  the  child  is  six  years  old.  But  what  shall  we  do  for  children  who 
do  not  have  homes  at  all  worthy  of  the  name?  We  know  that  the  child  is  father  of 
the  man,  and  yet  our  civilization  is  very  slow  to  begin  at  the  right  end  of  a  social 
reform.  We  build  prisons  for  adults  and  reformatories  for  children.  These  have 
become  necessities,  and  testify  to  an  inability  to  deal  with  the  evils  of  our  society." 

So  then  we  must  begin  in  the  right  way  to  educate  the  children  of  the  very  poor. 
We  must  pick  up  out  of  the  swearing  alleys  and  gutters  of  depraved  neighborhoods 
the  neglected,  harshly  treated,  half-fed  and  half-clothed,  unwashed  and  uncombed 
prattling  child,  whose  greatest  knowledge  of  language  is  of  slang  and  profanity,  cleanse 
it  and  cover  it  with  wholesome  garments;  teach  it  how  to  play  and  how  to  talk  and 
what  truth  is,  and  so,  lovingly  and  carefully,  plant  the  germ  of  good  in  its  receptive 
mind,  and  fill  its  hopeful  heart  with  happy  dreams  of  doing  something  noble  in  the 
future  that  the  results  must  be  beneficial  to  a  great  degree  to  the  race  we  are  trying 
to  save.  It  is  a  higher  duty  of  society  to  prevent  crime  than  to  punish  it.  The  one 
•is  ennobling  and  pleasant  and  the  other  harsh  and  deterrent. 

Already  in  Connecticut  we  see  the  kindergarten  added  to  the  public  schools,  and 
the  fruits  of  such  a  union  are,  we  believe,  bound  to  be  worth  far  more  to  society  than 
is  the  advanced  instruction  of  the  highest  departments  in  the  languages  and  mathe- 
matics. 

None  of  the  modern  philanthrophic  enterprises  seem  to  give  more  satisfaction  to 
those  who  enjoy  them,  or  more  pleasure  to  those  who  furnish  them,  than  the  little 
outings  which  poor  city  children  receive  by  reason  of  fresh-air  funds.  The  benevolence 
is  contagious,  and  every  year  it  is  developing  into  wider  usefulness. 

Children  are  sent  into  the  country  for  several  weeks  and  their  health  is  naturally 
benefited  by  the  change.  It  brings  color  to  thin  cheeks,  elasticity  to  their  bodies, 
awakens  in  their  minds  the  love  of  simple  pleasures,  ideals  of  beauty,  cleanliness  and 
purity  All  through  the  pleasant  country,  in  villages  and  farmhouses,  people  are  found 
willing  to  take  one  or  more  of  these  little  waifs  into  the  family  and  give  them  a  good 
time.  We  do  not  know  whether  the  children  or  their  kind  and  generous  entertainers 
are  the  more  benefited,  for  this  opening  of  the  heart  and  home  is  such  a  lovely  char- 
ity that  it  is  invaluable  to  those  who  participate  in  it.  F'amily  selfishness  says  that 
one's  duty  is  all  done  when  one's  own  children  are  carried  into  green  fields,  beside 
laughing  waters,  and  into  wholesome  chambers  in  pleasant  country  houses  for  the 
nights;  but  the  new  and  tender  spirit  of  this  later  day  claims  that  the  little  children 
of  the  poor  need  a  change  quite  as  much  as  any  others,  and  that  it  should  be  a  pleas- 
ure to  see  that  it  is  given  to  them.  This  new  benevolence  becomes  a  threefold  bene- 
diction, blessing  the  community  where  the  children  go,  the  givers,  and  the  children, 
and  it  goes  on  increasing  and  enlarging  its  beneficence  every  year,  so  that  one  may 
not  be  able  to  over-estimate  the  moral  benefit  it  holds. 

In  the  kindergarten  and  the  fresh-air  work,  and  in  the  deeper  child-saving  work, 
which  means  the  rescue  of  perishing  little  ones  in  the  midst  of  moral  stagnation  and 
death  by  a  permanent  transplanting  into  the  sweet  soil  of  honest  and  pure  living, 
comes  the  dawn  of  better  things  for  the  little  children.     In  these  most  gracious  oppor- 


180  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

tunities  are  the  true  methods  for  the  nuture  and  direction  of  the  little  children,  who 
should  each  be  so  advantageously  situated  that  his  best  inheritances  should  be  nour- 
ished and  strengthened,  his  evil  tendencies  repressed  and  overcome,  and  the  atmos- 
phere in  which  he  lives  and  grows  up  should  be  one  of  such  unselfishness,  gentleness, 
and  Christian  love  as  to  be  a  constant  inspiration  toward  all  that  is  good. 

The  work  in  this  line,  so  thoroughly  begun  in  some  localities,  should  extend 
from  one  end  of  our  Union  to  the  other,  and  the  workers  go  out  to  their  sister 
states,  that  have  not  yet  realized  their  needs  in  this  direction,  with  a  force  that 
shall  overcome  all  apathy  and  awaken  a  new  and  earnest  interest  that  will  not  rest 
till  the  work  is  thoroughly  established. 

The  work  of  kindly  effort  for  the  children  depends  for  its  success  upon  the 
underlying  principle  of  our  efforts.  If  actuated  and  energized  by  a  vital  love  for 
others,  they  must  succeed.  Constantly  increasing  light  will  be  given,  so  that  the 
wisest  course  of  general  action  may  be  adopted,  and  the  remedies  at  hand  shall  be 
so  discriminately  applied  as  to  meet  the  real  needs  of  each  individual  nature. 


MARRIAGE  PROSPECTS  IN  GERMANY. 

BY  MISS  KATHE  SCHIRMACHES. 

The  marriage  prospects  of  every  woman  depends  as  a  rule  upon  three  circum- 
stances, the  first  of  which  is  the  number  of  eligible  men  living  in  the  country.  In  this 
respect  the  German  women  are  not  particularly  favored,  for  their  number  exceeds  that 
of  the  men  by  a  round  one  million  and  a  half,  so  that  it  is  impossible  every  German 
woman  should  marry,  unless  you  institute  polygamy,  put  a  tax  on  bachelors,'  or  forbid 
young  men  to  emigrate. 

The  second  circumstance  the  marriage  prospects  of  a  woman  depend  upon,  is  the 
more  or  less  facility  her  countrymen  find  in  founding  a  household  of  their  own  and 
supporting  a  family.  In  this  direction  the  prospects  are  not  bright.  All  over  Ger- 
many you  hear  the  same  complaint;  the  needs  are  great,  money  and  employment 
scarce,  no  new  openings  to  be  found,  and  the  possibility  of  making  both  ends  meet 
less  than  before.  Under  these  circumstances  the  number  of  marriages  is  likely  to 
decrease,  and  it  actually  does. 

I  come  to  the  third  point  to  be  considered.  It  is  of  a  less  material  character  than 
the  two  preceding  ones,  but  of  a  still  more  vital  interest.  It  implies  the  views  the 
two  sexes  hold  on  marriage  in  general,  and  the  ideal  type  they  expect  one  another  to 
live  up  to.  Now,  what  is,  as  a  rule,  a  German  man  entitled  to  expect  his  wife  to  be? 
The  answer  is  very  short — his  inferior,  but  a  pleasant  one;  inferior,  but  at  the  same 
time  one  who  is  a  lady  and  meets  with  all  the  outward  marks  of  respect  due  to  a  lady, 
yet  remains  an  inferior.     This  is  no  exaggeration. 

Consult  the  church  in  Germany,  she  says:  The  Christian  wife  is  an  obedient  wife. 
Consult  the  German  law;  it  says:  The  German  wife  is  a  person  supported  by  her 
husband;  has  in  all  circumstances  to  submit  to  his  will,  and  in  affairs  of  greater 
importance  may  not  act  without  his  permission. 

Consult  the  army;  as  the  most  privileged  and  most  highly  considered  class  of 
Germany,  it  will  answer.  A  wife  is  a  very  pretty,  rich  and  lovable  object,  but  incap- 
able of  doing  military  service.  Consult  the  men  of  science,  and  except  some  of 
broader  views,  they  will  pretend,  should  it  be  the  teeth  of  fact,  that  a  woman  is 
incapable  of  rough  work,  high  intellectual  training,  and  high  intellectual  achievement. 
Consult  the  German  government;  it  has  hitherto  shut  out  women  from  the  univer- 
sity as  a  student,  from  the  upper  classes  of  girls'  high  schools  as  a  teacher,  from  the 
school  board  and  advisory  councils,  in  all  public  affairs  and  all  public  functions.  A  Ger- 
man woman  is  no  citizen.  Consult  the  German  press,  and  except  some  liberal  papers  and 
reviews,  they  but  reach  the  judgments  quoted  above,  and  even  liberal-minded  editors 
of  great  liberal  papers  are  taken  aback  at  the  idea  of  a  woman  discussing  political 
economy  and  politics.  Consult  German  literature,  and  you  will  find  it  only  knows  of  one 
relation  between  men  and  women,  the  relation  through  love  and  passion.  The  relation 
through  thought,  opinion,  work,  seem  to  be  perfectly  unknown  hitherto.  Then,  after 
having  consulted  all  these  authorities,  address  yourself  to  a  German  average  man  on 
the  point  of  getting  married,  and  ask  him  what  he  expects  his  future  wife  to  be.  I 
think  he  will  answer:  "Pretty  and  gay,  ignorant  of  life,  able  to  follow  in  my  thoughts, 
but  by  no  means  independent."  Now,  a  modern  woman  may  be  pretty,  and  she  may 
be  gay,  but  she  is  never  ignorant  of  life,  and  always  independent.  Therefore,  her 
marriage  prospects  in  Germany,  and  all  the  countries  sharing  the  German  ideal,  are 
bad  ones.  This  is  the  chief  point  where  her  difference  from  the  older  type  lies. 
Hitherto  a  German  woman  on  the  average  had  but  one  way  of  getting  happy,  use- 

181 


182  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

ful  and  respected — through  marriage.  She  could  attain  this  without  a  special  train- 
ing of  her  faculties,  or  a  thorough  development  of  her  character. 

A  modern  woman,  on  the  contrary,  does  not  consider  marriage  as  her  inevitable 
fate;  nor  is  she  convinced  that  it  be  ever  woman's  chief  gift,  to  fulfill  the  duties  of  a 
wife  and  a  mother;  nor  does  she  believe  that  without  a  special  training  of  her  facul- 
ties and  a  thorough  development  of  her  character  a  woman  can  be  able  to  fulfill  these 
duties  as  they  should  be.  She  therefore  asks  as  her  right,  considers  as  her  personal 
duty,  considers  as  a  general  necessity  that  a  woman  should,  in  the  first  place,  be  a 
character  and  full-grown  personality;  should,  secondly,  make  sure  of  her  chief  gift 
or  capacity,  train  it  so  as  to  know  what  regular  work  means,  and  be  able  to  support 
herself.  Then,  having  attained  this,  she  asks  for  the  liberty  of  choosing  marriage,  if 
she  feel  particularly  disposed  toward  it,  and  of  refusing  it  if  she  see  another  way  of 
being  more  happy  and  more  useful  to  the  world.  And  this  latter  decision  she  wants 
to  be  allowed  to  take  without  being  pitied  by  the  world,  nor  blamed  for  it.  A  mod- 
ern woman,  having  thus  developed  her  brains  and  her  will,  there  is  still  one  quality 
she  cannot  do  without — a  warrri  heart.  She  must  have  a  feeling  of  fellowship  toward 
all  other  women,  pulling,  so  to  say,  at  the  same  rope  with  her;  the  wish  to  help  all 
those  striving  in  the  same  direction  with  her,  who  may  be  less  gifted  or  less  fortunate 
than  she,  or  to  help  all  those  who,  loosing  courage,  have  ceased  to  fight.  Unless  she 
have  the  backbone  of  a  conviction  and  the  feeling  to  stand  with  others  for  a  cause, 
and  to  claim  justice,  she  is  no  modern  woman.  I  now  repeat  my  question:  Is  this 
modern  woman  the  wife  her  German  countrymen  expect?  And  I  repeat  the  same 
answer  as  before.  No;  she  is  not;  and  therefore  her  marriage  prospects  are  bad 
in  Germany,  Yet,  though  the  modern  woman  knows  that  marriage  at  its  actual 
state  of  development  in  Germany  is  not  meant  for  her,  yet  she  is  not  at  all  averse  to 
marriage  in  itself. 

Being  a  full-grown  and  fully  developed  woman,  she  is  perfectly  capable  of  love, 
of  passion  and  devotion.  She  does' not  pride  herself  on  being  insensible  of  love,  nor 
affect  a  lofty  and  ridiculous  disdain  of  men  in  general.  On  the  contrary,  knowing 
how  hard  it  is  and  how  much  it  has  cost  her  to  make  her  way,  to  grow  a  character, 
she  will  fully  appreciate  a  man,  who,  having  done  the  same,  expects  the  same  from 
her,  with  whom  she  may  share  her  ideas,  thoughts  and  feelings,  her  experiences,  her 
tendencies,  perhaps  even  her  profession;  whose  comrade  she  will  be  and  whose  wife, 
for  the  modern  marriage  is  based  in  the  first  place  on  comradeship  and  mutual  under- 
standing 

Unless  the  modern  woman  find  a  man  to  appropriate  her  strength  of  will  and  ten- 
acity of  purpose,  as  she  does  his;  unless  he  admit  her  on  a  footing  of  perfect  equality, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  she  is  his  equal;  unless  she  be  sure  to  find  all  this  and 
be  asked  to  give  all  this,  I  think  she  will  not  marry.  For  what  outward  motive  could 
else  lead  her  to  that  resolution?  She  supports  herself,  so  does  not  want  to  marry  in 
order  that  she  may  be  provided  for.  She  is  fond  of  her  work,  absorbed  by  it,  makes 
friends  by  it,  is  respected  for  it,  so  need  not  marry  in  order  to  obtain  the  regards  due 
to  a  useful  member  of  society.  That  at  times  she  will  suffer  from  being  alone,  that 
she  will  have  her  hours  of  temptation,  crisis  and  depression,  the  modern  woman  is  far 
too  upright  to  deny.  Yet,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  a  character  of  this  stamp,  a  modern 
woman,  will  cherish  liberty  above  all,  and  will  be  happier  still  when  living  alone,  free 
to  think,  to  feel  and  act  as  she  likes,  as  if,  having  married  for  marrying's  or  passion's 
sake  a  man  she  does  not  thoroughly  agree  with,  feels  bored  by  his  presence  all  her 
life.  And  the  modern  women  begin  to  be  somewhat  bored.  Hitherto  they  were  taught 
to  look  up  to  man,  and  on  a  whole  they  did.  How  this  innate  feeling  of  respect  for 
a  man  as  such  is  more  and  more  declining  in  the  soul  of  modern  women,  and  this 
change  I  consider  as  most  destructive  for  the  marriage  prospects  to  our  sex.  It  is  no 
change  one  could  rejoice  in.  It  is  very  painful  to  realize,  for  who  would  not  prefer 
admiring,  venerating  with  all  her  heart,  to  blaming  judging  and  condeming? 

Yet  this  change  from  innate  respect  to  downright  indifference  is  actually  coming 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  183 

about.  It  cannot  be  avoided,  for  it  is  the  natural  result  of  the  modern  woman's  deep- 
ening experience  of  life.  It  is  the  knowledge  of  the  realities  of  the  world.  It  is  this 
knowledge  which  mostly  estranges  woman  from  man.  It  comes  to  a  woman  who  has 
come  to  know  by  direct  personal  experience  what  this  world  actually  is  like;  what 
she  may  meet  with,  in  spite  of  being  a  lady,  when  trying  to  make  her  wav  by  herself 
and  going  out  unprotected  by  a  great  name  or  a  chaperon. 

A  woman  comes  to  realize  that  there  are  two  moral  standards,  and  that  what  is 
morally  wrong  with  her  is  allowed  to  men.  A  woman  that  has  looked  into  the 
depths  of  society  and  understood  its  sham  and  shame,  such  a  woman  is  not  likely  to 
consider  men  as  her  superiors  nor  to  be  satisfied  with  the  world's  standards  from  her 
own  experience;  her  own  reflection,  a  quiet,  concentrated  and  very  earnest  protest,  is 
rising.     Taking  into  account  her  character,  how  could  it  be  otherwise? 

But  considering  the  views  of  the  German  husband,  this  state  of  affairs  can  but 
displease  him.  For  women  leading  independent  lives,  holding  certain  decided  views 
of  their  own,  women  with  ideas  and  principles,  women  that,  before  they  got  married, 
have  brushed  their  own  wings  and  fought  their  way  in  the  world;  women  judging 
men  and  asking  them  to  account  for  various  very  unpleasant  things  of  the  world — such 
women  are,  in  Germany  at  least,  a  very  great  and  startling  innovation,  and  therefore, 
I  repeat,  their  marriage  prospects  are  bad  ones.  Things  will  not  always  remain  like 
that.  Th^  modern  woman  is  superiorly  organized.  The  weather  all  over  Europe  is 
black,  and  times  of  storm  and  stress  are  always  favorable  to  the  rising  types.  Let  the 
modern  woman  stand  the  test  of  our  troubles  to  come,  and  she  will  see  her  claims 
admitted;  let  her  exemplify  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  and  she  will  be  respected;  let 
her  be  that  woman  and  she  will  be  desired.  Until  the  time  come  when  the  modern 
woman  shall  meet  the  modern  man,  we  have  to  work  to  sow  and  plant  with  a  never- 
resting  hand  that  there  should  grow  great  characters  for  the  world,  characters  able  to 
grapple  with  the  great  probjems  at  issue;  it  is  character  we  want.  Walt  Whitman 
says,  "Have  great  men  and  the  rest  will  follow." 


THE  WOMEN  WRITERS   OF   CALIFORNIA. 


MRS.   ELLA  STERLING  CUMMINS. 


By  MRS.   ELLA  STERLING  CUMMINS. 

The  people  of  California  have  a  peculiar  .standard  of  their  own  from  which  they 
judge  of  the  value  of  a  story  or  an  article.     They  have  to  be  fed  on  strong  meats. 

They  require  the  boiled  down  process.  They  insist 
on  the  essence  of  things.  Pretty  little  love  stories  or 
homespun  tales  won't  do  for  the  Californian  public. 
So  great  is  the  demand  for  that  which  is  strong  that 
there  is  no  objection  to  the  improbable  element  being 
introduced  into  a  story  so  long  as  the  possible  veri- 
ties are  maintained.  But  a  possible  story  which  is 
not  true  in  its  ring  merits,  in  their  eyes,  immediate 
condemnation.  The  possible  improbable  is  all  right, 
but  the  improbable  possible  is  all  wrong.  For  instance, 
they  will  read  with  pleasure  and  delight  of  the  gen- 
tleman who  w^as  found  and  thawed  out  after  being 
"eighteen  centuries  in  ice,"  if  he  is  dressed  in  ancient 
garments  and  speaks  the  tongue  of  that  time,  and 
otherwise  comports  himself  as  he  should  to  carry  out 
the  illusion.  But  woe  be  unto  the  story  of  a  man  told 
of  as  living  in  San  Francisco  who  does  not  comport 
himself  historically  correct  with  the  times,  nor  act  as 
an  average  citizen  might  in  every  particular.  The 
writers  there  cannot  create  people  out  of  their  imagi- 
nations; they  must  be  types  of  living  people.  Per- 
haps sometimes  this  requirement  brings  to  light  queer 
creatures,  just  as  if  you  overturned  a  stone  and  studied  the  unpleasant  living  things 
below — the  bluish  bugs,  the  beetle,  the  angle  worm,  the  thousand-legged  worm,  the 
little  red  spider,  the  uncanny  things  usually  to  be  found  in  such  a  place — but  we 
know  the  artist's  studio  is  always  lined  with  unpleasant  studies,  and  the  writer,  like 
the  artist,  cannot  paint  beautiful  things  only.  It  would  not  be  true;  and  besides,  it 
would  pall  upon  the  taste  like  too  many  sweets.  The  Californian  reading  public  cares 
nothing  for  sweets,  very  little  for  that  which  is  merely  beautiful,  a  great  deal  for  that 
which  is  strong  and  for  that  which  is  true.  The  result  is  a  rugged,  picturesque  litera-. 
ture,  which  is  to  be  found  in  the  old  files  of  the  journals  and  magazines  rather  than  in 
book  form.  Thus  it  is  that,  all  unknown  to  the  great  world  east  of  the  Rockies,  has 
arisen  a  school  of  writers,  including  women,  which  has  achieved  a  style  and  quality 
of  composition  distinctly  original  and  native  to  that  latitude.  While  it  was  first 
evolved  and  made  known  by  means  of  the  genius  of  Bret  Harte,  Joaquin  Miller  and 
Mark  Twain,  yet  this  literary  movement  has  not  been  confined  to  them  alone,  nor  has 
it  ceased  with  their  departure  from  the  state. 

Mrs.  Ella  Sterling  Cummins  was  born  in  Sacramento  County,  Cal.  Her  parents  were  Sterling  B.  F.  Clark,  of  Vermont, 
and  Rachel  H.  Mitchell  Clark,  of  Pennsylvania.  After  the  death  of  her  father  her  mother  married  Mr.  D,  H.  Haskell,  and 
with  her  little  brothers  and  sisters  she  received  the  name  of  Ella  Clark  Haskell.  She  received  her  education  from  her  mother 
and  from  the  Sacramento  public  schools.  She  was  also  much  influenced  by  her  husband,  the  late  Adley  H.  Cummins,  of  San 
Francisco,  whom  she  married  in  1872.  He  was  a  scholar  and  orator  as  well  as  lawyer,  and  was  phenomenal  in  his  attain- 
ments, having  a  knowledge  of  sixty  languages  and  dialects.  They  had  but  one  child,  a  daughter.  Mrs.  Cummins'  principal 
literary  works  are  :  "  The  California  Story  of  the  Files,"  "A  Review  of  Californian  Writers  and  Literature ;  "  a  novel,  "  The 
Little  Mountain  Princess,"  and  many  short  stories  and  articles  contributed  to  "Lippincott's,"  to  "North  American  Review,' 
and  many  Californian  magazines  and  journals.  In  religious  faith  Mrs.  Cummins  is  a  Christian.  Her  ancestors  were  Method- 
ists.  Her  postotfice  address  is  1605  Baker  Street,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

184 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  185 

.  Having  made  a  study  of  this  literature  for  the  past  seven  or  eight  years,  in  order 
to  prepare  a  work  upon  the  subject,  I  have  been  much  impressed  by  the  part  women 
have  played  in  this  literary  movement. 

There  has  been  a  list  of  books  by  California  writers  catalogued  by  a  society  of 
San  Francisco  women.  In  this  list  I  find  the  names  of  ninety  women  and  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty-five  volumes.  In  the  list  of  the  Pacific  Coast  Woman's  Press  Associa- 
tion I  find  the  names  of  over  one  hundred  women  connected  with  matters  of  the  pen 
and  pencil.  Besides,  there  are  many  (women  writers  unchronicled  and  unrecorded) 
who  are  connected  with  newspapers,  or  who  have  been  occasional  contributors  all  along 
the  route  for  the  past  thirty  years  or  more,  making  about  fifty  more.  Today  their 
services  are  necessary  to  the  columns  of  the  journals  or  magazines;  today  they  carve 
out  niches  which  no  one  but  themselves  can  fill.  And  today  the  work  from  their 
pens  is  so  honest  and  so  correct  that  in  many  cases  their  ephemeral  articles  may  be 
classed  under  the  head  of  literature,  while  the  vivid  short  stories  which  appear  from 
time  to  time  are  gems  which  have  come  from  the  lapidary's  hand.  But  this  story  of 
the  literary  movement  in  California  for  women  begins  rather  sorrowfully.  Woman 
has  been  called  the  "Peaceful  Invader,"  but  along  her  path  is  to  be  found  tragedy  as 
well  as  comedy.  The  first  literary  effort  made  in  California  by  women  was  as  far 
back  as  1858.  A  sincere  and  honest  publication  was  the  "  Hesperian,"  which  lasted  till 
1864.  But  as  is  now  said  of  both  publication  and  publisher,  "Like  her  nice  little  mag- 
azine, Mrs.  Day  is  dead."  The  first  woman  who  entered  journalism  and  tried  to  live 
by  means  of  her  pen  fared  poorly  and  died.  She  wrote  under  the  names  of  "  Topsy 
Turvy  "  and  "  Carrie  Carleton  "  as  early  as  1865.  She  was  a  bright,  sweet,  lovable  little 
woman,  with  a  cheery  style  of  composition  which  has  earned  her  that  most  unusual 
title  for  a  woman  of  "  humorist."  A  few  days  before  her  death  some  one  said  to  her: 
"  When  you  are  dead  I  shall  kiss  this  lily-white  hand."  That  night  she  set  up  to  write 
the  poem  which  has  made  her  best  known.     It  is  entitled  "When  I  Am  Dead." 

WHEN    I    AM    DEAD. 

When  you  are  dead  and  lying  at  rest. 

With  your  white  hands  folded  above  your  breast — 

Beautiful  hands,  too,  well  I  know, 

As  white  as  the  lilies,  as  cold  as  the  snow — 

I  will  come  and  bend  o'er  your  marble  form. 

Your  cold  hands  cover  with  kisses  warm. 

And  the  words  I  will  speak  and  the  tears  I  will  shed 

Will  tell  I  have  loved  you,  when  you  are  dead! 

When  you  are  dead  your  name  shall  rise 
From  the  dust  of  earth  to  the  very  skies. 
And  every  voice  that  has  sung  your  lays 
Shall  wake  an  echo  to  sound  your  praise. 
Your  name  shall  live  through  the  coming  age 
Inscribed  on  Fame's  mysterious  page; 
'Neath  the  towering  marble  shall  rest  your  head, 
But  you'll  live  in  memory,  when  you  arc  dead! 

Then  welcome,  Death!  thrice  welcome  be! 

I  am  almost  weary  waiting  for  thee; 

Life  gives  no  recompense,  toil  no  gain, 

I  seek  for  love,  and  I  find  but  pain; 

Lily  white  hands  have  grown  pale  in  despair 

Of  the  warm  red  kisses  which  should  be  their  share. 


186  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Sad,  aching  hearts  have  grown  weary  of  song, 

No  answering  echo  their  notes  prolong; 

Then  take  me,  oh  Death,  to  thy  grim  embrace! 

Press  quickly  thy  kiss  on  my  eager  face, 

For  I  have  been  promised,  oh,  bridegroom  dread. 

Both  love  and  fame,  when  I  am  dead! 

The  best  known  of  Californian  women  writers  is  Ina  D.  Coolbrith,  who  stands 
peerless  at  the  head.     There  is  strength  and  there  is  beauty  in  every  line  she  writes. 

Emma  Francis  Dawson  is  the  author  of  that  celebrated  poem  "Old  Glory."  Virna 
Woods  has  written  "The  Amazons,"  a  beautiful  little  drama  of  Greek  life.  Lillian 
Hinman  Shuey  has  issued  a  book  called  "California  Sunshine."  A  quatrain  of  hers 
upon  the  Golden  State  runs  thus: 

Sown  is  the  golden  grain!  planted  the  vines; 
Fall  swift,  oh  loving  rain,  lift  prayers  oh  vines! 
Oh  green  land,  oh  gold  land,  fair  land  of  the  sea 
The  trust  of  thy  children  reposes  in  thee. 

A  poem  by  Carrie  Stevens  Walter  is  entitled 

A   WIFE     OF    THREE    YEARS. 

He  goes  his  daily  way  and  gives  no  sign 
Or  word  of  love  I  deemed  once  fondly  mine. 

He  meets  my  warm  caress  or  questioning  eye 
Without  the  tender  thrill  of  days  gone  by. 

Once  at  my  lightest  touch  or  glance  or  word 
The  mighty  being  of  his  love  was  stirred. 

And  now  the  clasping  of  my  yearning  hand 
He  meets  unanswering,  does  not  understand. 

He  gives  no  word  of  praise  through  toiling  years, 
To  say  he  reads  my  truth  through  smiles  or  tears. 

I  cannot  take  for  granted  as  my  own 

The  love  that  speaks  not  in  caress  or  tone. 

For  this,  my  life's  sweet  hopes  fade  sad  away; 
For  this,  my  heart  is  breaking  day  by  day. 

Madge  Morris  Wagner  is  a  woman  upon  whose  talents  an  entire  chapter  might  be 
spent.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  Liberty  Bell,  which  has  lately  been  cast,  was  done 
so  at  the  instance  of  her  poem  upon  that  subject,  and  she  is  invited  here  to  the 
Columbian  Exposition  to  set  that  bell  ringing.  But  she  is  a  frail  creature,  physically, 
in  spite  of  her  splendid  literary  powers,  and  fears  that  possibly  she  may  not  have  the 
strength  for  this  wonderful  day  that  is  awaiting  her. 

A  poem  by  Madge  Morris  is  as  follows: 

ON    THE    DESERT. 

Thou  brown,  bare-breasted,  voiceless  mystery. 

Hot  sphinx  of  nature,  cactus-crowned,  what  hast  thou  done? 

Unclothed  and  mute  as  when  the  groans  of  chaos  turned 

Thy  naked,  burning  bosom  to  the  sun. 

The  mountain  silences  have  speech,  the  rivers  sing, 

Thou  answerest  never  unto  anything. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  187 

Pink-throated  lizards  pant  within  the  shade; 

The  horned  toad  runs  rustling  in  the  heat; 

The  shadowy  gray  coyote,  born  afraid, 

Steals  to  some  brackish  spring  and  laps  and  prowls 

Away,  and  howls  and  howls  and  howls  and  howls. 

Until  the  solitude  is  shaken  with  an  added  loneliness. 

Thy  sharp  mescal  shoots  up  a  giant  stalk, 

Its  century  of  yearning,  to  the  sunburnt  skies, 

And  drips  rare  honey  from  the  lips 

Of  yellow' waxen  flowers,  and  dies. 

Some  lengthwise  sun-dried  shapes,  with  feet  and  hands 

And  thirsty  mouths  pressed  to  the  sweltering  sands, 

Make  here  and  there  a  gruesome,  graveless  spot 

Where  someone  drank  thy  scorching  hotness  and  is  not; 

God  must  have  made  thee  in  His  anger,  and  forgot. 

Another  poem  is  that  entitled  •*  Motherhood,"  by  Mary  H.  Field. 

MOTHERHOOD. 

Far,  far  away,  across  a  troubled  sea 

My  wistful  eyes  espy 
The  quiver  of  a  little  snowy  sail 

Unfurled  against  the  sky. 

So  faint,  so  far,  so  veiled  in  softest  haze 

Its  quiet  shimmering, 
Sometimes  methinks  no  mortal  thing  it  is, 

But  gleam  of  angel's  wing. 

With  my  own  heart-throb  throbs  the  tiny  sail; 

My  sighs  its  pennons  move; 
And  hither  steadfast  points  its  magnet  toward 

The  pole-star  of  my  love. 

What  precious  gifts  do  freight  this  mystic  bark 

There  is  no  sign  to  show. 
What  frail,  small  mariner  is  there  enshrined 

No  mortal  yet  may  know. 

I  only  know  the  soul  divine  moves  there, 

'Mid  two  eternities; 
Before  this  secret  of  the  Lord  I  bow 

With  veiled  and  reverent  eyes. 

And  vainly  does  my  restless  love  essay 

To  haste  the  coming  sail; 
Dear  God!  not  e'en  to  save  from  sunken  reefs 

Can  love  of  mine  avail. 

Yet,  will  I  keep  vigil,  and  in  peace, 

Like  Mary,  "dwell  apart;" 
Close  to  the  mysteries  of  God  art  thou 

My  brooding  mother  heart. 

Ah,  heavenly  sweet  will  be  my  recompense 

When,  every  fear  at  rest. 
My  little  bark,  all  tranquilly,  shall  lie 

Safe  anchored  on  my  breast. 


188  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

In  journalism  we  have  many  bright  names — names  of  women  who  find  it  easy  notv 
to  survive  by  means  of  their  pen.  The  late  Mary  Therese  Austin,  under  the  name  of 
"Betsy  B.,"  achieved  fame  as  a  dramatic  critic.  Adele  Chretien  is  a  follower  in  her  foot- 
steps— the  one  who  was  represented  in  the  congress  lately  held. 

"Annie  Laurie  "  is  the  pen  name  of  one  of  Chicago's  daughters — the  sister  of 
Ada  Sweet,  but  now  is  Mrs.  Winifred  Black — a  writer  on  the  San  Francisco  Exammer, 
who  has  achieved  great  things  by  her  powers  with  the  pen.  She  is  a  true  journalist, 
like  a  soldier,  ready  to  obey  orders  without  question,  and  thus  has  investigated  and 
made  known  many  a  wrong  perpetrated  upon  the  public — has  improved  the  methods 
of  the  hospitals  and  set  straight  many  a  wrinkle.  These  articles  in  some  cases  are 
studies  of  human  nature  worthy  of  preservation  as  history,  or  for  the  use  of  the  future 
novelist  to  guide  him  in  writing  of  the  present  time.  Adeline  Knapp  writes  well 
and  strongly.  Charlotte  Perkins  Stetson  is  a  genius  in  her  line,  and  has  developed  of 
her  own  accord  without  regard  to  the  taste  of  the  public,  either  east  or  west. 

Eliza  Keithis  an  industrious  worker,  who  says  of  herself  that  she  has  written  "for 
the  San  Francisco  papers  miles  of  space  articles  unsigned."  She  is  better  known  as 
"Di  Vernon"  (her  pen  name). 

Millicent  W.  Shinn  is  the  editor  of  the  "  Overland,"  and  surrounded  by  a  coterie  of 
young  women  who  already  take  the  rank  as  writers  of  promise,  fulfills  her  destiny 
like  Diana  surrounded  by  her  maidens,  I  wish  I  had  the  time  to  tell  you  of  our  story 
writers,  for  it  is  they  who  have  given  us  our  literature. 

In  regard  to  the  portrayal  of  the  simi-Spanish  civilization  of  California,  it  is  a 
woman  who  stands  easily  first — so  says  the  editor  of  the  "  Argonaut,"  who  is  a  critic. 
Her  name  is  Yda  Addis.  I  can  always  tell  one  of  her  stories  before  I  see  the  signa- 
ture.    It  moves  along  with  a  characteristic  snap-of-the-whip  in  it, 

Margaret  Collins  Graham  has  many  stories  of  Southern  California  life  now  appear- 
ing in  the  "  Atlantic  "  and  other  Eastern  magazines.  Flora  Haines  Longhead  has  writ- 
ten short  stories  which  have  made  a  profound  impression  upon  the  minds  of  the  pub- 
lic. She  deals  in  a  kind  of  heroism  that  must  do  the  right  though  the  heavens  fall. 
There  are  many  more,  but  I  must  hasten. 

The  women  novelists  known  abroad,  as  well  as  at  home,  are  Mrs,  Gertrude  Frank- 
lin Atherton  and  Mrs.  Kate  Douglass  Wiggin.  Mrs.  Atherton  has  achieved  a  style  of 
composition  original  and  strong.  Her  last  stories  show  a  constantly  increasing  power 
and  grasp,  a  taking  hold  on  literary  workmanship.  Her  "  Doomswoman"  is  a  remark- 
able book  of  semi-Spanish  civilization,  full  of  pictures  of  early  days.  "Amidst  the 
silence  of  mountain  tops  in  a  snow-storm  "  is  one  of  the  felicitous  images  found  in 
her  sentences.  A  quotation  is  here  made  of  the  picturing  power  of  Mrs.  Atherton, 
which  she  possesses  in  a  high  degree:  "We  were  followed  in  a  moment  by  the  gov- 
ernor, adjusting  his  collar  and  smoothing  his  hair.  As  he  reached  the  doorway  at  the 
front  of  the  house,  he  was  greeted  with  a  shout  from  assembled  Monterey.  The  plaza 
was  gay  with  beaming  faces  and  bright  attire.  The  men,  women  and  children  of  the 
people  were  on  foot,  a  mass  of  color  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  plaza;  the  women  in 
gaudy  cotton  frocks,  girt  with  silken  sashes,  tawdry  jewels  and  spotless  camisas,  the 
coquettish  rebozo  draping  with  equal  grace  faces  old  and  brown,  faces  round  and 
olive;  the  men  in  glazed  sombreros,  short,  calico  jackets  and  trousers;  Indians  wound 
up  in  gala  blankets.  In  the  foreground  were  caballeros  and  donas  on  prancing,  silver 
trapped  horses,  laughing  and  coquetting,  looking  down  in  triumph  upon  the  duenas 
and  parents  who  rode  older  and  milder  mustangs  and  shook  brown,  knotted  fingers 
at  heedless  youths.  The  young  men  had  ribbons  twisted  in  their  long,  black  hair,  and 
silver  eagles  on  their  soft,  gray  sombreros.  Their  velvet  serapes  were  embroidered 
with  gold;  the  velvet  knee-breeches  were  laced  with  gold  or  silver  cord,  over  fine, 
white  linen;  long  deer-skin  botas  were  gartered  with  vivid  ribbon;  flaunting  sashes 
bound  their  slender  waists,  knotted  over  the  hip.  The  girls  and  young  married  women 
wore  black  or  white  mantillas,  the  silken  lace  of  Spain,  regardless  of  the  sun,  which 
might  darken  their  Castilian  fairness.     Their  gowns  were  of  flowered  silk  or  yellow 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  189 

satin,  the  waist  long  and  pointed,  the  skirt  full ;  jeweled  buckles  of  tiny  slippers  flashed 
beneath  the  hem.  A  few  Americans  were  there  in  the  ugly  garb  of  their  country — a 
blot  on  the  picture." 

(And  far  more  true  to  life  than  Helen  Hunt  Jackson's  "  Ramona  "  which,  beauti- 
ful as  it  is,  does  not  suit  the  California  standard,  because  it  is  not  based  upon  such  abso- 
lute fidelity  to  history  as  would  make  it  true.) 

The  pen  of  Kate  Douglass  Wiggin  is  employed  in  studies  of  character,  humorous 
and  pathetic,  containing  that  heart  touch  that  makes  the  whole  world  akin.  This  is 
the  bare  recital  of  the  literary  movement  in  California  for  women  thus  far,  as  typified 
in  a  few  names  of  those  who  have  shown  by  their  clever,  original  work  that  they  are 
capable  of  greater  things,  and  worthy  of  achievement.  But  the  field  of  encourage- 
ment is  small,  and  thegrowth  of  genuineness  is  more  rapid  than  there  are  laurels  for 
them  to  wear. 

What  is  to  be  said  of  those  with  hearts  aflame,  who  have  died  unchronicled  and 
unrecorded?  What  is  to  be  said  of  those  yearning  to  tell  the  story  that  is  in  their 
hearts,  who  day  by  day  are  condemned  to  fill  the  journalistic  sieves  with  water? 
What  answer  is  there  for  such  unfulfilled  hopes  as  these?  What  answer  is  there  for 
any  of  us  who  have  aspirations,  longings  and  desires,  and  yet  fall  asleep  by  the  way- 
side with  empty  hands?  Only  the  profound  belief  that  that  which  is  good  is  worth 
doing  without  recompense  can  sustain  us  through  the  years.  Only  in  producing  that 
which  is  true  can  bring  us  genuine  satisfaction,  even  though  our  hands  be  empty. 

I  believe  in  resistance  to  false  standards  even  though  we  perish  voiceless.  I 
believe  that  woman  in  literature  must  reach  out  her  hands  ever  toward  the  infinite 
standards  of  right  and  truth  though  she  perish  from  hunger  and  want. 

The  rank  weeds  spring  in  a  single  night,  , 

While  rarest  plants  take  years; 
An  evil  name  may  leap  to  fame, 

While  the  good  name  scarce  appears. 

But  the  rank  weeds  die  in  the  morning  light, 

While  the  rare  plant  still  lives  on; 
And  the  evil  name  will  sink  to  shame 

While  the  good  name's  in  its  dawn. 

The  way  that  is  won  without  any  work 

Is  not  worth  winning  at  all; 
A  sudden  light,  a  meteor  flight, 

A  sprinkle — a  trail  and  a  fall. 

Fear  not,  brave  heart,  whate'er  thy  lot, 

Like  the  coral  build  deep  in  the  sea. 
And  a  beautiful  land,  with  a  glittering  strand, 

Shall  owe  its  existence  to  thee. 

And  if  failure  be  thy  part,  oh  heart, 

What  compensation  shalt  thou  find 
For  thy  weary  years  and  bitter  tears. 

And  thy  mission  half  divined? 

But  this  can  comfort  bring  to  thee. 

That  like  a  sounding  bell. 
Men  shall  say  on  thy  judgment  day, 
"This  little  work's  done  well." 


THE  WOMAN  WHO  HAS  COME. 


By  MRS.  CHARLOTTE  C.  HOLT. 

It  is  said  that  Max  O'Rell,  the  celebrated  French  wit,  recently  made  the  assertion 
that  if  he  could  choose  his  nation  and  his  sex,  he  would  choose  to  be  an  American 

woman.  If  confirmation  were  needed,  therefore,  of 
the  fact  that  this  is  woman's  day,  that  statement,  if 
true,  ought  to  supply  it,  for  in  any  other  age  of  the 
world  who  ever  heard  of  a  man  wishing  he  were  a 
woman.  But  it  seems  that  in  these  later  days  of  the 
nineteenth  century — notably  this  quadri-centennial  of 
our  continent's  discovery,  the  women  are  making 
such  a  stir  and  assuming  a  position  at  once  so  envi- 
able and  so  unique  as  to  attract  the  attention  of  many 
distinguished  people.  Indeed,  a  number  of  our  for- 
eign visitors  have  expressed  themselves  very  much  in 
the  same  tenor  as  Professor  Dincha,  a  Russian  dele- 
gate from  the  Bureau  of  Instruction  to  the  World's 
Fair,  who,  on  being  asked  what  had  impressed  him 
most  among  the  national  characteristics  during  his 
visit  to  America,  replied,  "  La  Femme." 

"Your  women,"  he  said,  "seem  very  strange  to  me 
— they  are  equal  to  the  men.  Down  in  the  city  I  see 
a  great  building,  and  I  am  told  it  is  the  Woman's 
Temple.  Out  at  the  Exposition  one  of  the  finest 
buildings  is  the  Woman's  Building.  In  the  Congresses 
at  the  Art  Institute,  I  see  they  take  an  equally  prom- 
inent part  with  the  men.  They  talk  radically  on  all  subjects,  even  to  the  changes  of 
the  laws  and  emancipation.  This  could  not  be  in  Russia.  I  do  not  understand  it." 
These  and  other  statements  of  equal  force  from  quarters  equally  noteworthy  are  tend- 
ing to  strenghten  a  belief  which  we  are  very  willing  to  hold  that  the  hour  and  the 
women  have  met — that  this  is  woman's  day. 

We  no  longer  hear  of  the  coming  woman.  She  is  here,  every  one  knows  it. 
Aside  from  a  merely  intangible  spiritual  influence,  which  it  is  conceded  she  has  been 
these  many  years,  she  is  here  now  as  a  great  visible  corporeal  and  moral  factor.  Yes. 
it  is  a  fact;  this  is  the  day  of  woman,  and  when  the  excitement  and  glitter  of  this 
wonderful  period  of  the  fair  is  over,  when  we  cease  to  shine  in  the  reflected  light 
of  woman's  glory,  what  have  we  seen  and  heard  and  learned  concerning  women  that 
we  may  take  with  us  to  inspire  us  to  higher  thoughts,  to  truer  aims,  to  nobler  deeds? 
This  is  the  great  question. 

Is  this  to  be  anything  more  to  us  than  a  great  panorama?  Is  this  kaleidoscopic 
vision  to  become  something  more  to  us  than  a  memory  ?  Woman  in  the  abstract,  or  rather 
in  the  aggregate,  seems  to  have  done  so  much.  May  we  not  know  woman  in  the  con- 
crete— that  unit  from  whom  we  may  gather  our  personal  inspiration?  It  is  useless  to 
point  out  to  us  the  works  of  art,  the  paintings,  laces,  decorations,  which  this  building 

Mrs.  Charlotte  C.  Holt  was  born  at  New  Orleans,  La.  Her  parents  were  John  C.  Gushing  and  Charlotte  Waddington 
Cashing.  She  was  edncated  at  the  Chicago  High  School,  and  has  traveled  in  the  Eastern  and  Southern  United  States.  She 
married  Granville  M.  Holt  in  1882.  Her  profession  is  that  of  a  lawyer.  She  is  a  member  of  the  boards  of  "  Chicago  Women's 
dub,"  "  The  Protection  Agency  for  Women  and  Children,"  and  the  "  State  Guardians  for  Girls."  Her  postoffice  address  is 
5816  Lexington  Avenue,  Chicago. 

190 


MRS.  CHARLOTTE  C.    HOLT. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOxMEN.  191 

is  so  lavishly  displaying.  These  are  all  the  works  of  genius.  We  wish  to  know  a  little 
something  about  the  common,  everyday,  ordinary  kind  of  a  woman,  to  whose  emi- 
nence we  may  any  of  us  hope  to  attain.  It  is  of  her  I  wish  to  speak  to  you  to-day. 
Not  in  a  spirit  of  criticism  or  captiousness,  not  to  detract  a  particle  from  the  credit 
due  to  achievements  unparalleled  in  any  age,  not  to  quench  the  ardor  or  cool  the 
enthusiasm  of  any  woman,  but  because  I  feel,  in  common  with  many  thoughtful  peo- 
ple, that  there  is  much  now  in  the  so-called  woman's  movement  which  is  superficial  and 
much  that  may  be  ephemeral,  much  that  depends  for  its  support  upon  artificial  means 
and  that  may  be  reactionary.  We  will  be  apt  to  take  promise  for  fulfillment,  shadow  for 
substance,  the  means  for  the  end.  I  believe  a  little  wholesome  reflection  just  at  this  time 
is  greatly  needed.  We  need  to  realize  that  cities  do  not  grow  in  a  day.  Characters  are 
not  formed  in  six  months,  and  that  the  great  principles  of  growth  are  as  absolutely 
essential  in  this  movement  as  they  have  proven  to  be  in  all  others. 

Now  the  thought  which  I  wish  to  leave  with  you  today  is:  That  our  ideal  woman 
has  become  a  reality.  She  is  here.  She  is  the  inspiring  cause  of  much,  if  not  all,  of  this 
work;  and  I  wish  to  present  her  to  you,  as  1  believe  she  is  worthy  of  emulation,  and  I 
believe  she  will  compare  favorably  with  the  ideals  of  other  times.  She  is  not  drawn 
from  imagination,  she  is  a  living,  breathing  reality,  and  while  I  must  admit  that  I  have 
failed  to  find  all  of  her  qualities  in  many  women,  she  is  in  the  main  drawn  sufficiently 
from  life  to  convince  us  of  her  existence.  She  is  only  here  and  there  among  the 
crowds,  but  if  we  search  for  her  we  may  find  her.  She  is  not  on  exhibition,  as  I 
intimated  before;  she  is  no  genius,  and  the  kind  of  work  she  does  is  not  susceptible 
of  statistics  or  exposition.  In  the  lecture-room  she  is  more  often  on  the  benches  than 
upon  the  stage,  and  only  among  her  friends  is  her  true  worth  fully  known.  None  of 
the  superlatives  are  required  to  describe  her,  but  when  she  is  once  known  and  fully 
understood  she  can  always  be  counted  on.  She  is  neither  young  nor  old,  she  may  be 
rich  or  poor,  plain  or  beautiful;  these  are  accidents  she  is  in  nowise  responsible  for — 
but  she  has  a  beauty  of  soul  which  shines  out  of  her  face  and  makes  her  seem  lovely. 
Time  has  not  hardened  her  nor  has  he  passed  her  by  unmarked.  She  is  not  over- 
popular  with  the  world.  She  cannot  train  with  every  passing  wind  of  doctrine,  her 
convictions  are  strong  and  she  changes  them  only  upon  the  most  unquestionable 
proof  that  they  are  untenable.  She  has  been  to  school  in  the  great  world  and  is  a  part 
of  it.  Not  from  choice,  nor  from  the  realization  of  broader  opportunities  for  women, 
but  through  stern  and  bitter  necessity.  She  has  learned  the  great  lessons  of  life  under 
a  discipline  as  unflinching  as  that  of  the  German  army.  She  long  since  realized  that 
the  greatest  good  she  could  do  the  world  was  to  find  the  place  she  was  fitted  for  and 
to  fill  it  to  the  best  of  her  ability.  She  understands  herself,  is  well  poised  and  ready 
for  emergencies.  She  is  not  easily  diverted  from  the  great  purposes  of  life  and 
devotes  herself  with  great  fidelity  to  the  pursuit  of  her  chosen  avocation.  She  realizes 
that  the  great  drawback  to  the  success  of  woman  in  the  higher  professions,  as  well 
as  in  the  less  skilled  callings  is  the  lack  of  permanency.  And  herein  is  the  great  secret 
of  absolute  equality  between  the  sexes.  It  is  useless  to  talk  of  equal  work  and  equal 
wages  until  women  do  give  equal  work.  And  we  are  sure  that  so  long  as  work  is  made 
only  a  convenient  stepping-stone  instead  of  the  great  object  of  life,  women  do  not 
and  will  not  give  a  service  as  satisfactory  as  men  do.  And  I  maintain  that  she  may 
do  this  without  sacrificing  any  of  her  higher  interests,  or  the  interests  of  those  whom 
affection  or  relationship  may  have  made  her  responsible  for.  Indeed,  all  the  interests 
of  her  life  may  be  adjusted  to  those  of  her  profession  without  loss  to  any. 

She  does  not  depend  for  her  success  so  much  upon  her  knowledge  of  the  amount 
of  gray  matter  she  has  in  her  brain  as  she  does  upon  the  faithful  performance  of  each 
day's  duties.  Industry,  punctuality  and  a  keen  intelligence  of  the  subject  matter  are 
more  important  factors  in  her  work  than  her  influence  or  a  diploma.  In  work  she 
knows  no  sex,  and  while  she  recognizes  the  necessity  for  many  such  distinctions  now, 
she  hopes  that  if  she  lives  to  see  another  World's  Fair  there  will  be  no  Woman's 
Building,  no  woman's  separate   exhibit,  but  men's  and    women's    work    exhibited 


192  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

together,  held  up  to  a  common  standard  and  rated  only  upon  their  merit.  This  ideal 
woman  is  intensely  human.  She  is  conscious  that  whatever  else  she  may  be,  she  is 
first  of  all  a  human  being,  with  all  the  desires  and  limitations,  with  all  the  faults  and 
aspirations,  with  all  the  virtues  and  failures  that  are  common  to  the  human  family. 
She  asks  for  herself  only  that  which  she  is  willing  to  concede  as  right  for  everyone 
else. 

She  has  learned  to  look  for  and  find  the  soul  of  goodness  in  things  evil,  the  ele- 
ment of  truth  in  things  erroneous;  her  greatest  quality,  the  spirit  of  justice  which 
animates  her.  She  takes  reason,  not  sentiment,  for  her  guide;  she  requires  facts,  not 
feelings,  to  persuade  her;  she  condemns  none,  but  seeks  to  find  some  cause  of  justifi- 
cation for  all.  If  man's  inhumanity  to  man  makes  countless  millions  mourn,  she  knows 
that  woman's  inhumanity  to  woman  is  death  to  millions  more.  She  has  ceased  to  com- 
plain of  the  cruelty  of  man  to  her  sister  woman,  for  she  knows  that  doubly  refined  is 
the  cruelty  of  women  to  those  of  her  own  sex.  It  is  impossible  for  any  man  to  inflict 
upon  a  woman  the  bitter  injustice,  the  intensity  of  suffering  that  is  possible  for  a 
woman.  In  warfare  men  may  be  cruel  to  each  other,  but  in  peace  and  among  the 
ordinary  types  of  men  there  is  a  freemasonry  of  spirit,  a  fraternity  of  interest  which 
is  rarely  found  among  the  higher  types  of  women.  The  sisterhood  of  woman  is  talked 
of,  but  seldom  realized  among  women,  and  it  is  a  part  of  the  lifework  of  my  ideal 
woman  to  cultivate  and  extend  this  spirit  of  kindliness  and  courtesy  which  goes  so  far 
to  sweeten  and  soften  the  dreariest  pathway.  She  has  a  sister's  heart  for  all  women. 
None  are  outside  the  pale  of  her  sympathy  and  her  compassion.  She  believes  with 
Olive  Schriner  that  "true  holiness  is  infinite  compassion  for  others."  She  is  not  dilet- 
ante;  she  is  earnest.  Life  is  serious  with  her.  She  has  learned  that  society  at  its 
best  is  the  science  of  living  together  in  harmony;  she  believes  that  the  mission  of 
woman  is  to  bring  the  feminine  side  of  humanity  into  the  world.  We  have  been  too 
long  dominated  by  one  sex.  She  does  not  desire,  however,  that  we  should  be  domi- 
nated by  the  other.  The  tyranny  of  woman  would  be  as  oppressive  as  the  tyranny  of 
man.  The  day  of  muscular  force  is  gone,  the  day  of  nervous  force  has  come,  and  with 
it  has  come  the  works  of  peace,  the  hum  of  industry  and  the  need  of  women  in  the 
outside  world — not  because  she  has  chosen  to  enter  the  field  heretofore  supposed  to 
be  the  field  alone  of  men,  nor  because  she  has  been  influenced  by  others  to  change  so 
radically  the  ordinary  tenor  of  woman's  way,  but  because  the  great  unseen  forces  of 
life,  aching  unconsciously,  have  brought  her  there,  and  she  appreciates  now  the  impor- 
tance of  her  mission.  Her  journey  was  begun  with  as  great  a  reluctance  as  ever  the 
children  of  Israel  felt  on  leaving  the  fleshpots  of  Egypt  for  the  wanderings  in  the  wil- 
derness; the  luxuries  of  slavery  seemed  so  much  more  desirable,  even  with  the  sure 
promise  of  the  milk  and  honey  of  freedom;  and  when  we  know  there  are  days  and 
years  of  dreary  wanderings  in  the  wilderness,  it  is  no  wonder  that  many  stand  back 
appalled  and  decide  to  remain — and  it  is  all  right  for  them.  Only  the  man  or  woman 
who  has  faith  can  ever  hope  to  reach  the  promised  land. 

My  ideal  woman  is  essentially  a  domestic  woman  in  the  broadest  sense.  It  is  im- 
possible to  my  mind  to  conceive  of  a  woman  of  high  type  as  the  woman  without  a 
home.  If  she  has  but  one  room  she  will  make  a  home  of  it,  and  it  will  shine  forth  as 
the  expression  of  her  own  individuality.  It  is  the  garden  in  which  she  grows  herself. 
It  is  the  one  great  distinguishing  difference  between  men  and  women,  and  in  behalf  of 
my  ideal  woman,  my  woman  of  the  world,  I  believe  she  is  more  devoted  to  the  idea 
of  home  than  many  of  the  women  of  the  old  regime.  And  I  believe  that  I  can  assert 
without  fear  of  contradiction  that  hotels  and  boarding-houses  are  patronized  propor- 
tionately more  by  women  who  are  supported  by  their  husbands  or  fathers  than  they 
are  by  women  who  support  themselves.  And  further,  I  believe  that  every  woman 
whose  mind  has  been  broadened  by  contact  with  the  world  is  a  better  housekeeper, 
knows  better  how  to  keep  the  wheels  of  the  domestic  machinery  oiled  than  the  woman 
who  never  goes  outside  of  the  four  walls  of  her  home.  She  manages  her  household 
with  the  same  kind  of  sagacity  that  a  business  man  manages  his  factory  or  his  count- 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  193 

ing  room,  one  of  the  first  essentials  of  which  is  to  employ  the  best  help  she  can  find, 
pay  them  what  their  services  are  worth,  trust  them,  and  never  nag  them.  As  to  the 
children,  it  is  a  wise  woman  who  knows  when  she  is  not  fitted  to  raise  her  own  children. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  she  is  so  fitted,  that  is  her  profession,  and  she  may  make  its  prac- 
tice remunerative  by  taking  the  children  of  some  woman  in  other  professions  and  for 
a  consideration  raising  those  children.  In  fact,  no  more  changes  will  be  required  in 
the  adjustment  of  the  domestic  relations  to  professional  life  than  the  same  changes 
necessitated  in  the  readjustment  of  economic  conditions  in  other  fields  now  so  rapidly 
taking  place.  It  resolves  itself  into  a  question  of  division  of  labor,  and  will  naturally 
settle  itself  as  it  is  being  settled  every  day  by  the  need  that  every  woman  finds  of  doing 
tlie  best  she  can  for  each  day.  When  women  find  that  by  education  and  training  they 
are  worth  in  some  trade  or  profession  twenty  dollars  to  fifty  dollars  per  week,  they  will 
not  be  willing  to  spend  their  lives  as  nurse  girl  at  three  dollars  per  week  and  board, 
when  for  that  sum  or  less  or  more  they  can  engage  the  services  of  a  special  kindergarten 
teacher  who  will  undoubtedly  train  their  child  more  carefully  than  they  can.  This 
may  seem  a  heresy  to  those  who  have  believed  from  time  immemorial  that  a  mother's 
first  duty  was  to  her  children,  but  I  am  sure  that  when  we  look  about  us  and  find  how 
very  badly  most  of  mothers  do  raise  their  children,  my  statements  may  be  taken  into 
consideration  at  least,  and  I  am  sure  a  thoughtful  examination  of  my  proposition  will 
demonstrate  its  correctness.  I  speak  with  knowledge  and  from  experience  when  I  say 
that  women  who  have  devoted  themselves  to  the  professions  usually  occupied  by  men 
have  been  women  who  are  remarkable  for  the  fidelity  with  which  they  have  served 
their  homes  and  their  families,  and  on  the  other  hand  women  of  the  clinging-vine  type, 
who  faint  easily  and  are  afraid  of  rats,  are  women  who  neither  keep  house  well  nor 
raise  well-behaved  children. 

To  sum  it  all  up,  the  more  intelligence  any  one  person  possesses  the  better  all 
the  work  of  their  lives  is  accomplished,  and  by  changing  that  intelligence  into  broader 
channels  you  do  not  change  the  nature  of  the  person.  Therefore,  you  men  and  women 
who  are  wise  do  not  check  the  inspirations  of  any  child  or  women  for  broader  condi- 
tions of  life  because  of  any  preconceived  unfitness  for  those  conditions  which  you 
approve.  The  more  she  knows  and  grows  physically,  mentally  and  morally,  the  richer 
will  be  her  life  and  the  lives  of  all  who  are  near  to  her.  And  now  for  the  last  of  the 
qualities  of  my  woman  who  has  come:  She  is  not  conceited.  She  thinks  that  other 
people  have  lived  who  are  as  great  and  good  as  she  is.  She  does  not  agree  with  the 
correspondent  of  one  of  the  morning  papers  who  claimed  that  no  ideal  man  could  be 
found  who  w'as  worthy  of  the  ideal  woman.  She  thinks  supply  and  demand  are  about 
evenly  balanced  on  both  sides,  and  she  does  not  feel  at  all  lonesome.  She  believes  in 
the  survival  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  and  she  believes  that  however  many  stopping- 
places  there  may  be  that  race  is  making  for  righteousness.  She  believes  in  men  and 
women.  She  also  believes  in  that  land,  on  the  hills  of  which  walk  brave  women  and 
brave  men  hand  in  hand. 


(18) 


GOETHE  AND  SCHILLER. 


By  MISS  MARY  VIRGINIA  KEENE. 

In  the  physical  world,  he  who  seeks  for  nuggets  must  dig  deep  in  dark  recesses 
where   the   treasure    lies    hidden.     He   must   possess   untiring   strength,   and    much 

patience,  to  enable  him  to  wrest  from  the  grasp  of 
the  rocky  Titans  the  mass  of  shining  metal  half  hid^ 
den  by  its  baser  alloy.  Then  the  dross  must  be 
separated  from  the  metal  and  the  latter  purified  and 
refined  before  it  can  be  used  in  the  service  of  utility 
or  beauty.  Once  upon  a  time  there  were  two  intel- 
lectual miners  who  sought  to  wrest  from  the  mines 
of  knowledge  its  richest  nuggets  of  thought,  its 
brightest  gems  of  fancy.  These  men  were  known  as 
Goethe  and  Schiller.  The  elder  one,  Goethe,  was  aided 
in  his  quest  by  Winckelmann,  the  Antiquary,  who,  like 
a  torchbearer,  preceded  him,  illuminating  his  way,  pen- 
etrating to  dark  places  where  he  himself  had  wrought. 
There  he  taught  the  young  poet  how  to  choose  and 
where.  But  Goethe  used  also  his  own  divining  rod  of 
Genius,  whereby  he  discovered  new  treasures.  These 
he  cast  into  the  glowing  alembic  of  his  mind,  there  to 
be  transmuted  into  finer  shapes.  "Like  unto  plate  of 
rare  device,  or  jewels  of  rare  and  exquisite  form,"  for 
a  creative  faculty  was  his  law.  In  his  love  of  form  he 
was  Greek.  This  love  of  the  artistic  was  partly  intu- 
Miss  MARY  VIRGINIA  KEENE.  .  jtlvc,  partly  thc  rcsult  of  culture.  He  had  been  greatly 
impressed  by  his  study  of  Lessing's  "Laocoon"  but  Winckelmann's  "Philosophy  of  Art" 
was  the  real  key  which  enabled  him  to  unlock  the  door  of  achievement.  Thence  he 
passed  on  into  a  sort  of  intellectual  Vatican,  where  he  beheld  the  artistic  creations  of 
the  artists  who  had  preceded  him.  Let  us  suppose  that  he  enters  the  "Hall  of  the 
Muses."  Here  he  beholds  Chaucer's  pictorial  views  of  the  Canterbury  Pilgrims,  gleam- 
ing like  stained  glass  windows  in  the  temple  of  primitive  literature.  Near  by  hang 
the  brilliant  tapestries  of  Spencer,  woven  in  the  loom  of  Poesy,  depicting  scenes  in 
the  life  of  the  Faery  Queen  and  her  court.  He  gazes  with  reverent  awe  at  Milton's 
statuesque  verse,  so  like  sculpture,  and  Shakespeare's  wondrous  word-painting,  por- 
traying every  phase  of  human  passion  and  emotion.  Here  it  was  Goethe's  privilege 
to  enrich  this  collection  by  placing  in  German  niches  many  a  white  statue  of  thought, 
many  a  polished  gem  of  expression. 

In  childhood  Goethe  was  taught  by  a  good  and  gifted  mother,  who  aroused  his 
intellect  and  stimulated  his  ambition  and  imagination  by  inventing  stories  containing 
scientific  truths  disguised  as  fairy  tales.  From  this  clever  mother  he  inherited  his 
gift  of  story-telling. 

He  was  young,  rich,  well-born,  handsome,  gifted.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  he  was 
flattered,  courted,  feted?     He  delighted  to  bask  in  the  sunshine  of  adulation,  or  like 

Miss  Mary  Virginia  Keene  was  born  in  the  city  of  Erie,  Pa.  Her  parents  were  Galen  Bryant  and  Annie  B.  Keene.  Miss 
Keene's  ancestors  were'English  people  who  came  to  this  country  and  settled  in  New  Hampshire.  She  is  a  lineal  descendant  of 
Captain  Miles  Standish.  One  of  her  great-grandfathers  helped  throw  the  tea  overboard  in  Boston  harbor.  She  was  edu- 
cated in  the  Grammar  Schools  of  Buffalo  and  in  a  French  Academy  for  girls.  She  has  traveled  in  the  United  States  and 
Canada.  Miss  Keene  is  constantly  engaged  in  literary  pursuits  and  is  a  pleasing  lecturer.  She  belongs  to  the  Episcopal 
Church.    Her  postoffice  address  is  339  Niarara  Street.,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

•    194 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  195 

a  butterfly  flutter  above  every  flower  of  pleasure  which  grew  in  the  garden  of  his 
experience.  Providentially  there  came  to  Weimar  at  this  period  the  noble,  gifted 
Herder,  who  became  Goethe's  friend,  and  gave  to  the  young  poet  a  better  knowledge 
of  his  wonderful  possibilities. 

Herder's  influence  upon  Goethe  was  manifold,  but  mainly  in  the  direction  of 
poetry.  He  taught  him  that  the  Bible  best  illustrates  the  truth  that  "  poetry  is  the 
product  of  a  national  spirit  and  not  the  privilege  of  a  cultivated  few."  From  Hebrew 
poetry  they  turned  to  the  study  of  Homer  and  Ossian.  The  latter  poet,  then  making 
the  tour  of  Europe,  so  aroused  the  enthusiasm  of  Goethe  that  he  made  a  transla- 
tion of  "Selma,"  and  introduced  into  his  own  sentimental  novel  "The  Sorrows  of 
Werther." 

There  is  a  great  diversity  of  opinion  concerning  Goethe's  philosophical  romance, 
"Wilhelm  Meisfer."  The  author  says:  "I  cannot  give  the  key  to  its  solution."  Its 
leading  idea  is  renunciation;  the  power  to  sacrifice  the  temporary  for  the  permanent. 

While  studying  law  at  Strasburg,  Goethe  became  interested  also  in  theology,  but 
he  was  more  particularly  interested  in  alchemy  and  the  .study  of  mysticism.  It  was 
then  that  he  conceived  the  idea  of  writing  his  dramatic  poem  of  "  Faust,"  which  he 
did  not  complete,  however,  until  sixty  years  after.  It  embodies  the  varied  experiences 
and  the  ripe  scholarship  of  a  lifetime.  This  drama  reveals  the  triumph  of  Repent- 
ance over  sin  for  not  only  is  the  soul  of  Marguerite  redeemed,  but  that  of  her  lover 
also. 

In  another  dramatic  poem,  "Iphigenia  of  Taurus"  the  powers  of  evil  are  disarmed 
by  the  truth,  fidelity  and  purity  of  Iphegenia  of  Taurus.  One  must  make  an  exhaust- 
ive study  of  Goethe's  writings  to  form  any  adequate  idea  of  the  manysidedness  of  his 
genius. 

His  mind  was  like  a  prism,  owing  to  its  great  powers  of  refraction.  Eckermann, 
who  knew  the  poet  well,  says  that  "  Goethe  was  most  valuable  in  balancing  the  judg- 
ment and  in  suggesting  thought.  He  cared  more  for  the  perfecting  of  the  few  than 
the  improvement  of  the  many.  He  believed  more  in  man,  than  men;  in  thought, 
than  action;  in  effort,  than  success;  in  Nature,  than  Providence.  Goethe  has  been 
called  "  The  Prince  of  German  Poets,"  a  title  which  he  well  deserves  if  we  consider 
only  his  wonderful  ability  to  assimilate  all  knowledge  in  the  service  of  poetry.  He 
is  an  excellent  dramatist  and  a  fine  lyric  poet,  and  the  best  writer  of  the  German  lan- 
guage, which  he  greatly  improved  by  his  own  felicitous  style  and  method  of  expres- 
sion. As  a  critic  of  art  and  literature  he  is  fearlessly  independent,  although  it  may 
not  be  true  that  he  taught  Pantheism  by  his  deification  of  Nature.  In  him  the  intel- 
lectual dominated  the  spiritual.  He  has  said,  however:  "  I  doubt  not  the  immortality 
of  the  soul,  for  Nature  cannot  dispense  with  our  continual  activity,  and  she  is  pledged 
to  give  me  a  better  form  of  being  when  the  present  no  longer  sustains  my  spirit."  He 
solved  the  enigma  of  life  after  his  own  fashion,  independent  of  creed  or  dogma. 

Perhaps,  when  the  world  has  grown  older,  a  remoter  historical  standpoint  may 
afford  the  coming  critic  a  better  post  of  observation  and  a  riper  judgment  of  the 
great  man,  who  Bayard  Taylor  said  was  "  Universal  in  the  range  of  his  intellectual 
capacities  and  in  his  culture."     A  marked  contrast  exists  between  Goethe  and  Schiller. 

The  younger  poet  belongs  not  to  Germany  alone,  the  literature  of  the  world 
claims  him.  The  influence  of  his  genius  is  too  great  to  be  restricted  to  one  country. 
Unlike  Goethe  he  was  not  a  favorite  of  fortune.  His  boyhood  and  youth  were  full  of 
trials.  Wishing  to  become  a  minister,  he  began  the  study  of  Latin  with  the  village 
pastor.  The  lad's  aptitude  attracted  the  attention  of  Duke  Carl  Eugene,  and  he  deter- 
mined upon  a  military  career  for  Schiller.  The  slavery  of  a  life  in  a  military  acad- 
emy was  soon  exchanged  for  service  in  the  garrison  as  an  army  surgeon.  The  duties 
of  his  position  were  so  irksome  to  him  that  the  burden  became  insupportable,  and  he 
fled  from  his  country,  and  for  a  time  became  a  homeless  wanderer.  In  spite  of  pov- 
erty, ill  health  and  debts,  which  pursued  him  like  cruel  arrows  sped  from  the  bow 
of  adverse  fate,  he  managed  somehow  to  complete  his. education.     We  find  him  in  his 


196  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

thirtieth  year  at  the  University  of  Jena,  occupying  a  professor's  chair,  which,  how- 
ever, lacked  the  comfortable  cushion  of  salary.  He  did  literary  "  hackwork  "  to  earn 
money  for  his  daily  needs.  He  was  finally  granted  a  pension  of  two  hundred  dollars. 
The  restrictions  of  his  youth  awakened  in  him  a  love  for  liberty;  thus  he  became 
"  the  poet  of  freedom."  The  idea  of  freedom  is  the  underlying  principle  in  all  of  his 
writings. 

His  fine  play  of  "  William  Tell  "  possesses  more  than  a  literary  significance  in  Ger- 
man history,  written  at  the  time  when  Napoleon's  idea,  the  annihilation  of  Germany, 
seemed  to  be  realized.  When  the  patriot  Stein  found  on  German  soil  only  an  inse- 
cure footing;  when  the  poet  Kleist  took  his  own  life  rather  than  witness  the  misery  of 
his  country;  when  Germans  were  found  to  fight  Germans  like  gladiators,  bedimming 
with  their  heart's  blood  the  soil  of  alien  countries — then  in  this  time  of  oppression  the 
story  of  Tell  rang  like  a  trumpet  call  throughout  the  land.  It  reanimated  despondent 
hearts  and  kindled  patriotic  impulses  and  self-sacrificing  ideas.  This  drama  is  a  vin- 
dication of  national  and  free  government.  It  sustains  a  fine  moral  purpose  in  awaken- 
ing a  love  of  country  in  the  heart  of  him  who  reads  it. 

When  Schiller  began  to  write  his  noble  poems,  our  country  was  at  war  with  Eng- 
land. By  the  time  peace  was  declared,  his  judgment  had  matured.  He  then  wrote 
"  Don  Carlos."  In  this  drama  one  of  the  characters  lays  down  the  law  to  the  tyrant, 
Philip  of  Spain,  for  Schiller  well  understood  that  old  laws  sometimes  becomes  abuses, 
and  reforms  must  be  introduced  to  infuse  new  life  into  free  political  society.  Such 
reforms  must,  however,  be  gradual,  not  a  sudden  upheaval  of  old  ideas,  lest  the  remedy 
should  be  worse  than  the  disease. 

While  Schiller  was  sojourning  at  Rudolstadt,  he  became  acquainted  with  Goethe; 
thus  were  brought  together  two  men  of  exalted  genius,  but  dissimilar  in  character. 

The  older  poet  took  an  interest  in  humanity,  and  was  broad  and  generous  in  his 
views.     Schiller  concentrated  power  as  vast  on  fewer  subjects. 

Carlyle  says:  "Goethe  was  catholic,  Schiller  sectarian.  One  was  endowed  with 
a  comprehensive  spirit,  skilled  by  personal  experience  in  human  passion,  therefore 
tolerant,  fighting  neither  for  men  nor  principles.  The  freedom  he  allowed  himself  he 
accorded  to  others. 

"  Schiller  was  earnest,  enthusiastic,  full  of  Quixotic  impulses,  feeling  intensely 
because  his  nature  was  intense."  To  me  he  seems  to  have  been  at  odds  with  himself 
and  the  world,  because  his  ideal  nature  unfitted  him  to  cope  successfully  with  some 
of  the  stubborn  facts  of  real  life.  Another  point  of  difference  was  their  environment. 
Goethe  was  then  thirty-nine  years  of  age,  settled  in  life.  Schiller  was  twenty-nine, 
without  a  fixed  destiny.  Goethe  had  traveled  in  Italy,  had  studied  art,  was  a  brilliant 
talker,  possessed  of  a  vast  fund  of  knowledge  and  a  keen  sense  of  humor,  which  made 
his  conversation  like  a  display  of  intellectual  pyrotechnics  whose  brilliancy  dazzled 
and  dazed  poor  Schiller,  increasing  his  natural  timidity  and  constraint. 

Schiller  thought  that  Goethe  was  an  egotist,  and  that  no  intimacy  could  be  pos- 
sible. The  latter  entertained  a  like  unfavorable  opinion.  Subsequent  intercourse 
caused  each  to  recognize  the  good  in  the  other.  Goethe's  zeal  and  love  for  literature 
made  him  an  invaluable  friend  to  Schiller. 

Rousseau  says  that  the  best  basis  on  which  to  build  a  friendship  is:  "  Same  senti- 
ments, different  opinions.' 

May  we  not  claim  that  the  best  coin  for  general  circulation  are  kind  words  and 
good  actions  issued  from  the  mint  of  a  loving  heart?  The  purchasing  power  of  such 
currency  can  not  be  overestimated.  Its  mighty  power  was  felt  by  these  two  great 
geniuses. 

Goethe's  nature  was  too  noble  to  harbor  envy  or  jealousy,  as  he  beheld  his  young 
rival  climbing  to  the  intellectual  heights  which  he  had  gained.  Neither  did  he  pose 
as  a  patron,  but  treated  Schiller  as  his  friend  and  equal,  until  at  last  they  became 
co-workers,  each  one  assisting  and  benefiting  the  other,  Schiller  was  an  earnest  seeker 
after  truth,  a  hater  of  shams  and  deceit.  His  aim  was  to  make  mankind,  happier  and 
better. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  197 

He  seems  to  have  been  an  apostle  of  aesthetic  idealism.  Only  by  comparison 
with  Kant  and  other  philosophers  does  he  appear  to  be  a  realist.  He  lived  in  an 
atmosphere  of  contemplation,  and  possessed  the  magic  power  of  presenting  old  truths 
in  new  forms.  The  winged  Pegassus  of  his  imagination  soared  aloft,  bearing  him  to 
the  highest  regions  of  ideal  and  spiritual  conceptions.  His  intellect  was  as  clear  as  a 
cloudless  sky,  his  fancies  as  brilliant  as  the  rainbow  after  a  summer  shower. 

In  some  instances  his  poetry  is  half  philosophical,  bearing  the  impress  of  his 
scientific  studies.  History  and  philosophy  soothed  his  restless  spirit  and  furnished 
inspiration  for  his  historic  records  of  noble  deeds.  Goethe  taught  him  how  to  ma.ster 
and  arrange  his  subjects,  and  Schiller  aided  him  by  helpful  suggestions.  Goethe  once 
said :  "  People  dispute  as  to  which  is  the  greater  poet,  Schiller  or  I ;  but  they  ought  rather 
to  rejoice  that  two  such  fellows  as  we  are  in  existence." 

The  elder  poet  doubtless  possessed  a  greater  fund  of  knowledge,  a  better  educa- 
tion and  more  varied  accomplishments.  Schiller  knew  much  by  intuition  and  reflec- 
tion. In  personal  appearance  there  was  as  great  a  dissimilarity  between  these  two 
men  as  we  find  existed  between  their  mental  attributes.  Lewes  tells  us  that  "  Goethe's 
beautiful  head,  the  calm,  victorious  grandeur  of  the  Greek  ideal;  Schiller  possessed 
the  earnest  beauty  of  a  Christian  looking  toward  the  future."  Schiller's  blue  eyes 
were  eager  and  spiritual.  His  brow  tense  and  intense;  irregular  features  lined  by 
thought  and  suffering  and  weakened  by  illness.  Goethe's  face  wore  the  majesty  of 
repose,  Schiller's  the  look  of  conflict.  The  Greek  ideal  represents  realism,  the  Chris- 
tian ideal  represents  idealism.  Goethe  said  once,  "  Schiller  is  animated  by  the  idea  of 
freedom,  I  with  the  idea  of  nature."  We  observe  that  this  distinction  characterizes 
all  their  writings,  Goethe  always  striving  to  let  nature  have  free  development  and  pro- 
duce the  highest  forms  of  humanity;  Schiller's  seeking,  aspiring  mind  striving  for 
something  greater  than  natu^^e,  wishing  to  make  men  demigods. 

The  points  of  resemblance  between  the  poets,  which  made  them  congenial,  were 
these:  Both  believed  that  "art  w^as  a  mighty  influence,  related  to  religion,  by  whose 
aid  the  great  world-scheme  was  wrought  into  reality."  They  believed  that  culture 
would  raise  humanity  to  its  full  powers.  A's  artists  they  knew  no  culture  equal  to  art. 
With  Goethe  the  moral  ideal  was  evolved  from  the  artistic;  with  Schiller  moral  ideals 
were  instinctive,  a  part  of  his  own  pure  nature. 

Schiller  has  beautifully  defined  the  idea  that  the  "  truth  shall  make  one  free  "  and 
that  "  beauty  is  its  own  excuse  for  being,"  in  the  following  lines,  which  I  quote  from  his 
"Hymn  to  Art:" 

"I  am  not  held  in  bonds,  unfettered,  free, 

I  rove  throughout  all  space,  rove  near  and  far; 

Thought  is  my  boundless  realm,  and  here  I  flee, 

Upon  the  wings  of  words,  from  star  to  star. 

What  heaven  and  earth  accumulate  in  store. 

What  nature  spins  in  her  mysterious  deep 

I  daringly  unravel  and  explore,. 

For  endless  is  the  poet's  soaring  leap; 

But  what  more  lovely  can  be  sought  or  found 

Than  in  fair  frame,  a  soul  with  beauty  crowned." 


EVOLUTION  OF  AMERICAN  LITERATURE 


MRS.   M.   K.  CRAIG. 


By  MRS.  M.  K.  CRAIG. 

Evolution  implies  priority,  and  in  tracing  the  evolution  of  American  literature, 
we  acknowledge  a  common  ancestry  with  the  Chancers,  Miltons  and  Shakespeares  of 

England;  but  evolution  does  not  imply  finality,  and 
our  end  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  literature  of  the 
Mother  Country. 

We  claim  the  independent  and  organic  develop- 
ment of  American  literature,  and  by  American  we 
mean  and  include  only  the  authors  of  the  United  States, 
for  no  other  authors  on  the  American  continent  are 
known  distinctly  as  American,  and  moreover,  in  the 
centuries  that  have  elapsed  since  Columbus  set  foot 
on  American  soil,  ours  is  the  only  nation  of  the 
New  World  that  has  developed  an  independent  litera- 
ture of  high  original  thought. 

To  go  back  to  the  origin  of  our  literature  would 
be  to  go  hand-in-hand  with  England's  great  men  and 
women  down  the  corridors  of  time,  and  follow  the 
savage  Teuton  as  he  crosses  the  German  Ocean,  carry- 
ing with  him  in  his  frail  bark  the  Scald  and  Saga  men 
to  cheer  with  song  the  hearts  of  the  old  Vikings, 
These  long  ago  Scalds  and  Saga  men  were  the  germ 
of  the  geniuses  that  have  passed  down  the  torch  of 
prose  and  poetic  light  until  caught  up  by  our  own 
Emersons,  Hawthornes,  Irvings,  Poes  and  Laniers. 
Still  American  we  are,  born  on  American  soil,  struggling  in  infancy,  Herculean- 
like,  with  the  serpent  of  doubt,  disputing  in  the  temple  of  tradition  with  the  English 
doctors,  now  standing  forth  in  the  young  manhood  of  time,  slaying  the  scorning 
Thackeray,  Dickens  and  Edinburgh  Goliaths.  "  Faulty" — "Why  not?  We  have  time 
in  store." 

The  attempt  in  this  limited  paper  shall  be  to  prove  that  our  nation  has  developed 
authors  of  peculiar  merits,  differing  widely  in  style  and  ideals  from  the  Tennysons, 
Swinburnes,  Carlisles  and  Eliots  of  England.  In  order  to  do  this  it  is  necessary  to 
open  the  book  of  time,  and  study  the  motives  that  prompted  the  settlement  of  the 
two  colonics,  Massachusetts  and  Virginia,  and  to  show  why  we  have  seen  two  distinct 
lines  of  thought  in  the  North  and  ^outh  for  nearly  three  centuries.  We  must  ever  seek 
behind  the  deed  for  the  motive;  and  when  we  trace  the  purpose  that  moved  our  fore- 
fathers to  attempt  the  settlement  of  a  new  country,  we  probe  the  source  of  our 
literature. 

When  we  turn  over  the  pages  of  history  and  pause  at  the  landing  of  Capt.  John 
Smith  on  a  southern  shore,  we  read  in  this  heroic  man,  handcuffed  and  chained,  the 
symbol  of  the  bondage  of  the  Old  World  to  be  broken  by  the  spirit  to  be  born  in  the 
New.     When  we  follow  the  little  band  of  Puritans  borne  in  the  frail  Mayflower  across 

Mrs.  M.  K.  Craig  is  a  native  of  Mississippi.  Siie  was  born  November  17,  1842.  Her  parents  were  Dr.  W.  J.  and  Mrs. 
E.  M.  Kittrell.  She  graduated  at  Wilcox  Female  Seminary,  Camden,  Ala.,  and  has  been  a  close  student  all  her  life.  She  has 
traveled  in  the  Southern,  Eastern  and  Middle  States,  and  visited  most  of  the  large  cities  of  the  United  States.  She  married 
E.  E.  Craig,  a  planter  of  Alabama,  moved  to  Texas  in  1873,  her  husband  dying  in  1891.  Her  profession  is  teacher  in  Enislish 
and  Latin.  Her  literary  works  are  essays  for  literary  clnbs,  and  magazine  articles.  In  religious  faith  she  is  Protestant,  and 
a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Charch.    Her  postoiBce  address  is  256  Cadiz  St.,  Dallas,  Texas. 

198 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  199 

the  stormy  Atlantic,  see  them  set  foot  upon  the  frozen  shores  of  Massachusetts,  we 
know  that  this  resolute  deed  is  no  fanatical  impulse  of  the  hour,  but  is  a  deed  born  of 
the  spirit  of  the  age.  From  these  two  migrations  sprang  our  ancestry;  and  to  follow 
the  development  of  American  literature  is  to  follow  the  East  and  South  in  the  develop- 
ment of  each  in  almost  separate  lines  for  nearly  three  centuries;  and  to  account  for 
the  marked  difference  is  not  to  attribute  it  to  climate,  as  many  have  done,  but  to 
ancestry.  Virginia  was  not  settled,  as  some  claim,  by  worthless,  broken-down  gentry, 
nor  Massachusetts  by  blind  fanatics.  Bad  men  came  over  with  all  the  colonists;  but 
the  ancestors  of  Washington,  Jefferson,  Madison,  Patrick  Henry  and  Henry  Clay  could 
not  have  been  entirely  worthless,  and  neither  could  the  ancestors  of  Franklin,  Irving 
and  Hawthorne  have  all  been  narrow  fanatics.  Yet  there  was  a  difference  of  character 
and  purpose  in  the  early  colonists,  the  influence  of  which  tells  as  greatly  upon  the 
sections  of  our  country  as  do  the  character  and  purpose  of  the  Scotch  and  English 
upon  the  sections  of  Great  Britain.  The  Puritans,  Quakers,  Walloons,  Salzburgers 
and  Baptists  were  all  dissenters,  descendants  of  the  Roundheads,  the  Luthers  and 
Calvins  of  the  Old  World.  They  came  to  America  as  Moses  went  to  Judea,  dissatis- 
fied with  the  church,  the  government  and  all  the  institutions  of  the  Mother  Country. 
They  came  to  establish  for  themselves  a  new  church  and  a  new  government.  The 
Cavaliers  came  to  America  as  men  go  West  today,  in  order  to  better  their  fortunes. 
They  came  with  hearts  loyal  to  the  Mother  Country,  with  the  intention  of  perpetuat- 
ing her  institutions,  socially,  politically  and  spiritually.  The  Dissenters  settled  north, 
and  the  Cavaliers  settled  south,  and  the  influence  of  the  two  originated  the  differences 
in  thought  that  have  been  evidenced  in  our  speech  and  literature. 

Colonial  literature  can  hardly  be  called  American,  and  even  if  it  were  so  counted, 
it  Could  not  be  called  literature,  for  dry  chronicles  help  to  make  history  but  not  litera- 
ture. Our  colonial  ancestors  were  too  busy  providing  for  the  material  necessities  of 
their  new  life  to  find  time  for  extensive  reading  or  writing.  White,  in  his  "Philosophy 
of  American  Literature,"  says  that  the  ideal  of  the  Southerner  was  ever  on  a  lower 
plane  than  that  of  the  Northerner.  Strange  that  a  man  should  say  this  when  a  South- 
erner is  called  by  his  people,  "  the  father  of  his  country;"  when  a  Southerner  wrote 
the  Declaration  of  Independence;  when  a  Southerner  is  called  "the  father  of  the  Con- 
stitution."    He  also  speaks  of  the  dearth  of  authors  in  the  South. 

The  value  of  literature  is  determined  by  its  quality  and  not  by  its  quantity,  and 
when  we  subtract  the  worthless,  the  his'tories  and  text-books  from  the  authorship  of 
the  north,  but  few  authors  would  be  left  of  which  she  could  boast. 

The  Puritan  life  was  idealistic,  and  it  was  natural  that'it  should  develop  writers. 
The  Southerner  was  a  man  of  deeds,  developed  the  statesman,  warrior,  the  orator  and 
the  colonizer  of  America.  The  one  was  as  necessary  to  the  building  up  of  a  nation 
as  the  other,  and  while  we  accord  to  the  North  the  majority  of  authors,  let  it  not  be 
done  to  the  disparagement  of  the  South,  which  has  contributed  in  other  ways  just  as 
honorable  and  necessary  as  the  contributions  of  the  North. 

New  England  established  the  first  college,  Virginia  the  first  university  and  Georgia 
the  first  female  college.  The  broad  university  training  of  the  South  has  told  upon  the 
culture  of  her  people,  and  the  narrow  intense,  college  training  of  the  North  told  upon 
her  Cotton  Mathers  and  Edwards. 

The  Puritan  spirit  of  New  England  developed  theologians,  psychologists  and 
melancholy  poets.  Her  narrow  training  has  given  us  our  text-book  literature.  The 
Cotton  Mathers,  Hopkins,  Emersons,  Dwights,  Brad  fords,  l^radstreets,  Edwards  and 
Hookers  have  given  us  the  greatest  divines  and  metaphysical  authors  of  America. 

When  man  becomes  extreme  in  thought,  his  extremity  is  God's  opportunity,  and 
out  of  the  extreme  Puritanism  of  Wigglesworth  and  John  Cotton  was  evolved  Ben- 
jamin Franklin,  who  was  really  the  first  man  to  show  that  the  old  life  had  done  its 
work,  that  the  persecutions  and  bigotry  of  the  fathers  had  reacted  in  the  broad  spirit 
of  a  new  man  in  a  new  world.  Benjamin  P>anklin,  the  printer,  lightning-rod  man, 
stove  man,  newspaper  man,  author,  statesman  and  diplomat,  an  all-around  Yankee,  a 


200  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

typical  American.  A  new  spirit  is  born,  the  old  eliminated,  and  with  the  period  of 
Franklin  we  can  begin  to  lay  claim  to  American  literature.  To  him  can  be  traced  the 
humor  of  our  American  authors,  the  birth  of  the  "  short  story  "  in  "  Dogood  Papers." 
His  services  were  required  along  other  lines  than  that  of  authorship,  else  we  should 
have  seen  in  Franklin  an  American  Swift  or  Smollett, 

Pre-revolutionary  writers  can  be  summed  up  in  a  few  names.  Men  were  busy 
making  history  then,  and  not  literature,  yet  in  the  pamphlets  of  Tory  and  Whig  we 
see  the  germ  of  our  future  authors. 

For  some  time  after  the  Revolution  our  people  were  absorbed  in  the  work  of  fram- 
ing the  Constitution  and  in  restoring  order,  and  were  too  busy  in  the  details  of  nation- 
forming  to  devote  attention  to  literature.  We  should  like  to  dwell  upon  the  spirit  of 
those  days,  but  in  a  limited  paper  like  this  we  can  only  point  out  the  leading  authors 
in  American  literature. 

Charles  Brockden  Brown,  who  belongs  to  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, might  be  brought  up  as  our  first  novelist  of  note.  PVeneau,  Trumbull,  Hopkin- 
son,  Barlow,  Thomas  Paine,  Jefferson — all  contributed  their  share  in  laying  the  foun- 
dation of  American  literature.  We  shall  be  disappointed  if  we  expect  to  find  any 
such  legends  in  our  early  literature  as  the  Arthurian  or  Carlovingian,  for  our  people 
did  not  nurse  their  children  to  sleep  with  song  of  fairy,  or  quiet  them  with  story  of 
valiant  knight.  Our  ancestors  were  stern,  practical  men  and  women;  Indians,  wolves 
and  wild-cats  were  realities  and  not  myths,  and  the  Puritan  religion  forbade  the  little 
Franklins  from  believing  even  in  Santa  Claus. 

The  "doubting  Thomases,"  Paine  and  Jefferson,  the  Prometheus  Franklin,  dealt 
with  reality  and  cared  little  for  romance.  Yet  we  must  not  think  that  the  germ  of 
romance  in  Brockden  Brown,  or  the  ideal  of  Trumbull,  was  lost  in  political  and  military 
heroism,  or  in  Franklin's  utilitarianism.  Though  America  had  not  the  myths  of  the 
Old  World  she  had  her  peculiar  legends,  and  these  Washington  Irving  invested  with 
all  the  romance  of  Scott,  and  enlivened  them  with  a  humor  known  nowhere  but  among 
Americans — American  authors.  "The  Legends  of  Sleepy  Hollow"  make  up  for  the 
lack  of  an  heroic  people  in  our  aborigines. 

Cooper  introduced  the  Indian  into  romance,  but  it  was  not  the  matter  of  his 
words  so  much  as  the  form  that  made  them  popular.  Neither  the  Indian  or  the 
negro  is  heroic,  although  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  at  an  opportune  moment  succeeded 
in  introducing  the  latter  into  her  novel,  and  Helen  Hunt  Jackson  with  the  Indian 
worked  upon  the  sympathies  of  her  readers  without  appealing  to  their  reason. 

Edgar  Allan  Poe  in  this  new  life  of  American  authors  stands  not  only  as  a  typi- 
cal Southern  poet,  but  as  one  of  whom  the  world  loves  to  hear.  He  was  a  master 
of  verse,  but  he  lacked  that  inspiration  that  will  give  him  a  seat  "with  those  saints 
who  see  God."  The  weird  charm,  the  strange  fascination  of  Poe's  verse  is  without 
rival.     "His  heart-strings  are  a  lute;  none  sings  so  wildly  nor  so  well." 

For  a  while  after  Irving  and  Poe's  period  our  country  was  so  torn  with  sectional 
hate  that  there  was  no  motive  for  high  literature.  The  John  C.  Calhoun,  Wendell 
Phillips  and  Garrison  oratory;  the  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  romance;  the  Bryant,  Father 
Ryan  and  Whittier  poetry,  were  engaged  too  much  in  stirring  up  jealousy  and  hatred 
to  inspire  lofty  thought.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  Bryant,  Father  Ryan  and  Whittier, 
and  even  Longfellow,  based  their  writings  upon  events  that  are  not  universal  in  sig- 
nificance, and,  like  Wigglesworth's  writings,  will  meet  their  doom. 

Rodman  Drake,  our  American  Keats,  in  his  "Culprit  Fay,"  kept  alive  the  ideality 
and  sincerity  of  the  poet  of  this  period. 

From  this  great  strife  there  was  born  an  ethical  spirit,  and  Emerson,  an  almost 
Christ-man,  arose  in  strange  contrast  to  the  Garrisons  and  Calhouns  of  the  day.  The 
Alcotts,  the  Fullers,  Thoreaus  and  Channings  followed  as  disciples  of  Emerson. 

Theories  and  speculations  of  all  kinds  set  men's  minds  wild  in  those  days,  and 
as  Irving  worked  up  the  follies  and  superstitions  just  anti-dating  him,  so  do  we  have 
Hawthorne  evolved  from  the  extremes  of  his  age.     As  was   Franklin  evolved  from 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  ::0i 

the  extreme  Puritanism  of  the  days  of  witchcraft,  so  was  Hawthorne  evolved  from  the 
extreme  Puritanism  that  overshadowed  the  North  prior  to  the  Civil  War.  Like  Frank- 
lin, he  could  transcend  the  party  spirit  of  his  age;  like  Irving,  he  worked  his  people's 
follies  into  a  moral;  and  Hawthorne,  the  master  artist,  remains  the  interpreter  of  his 
people  in  all  that  is  high  and  holy  for  all  time. 

With  the  Civil  War  came  the  interregnum  of  authors  that  war  naturally  brings. 
After  the  war  men  were  again  busy  reconstructing  the  nation — making  the  nation, 
but  not  literature.  With  the  Centennial  of  1876  was  ushered  in  a  new  era,  and  while 
up  to  that  period  we  had  American  authors.  North  and  South,  yet  ours  was  not  a 
national  literature.  The  past  is  a  book  with  seven  seals,  and  there  arises  in  the  pres- 
ent a  new  generation  to  begin  a  new  page  in  our  literature's  future  work.  The  Cen- 
tennial of  1876  reached  out  the  hand  of  brotherhood  to  North,  South,  P^ast  and  West; 
the  New  Orleans  PLxposition  strengthened  the  bond  of  affection;  the  World's  Fair  at 
Chicago  riveted  it  with  the  everlasting  ties  of  love,  and  our  people  will  now  turn  their 
attention  to  their  own  country,  its  tales  and  traditions,  and,  as  Hawthorne  and  Irving, 
point  them  with  morals  worked  from  the  souls  of  the  people.  We  have  traditions  of 
the  fore  time,  ruins  of  an  old  civilization,  and  buried  temples;  we  have  Nature  in  her 
freshness  and  beauty;  we  have  pure  domestic  life  molded  by  freedom;  we  have  the 
spirit  of  the  ages,  the  spirit  of  him  who  taught  the  equality  of  man  and  the  elevation 
of  woman.  The  South,  with  an  institution  no  longer  retarding  her  progress,  is  again 
being  heard  in  song  and  romance. 

Of  Southern  birth  and  education,  the  daughter  of  a  slave-holder,  I  am  ready  to 
admit  that  slavery  burdened  literary  growth,  especially  as  we  smarted  under  the  sense 
of  wrong  done  us  by  those  who  were  as  responsible  for  slavery  as  we.  But  now  that 
feeling  is  sealed  in  the  book  of  the  past,  and  never  since  the  days  of  Washington  has 
there  been  as  strong  love  for  the  Union  and  for  the  Stars  and  Stripes  as  is  now  felt  in 
the  South.  The  South  will  ever  remain  the  picturesque  part  of  the  Union;  its  peculiar 
scenery,  its  picturesque  laboring  class,  will  give  themes  for  poetry  and  romance. 
Despite  many  changes,  our  relations  in  society  are  greatly  the  same,  with  deferential 
black  men  and  superior  white  men,  with  our  ideas  of  dependence  of  woman  still 
lingering,  and,  strange  to  say,  the  newcomer  adopts  our  customs  instead  of  intro- 
ducing new  ones. 

George  Cable,  Joel  Chandler  Harris,  Thomas  Nelson  Page,  Gottschalk,  Thalberg, 
Henry  Grady,  James  L.  Allen,  Father  Ryan  and  Sydney  Lanier  could  have  been  born 
under  no  other  than  our  peculiar  Southern  institutions,  and  the  South  will  continue  to 
enrich  American  literature  with  song  and  story. 

The  South  is  not  what  it  was  before  the  war,  as  far  as  the  old  life  is  concerned; 
but  its  men  and  women  are  more  than  they  were.  Sorrow  and  sorrow's  reflux  of 
energy,  the  strong  natures  made  better  thus  are  awakening  us  to  a  new  life;  and  as  we 
turn  over  the  pages  of  Eastern  magazines,  and  see  there  recorded  names  from  the 
South  and  West,  we  feel  that  now  ours  is  a  national  literature,  to  the  roll-call  of  which 
men  and  women  answer  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  from  the  great  lakes  to 
the  Gulf. 

The  sunny  Southland  yet  tells  of  desolation.  As  the  traveler  passes  through  the 
broad  plantations,  ruins  and  negro  cabins  strangely  impress  him  in  their  loneliness 
and  emptiness.  No  young  lovers  promenade  the  broad  piazzas  with  admiring  negroes 
in  the  background.  The  cedars  along  the  broad  walks  stand  with  breaking  limbs, 
untrained  and  dying;  the  Doric  pillars  of  the  broad  piazzas  are  stained  by  loose, 
untrained  vines,  and  only  a  few  negroes  or  white  people  are  seen  here  and  there.  At 
night  the  jassmines  and  magnolias  make  fragrant  the  air,  the  warbling  of  mocking 
birds,  the  chirping  of  katydids  -all  remind  the  listener  that  much  yet  remains  to 
inspire  Southern  literature  and  art. 

The  West,  too.  has  joined  the  national  brotherhood,  and  with  her  Egglestons, 
Ridpaths,  Bret  Hartes,  Rileys  and  Monroes  prophesies  a  glorious  future  in  literature 
for  the  West. 


202  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

We  would  like  to  enlarge  upon  this  era  of  good  feeling  of  our  Howells,  War- 
ners, Holmes,  and  all  others  of  our  authors,  men  and  women;  but  the  time  is  too  short, 
and  we  can  only  breathe  the  wish  that  now  the  practicability  of  the  East,  the  senti- 
ment of  the  South,  and  the  vigor  of  the  West  are  combined,  that  no  one  section  will 
be  overbalanced  by  the  other,  but  that  with  the  strong  warp  of  the  North,  filled  in 
with  the  sparkle  of  the  West,  and  shot  with  the  beauty  and  colored  with  the  warmth 
of  the  South,  our  nation  may  weave  a  garment  fit  for  divinity  to  wear.  A  nation  is  a 
moral  person,  and  to  the  authors  is  the  soul  of  the  people  committed.  We  are  imper- 
fect; our  mathematics  as  yet  form  but  broken  arcs,  but  time  will  shape  them  into 
perfect  rounds.  The  heroic  here  is  often  too  hard,  the  high  too  lofty,  but  the  effort 
ascends  to  God,  and  will  bless  us  by  and  by. 

I  have  attempted  to  show  you  the  qualities  of  each  section,  and  now  that  we  are 
united  it  remains  for  the  future  to  decide  the  possibilities  of  American  literature. 
Columbus  found  a  new  world,  and  Galileo  found  new  heavens,  and  we  with  the  micro- 
scope lay  bare  the  secrets  of  nature,  send  messages  upon  the  lightning  with  heaven's 
own  bolt,  bind  the  ends  of  the  earth  together;  our  knowledge  of  the  conservation  of 
energies  makes  eternity  confirm  the  conception  of  the  hour  and  time  is  no  more. 
Foreigners  look  in  vain  for  the  standing-army  of  the  United  States,  for  our  nation 
marshals  her  hosts  in  the  hearts  of  her  people,  proclaiming  that  earth  did  rise  and 
heaven  did  bend.  America,  sitting  in  the  barge  of  state  in  Columbus  fountain,  facing 
the  statue  of  Liberty,  shows  woman's  elevation  ever  is  man's,  too.  This  consumma- 
tion of  science  united  with  spirit  Homer  foretold  mystically  in  his  conception  of  God 
in  man.  Isaiah  foretold  Christ's  reign  on  earth;  Dante  saw  on  top  of  Mount  Purga- 
toria  where  a  woman  led  him  up,  for  when  woman  rises  man  follows.  On  our  own  new 
America  we  go  not  back  to  the  mythical  past  for  the  Golden  Age,  but  as  Christ  taught 
us  Heaven  is  now,  and  the  Golden  Age  of  Love  is  ours,  which  began  in  the  night  of 
the  Nativity,  was  hastened  when  Capt.  John  Smith  and  Miles  Standish  brought  the  gos- 
pel of  liberty  to  our  shores,  was  confirmed  when  the  shackles  of  slavery  fell  from  every 
hand  in  our  Union,  and  when  R.  E.  Lee  signed  the  treaty  of  peace  that  binds  North, 
South,  East,  and  West  in  bonds  of  union  that  Puritan  and  Cavalier,  not  even  Washing- 
ton and  Franklin,  could  understand;  for  they  read  not  the  liberty  of  the  Gospel  as  did 
our  Christian  heroes,  Abraham  Lincoln  and  Robert  E.  Lee,  who  have  left  with  us  the 
pattern  of  heroes  of  the  greatest  Christian  drama  that  has  ever  been  acted  upon  the 
stage  of  history. 


PIONEER  WOMAN  OF  OREGON. 


By  ELIZABETH  M.  WILSON. 

The  early  history  of  Oregon's  settlement  confirms  what  has  been  so  often  said, 
that  "  man  cannot  advance  in  the  march  of  progress  except  by  the  side  of  woman." 

If  he  thinks  to  march  ahead  without  her,  he  is  com- 
pelled to   halt   and  wait    for  his  inevitable  partner. 
Turkey  has  tried  to  advance  without  woman;  witness 
her  rank  among  the  nations  of  today.     The  remarka- 
ble recuperation  which  was  shown  by  France  after 
her  exhausting  wars  was  explained  by  the  fact  that 
the  French  woman  is  an  integral  part  of  the  nation. 
She  is  part  of  all  that  contributes  to  the  wealth  and 
prosperity  of  France;  above  all,  she  is  there  the  gen- 
eral bookkeeper  and  accountant.     She  knows  where 
the  money  goes.     The  policy  of  the   Hudson  Bay 
Company,  the  first  white  men  who  went  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  to  stay,  required  their  employes  to 
leave   the  English   Bessies   iand  Jessies,   the   Scotch 
Peggies,  the  Irish  Norahs,  to  pine  unmated  in  the  old 
home,  while  they  attempted  a  travesty  of  home  mak- 
ing with  only  such  help  as  could  be  found  in  the  sav- 
age wigwam  of  the  native  inhabitants.     Not  so  the 
American  settler.     When  he  started  on  the  long  path 
the  wife  of  his  youth  was  beside  him,  and  together 
they  faced  the  trials  of  the  new  life.     When  in  the 
spring  of   1835,  ^rs.  Parker  and  Whitman  were  sent 
by  the  American  Board  to  inquire  into  the  feasibility  of  establishing  missions  west  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  Dr.  Whitman  left  his. coadjutor  when  the  journey  was  but  half 
completed,  being  already  convinced  of  the  practicability  of  the  scheme,  and  when  next, 
in  1836,  Dr.  Whitman  rode  abroad,  Mrs.  Whitman  rode  by  his  side.     So  firmly  con- 
vinced were  the  missionary  boards  of  the  necessity  of  sending  their  appointees  thus 
fully  complemented,  they  refused  to  appoint  single  men  to  the  work,  but  required  that 
they  should  finst  be  made  whole  men.     Reinforcements  to  mission  workers  in  the  field 
were  often  followed  by  wedding  bells. 

Of  the  results  of  the  work  of  the  early  mission  settlers  I  have  personally  little 
evidence.  Once  while  at  White  Salmon  we  all  went  up  the  mountain-side  to  where 
on  a  small  plateau  were  a  number  of  tepees,  the  occupants  of  which  were  going  through 
the  ceremonies  of  the  .Smohallo  excitement  or  belief.  I  soon  wearied  of  what  to  me 
was  utterly  meaningless,  and  went  into  a  tepee  where  sat  an  old  smoke-dried  crone. 
She  was  glad  to  sec  me  and  seemed  to  have  some  burden  on  her  heart  that  I  must 
hear.  After  much  repetition  on  her  part,  and  bewilderment  on  mine,  I  gathered 
that  in  spite  of  her  appearance  she  was  not  like  them.  I  did  not  quite  know  at 
what  she  was  aiming  till  I  caught  the  name  of  "Jason  Lee"  repeated  over  and  over 
again.  Then  she  asked  me  to  listen,  and  with  her  teeth  tightly  closed,  she  sent 
through  them  some  vocal  sounds,  which  at  last  I  caught  to  be  two  or  three  measures 
of  Greenville.    I  began  to  sing  "  Come  ye  sinners,  poor  and  needy,'  she  accompanying 

Elizabeth  M.  Wilson  is  a  native  of  South  Argyle,  N.  Y.  Her  ptarente  were  Rev.  Jae.  P.  and  Amanda  Miller.  She  mar- 
ried Joseph  G.  Wilson,  jadge  of  the  Sapreme  Court  of  Oregon.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church.  Her  jmstoffice 
address  is  The  DaUes,  Oregon. 

•203 


ELIZABETH   M.   WILSON. 


204  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

me  with  what  sounded  like  singing  on  a  comb.  She  enjoyed  it  and  so  did  I.  Her 
story  I  translate  to  be  this:  That  at  one  time  she  had  been  in  the  Salem  School  or 
under  the  teaching  of  Jason  Lee;  that  she  had  glimpses  of  a  higher  life  than  savagery 
had  given  her;  that  in  the  years  following  she  had  held  on  to  the  little  she  had,  stoutly 
refusing  to  countenance  by  her  presence  the  Smohallo  incantations.  The  wigwam 
smoke  and  the  wild  life  had  well-nigh  obliterated  the  little  she  knew;  but  to  the  name 
of  Jason  Lee  she  held  on  as  to  a  watchword.  Most  truly  she  seems  to  be  one  feeling 
for  God's  hand  in  the  darkness. 

In  thinking  of  the  long  past,  why  is  it  that  the  more  prominent  happenings  seem 
all  tinged  with  sadness?  There  were  bright  and  beautiful  days  then,  days  of  long 
sunshine.  The  few  holidays  that  frontier  life  afforded  were,  by  contrast,  very  keenly 
enjoyed.  Yet  if  I  am  to  tell  of  incidents  of  those  early  times  one  might  think  there 
was  little  but  doing  without  things,  in  common  times,  varied  by  the  days  of  sickness 
and  death.  "  Not  all  the  preaching  since  Adam  can  make  of  death  other  than  death." 
Yet  to  the  new  settler  it  sometimes  came  in  a  manner  that,  with  the  inevitable  home- 
sickness, no  matter  how  stout-hearted  they  were,  gave  an  added  pang  to  those  who 
looked  on.  In  September  of  185 1  I  was  riding  on  horseback  through  the  then  quite 
unsettled  counties  of  Polk  and  Yamhill.  Somewhere  in  the  north  part  of  Yamhill 
County  we  saw  the  cabin  of  a  new  settler.  It  might  be  miles  to  the  next  house,  and 
uninviting  as  the  prospect  was,  we  thought  it  better  to  beg  shelter  for  the  night.  My 
escort  rode  to  the  man,  who  was  still  with  his  plough,  and  I  dismounted  at  the  cabin, 
where  two  little  children,  perhaps  two  and  four  years  of  age,  were  looking  at  me 
through  the  rude  fence,  and  said  to  them:  "Please  tell  your  mother  to  come  out." 
They  did  not  speak,  but  looked  at  me.  I  tried  again  in  what  might  be  the  vernacular. 
"Go  call  mammy,"  but  with  no  better  results.  I  then  went  in,  and,  taking  them  by 
the  hand,  said:  "Take  me  where  mamma  is."  The  little  thing  led  me  around  the 
house  to  the  other  side  of  the  inclosure,  and  stopped  by  a  new-made  grave! 

In  February,  1855,1  was  going  on  the  steamer  Canemah  to  Oregon  City.  A  very  young 
couple,  married  that  morning,  were  accompanied  by  the  bride's  mother,  a  poor  widow, 
who  had  reached  Oregon  a  year  or  so  before,  stripped  by  death  and  disaster  of  every- 
thing but  her  children.  The  oldest  daughter,  not  much  over  sixteen,  was  now  mar- 
ried to  a  youngster,  and  they  were  going  to  the  Cascades,  where  he  had  work  in  a  saw- 
mill, and  his  wife  was  to  cook  for  the  mess.  He  was  a  promising  looking  fellow,  and 
I  fully  believed  the  answer  that  he  made  to  the  again  bereaved  mother,  when,  with 
quivering  lips,  she  said:  "  Be  good  to  my  girl."  The  bride  had  evidently  felt  that  to 
be  truly  married  she  must  be  attired  in  what  she  supposed  to  be  bridal  array.  All 
the  cash  possible  had  been  spent  in  the  thin  Swiss  dress  with  its  bit  laces  and  ribbons. 
Her  appearance  brought  a  hardly  concealed  smile  to  those  who  were  in  the  cabin,  but 
in  that  terrible  winter  rain-storm  it  was  likely  to  bring  worse  to  her.  I  began  talking 
with  her  and  when  she  said  it  was  the  first  time  she  was  ever  on  a  steamboat,  I  could  easily 
say,  "Then  you  don't  know  what  a  place  it  is  to  take  cold,  with  its  hot  fires  and  cold 
air  rushing  in  when  we  are  obliged  to  open  the  doors,"  and  soon  showed  her  where 
behind  a  portiere,  the  only  retirement  possible,  she  could  change  her  thin,  open-sleeved 
gown  for  something  warmer,  and  at  the  same  time  in  better  accordance  with  the  cus- 
tom of  travelers.  1  became  very  much  interested  in  their  hopes  and  plans,  and  it  was 
with  a  sense  of  personal  bereavement  that,  the  following  fall,  I  read  the  name  of  the 
young  husband  as  being  hanged  by  the  Indians  in  his  sawmill,  having  first  witnessed 
the  butchering  of  his  wife. 

From  the  Cascades'  frozen  gorges  to  where  the  Columbia  plunges  jubilant  to  the 
sea,  by  many  a  bright  prairie  and  pleasant  valley,  they  still  live  who  shared  in  the 
early,  if  not  the  earliest,  work  of  saving  to  our  country  the  fair  heritage  of  Oregon. 
Give  them,  from  your  older  and  richer  civilization,  a  kind,  sisterly  thought  as  they  sit 
waiting  in  the  lengthening  shadows. 


A  STUDY  IN  GOETHE'S  FAUST. 


By  MRS.  MARY  H.  PEABODY. 

It  is  a  notable  fact  that  within  very  late  years  much  attention  has  neen  given  to 
the  study  of  Goethe's  poem  of  "  Faust."     It  has  not  been  idle  reading  but  serious 

inquiry,  an  acknowledgment  that  in  this  drama  there 
lies  something  which  is  of  general  value,  which 
appeals  to  experience  and  can  bear  exposition. 
People  who  have  scarcely  known  the  poem,  who 
have  a  fragmentary  idea  of  a  part  of  the  story  of 
Faust,  through  its  renditions  upon  the  stage  in  opera 
or  in  play,  now  catching  a  hint  of  its  power  as  edu- 
cation and  philosophy,  turn  to  this  masterpiece  of 
literature,  eager  to  know  more  of  its  meaning.  Liter* 
ature  is  often  popular  because  of  its  pleasing  form, 
its  melodious  movement,  its  appeal  to  single  lines 
of  sympathy,  the  presentation  of  single  elements  of 
life  in  tragic  or  happy  aspects.  These  lighter  forms, 
lovely  in  their  places,  are  like  graceful  melodies 
which  are  easily  repeated  from  mouth  to  mouth;  but 
the  poem  of  Faust  is  like  a  symphony,  whose  inter- 
woven parts  are  so  many  that  even  to  know  the 
leading  theme  and  idea  of  the  work  one  must  listen 
carefully  and  more  than  once.  For  this  reason, to  read 
the  entire  poem  of  Faust  and  know  it  all  is  to  study 
it;  and  the  interest  now  aroused  in  the  drama  as  one 
of  the  world's  greatest  literary  works,  by  intelligent 
sign  of  progress.     The  drama  of  Faust  is  a  drama 


MRS.   MARY    11.  PEABOnV. 


people,  has  a  significance  as  a 
ot  life. 

But  so  it  is  with  the  work  that  men  do.  They  see  the  word  within,  which  must 
be  said,  yet  they  know  not  for  whom  they  labor.  Emerson  said:  "  Without  a  thought 
of  fame  must  true  work  be  done."  The  test  of  fame  is  time,  and  from  that  crucible 
now  comes  to  us  the  poem  of  Faust,  and  we  are  reading  it,  and  reading  it  now,  for 
reasons  which  lie  in  the  character  of  the  work  itself. 

The  poem  of  Faust  stands  in  literature  with  striking  individuality  as  the  only 
great  writing  which  within  itself  endeavors  to  present  life  as  a  whole,  in  a  universal 
aspect.  It  uses  the  entire  scale,  the  whole  sphere  of  life.  It  presents  within  its  limits 
all  passions  of  human  nature,  bad  and  good;  it  shows  men  and  women  equally,  in  all 
relationships,  lowest  and  highest;  it  is  in  its  fullness  the  picturing  of  all  lives — it  is 
the  poem  of  humanity.  Because  of  this  recognition  of  life  as  a  whole  each  reader 
reads  as  for  himself,  yet  he  comprehends  that  his  own  part  comes  from  the  very 
largeness  of  the  writing — from  the  fact  that  there  is  no  effort  to  teach  separate  and 
particular  lessons,  but  only  through  the  outer  form  of  the  poem  to  carry  onward  the 
strong  lines  of  its  broadly  human  intention.  The  elements  of  the  poem  of  Faust  are 
nature  on  the  one  hand  and  the  soul  of  man  on  the  other,  and  the  meeting  of  the  two 
upon  the  planes  of  daily  action  in  ordinary  human  life.     In  this  drama  the  outer  form 

Mrs.  Mary  H.  Peabody  was  born  at  Hartford,  Conn.  Her  father  was  Dr.  S.  Saltmarsh,  who  married  a  Miss  Sanford,  of 
Philadelphia.  The  daughter  was  educated  principally  at  home,  and  finally  at  the  school  of  Mr.  Emerson  in  Boston.  She 
married  Mr.  D.  W.  Peabody,  who  was  a  lawyer  in  Nashville,  Tenn.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  the  kinder- 
garten and  the  studies  of  history  and  literature.  Mrs.  Peabody  has  been  engaged  in  instructing  parlor  classes,  clubs  and 
kindergarten  training  classes.  She  is  regarded  as  "Having  clear  views  in  her  department  of  work,  and  has  a  method  of  utter- 
ance that  gives  her  writings  both  strength  and  grace."  In  religions  faith  she  is  of  the  New  Church,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
Society  at  Cincinnati.    Her  postoffice  address  is  No.  128  East  Sixteenth  Street,  New  York  City. 

205 


206  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

is  varied,  frequently  abrupt  in  transition,  and  therefore  broken  as  to  harmony  of  its 
literary  movement.  It  is  as  though  one  twining  a  wreath  had  set  together  rose,  weed 
and  thorn,  blossoms  and  fruits,  that  nothing  should  be  left  out,  giving  externally 
appearances  ill-sorted  or  beautiful  as  the  case  may  be,  out  within,  as  the  student  dis- 
covers, there  flows  a  current  of  life  strong,  clear,  unbroken — one  movement  of  power 
which  resolves  itself  into  a  single  principle,  moving  with  a  single  purpose  from  center 
to  center,  from  heart  to  heart  of  all  forms  of  life.  This  interior  idea,  upon  which  rests 
the  writing  of  Faust,  is  the  idea  of  the  relationships  of  things  one  to  another,  of  the 
relation  of  thought  to  action,  the  relation  of  man  to  nature,  to  God,  and,  supremely 
for  its  emphasis  and  culminating  force,  to  the  relationship  of  man  to  man  here  and 
now  in  human  life. 

Under  the  dramatic  guise  of  figures,  who  move  on  both  sides  of  the  mystic  hori- 
zon of  earth,  as  human  beings  and  spirits,  high  and  low,  evil  and  good,  with  Faust, 
Mephistopheles,  Margaret,  Helen,  Homenculus  and  Euphorion  as  leading  characters, 
this  majestic  drama  inclosed  at  its  heart  a  single  thread  of  light,  clear  burning  to 
illuminate  the  whole.  If  we  call  it  by  its  simplest  name,  that  line  of  noblest  teaching 
is  human  duty — the  Brotherhood  of  Man.  And  this  is  the  reason  why,  in  these  clos- 
ing years  of  our  age,  this- poem  of  Faust  is  for  the  first  time  being  studied  by  us.  In 
these  years,  when  the  conflict  of  conditions  is  stirring  the  whole  world  to  collision, 
argument,  rebellion  and  agreement;  when  polity  and  economics,  the  having  and  the 
not  having  of  life,  are  forcing  us  to  higher  planes  of  thought;  when  justice  from  man 
to  man  is  the  demand  of  the  hour,  this  wonderful  drama,  which  has  lain  biding  its 
time,  now  opens  its  pages,  and  with  its  devils  and  its  men,  in  the  light  of  two  worlds 
at  once,  presents  to  us  our  own  question  of  the  relationship  of  man  to  man,  the  question 
of  that  clear-eyed  daughter  of  the  gods — whose  name  is  Duty;  relationship  truly  bal- 
anced—justice among  men. 

That  Goethe  foresaw  our  needs  and  wrote  for  us,  we  know,  of  course,  was  not  the 
case.  In  youth  something  pressed  upon  him  to  be  done.  To  satisfy  himself,  he 
reached  outward  after  all  of  life  above,  below,  and  here.  He  drew  the  circle  of  his 
desire,  "  the  near  and  far,"  set  Faust  therein  to  mark  its  center,  and  part  by  part,  as  he 
lived  his  own  life,  he  set  his  figures  in  their  places  and  bade  them  play  their  parts  as 
revelation  of  the  thoughts  that  arose  within  him.  Perhaps  not  until  he  was  old  did 
he  know,  himself,  what  task  it  was  that  had  been  set  for  him;  what  it  was  that  he  had 
done.  Faust  represents  Humanity,  and  as  years  went  on,  Goethe,  rounding  out  his 
work,  reached  backward,  introducing  the  scenes  which  now  stand  as  the  opening  parts. 
Catching  sight  of  his  own  thoughts  in  the  ripeness  of  his  maturity,  he  inserted  "The 
Dedication,"  "  The  Prelude  on  the  Stage,"  and '*  The  Prologue  in  Heaven."  These 
three  are  the  keys  by  which  we  may  interpret  all  that  follows — and  this  brings  us  to 
our  especial  subject  of  to-day,  the  briefest  study  of  "  The  Prelude  on  the  Stage." 

In  this  scene  three  men  are  present — the  manager  of  a  theater,  the  stage  jester  and 
a  poet.  The  manager  wants  a  new  play  for  his  theater.  He  wants  something  not 
ordinary,  but,  on  the  contrary,  exceptionally  good.  He  tells  the  poet  that  he  wants  to 
amuse  and  attract  the  crowd.  They  are  of  all  sorts  and  kinds,  these  people.  They 
have  read  not  a  little,  they  are  interested  in  life,  expectant  as  to  the  theater.  The 
play  must  appeal  to  them  all,  for  it  is  but  just  that  they  who  support  him,  and  whom 
he  hopes  to  see  crowding  to  his  doors,  should  have  something  to  reward  them  for  their 
coming.  In  such  a  case  what  can  be  done?  So  the  manager  goes  on  talking  of  his 
needs  and  his  scheme.  He  is  shrewd  and  business-like  as  to  the  people  and  the  play, 
and  he  is  evidently  intelligent  as  to  his  chosen  author,  for  when  he  has  gone  over  the 
ground  of  his  requirement,  acknowledging  that  the  task  is  by  no  means  a  light  one,  he 
turns  to  his  companion  and  says,  that  the  poet  alone  among  men  is  he  who  can  accom- 
plish the  great  task  of  pleasing  men  of  such  varied  character.  The  manager  has 
spoken  with  a  certain  degree  of  caution,  leading  to  the  greatness  of  the  work,  before 
he  really  offers  it.  But  even  so,  he  has  not  won  the  interest  or  the  heart  of  the  poet. 
Turning  from  the  subject  in  an  outburst  of  repulsion,  "  Speak  not  to  me,"  he  cries, 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  207 

of  these  throngs  of  people;  these  crowds  of  yours.  What  men  may  or  may  not  wish, 
is  to  him  nothing,  he  says.  This  surging  mass  of  humanity,  even  to  see,  in  him,  "  puts 
out  the  fire  of  song."  He  cries  for  sweet  silences  and  the  visionary  forms  of  the  inner 
world.  Shall  the  fair  thought,  he  asks,  and  the  high  expression  that  comes  to  the 
poet  as  a  precious  gift — shall  this  be  put  to  low  usage,  for  the  amusement  of  the  vulgar 
crowd?  Closing,  he  says  he  does  not  care  to  work  for  popularity  and  the  passing 
moment.     He  would  leave  his  labors  for  posterity. 

The  manager  is  silent  and  the  jester  comes  forward.  "Posterity!"  exclaims  he 
''If  everybody  should  work  for  the  future,  what  would  become  of  present  pleasure." 
This  is  but  a  passing  word,  but  to  the  student  of  the  drama  it  touches  one  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  play—  the  present  moment,  its  value  here  and  now — an  idea  and  principle 
which  is  carried  through  the  poem.  The  jester  has  much  to  say,  and,  becoming 
serious,  in  a  few  lines  of  fullest  meaning  he  moves  inward  to  the  heart  of  thnigs,  and, 
facing  the  poet  with  utterance  of  deep-felt  truth,  by  what  he  says  in  this  first  speech 
of  his,  sets  before  the  reader  the  great  motive  of  the  whole  Faust  poem.  He  remarks 
first  that  in  any  case  the  people,  it  is  to  be  noticed,  will  have  their  "  fun."  Then,  re- 
verting to  the  words  spoken  by  the  poet,  in  answer  to  his  expressed  aversion  to  "the 
crowd,"  he  says  that  to  his  mind  the  presence  of  any  fine  young  fellow  has  in  itself  a 
human  value  and  should  be  of  worth  to  everyone.  Brief  as  this  word  is,  and  quietly 
spoken,  it  strikes  the  theme  of  personality.  Upon  the  reader's  imagination  rises  like 
a  statue  the  jester  s  "  fine  young  fellow  ' — one  of  the  crowd,  it  is  true;  still  a  son  of 
man,  a  fellow  mortal  strong  to  labor,  with  eyes  to  see  and  heart  to  love.  The  poet  in 
his  self-protection  may  shrink  therefrom,  yet  none  the  less  the  man  is  there,  and  as  his 
jester  shows  he  stands  a  claimant  upon  respect,  if  not  upon  regard.  Having  thus  set 
his  young  man  upon  the  stage  as  a  figure  for  suggestion,  typical  of  the  crowd,  the 
jester  goes  on,  and  with  the  privilege  of  speech  allowed  to  professional  fools,  with 
gentle  audacity  he  takes  it  upon  himself  to  instruct  the  poet.  Without  calling  him 
narrow-minded  or  small-hearted  the  jester  states  a  principle,  saying  that  in  society 
whenever  a  man  gives  out  his  own  nature  and  power  to  others  in  a  happy,  cheerful 
way,  allowing  free  utterance  of  his  own  best  in  genial  fashion,  he  does  not  become 
irritated  by  the  varying  conditions  and  moods  of  the  crowd,  but  rather  he  grows  to  be 
himself  the  greater,  because,  by  contact  with  human  nature,  he  widens  the  circle  of  his 
own  knowledge  and  sympathies,  and,  the  jester  says,  such  a  one,  meaning  if  he  is  great 
enough,  can  even  from  the  people  draw  inspiration.  "So,  then,"  he  says,  returning  to 
the  question  of  the  desired  play,  he  bids  the  poet  "take  heart  and  give  them  sterling 
coin,  not  counterfeit  of  high  feeling."  The  manager  is  encouraged  by  this  direct 
address  from  his  jester,  and  hastening  to  speak  as  if,  upon  this  higher  ground,  the 
matter  were  even  now  quite  settled,  he  tells  the  poet  to  be  sure  to  have  plenty  of  inci- 
dents in  the  play,  so  that  each  who  listens  shall  find  something  for  himself  and  all  shall 
be  amazed  and  delighted.  He  says  there  is  no  need  to  compose  a  drama  altogether 
smooth  in  its  unity — only  to  bring  his  facts  and  scenes,  and  have,  among  them  all, 
enough  to  please  the  varied  audience.  But  this  assumption  of  success  is  of  no  use. 
The  poet,  still  untaught  and  untouched,  replied  that  they  cannot  understand  him. 
That  to  make  a  trade  of  his  art  is  impossible.  He  is  an  artist  and  loyal  to  himself.  Such 
stringing  together  of  scenes  to  amuse  people;  such  pretence  of  literary  art  is  not  for 
his  gifted  hand,  although  he  says,  smilingly,  he  perceives  that  it  is  a  principle  with 
them. 

The  manager  docs  not  allow  himself  to  be  ruffled  by  this  sarcasm.  He  shows 
himself  quietly  determined  to  get  this  play  written;  and  going  back  to  the  crowd 
again  for  argument,  he,  in  his  turn,  thrusts  at  the  poet.  He  described  the  people  as 
they  come,  already  wearied  with  knowledge  orgayety,  yet  eager  for  something  to  lift 
them  out  of  themselves.  Men  and  women— there  they  are;  and  now  does  not  the 
poet  recognize  their  faces?  As  he  writes,  dramatist  that  he  is,  does  he  not  in  reality 
work  for  these  same  people?  Does  he  not  desire  full  houses  also,  and  if  he  should  look 
his  audience  over,  follow  its  feet  as  it  dispersed,  would  he  not  find  it  much  the  same  in 
one  case  as  the  other— "half  coarse,  half  cold?" 


208  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Then,  directing  his  attack  still  personally,  dropping  the  crowd,  the  manager  says 
that  as  to  glory  it  depends  not  upon  the  audience,  but  upon  the  poet.  The  more  he 
gives  the  more  he  wins  of  fame.  The  writing  of  this  play  is  opportunity;  and  now 
what  has  the  poet  to  say? 

For  reply  the  poet  bursts  into  passionate  speech.  He  bids  the  manager  go  else- 
where for  obedience  to  a  low  demand.  What!  he  cries;  shall  he  use  his  gift  of  nature, 
the  highest  gift  to  man,  the  very  utmost  of  human  expression — shall  he  degrade  this 
gift  for  the  enriching  of  the  manager's  purse?  In  his  earnest  words  we  hear  the  voice 
of  Goethe  himself — the  voice  of  the  artist  speaking  for  his  noble  birthright,  for  the 
privilege  of  a  high  holding  of  his  poet  power. 

He  is  not  speaking  arrogantly,  but  with  the  loyalty  of  true  reverence  for  a  power 
which  he  felt  was  given.  Accepting  the  poetic  gift  as  from  above,  Goethe  stands  like 
the  East  Indian,  who  in  earliest  centuries  looked  upward  and  rejoiced  in  the  down- 
ward flight  of  song;  and  while  the  drift  of  this  entire  scene,  taken  as  a  whole,  is  to 
reconcile  all  degrees  of  life  in  human  action,  it  is  evident  that,  both  by  the  appeal  of 
the  manager  to  him  as  the  only  man  who  could  do  that  great  work,  as  well  as  by  the 
poet's  first  feeling  against  it,  Goethe  meant  to  give  utterance  to  his  recognition  of  the 
beauty  of  the  great  gift  of  poetry.  The  poet  continues:  From  whence  comes  his 
empire  over  human  hearts?  How  does  he  conquer  the  elements  of  life?  Is  it  not 
because  of  the  secret  accordant  power  of  his  own  heart,  which  passes  with  its  great 
beating  pulse  to  the  utmost  confines  of  life,  to  know,  to  feel  it  all  and  to  express  it? 
When  even  nature's  threads  grow  strained  or  slackened,  when  all  creation  is  out  of 
harmony,  when  her  myriad  voices  jangle  together,  when  depression  and  confusion 
reign — who  then  has  power  to  touch  again  the  order  of  existence,  to  recall  wandering 
forces  of  life  and  bid  them  move  once  more  with  rythmical  vibration  under  the  cen- 
tral fire  of  life  above? 

"Who  is  it,"  he  cries,  "wakens  the  heart  of  man  at  will? 
Who  scatters  every  fairest  April  blossom 
Along  the  strewing  path  of  love? 

Who  braids  the  plain  green  leaves  to  crowns,  requiting 
Desert,  with  Fame  in  Action's  every  field?" 

Who  is  it  brings  the  very  gods  to  earth  in  unity  with  man  but  he,  himself — the 
poet. 

The  passion  of  his  words  have  filled  the  air.  The  jester,  wise  man  that  he  is, 
comprehending  that  it  is  at  once  justice  to  the  poet  and  to  the  people,  and  success 
for  the  manager  to  work  with  nature,  and  not  against  the  laws  of  things,  now  accepts 
the  poet  as  he  shows  himself,  and,  uniting  himself  harmoniously  to  this  ardent  soul,, 
without  yielding  in  the  least  to  the  principle  for  which  he,  with  his  young  man,  has 
been  pleading,  now  begins  a  diplomatic  reply.  Still  leading  to  the  manager's  desire, 
and  urging  the  writing  of  the  play,  he  says:  since  these  things  are  so,  as  the  fine 
forces  of  life  do  act  together  to  result  in  expression;  since  they  are  far-reaching  and 
come  by  inspiration — if  poetry  comes,  like  love,  unsought,  then  let  this  poet  power  be 
acknowledged;  let  it  express  itself,  and  let  that  expression  be  their  play. 

"  Let  us,  then,"  he  says,  "  such  a  drama  give."  Let  the  poet  be  true  to  himself; 
let  him  reach  out  after  that  life  universal,  which  it  is  so  given  him  to  feel,  and  let 
what  he  can  grasp  and  bring  be  the  play  of  which  they  are  in  need. 

The  audience  will  find  itself  reflected  in  such  a  writing;  each  will  select  from  the 
whole  the  part  to  which  it  can  respond,  and  though  "  Few  may  comprehend,  where'er 
you  touch  there's  interest  without  end,"  the  people  will  be  moved  to  "weeping  or 
to  laughter,"  and  without  knowing  why  will  still  "  enjoy  the  show  they  see." 

The  jester  ends  contentedly,  for  having  met  and  accepted  the  poet's  own  estima- 
tion of  himself,  he  feels  that  the  case  is  won,  the  play  will  be  written,  and  here,  argu- 
ment and  persuasion  being  at  an  end,  he  yields  to  himself,  falls  into  a  bit  of  phil- 
osophy, and  gives  to  the  reader  another  of  the  vital  threads  upon  which  the  Faust 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  209 

drama  is  to  be  woven.  It  is  Goethe  himself  speaking  again,  when  the  jester  says  in  a 
meditative  way  that  there  are  two  great  classes  in  an  audience  which  are  typical  of  the 
world  at  large — those  who  grow,  and  those  who  do  not.  There  are  those  who,  grown 
to  a  certain  point,  have  stopped  there,  marked  out  certain  lines  as  sure  and  fast,  sat 
down  within  them,  and  with  steadfast  rejection  of  new  ideas  have  never  been  pleased 
with  progress.  While  on  the  other  hand  are  those  who  are  alive  to  each  breath  of 
thought,  who  drink  in  all  truth  as  they  can  find  it,  seeking  eagerly  for  means  of 
growth,  and  those,  he  concludes,  as  are  known  to  the  poet  will  be  ever  grateful. 

The  poet  has  been  met  upon  his  own  ground;  still  the  task  before  him  gives  no 
hint  of  inspiration.  His  heart  fails,  and  like  many  another,  weary  in  the  service  of 
art,  he  for  the  moment  forgets  to  look  upward  and  onward,  and  with  a  purely  human 
impulse  turns  to  the  remembered  days  of  youth  when,  as  he  says,  he  had  nothing,  yet 
had  all  things. 

"When  like  a  fount  the  crowding  measures. 
Uninterrupted  gushed  and  sprang." 

Illusion  was  his,  and  as  for  truth,  vigor  of  love  and  hate, 
If  he  must  write,  give  him  his  youth  again. 

The  jester  listens.  We  can  almost  see  his  gentle,  quizzical  smile  as  he,  quietly 
surveying  the  whole  of  life,  replies  to  this  natural,  yet  inferior  attitude  of  the  poet. 
Touching  him  gently,  pointing  this  and  this  way,  with  intention  to  lead  his  artist  to  a 
nobler,  greater  state  of  mind,  he  says  that  youth  was  very  well  in  its  place  and  season; 
it  was  well  for  love  and  dancing,  and  for  combat  and  the  winning  of  prizes,  but  he 
says  (and  again  we  know  how  the  words  indicate  Goethe's  own  feeling),  to  play  upon 
the  harp  of  life  itself,  to  play  with  strength  of  love  and  skill  of  hand, 

"With  grace  and  bold  expression," 

comes  only  from  experience.  He  shakes  his  head.  "They  say  age  makes  us  childish, 
but  'tis  not  true." 

This  is  the  jester's  closing  word.  A  powerful  man  he  has  shown  himself  to  be.  far- 
sighted,  large  of  heart,  adaptable  in  temperament  and  a  master  of  philosophy  touch- 
ing the  doctrine  of  growth  and  the  brotherhood  of  man. 

As  the  jester  ceases  speaking  the  manager  begins,  bringing  the  business  and 
the  scene  to  a  close.  They  have  talked  quite  long  enough,  he  says.  'Tis  deeds  that 
I  prefer  to  see.  They  can  be  more  useful  if  they  will  drop  compliments,  talks  about 
inspiration  and  all  that,  and  without  further  delay  let  the  poet  go  to  work.  The  man- 
ager is  not  making  himself  disagreeable,  however.  Having  gained  his  point,  he  now 
desires  to  aid  the  poet  in  every  way  that  he  can.  So,  although  he  says  to  him 
briefly: 

"  If  poetry  be  your  vocation. 
Let  poetry  your  will  obey," 

he  still  recognizes  the  mood  of  the  poet,  who  stands  despondently  silent,  weighted 
with  the  sense  of  what  he  has  to  do;  and  as  if  to  reassure  him,  even  while  he  urged 
him  forward,  the  manager,  too,  drifts  into  philosophy,  and  touches  a  point  in  life 
which  well  appeals  to  us,  according  with  experience  and  with  that  upward  progressive 
spirit,  which  is  one  of  the  leadings  of  today.     He  says: 

"  Tomorrow  will  not  do. 
Waste  not  a  day." 

Then  most  kindly,  with  true  sympathy,  he  bids  his  author  be  resolute  and  courageous, 
and  above  all  trustful  to  the  power  within.  He  bids  him  look  abroad  for  incentive  and 
thought,  and  so  looking,  to  seize  upon  every  impression,  catching  and  holding  and 
using  what  first  may  come.  "  You'll  then  work  on  because  you  must."  Evidently 
the  manager  had  himself  battled  with  discouragement,  and  had  learned  the  value  of 

(14) 


210  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

impressions  used  and  trusted  as  the  first  way  out  of  the  cloud.  And  we  do  work  on 
"  because  we  must."  Pushed  from  behind,  beckoned  to  from  the  beyond,  so  has  the 
world  written  its  poems  and  solved  the  problems  of  its  days. 

The  manager  continues,  not  waiting  for  reply.     The  poet  has  no  lack  of  material. 
As  to  the  German  stage,  it  is  open  as  a  fair  arena  for  thought  of  all  degrees.     It  wel- 
comes what  may  come,  however  unlike  what  went  before;  so  without  restriction  the 
poet  may  take  the  universe:  "  And  all  you  find  be  sure  to  show  it." 
"  The  stars  in  any  number, 
Beasts,  birds,  trees,  rocks  and  all  such  lumber; 
Fire,  water,  darkness,  day  and  night." 
And  he  finished  his  counsel  and  direction  with  those  notable  words,  that  thus  within 
the  little  sphere  of  their  stage  shall  appear  that  greater  one,  "The  Circle  of  Creation;" 
and  all  things  brought  thus  into  their  guiding  hands,  in  the  action  of  the  play,  shall 
move  as  they  shall  direct,  "From  Heaven  across  the  world  to  Hell." 

The  phase  opens  a  line  of  thought  which  can  only  be  expressed  by  the  interpre- 
tation of  the  entire  drama.  To  speak  of  it  briefly  is  to  show  only  its  significance  as 
the  suggestion  of  what  is  to  be  looked  for  in  the  play.  A  careless  reading  seems  to 
imply  that  the  action  of  the  play  beginning  nobly,  on  the  heights  of  Heaven,  is  to 
end  in  destruction.  Such  a  course  would  be  true  enough  to  much  of  life  as  we  see  it, 
and  as  the  first  part  of  Faust  ends  with  the  death  of  Margaret  and  the  grief  of  Faust, 
and  as  man}^  have  never  looked  into  the  second  part,  it  has  been  a  popular  impression 
that  the  name  of  Faust  is  synonymous  with  evil  and  damnation.  But  there  is  a  second 
part  to  this  drama  to  which  the  first  is  but  introduction;  and  here,  following  to  its  close, 
the  reader  is  led  along  an  upward  pathway,  which  is  opened  step  by  step  by  the 
struggle  and  the  upward  movement  of  Faust,  as  upon  the  earth,  among  men,  he  works 
out  his  salvation. 

The  opening  scenes  are  an  introduction  to  the  drama.  Their  completion  lies  in 
it  close.  Putting  the  two  together  we  have  Goethe's  "  Circle  of  Creation,"  and  com- 
prehend what  he  meant  when  he  said  to  his  friend  Eckermann  that  this  much  consid- 
ered and  questioned  line  was  "  not  an  idea,  only  the  course  of  the  action." 

In  this  scene  the  manager  was  talking  to  two  highly  intelligent  people,  and  this 
closing  phrase  is  the  gesture  by  which  he  shows  them  his  idea.  He  lifts  his  hand  and 
sweeps  a  part  of  his  circle  from  heaven  to  earth,  and  that,  for  his  companions,  is  enough. 

A  circle  is  a  mathematical  figure;  it  belongs  to  nature,  not  to  invention.  It  can 
not  be  altered;  if  perfect,  from  whatever  point  it  begins  to  that  point  it  must  return  in 
its  completion. 

If  the  elements  of  this  play  begin  above,  and  if  the  play  itself,  as  the  poet 
insists,  is  to  be  a  unity,  showing  the  Circle  of  Creation  in  its  imagined  perfection, 
although  such  art  may  surpass  most  human  living,  it  is  evident  that  the  progress  of 
life  must  carry  the  elements  of  existence  downward  to  earth  and  upward  again  toward 
heaven.  This  is  the  progress  of  the  P^aust  drama.  The  theme  of  the  relationships  of 
man  to  nature,  to  the  invisible  world  and  the  visible,  to  man  and  tc  woman  in  society, 
government,  ideal  culture  and  art,  in  all  aspiration  for  the  beyond  and  all  right  usage 
of  the  earthly  and  human;  this  theme  is  pursued  as  Faust  passes  from  scene  to  scene 
to  the  close. 

As  we  turn  the  page  the  curtain,  falling  on  this  "  Prelude  on  the  Stage,"  rises 
directly  upon  "The  Prologue  in  Heaven.  ' 

"  Who  e'er  aspires  unweariedly,"  says  Ariel  in  the  opening  of  the  second  part, "  is 
worthy  of  redeeming." 

With  late  years  we  have  had  the  rendering  of  this  theme  in  the  exquisite  music 
of  Robert  Schumann.  Lending  it  to  Goethe's  words  the  two  in  harmony  show  this 
Circle  of  Creation  in  the  power  of  its  re-ascension;  but  even  without  that,  in  the 
drama  alone,  the  closing  pages  are  linked  to  those  of  the  introduction,  and  by  them 
we  comprehend  what  was  in  Goethe's  mind  when  in  the  empty  theater  he  set  his 
manager,  his  poet  and  his  wise  man,  the  jester,  to  call  into  being  and  announce  to  us 
this  drama  of  life. 


"PHILANTHROPY  FOR  GIRLS  IN  PARIS."* 


By  MADAME  MARIE  MARSHALL. 

Every  young  girl,  from  the  university  down  to  the  unfortunate  girl  that  is  left 
friendless  and  destitute,  must  be  taught  enough  of  domestic  work  that  she  may  not  be 

only  an  ornament  in  society,  unable  to  provide  her- 
self with  the  most  elementary  and  necessary  things 
of  material  existence,  to  wit:  a  good  wholesome  food 
that  will  keep  aloof  that  disease  so  common  among 
you,  dyspepsia. 

We  have  heard  that  the  highly  educated  girls  take 
an  interest  in  that  part  of  a  woman's  education  so 
neglected  nowadays;  let  me  tell  you  about  that  no  less 
interesting  class  of  girls,  friendless  and  destitute,  for 
whom  there  is  no  other  way  to  escape  starvation  or  a 
life  of  shame  than  to  take  up  domestic  service,  even 
though  they  have  not  the  remotest  idea  as  to  what 
will  be  expected  from  them. 

Something  should  be  done  to  help  the  helpless, 
and  to  that  effect  I  began  in  Paris  two  years  ago 
an  experiment  that  bids  fair  to  succeed. 

Many  of  our  girls  in  large  cities  are  wonderfully 
ignorant  of  any  kind  of  domestic  work;  the  reason  is: 
worthless  parents,  careless  of  their  children's  welfare, 
spend  their  time  at  the  drinking  shops  or  in  places 
fully  as  disreputable,  while  the  little  ones  are  sent  at 
an  early  age  begging  in  the  streets,  until  the  habit 
becomes  a  second  nature,  and  from  such  childhood  grow  into  girlhood  so  pitiful  to 
witness  that  I  am  wondering  there  has  not  been  more  attempts  made  to  open  to 
these  unconscious  victims  of  degenerated  parents  small  shelters,  where,  in  groups  of 
not  more  than  fifteen,  at  most,  the  girls  could  be  trained  as  in  a  family  for  domestic 
work,  and  then  placed  out  in  worthy  families,  where  their  life  would  become  like  an 
Eden  compared  to  that  of  earlier  years. 

Being  connected  with  the  Society  of.  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  children  in  Paris,  I 
came  across  such  cases  of  child  misery  that  I  was  for  a  long  time  anxious  to  find  a  way 
to  better  the  condition  of  the  girls  who  are  so  unprotected  in  our  fair  land;  yet  I  am 
happy  to  say  great  efforts  are  tending  to  make  laws  more  favorable  to  our  sex. 

The  class  of  girls  of  which  I  speak  must  be  also  trained  morally  and  religiously, 
without  any  sectarianism,  if  we  want  the  material  training  to  bear  good  results;  then 
they  will  become  honest,  intelligent  women,  loving  the  work  that  will  enable  them  to 
go  through  life  with  head  and  heart  uplifted. 

Mme.  Marie  Marshall  is  a  native  of  Paris,  France.  She  was  bom  in  1849.  Her  mother  moved  to  California  to  practice 
maternity  clinics.  She  studied  in  Paris  and  California,  and  iias  traveled  in  the  United  States,  France  and  England.  She 
married  in  San  Francisco,  and  is  the  mother  of  a  son  now  an  ordained  minister  of  the  Gospel.  She  spent  fifteen  years  of  her 
youth  in  California,  and  lately  eighteen  years  in  France.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  the  poor  and  the  work- 
ing class  in  Paris,  especially  the  young  girls.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  referred  to  above.  Her  profession  has  been 
teacher  and  principal  in  the  pablic  schools  of  San  Francisco  and  Paris ;  she  studied  art,  painting  and  singing,  teaching  the 
latter,  and  lately  for  the  benefit  of  a  "  Domestic  training  school  for  destitute  girls."  In  religious  faith  she  has  been  converted 
from  Catholicism  to  Congregationalism.  Her  poetoffice  address  until  May,  18W.  is  care  of  Mr.  F.  A.  Booth,  19  East  Sixteenth 
Street,  New  York  (^ity. 


MADAME   MARIE  MARSHALL. 


♦The  fnll  title  under  which  the  address  was  delivered  wan,  "  Philanthropy  and  Charity  for  girls  in  Paris.' 

211 


212  THE  CONGRESS  OF  VVOxMEN. 

Many  an  appeal  have  I  read  in  Paris  about  the  necessity  of  starting  a  school  for 
young  domestics;  yet  when  I  began  this  new  work  I  met  with  what  one  usually  meets, 
e.  ^.,  incredulity,  indifference,  and  perhaps  a  little  ill-will;  I  was  advocating  a  new 
system;  the  Old  World  has  not  yet  put  off  its  old  mantle  of  routine. 

My  fifteen  years  spent  in  the  United  States,  teaching  in  the  public  schools,  where 
I  had  the  honor  of  being  a  principal,  had  given  me  ideas  that  could  not  always  meet 
with  a  thorough  understanding  on  the  part  of  some  of  our  best  women  in  philanthropic 
and  Christian  work,  because  they  bore  in  themselves  a  fragrance  of  independence 
perhaps  too  strong. 

As  I  said  before,  I  only  began  my  work  two  years  ago,  January  lo,  1891.  The 
incident  that  made  me  try  it,  with  no  help  but  my  own  modest  resources,  and  a  Guide 
that  never  fails  whoever  will  follow  Him,  has  been  related  in  the  report  to  Congress  of 
Philanthropy;  I  will  therefore  only  speak  here  of  the  advantages  which  I  think  can  derive 
from  my  system:  Homes  and  not  Institutions.  In  France  our  institutions  keep  the 
girls  entirely  away  from  the  world  in  a  great  many  cases,  up  to  sixteen,  eighteen  and 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  letting  them  out  exactly  as  unfit  for  the  world  as  the  young 
brood  taking  its  first  flight  from  the  nest — unsteady,  bewildered,  as  it  meets  the  broad 
immensity  for  the  first  time.  Many  a  fall  is  due  only  to  the  insufificient  preparation 
and  complete  ignorance  of  the  dangers  to  be  encountered. 

Domestic  training  schools  have  been  started  in  this  country,  as  well  as  in  others; 
but  whenever  they  bear  only  the  character  of  institution  they  prove  failures.  In  spite 
of  what  many  say  to  the  contrary  an  institution  will  never  take  the  place  of  the  home; 
each  individual  in  a  home  can  be  morally  and  mentally  trained  with  the  greatest  care. 
"Saving  by  guarding  against  evil,"  will  prove  far  better  work  than  rescuing,  even 
though  rescuing  must  not  be  neglected. 

The  family  training  affords  many  an  opportunity  to  point  out  all  dangers  to  the 
young  girl;  she  is  not  shut  up  from  the  world,  neither  is  she  allowed  to  go  through  it 
unprotected;  she  is  made  wise  and  strong  by  being  shown  the  consequences  that 
await  all  those  who,  for  one  reason  or  another,  have  not  shunned  the  flattering  words, 
the  tempting  gayeties  that  may  be  offered  to  the  poor  girl  now  fallen,  through  igno- 
rance more  than  evil  desire. 

Can  that  be  so  easily  pointed  out  to  our  girls  shut  up  and  trained  between  the 
high  walls  of  tradition  and  conventionalities  centuries  old? 

Certainly  not;  and  as  the  number  of  the  friendless  and  destitute  increases  with 
distressing  rapidity  in  our  large  centers,  I  believe  we  must  elevate  the  standard  of 
domestic  service  by  elevating  the  moral  character  of  those  who  volunteer  to  accept 
that  humble  calling. 

Let  us  remember  the  noble  characters  whose  names  have  been  synonyms  of  loyalty 
and  devotions  to  their  masters. 

Every  year  the  French  academy  delivers  one  or  more  rewards,  "  Prix  Montyon," 
to  some  humble,  faithful,  noble  hearted  man  or  woman  servant  who  will  surely  receive 
a  still  better  reward  at  the  hand  of  the  Master  who  came  here  below  to  serve  all 
mei? 

When  domestic  service  will  be  better  understood  because  better  taught,  then  will 
those  honored  exceptions  become  a  thing  of  the  past,  and  the  young  girl  will  have  a 
heart  to  honor  both  herself  and  masters  by  accomplishing  her  modest  duties  with  a 
love  that  can  only  receive  its  impulse  from  above. 

I  expect  to  return  to  Paris  and  make  most  strenuous  efforts  toward  carrying  out 
my  domestic  work  for  destitute  girls  as  a  preventive  work,  and  on  the  plan  explained 
here;  should  I  find  resources  and  sympathy  not  answer  my  expectations,  I  want  every 
Christian  man  and  woman  here  to  know  that  I  am  ready  to  do  the  same  work  wher- 
ever there  are  girls  to  be  saved  from  danger.  You  only  have  to  call  on  me  at  38  Rue 
NoUet,  Paris,  France,  or  until  May,  1894,  care  of  Mr.  F.  A.  Booth,  19  east  Sixteenth 
street.  New  York, 


THE  LEPER. 


By  MISS  KATE  MARSDEN. 

When  I  first  turned  my  attention  to  the  condition  of  lepers  my  idea  was  to  go  and 
work  for  them  in  India;  but  to  do  that  it  was  necessary  that  I  should  have  help  and 

experience.  With  the  view  of  getting  help  I  obtained 
an  introduction  to  her  Majesty,  the  Queen,  and  I 
thank  God  for  it,  as  it  has  given  me  the  e7ttre  to  for- 
eign courts,  and  without  that  my  efforts  would  have 
been  fruitless. 

With  the  view  of  getting  experience  as  to  how 
lepers  are  treated,  I  decided  to  visit  some  leper  settle- 
ment. I  had  first  seen  lepers  during  the  Russo-Turk- 
ish  war  when  I  was  on  hospital  duty.  I  have  seen 
them  in  the  Holy  Land  and  at  Constantinople.  While 
at  Constantinople  I  accidentally  heard  of  an  herb 
which  was  said  to  be  a  cure  for  leprosy,  and  I  also 
heard  that  it  grew  only  in  Siberia.  Had  it  been 
Kamtchatka  or  the  North  Pole  I  would  have  tried  to 
reach  it.  In  the  Caucasus  I  again  heard  of  the  herb 
and  again  in  St.  Petersburg,  but  was  told  by  very 
high  authorities,  and  even  by  the  Empress  herself 
that  there  were  no  lepers  in  Siberia.  I,  however,  felt 
that  I  must  find  the  herb,  and  persevered;  by  the  help 
of  many  friends  I  was  able  to  start  on  a  journey  of 
fourteen  thousand  miles,  there  and  back.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  speak  of  the  start  from  Moscow  except 
to  say  that  I  remember  with  gratitude  the  kind  friends  who  evinced  interest  in  my 
project  by  making  me  presents.  One  lady  knowing  I  was  very  fond  of  plum  pudding 
sent  me  forty  pounds;  another  sent  me  tins  of  insect  powder,  and,  said  the  lady  who 
sent  the  little  gift, "  the  more  use  you  make  of  it  the  better  for  you."  With  regard  to 
food  one  of  the  principal  articles  was  soup  frozen  in  blocks,  which  were  hung  outside 
the  sledge.  On  arrival  at  a  post  station  bits  were  chipped  off  and  thawed  as  required. 
From  Zlataonet  part  of  the  journey  was  accomplished  by  sledge,  some  varieties  being 
about  equal  to  a  plow  cart  void  of  springs  or  other  conveniences,  while  others  were 
still  less  comfortable.  The  roads  were  very  bad  and  very  much  resembled  the  waves 
of  the  sea,  owing  to  the  large  amount  of  heavy  traffic  which  was  passing  over  them 
on  its  way  to  the  annual  Siberian  Fair.  On  account  of  the  extreme  cold  I  was  so 
enveloped  in  furs  that  I  could  scarcely  move.  I  wore  three  pairs  of  fur  boots  reach- 
ing over  the  knees  and  several  fur  coats;  only  a  few  inches  of  my  face  were  visible. 
Getting  into  my  sledge  was  not  an  easy  matter  with  all  these  incumbrances.  Indeed, 
I  generally  tumbled  in  full  length,  and  had  to  be  arranged,  poked  here  and  there,  until 
I  fitted  into  some  nook  among  the  luggage.     At  first,  every  night  we  stopped  at  a 

Miss  Kate  Marsden  was  born  in  The  Parade  Edmonton,  London,  England.  Her  parents  were  J.  T.  Marsden.  Esq..  solic- 
itor, and  I.  M.  Marsden.  She  was  educated  near  London  and  has  traveled  over  moat  quarters  of  the  globe,  bat  uspecially 
through  Russia  and  Siberia.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  the  poor,  outcast  lepers,  for  whom  she  has  endared 
great  hardships  in  the  dreary  wastes  of  Siberia.  She  will  soon  return  to  that  cold,  cheerless  count  r>-,  where  she  expects  to 
remain  three  or  four  years,  working  to  alleviate  the  Buffering  of  this  wretched  and  forgotten  class  of  afflicted  humanity.  Miss 
Marsden  is  a  noble,  self-sacrificing  Christian  woman.  Her  principal  literary  work  is  "  On  Sledge  and  Horseback  to  Out- 
cast Siberian  Lepers."  Her  profession  is  that  of  a  Sister  of  Charity.  In  religious  faith  she  is  a  Protestant.  She  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Church  of  England.    Her  postoHice  address  is  Redcliffe  Gardens,  South  Kensington,  London,  England. 

213 


MISS    KATE    MARSDEN. 


214  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

post  station.  These  are  very  tiny,  very  dirty  houses,  the  rooms  heated  beyond  endur- 
ance, and  often  crowded  beyond  endurance  also.  Every  possible  chance  of  air  enter- 
ing is  prevented  by  stuffing  windows  with  paper.  For  a  bed  you  take  a  fur  coat, 
throw  it  on  the  floor  and  yourself  upon  it.  Sleep  comes  if  you  can  only  manage  to  forget 
that  the  walls  of  the  room  are  almost  covered  with  very  suspicious-looking  dark  objects. 
In  the  morning  you  wake  with  a  dreadful  headache,  half  suffocated  by  the  heat.  After 
trying  this  sort  of  resting  for  some  nights,  you  find  it  is  preferable  to  sleep  in  your 
sledge,  traveling  all  the  time.  On  my  way  through  Siberia  I  stopped  at  intervals  to 
visit  some  of  the  prisons,  and  used  often  to  meet  gangs  of  prisoners  walking  through 
the  snow,  their  leg  chains  clanking  dismally  as  they  moved  slowly  along.  Friends 
had  provided  me  with  testaments  to  give  these  poor  people  when  I  should  meet  them, 
but  I  remembered  that  our  Lord  fed  the  hungry  and  then  taught  them,  and  so  with 
the  testament  I  always  gave  a  little  brisk  tea  and  a  few  pieces  of  sugar,  and  if  I  could 
possibly  get  any,  some  soup. 

My  friend,  Miss  Field,  who  had  accompanied  me  from  Moscow,  was  obliged  to 
turn  back  on  account  of  ill  health,  and  I  went  on  alone  to  Irkutsk.  Here  I  again  heard 
of  the  herb,  and  also  learned  for  the  first  time  that  there  were  lepers  in  Siberia.  At 
Irkutsk  I  formed  a  committee  from  which  I  obtained  assistance  and  information. 
This  committee  consisted  of  His  Excellency,  the  Governor  General,  His  Grace,  the 
Archbishop  of  Irkutsk,  His  Eminence,  the  Bishop,  the  Cathedral  Priest  Vuangradoff, 
His  Excellency,  the  State  Councillor  Sievers,  the  Inspectcr  of  Medicine,  the  Aide-de 
Camp  of  the  Commander  of  Troops,  Captain  Luoff,  the  Mayor  and  myself.  I  found 
that  the  lepers  were  living  in  the  forests  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  province  of 
Yakutsk;  that  for  sixty-four  years  they  had  been  pleading  for  help,  but  owing  to  want 
of  funds  no  sustained  help  had  been  given.  I  heard  that  I  should  have  still  a  v^ery  long 
journey  before  I  could  reach  and  visit  these  poor  lepers,  but  I  also  heard  that  the  lepers 
were  living  in  the  utmost  misery  and  I  determined  to  reach  them  and  help  them.  The 
journey  from  Irkutsk  to  Yakutsk  was  made  principally  by  water.  I  traveled  by  cargo 
boat  on  the  river  Lena,  one  of  the  largest  rivers  of  Northern  Siberia.  On  this  boat 
quarters  were  rather  cramped,  and  I  slept  in  a  space  that  was  cleared  for  me  of  about 
five  feet  three  inches,  and  as  I  happened  to  be  longer  than  that,  I  was  not  very  com- 
fortable. At  length  the  friends  of  the  cargo  came  out  —  black  beetles  and  other 
crawling  things.  I  am  afraid  I  used  to  feel  rather  a  cruel  satisfaction  when  I  lay  down 
at  night  and  realized  that  I  was  probably  crushing  with  the  weight  of  my  body  a  good 
many  of  the  black  beetles  that  would  otherwise  have  crawled  over  me  while  I  slept. 
I  found  that  dinner  was  more  enjoyable  if  you  didn't  attempt  to  see  how  it  was  cooked; 
the  tea  was  not  strong,  generally  about  three  tea  spoons  full  for  a  dozen  people,  but 
still  we  had  enough  to  eat,  and  after  all  this  only  lasted  three  weeks  and  then  we 
arrived  at  Yakutsk. 

There  was  some  little  difficulty  at  Yakutsk  in  convincing  the  officials  that  I  had 
really  traveled  so  far,  overcome  so  many  difficulties,  and  was  prepared  to  overcome 
many  more,  simply  to  find  an  herb  and  to  help  those  who  were  in  misery.  They 
thought  I  must  have  some  political  object  in  view,  and  Yakutsk  is  the  country  of 
political  exile.  At  length,  however,  I  was  able  to  form  a  committee  in  Yakutsk  as 
I  had  done  in  Irkutsk  and  Moscow,  and  to  obtain  assistance  and  advice  as  to  the  best 
way  of  reaching  the  lepers.  These  poor  outcasts  were  living  in  the  depths  of  the 
densest  forests,  sometimes  alone,  sometimes  in  large  numbers  herded  together  in  one 
small  hut.  Each  community  looked  after  its  own  lepers  and  met  once  a  year  to 
examine  any  member  who  was  suspected  of  being  afflicted  with  leprosy.  This  disease 
is  so  dreaded  by  the  Yakout  (a  devil  and  a  leper  are  synonymous  terms  in  their  lan- 
guage), that  it  sometimes  happens  that  a  man  who  is  not  a  leper,  but  is  afflicted  with 
some  skin  disease,  is  turned  out  to  live  in  the  forests.  The  lepers  live  on  food  of  the 
coarsest  description,  rotten  fish  and  the  bark  of  trees.  This  is  taken  once  or  twice  a 
week  to  within  a  certain  distance  of  the  hut,  and  the  leper  has  to  walk  or  crawl,  accord- 
ing to  his  condition,  to  get  it.     When  he  becomes  too  weak  to  get  the  food,  he  dies  of 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  215 

starvation.  If  there  are  many  lepers  in  a  community,  men,  women  and  children  are 
herded  together  in  one  hut.  This  happens  in  a  country  where  there  is  a  short  summer 
of  three  months  of  tropical  heat  and  nine  months  of  winter,  when  the  thermometer 
goes  down  to  sixty  and  seventy  degrees  below  zero,  and  the  lepers,  therefore,  do  not 
stir  out  for  days  together. 

As  I  learned  more  and  more  of  their  misery,  I  felt  that  God  had  given  these  poor 
outcast  lepers  into  my  hand;  that  I  must  go  to  them.  God  had  guided  me  thus  far, 
and  would  guide  me  rightly  to  the  end.  In  order  to  find  them  in  the  forest  I  learned 
that  I  must  ride  long  distances  on  horseback  through  a  very  difficult  country.  Thirty 
brave  Yakout  men  volunteered  to  accompany  me,  and  at  last  I  was  able  to  leave 
Yakutsk  for  my  long  ride.  I  had  with  me  some  Roman  Catholics,  some  belonging  to 
the  Greek  Church,  and  I  am  a  Protestant,  but  we  had  not  a  single  discussion,  and 
although  I  was  entirely  in  the  hands  of  these  thirty  men  for  two  months,  I  was  always 
treated  with  the  greatest  respect  and  consideration.  I  had  never  been  on  horseback 
before  except  for  a  few  minutes,  and  as  there  was  nothing  obtainable  but  the  native 
wooden  saddle,  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  riding  like  a  man.  I  had  great  difficulty 
in  keeping  on,  but  managed  it  with  a  great  deal  of  bumping  up  and  down.  We  trav- 
eled first  in  the  day  time,  but  owing  to  the  heat  of  the  summer  in  this  part  of  Siberia, 
and  the  worrying  of  mosquitoes  and  other  insects,  we  were  obliged  to  travel  at  night 
at  last.  We  soon  left  post  houses  behind,  but  I  carried  a  tent  with  me,  and  when  we 
stopped  it  was  put  up  and  I  rested  as  well  as  I  could,  but  it  was  not  very  comfortable, 
for  inside  the  tent  we  were  obliged  to  have  a  fire  to  keep  off  the  mosquitoes,  and 
I  dared  not  undress  for  fear  of  being  dangerously  stung.  Although  I  slept  in  gloves 
and  boots  the  mosquitoes  somehow  stung  me  so  that  sleep  was  almost  impossible. 
After  a  few  days'  riding  in  the  native  wooden  saddle  I  became  so  sore  all  over  that 
I  could  not  get  on  or  off  my  pony  without  assistance,  and  I  was  in  such  pain  from 
stings  and  bruises  that  it  was  not  easy  to  rest.  Part  of  the  way  lay  through  dreary 
marshes  and  part  through  dense  forests.  We  were  sometimes  caught  in  heavy  thun- 
der storms,  and  when  we  came  to  a  place  where  it  was  possible  to  stop  a  fire  was 
made,  I  was  lifted  off  my  horse,  laid  before  the  fire,  and  turned  first  on  one  side  and 
then  on  the  other  and  gradually  dried. 

Our  food  was  cooked  in  an  iron  pot,  and  when  it  was  ready  we  all  sat  on  the 
ground  round  it,  each  man  dipping  in  his  spoon  in  turn,  but  I  made  it  a  rule  never  to 
look  at  the  man  who  was  dipping  in  his  spoon  before  me,  and  then  I  managed  very 
well.  We  had  taken  provisions  with  us  from  Yakutsk,  brown  and  black  bread  in  fish- 
skin  bags,  tinned  and  preserved  meats,  etc.,  but  everything  that  was  capable  of  break- 
ing was  broken  with  the  constant  bumping.  Our  food  consisted  for  the  most  part  of 
bread  reduced  to  a  powder,  of  which  we  made  a  sort  of  paste,  well  flavored  from  the 
fish-skin  bag,  tea,  and  sometimes  a  wild  duck.  We  had  great  difficulty  in  obtaining 
water,  and  had  often  to  squeeze  it  out  of  the  marshes,  and  were  once  even  obliged  to 
take  water  from  a  lake  in  which  lepers  had  bathed.  There  were  many  bears  in  some 
of  the  forests  through  which  we  passed,  but  we  were  never  attacked.  One  night  we 
had  to  pass  through  some  miles  of  burning  earth.  The  earth  is  mostly  peat,  and  dur- 
ing the  heat  of  summer,  from  some  unexplained  cause,  combustion  takes  place  and 
spreads  for  miles.  Only  one  little  baggage  horse,  frightened  by  the  flames,  broke 
loose  from  the  rest  and  galloped  away,  disappearing  in  the  smoke.  We  did  not  see 
him  any  more,  only  heard  for  a  time  the  thumping  of  the  packages  he  was  carrying, 
which  had  fallen  both  on  one  side  and,  knocking  together,  frightened  the  poor  little 
horse  still  more.  Through  the  providence  of  God  we  passed  through  all  these  dangers 
unharmed. 

It  is  in  this  inhospitable  country  that  I  have  been  describing  that  the  poor  lepers 
lived,  and  it  was  in  some  of  these  dense  forests  that  I  found  at  last  the  lepers  I  had 
come  so  far  to  help.  I  forgot  the  difficulties  of  the  journey  and  the  comparatively  little 
injury  I  had  undergone  when  I  saw  their  misery.  I  found  one  woman  living  alone, 
and  I  shall  never  forget  seeing  the  look  of  hopelessness  in  the  woman's  eyes  change 


216  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

to  one  of  gratitude  when  I  touched  her  and  told  her  I  had  come  to  befriend  her  in 
Christ's  name.  I  found  another  woman,  who  had  been  living  with  a  mad  leper,  com- 
pelled to  do  so  because  they  both  belonged  to  the  same  community.  I  found  mothers 
separated  from  their  children,  husbands  from  their  wives.  In  some  cases  the  leper 
huts  were  crowded,  and  in  this  crowded  condition  they  had  had  small-pox  among 
them,  and  only  filthy  sheepskins,  the  cast-off  sheepskins  of  the  Yakout,  for  clothing. 
The  ground  in  this  northeastern  part  of  Yakutsk  is  perpetually  frozen,  and  only  thaws 
during  the  summer  to  a  depth  of  three  feet.  During  this  time,  by  the  help  of  fires, 
the  lepers  have  to  make  a  number  of  graves  sufficient  for  those  whom  they  think  will 
die  during  the  winter,  and  outside  the  leper  hut  you  see  the  big  crosses  that  mark  the 
graves,  or  holes  prepared  for  graves.  Where  a  Yakout  dies  the  body  has,  by  law,  to 
remain  unburied  for  three  days,  so  when  a  leper  dies  in  these  crowded  huts  the  body 
has  to  remain  for  three  days  among  the  living.  I  saw  altogether  seventy-three  lepers, 
but  the  official  report  records  about  two  hundred.  I  returned  to  the  town  of  Yakutsk 
after  a  trip  of  two  thousand  miles,  not  having  undressed  or  washed  for  two  months. 
I  had  found  the  herb,  but  it  is  not  a  cure  for  leprosy,  it  only  alleviates  the  suffering. 
On  my  return  to  St.  Petersburg  I  was  graciously  permitted  to  have  another  interview 
with  Her  Imperial  Majesty,  the  Empress.  I  appealed  in  Christ's  name  for  help,  and 
five  devoted  Russian  Sisters  from  the  hospital  of  the  Princess  Shahovsky,  in  Moscow, 
have  already  gone  to  Yakutsk.  I  asked  that  a  collection  might  be  made  once  a  year 
in  the  churches  for  the  help  of  lepers  on  the  Sunday  when  the  Gospel  of  the  healing 
of  the  leper  is  read,  and  this  has  been  granted,  and  by  that  means  the  village  to  be 
erected  will  be  maintained.  I  believe  that  improper  food  and  bad  sanitary  surround- 
ings greatly  predispose  the  people  to  leprosy,  and  by  improving  these  I  believe  it 
would  be  possible  to  stamp  out  the  disease.  I  wish  to  establish  a  settlement  of  ten 
small  houses,  a  couple  of  hospital  wards,  a  school  and  church.  The  lepers  cannot 
come  here  to  plead  for  themselves,  and  I  come  as  their  substitute  to  plead  for  them; 
to  ask  you  to  help  me  to  build  this  colony,  and  to  help  me  to  return  to  them,  to  dress 
their  wounds  and  teach  them  proper  sanitary  conditions. 

In  my  book  "On  Sledge  and  Horseback  to  Outcast  Siberian  Lepers  "  you  will 
find  official  documents  that  vouch  for  the  truth  of  all  I  have  told  you  as  to  the  mis- 
ery and  helplessness  of  these  poor  outcast  lepers.  Before  concluding  I  wish  to  give 
Mrs.  Eagle  my  heartfelt  thanks  for  her  unfailing  help  to  me  during  my  stay  at  the 
Exposition  in  Chicago. 


SYMMETRICAL  WOMANHOOD. 


By  MRS.  WESLEY  SMITH. 

Said  the  poet  Goethe,  to  his  friend  Eckermann,  in  the  seventy-seventh  year  of  his 
age:  "Had  I  earlier  known  how  many  excellent  things  have  been  in  existence  for 

hundreds  of  years,  I  would  not  have  written  a  line, 
but  would  have  done  something  else;"  and  Lord 
Byron,  early  in  his  literary  career,  wrote:  "All  that 
can  be  done  has  been  done."  And  when  these  serene 
stars,  in  the  blue  heaven  of  thought,  thus  falter,  how 
shall  we,  who  as  yet  but  look  upward,  dare  give  our 
message. 

Writes  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  our  genial  auto- 
crat: "An  author  does  not  always  know  when  he 
performs  the  service  of  the  angel  who  stirred  the 
waters  at  the  pool  of  Bethesda.  It  gives  many  read- 
ers, a  singular  pleasure  to  find  a  writer  telling  them 
something  they  have  long  known  or  felt,  but  which 
they  have  never  found  anyone  to  put  in  words  for 
them."  And  so,  be  it  mine  today  to  plead  for  some 
old-fashioned  virtues,  and  to  repeat  some  old,  old 
truths  of  life  and  love  and  womanhood. 

Mother  Nature  loves  a  trinity;  her  handiwork, 
material  and  immaterial,  is  largely  made  up  of  three- 
fold creations.  A  geometrician  would  tell  us  that 
the  triangle  is  often  the  keynote  of  her  handicraft. 
Men  and  women  are  the  highest  type  of  this  visible 
trinity.  With  a  three-fold  nature  have  they  been  endowed,  mental,  moral  and  physical ; 
intellectual,  spiritual  and  corporeal;  a  mind,  a  body,  and  a  soul.  The  word  sym- 
metrical, Webster  tells  us,  means  "  each  part  in  proportion  to  the  other."  How  shall 
our  trinity  be  beautiful,  or  our  triangle  perfect,  unless  each  of  these  sides  be  sym- 
metrically developed? 

It  is  the  unfortunate  fashion  of  the  hour  to  adopt  some  theory,  some  hobby,  some 
fashion  or  fancy,  "and  forsaking  all  others,  keep  only  to  it,  so  long  as  the  hobby  shall 
live."  It  may  be  physical  culture  is  the  modern  woman's  fetich,  and  she  drapes  her- 
self fearfully  and  wonderfully,  passes  much  of  her  time  in  weird  and  mystifying 
motions,  and  assures  you  that  she  shall  never  grow  old.  Intellectuality  is  perhaps 
her  shrine,  and  she  soars  in  the  empyrean  of  mind  over  matter,  cares  not  for  the 
adornment  of  her  bonnet  or  the  cut  of  her  gown,  pities  you  because  you  have  not  read 
Ibsen  and  Tolstoi,  laments  that  you  cannot  rise  to  her  higher  plane  and  frowns  upon 
all  trivial  conversation  as  to  dress,  disease,  or  domestics.  Again,  sweet  charity  may 
engross  her  time,  and  she  founds  a  home  for  distressed  cats  and  wandering  dogs,  or 

Mrs.  Wesley  Smith  is  a  native  of  the  United  States ;  she  was  bom  in  Chicago.  Her  parents  were  Edson  li.  O'Hara  and 
Tcnsley  O'Hara.  She  was  educated  at  Park  Institnte,  Chicago,  Kenwood  Seminary,  C'hicago,  and  the  Convent  of  Loretto 
Abbey,  Toronto,  and  has  traveled  in  the  United  States,  Germany,  France,  England,  Holland  and  the  Bahama  Islands.  She 
married  Hon.  8.  Wesley  Smith,  M.  D.,  of  New  York  City.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  literature,  charities 
of  all  creeds,  clubs,  congresses  and  organizations  of  women  and  literary  sucieties.  Her  principal  literary  works  are 
addresses,  orations  and  papers  for  public  reading.  In  religious  faith  she  is  Protestant,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Episcopal 
Church.  She  is  a  most  graceful  and  attractive  woman,  an  elocationist  and  writer,  though  not  a  professional.  Her  pemut- 
aent  postoffice  address  is  No.  24  West  Thirtieth  Street,  New  York  City. 

217 


MRS.   WESLEY   SMITH. 


218  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

makes  little  pinafores  for  the  chilly  children  of  Greenland,  and  sometimes  forgets 
that  charity  means  loving  kindness,  the  womanly  courtesy  to  the  maid-servant  and 
the  gentle  word  to  the  man-servant. 

The  perfect  woman  shall  cherish  all  of  these,  hold  fast  that  which  is  good  in  each, 
and  remember  that  she  owes  an  equal  allegiance  to  every  part  of  her  being.  She  who 
neglects  health — some  rational  means  of  physical  culture,  or  the  like — shall  reap  a 
whirlwind  of  weariness  and  wretchedness;  she  who  aids  not  beauty  by  all  reasonable 
means  has  lost  one  of  the  strongest  levers  whereby  to  move  the  world.  She  who  fails 
to  expand  her  intellectual  faculties  unto  the  highest,  cannot  seek  recognition  or  honor 
among  men.  The  woman  who  slays  love  does  ill,  for,  like  the  wounded  lion,  it  shall 
turn  and  rend  her,  and  leave  her  at  last  desolate,  and  stricken,  and  alone;  while  for 
her  who  knows  the  grace  of  a  heavenly  spirit,  "  her  deeds  shall  drop  as  the  rain,  her 
speech  shall  distil  as  the  dew,  as  the  small  rain  upon  the  tender  herb,  and  as  the 
showers  upon  the  grass."  All  these  things  are  lovely  when  rightly  proportioned  and 
nicely  adjusted  to  the  eternal  balance.  The  ancient  Greeks,  that  most  perfect  race 
physically  and  mentally  the  world  has  ever  known,  had  engraven  upon  the  arch  of 
their  academies,  that  he  who  ran  might  read,  this  motto:  "  Do  nothing  too  much," 
and  to  we  moderns  this  message  comes  today  with  timely  warning. 

The  history  of  the  world  is  rich  with  the  tales  of  famous  women  who  would  have 
been  beyond  cavil  had  they  but  remembered,  a  woman  to  realize  the  highest  must 
cultivate  harmoniously  her  threefold  being.  Elizabeth,  Queen  of  England,  of  whom 
Laud  writes:  "  I  am  proud  that  such  a  woman  has  lived  and  reigned  and  died  in 
honor;"  she  who  was  rich  in  mind  and  estate,  but  who  lacked  the  gentler  side,  whose 
heart  was  not  attuned  to  love  and  whose  life  missed  those  sweet  chords  in  its  music 
which  only  a  fond  affection  can  bring.  Cleopatra,  who  could  charm  the  colossus 
Caesar,  whose  intellect  was  broad  and  great,  whose  beautiful  body  was  a  fit  temple  for 
a  noble  soul — but,  alas!  the  casket  was  empty  of  the  jewel,  else  the  world's  story  had 
been  nobler.  Madame  Recamier,  whose  gracious  heart  and  lovely  spirit  made  all  men 
her  knights,  but  who  failed  in  that  mental  force  which  should  have  thrown  her  power 
into  the  world's  work  and  aided  its  upward  and  onward  march.  Madame  de  Main- 
tenon,  whose  piety  was  deep  and  sincere,  but  cultivated  to  such  an  excess  that  the 
god-like  virtue  of  tolerance  was  forgotten,  and  the  reign  of  Louis,  the  grand  monarchy 
sullied  with  one  of  the  darkest  political  crimes  in  history,  the  revocation  of  the  Edict 
of  Nantes,  whereby  eight  thousand  faithful  subjects  were  exiled  or  imprisoned. 
George  Eliot,  the  brightness  of  whose  descriptive  pen  we  may  never  see  surpassed^ 
but  whose  intellectual  faculties  were  allowed  to  exhaust  and  warp  her  nature  so  that 
her  days  were  largely  those  of  an  unhappy  invalid,  and  discord  rang  within  them. 

"  'Tis  strange  that  a  harp  of  a  thousand  strings 
Should  keep  in  tune  so  long," 

sings  the  poet,  and  we  shall  only  hear  life's  harmony  aright  when  the  bass  and  the 
treble  and  the  medium  register  shall  sound  aloud  together  in  one  triumphant  sym- 
phony. Lord  Lytton  writes  the  praises  of  "  a  various,  vigorous,  versatile  mind,"  and 
Goethe  observes:  "The  object  of  life  is  culture,  not  what  we  can  accomplish,  but  what 
can  be  accomplished  in  us." 

Let  us  divide  our  threefold  being  into  a  sexagon — from  our  physical  nature  we  shall 
have  health  and  beauty,  from  our  mental  endowment  knowledge  and  sentiment,  from 
our  spiritual  side  morality  and  piety,  and  cultivate  each  unto  the  utmost,  but  each  in 
its  due  proportion.  The  peach  that  grows  toward  the  sun's  warm  kisses  becomes 
first  ripe  and  mellow  and  fragrant,  but  unless  Phoebus  travels  on  to  touch  its  other  side, 
is  soon  o'er-ripe  and  blackened  and  decayed.  And  so  with  us,  if  we  let  not  the  genial 
sun  of  culture  shine  upon  us  equally  from  all  directions,  we  shall  grow  blackened  with 
the  vice  of  narrowness  and  littleness  and  scrupulosity,  and  fail  our  perfect  fruitage. 

The  world  today  is,  oh,  so  largely,  what  we  women  make  it.  Let  us  strive  ear- 
nestly until  all  womanly  vices  shall  cease  to  be. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  219 

"  Oh!  lift  your  natures  up; 
Embrace  high  aims,  work  out  your  freedom, 
Knowledge  is  now  no  more  a  fountain  sealed; 
Drink  deep,  until  the  habits  of  the  slave, 
The  sins  of  emptiness,  gossip  and  envy 
And  slander,  die.     Better  not  to  be  at  all 
Than  not  to  be  noble." 

Woman  cannot  reign  until  she  is  worthy  to  be  a  queen.  It  is  not  by  crying  like 
a  fretful  child  for  more,  that  we  shall  attain  all  things,  but  by  bearing  our  duties  and 
our  work  so  bravely,  so  wisely,  that  men  shall  gladly  call  us  unto  the  high  places  to 
aid,  until  we  stand — 

.  *'  Two  in  the  council,  two  beside  the  hearth, 
Two  in  the  tangled  business  of  the  world, 
Two  in  the  liberal  offices  of  life." 

The  meanest  pool  by  the  wayside  can  hold  the  stars  in  its  bosom,  and  give  back 
the  gleam  of  the  sunlight,  and  receive  the  showers  from  heaven  even  as  the  mighty 
ocean.  To  all  of  us  it  is  not  given  to  climb  the  mountain,  and  few  may  wear  the 
laurel,  but  who  shall  say  what  constitutes  success,  who  deny  she  has  achieved  her 
highest  mission,  who  has  been  simply  a  good  woman.  Says  Victor  Hugo:  "There  is 
in  this  world  no  function  more  important  than  that  of  charming.  To  shed  joy,  to 
radiate  happiness,  to  cast  light  upon  dark  days,  to  be  the  golden  thread  of  our  destiny, 
the  spirit  of  grace  and  harmony, is  not  this  to  render  a  service?" 

It  is  so  pleasant  to  dwell  upon  the  ideal  side  of  life,  to  lay  far-reaching  plans  and 
dream  great  deeds,  but  be  you  the  most  orthodox  of  Christians  or  the  broadest  of 
ethical  culturists,  we  shall  yet  agree  that  the  truest  and  most  searching  test  of  char- 
acter lies  in  "  the  trivial  round,  the  common  task,"  along  life's  wayside.  The  great 
Creative  Power  takes  as  infinite  patience  and  care  in  fashioning  the  facets  of  an 
insect's  eye,  as  in  marking  the  course  of  a  Niagara  or  building  a  Matterhorn.  And 
George  Eliot  preached  to  us  a  great  gospel  when  she  wrote: 

"The  growing  good  of  the  world  is  partly  dependent  upon  unhistoric  acts,  and 
that  things  are  not  so  ill  with  you  and  me  as  they  might  have  been,  is  half  owing  to 
the  number  who  have  lived  faithfully  hidden  lives  and  lie  in  unvisited  tombs." 

It  is  more  satisfying  to  efficiently  perform  our  duty  of  the  hour  than  to  hope 
that  large  opportunities  may  yet  be  ours.  It  is  better  to  live  today  nobly  than  to  muse 
on  a  radiant  tomorrow.  You  cannot  dream  yourself  into  a  character,  you  must 
hammer  and  forge  one  out. 

It  was  of  some  fair  woman  who  held  herself  worthy  of  being  symmetrically  devel- 
oped unto  a  perfect  whole  that  Longfellow  said:  "  When  she  had  passed  it  seemed 
like  the  ceasing  of  exquisite  music;"  and  of  her,  also,  Mrs.  Hemans  wrote,  it  was  a 
life-long  happiness 

*'  To  have  met  the  joy  of  thy  speaking  face. 
To  have  felt  the  spell  of  thy  breezy  grace, 
To  have  lingered  before  thee,  and  turned  and  borne 
One  vision  away  of  the  cloudless  morn." 

In  the  twilight  time  we  see  her — that  fair  woman  yet  to  be.  She  stands  serene 
and  beautiful,  looking  forward  to  meet  the  coming  years,  with  calm  eyes  that  tell  of 
inward  grace  and  the  peace  of  God  upon  her  forehead.  She  is  robed  in  the  white  gar- 
ment of  modesty.  About  her  throat  she  wears  a  circle  of  rare  gems,  and  these  are 
the  pearls  of  truth.  Her  feet  are  shod  with  the  winged  sandals  of  a  willing  heart. 
Her  eyes  beam  love  and  courage  into  the  soul  of  Him  who  is  her  other  self.  Her  cool, 
white  palms  are  made  to  lay  soft  touches  on  some  sweet  baby  brow,  and  to  clasp  the 
hand  of  manhood  when  it  falters,  so  that  they  two  shall  climb  together  up  the  white 
heights  of  God. 


220  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

She  shall  cherish  both  the  meanest  flower  that  blows  and  the  highest  stars  in 
heaven.  She  shall  do  all  things  possible  with  honor  to  herself  and  to  her  Maker. 
She  passes  on  life's  highway,  gathering  here  the  rose  of  beauty,  and  there  the  stately 
lily  of  a  faithful  soul.  She  stoops  for  the  green  mosses  of  love  that  grow  all  about 
her  feet,  and  will  yield  her  ever  fragrant  favor.  She  lingers  long  in  the  grateful 
shade  of  the  tree  of  knowledge;  of  its  wide-spreading  branches  she  gathers  the  leaves 
to  weave  a  garland  for  her  forehead.  She  plucks  the  olive  branch  to  bear  within  her 
hand.  She  treads  the  beaten  path  of  life,  and  in  her  wake  the  way  appears  a  little 
greener  where  her  feet  have  trod,  until  she  stands  at  Heaven's  gate  and  the  angel 
saith:  "Come  in.  All  hail,  fair  woman  yet  to  be;  love  bless  thee,  joy  crown  thee, 
God  speed  thy  career." 


Jf^m 


THE  LAND  WE  LOVE. 

By  MRS.  MARY  L.  GADDESS. 

Is  there  a  man  or  woman  in  America  who  has  not  at  times,  with  deep  feelings 
of  emotion,  exclaimed,  "  I  love  my  native  land?" 

Its  hills  and  dells,  its  mountains  high, 
Whose  summits  almost  touch  the  sky, 
Its  broad,  clear  rivers  on  whose  breast, 
The  commerce  of  a  world  might  rest. 

Its  balmy  air  from  orange  grove, 
Where  in  a  dreamy  trance  we  rove, 
Its  prairies  wild  and  canons  deep 
Where  mammoth  trees  as  watchmen  keep 

-,  For  ages  guard  about  the  spot,. 

«  Once  seen,  never  to  be  forgot. 

%  This  land,  this  bright  and  happy  land, 

W  With  ocean  girt  from  strand  to  strand, 

/  We  call  our  home,   wheree'er   we  rove, 

:  We  thankful  say — "  that  land  we  love." 

It  has  been  asserted,  next  to  the  love  of  the 
Father  of  us  all,  the  deepest,  purest,  grandest  emotion 
the  human  heart  is  capable  of  experiencing  is  affec- 
tion for  their  native  land.     In  all  centuries  and  climes 

MRS.    MARY    L.   GADDESS.  ,,..  i  ,,•  ,•  ,  it  r       t         •  J 

this  has  been  the  mcentive  to  deeds  or  darmg,  and 
has  taught  men  to  defy  chains,  dungeons  and  torture;  has  taken  the  agony  from  mar- 
tyrdoms, shed  undying  luster  over  many  a  battleground  and  placed  a  halo  above 
many  a  weary  brow.  Thousands  of  names  are  deeply  graven  upon  history's  pages. 
Switzerland  sings  of  her  Tell  till  the  mountains  reverberate  from  their  fastnesses  the 
remembered  name;  Scotland  of  a  Wallace  who  bled,  but  left  a  memory  which  still  lives 
in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen.  America  has  her  soul-stirring  names,  as  every  land 
beneath  the  sun;  but  there  are  myriads  who  will  never  be  known  till  the  great  roll-call 
on  the  other  side  the  river,  who  have  worn  no  laurel  wreath,  and  lie  in  nameless  graves, 
who  laid  down  their  all  for  their  country — and  it  is  a  land  to  be  proud  of. 

With  broad  arms  stretched  from  shore  to  shore, 

The  proud  Pacific  chafes  her  strand; 
She  hears  the  dark  Atlantic  roar. 

And   nurtured  on  her  ample  breast 
How  many  a  goodly  prospect  lies 

In  nature's  wildest  grandeur  drest, 
Enameled  with  her  loveliest  dies. 


Mrs.  Mary  L.  Gaddess  is  a  native  of  Baltimore,  Md.  Her  parents  were,  Oliver  P.  Merryman,  of  one  of  the  oldest  fam- 
ilies in  the  state,  and  her  mother  a  talented  English  lady.  She  waa  educated  at  Baltimore  Female  College,  and  after  leaving 
school  took  special  lessons  from  the  best  teachers,  giving  i>articalar  attention  to  elocution.  She  has  traveled  extensively. 
She  married  Virginias  Gaddess,  of  Baltimore.  Mrs.  Gaddess  is  a  contributor  to  numerous  periodicals,  and  is  a  successful 
lecturer  on  literary  subjects.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  Cantatas,  and  "  Woman  of  Yesterday  and  Today."  Her  lect- 
ures number  twenty-five.  In  religions  faith  she  is  a  Methodist  by  birth  and  education,  but  for  years  a  communicant  in  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  a  member  in  good  standing  in  both.  She  is  a  member  of  Grace  M.  E.  Church,  Baltimore,  and 
the  Ascension  Protestant  Episcopal  of  the  same  city.    Her  postofiioe  address  is  821  North  Arlington  Avenne,  Baltimore,  Md. 

221 


222  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Rich  prairies  decked  with  flowers  of  gold, 

Like  sunlit  oceans  roll  afar; 
Broad  lakes  her  azure  heavens  behold, 

Reflecting  clear  each  trembling  star; 
And  mighty  rivers,  mountain  born. 

Go  sweeping  onward,  dark  and  deep, 
Through  forest,  where  the  bounding  fawn 

Beneath  their  sheltering  branches  leap. 

And  cradled  mid  her  clustering  hills. 

Sweet  vales  in  dreamlike  beauty  hide; 
Dear  land,  we  truly  love  thee  well; 

May  happiness  and  peace  abide; 
Thank  God  for  giving  us  this  home. 

This  bounteous  birthland  of  the  free; 
Surely  it  was  His  hand  that  led 

The  mariners  across  the  sea. 

In  simplest  language,  then,  I  will  tell  the  oft-told  story  of  the  finding,  like  a  gem 
upon  the  bosom  of  the  water,  America,  the  land  we  love. 

With  piercing  eye  and  vision  clear 
He  waited  long  in  doubt  and  fear, 
Laughed,  jeered  at,  both  by  friends  and  foes, 
Poor,  burdened  by  a  weight  of  woes, 
Yet  still  declared  "across  the  sea 
He  knew  another  land  must  be." 

They  pointed  to  the  ocean  dark, 
Told  of  its  perils  to  their  bark; 
And  soon  the   caravels  would  be 
Engulfed  beneath  "  that  great  black  sea." 
Then  called  him  "  mad,  a  dreamer  wild," 
From  common  sense  and  ways  beguiled. 

From  land  to  land  he  journeyed  long. 
Repeating  still  the  same  old  song, 
Till  years  had  flown,  and  sad  of  heart 
He  saw  the  hopes  of  youth  depart. 

Did  he  despair?     Thank  Heaven,  no! 
After  his  wanderings  to  and  fro 
He  found  a  friend  to  hear  his  plea 
And  listen  to  his  "theory." 

While  wise  men  doubted  or  delayed, 
A  woman's  heart  was  not  dismayed. 
But  pledged  her  jewels  to  supply 
The  means  when  others  would  deny. 

Nothing  of  good  was  ever  done. 
But  at  great  cost  was  victory  won; 
Long  hours  of  toil  and  days  of  pain 
Succeed  and  fail,  again,  again. 

Tis  only  he  who  will  not  yield 
To  any  foe  who  wins  the  field. 
The  conquerer  too  often  wears 
The  martyr's  chaplet  unawares. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  223 

'Twas  even  thus  long  years  ago, 
Columbus  feared  not  friend  nor  foe, 
But  ever  watched  for  "time  and  tide" 
To  bear  him  to  the  other  side. 
Fair  India!  was  his  destined  goal — 
The  one  great  hope  of  Jiis^^^/ soul. 

And  when  at  last  as  ever,  "  Fate 
Will  bring  all  things  to  those  who  wait," 
His  dream  came  true,  he  murmured  not 
O'er  the  past  trials  of  his  lot. 

When  skies  were  fair,  one  August  day 
From  old  Palos  he  sailed  away. 
With  compass  set,  and  ropes  all  taunt, 
(An  argosy,  with  bright  hopes  fraught). 

Days  passed,  with  rudtler  broken,  lost! 
By  angry  seas  and  tempests  tossed. 
They  anchored  in  Canaries  Isle, 
And  rested  there  a  little  while. 

Then  off,  across  the  treacherous  main, 
•*  Fearing  they'd  not  see  home  again," 
This  weary-hearted  little  band 
Set  out  to  find  the  "  Western  land." 

From  sun  to  sun,  for  many  days. 
The  adverse  winds  blew  different  ways, 
The  crew  in  muti?iy  declared 
"That  no  one  his  wild  visions  shared." 

Alone  he  stood,  with  lifted  eye! 
And  prayed  for  succor  from  on  high! 
(Still  raged  the  storm),  while  o'er  the  wave 
His  cry  went  up,  "  Oh,  hear  and  save!" 

At  length,  when  hope  was  almost  dead. 
And  every  buoyant  dream  had  fled, 
A  light  shone  out  across  the  sea — 
The  promised  land  it  proved  to  be. 
Four  hundred  years  ago,  'tis  true. 
This  happened  I  relate  to  you; 

Yet  down  the  cycles  of  the  years, 
That  voyage  made  in  hopes  and  fears, 
'Mid  dangerous  seas,  has  proved  to  be 
The  greatest  one  in  history. 

Columbus  year  we  celebrate! 
What  was  it  made  the  man  so  great? 
Others  had  dreamed  as  he  had  done, 
And  yet  no  continent  had  won! 
All  who  will  read  his  life  may  see 
The  man's  great  faith  and  constancy! 

Firm  ever  in  his  cause  he  stood 
And  waited,  knowing  it  was  good. 
His  way  he  trusted  unto  heaven. 
And  the  reward  at  last  was  given. 


224  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

To  all  the  nations,  near  and  far, 
America,  the  guiding  star, 
Has  proved  to  be  a  light  indeed 
To  other  lands  in  time  of  need. 
Her  grain  has  fed  their  starving  poor, 
And  vessels  carry  from  her  shore 
Abundance!  for  this  fruitful  land 
Can  scatter  with  a  liberal  hand. 

God  was  the  guide  across  the  sea, 
Or  else  a  miracle  'twould  be; 
Those  tiny  caravels  at  last 
Could  anchor  safe,  all  trials  past. 
Upon  our  shield  we  ever  must 
Inscribe  our  faith,  "/;^  God  we  trust." 

As  Bethlehem's  babe  was  found  afar, 
By  shepherds  following  a  star; 
So  by  that  light  shed  o'er  the  sea, 
(A  little  light  'twas  said  to  be), 
A  wondrous  land  was  opened  wide 
To  shed  great  light  on  every  side! 
Today  she  stands  both  strong  and  free, 
God's  people  and  God's  country. 

Many  followed  where  Columbus  had  opened  the  way,  among  the  number  one  who 
published  an  account  of  his  voyage,  describing  the  lands  visited;  and  this  being  the 
first  written  account,  and  the  name  of  Columbus  not  even  mentioned,  it  was  named 
after  him,  Am-a-ree-go-ves  poot-chee. 

It  would  tax  your  patience  to  repeat  the  story  we  have  heard  so  often  of  expedi- 
tions sent  out  from  the  Old  World  one  after  the  other.  We  can  only  faintly  imagine 
the  trials  and  sufferings  of  the  pioneers,  hard  work  the  lot  of  all,  forests  to  be  cleared, 
buildings  for  shelter  and  defense  erected,  and  ever  at  their  sideatreacherous  foe  eager 
to  turn  the  plowshare  into  an  implement  of  warfare.  Poor,  miserable  cattle,  inferior 
implements,  food  of  the  poorest  kind  and  frequently  not  sufficient  of  it,  multitudes  of 
wants  and  no  means  to  supply  them.  Yet  the  perseverance  and  intelligent  industry 
of  the  people,  combined  with  their  inventive  genius,  constantly  smoothed  the  way  by 
devising  means  to  produce  greater  results  with  diminution  of  manual  labor.  Thus 
by  degrees  forests  were  converted  into  flourishing  farms,  villages  into  towns,  towns 
into  cities,  and  as  they  grew  their  founders  began  to  question  the  utility  of  connection 
with  the  mother  country  which  had  proved  a  hard  task  mistress.  Duties  increased 
until  the  burden  grew  intolerable,  and  in  1774  a  congress  of  thirteen  colonies  con- 
vened in  Philadelphia,  declared  they  would  no  longer  remain  under  the  control  of 
England,  ahd  established  principles  of  liberty  in  the  New  World,  and  on  July  4,  1776, 
Thomas  Jefferson,  of  Virginia,  wrote  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  which  stated: 
"  We  hold  it  self-evident  that  all  men  are  created  equal;  that  they  are  endowed  by 
their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights;  that  among  these  are  life,  liberty,  and  the 
pursuit  of  happiness."  Then  giving  an  account  of  the  various  reasons  which  had  led 
up  to  that  issue,  closes  with  these  words:  "And  for  the  support  of  this  Declaration, 
with  firm  reliance  on  the  protection  of  Divine  Providence,  we  mutually  pledge  to  each 
other  our  lives,  our  fortunes,  and  our  sacred  honor."  Men  starting  out  with  such  a 
platform  could  not  fail;  yet  we  know  of  the  long  years  of  strife  that  followed^ — wars 
within  and  without,  mistakes  many,  failures  and  imperfections  not  a  few.  In  many  a 
campaign  barefoot  soldiers  marked  with  blood  the  ground  over  which  they  marched. 
When  the  Revolution  broke  out  there  were  nearly  three  millions  of  people  in  the  col- 
onies, but  the  government  of  the  states  was  held  very  loosely  together,  and  it  was  not 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  225 

until  some  years  after  the  peace  that  a  strong  one  was  formed.  And  notwithstanding 
the  terrible  record  various  wars  have  left  on  the  pages  of  her  history,  from  that  time 
it  has  been  steadfast,  solid  progress  in  things  material  and  immaterial,  business,  morals 
and  intellect,  until  today,  one  hundred  and  seventeen  years  after,  she  stands  a  power 
among  nations.  Waves  of  sadness  and  billows  of  gladness  have  rolled  alternately 
over  human  hearts,  while  threatening  storm  clouds  have  lowered,  but  the  bright  bows 
of  promise  and  hope  ever  gilded  the  horizon,  eloquent  and  prophetic  of  the  magnifi- 
cent future  which  has  dawned  already.  Daniel  Webster  said  with  regard  to  it:  "  There 
is  no  poetry  like  the  poetry  of  events,  and  all  the  prophecies  of  this  land  lay  behind 
the  fulfillment."  We  recall  the  parable  of  the  grain  of  mustard  seed,  which  is  indeed 
the  least  of  all  seed,  but  it  has  become  a  tree  so  great  the  birds  from  all  lands  rest 
amid  her  sheltering  branches,  and  her  roots  are  deeply  hidden  in  the  century  of 
strong,  true  hearts  that  open  the  ground,  planted  and  nourished  the  seed.  Their 
sons,  honest,  brave  men,  still  safely  stand  with  that  same  Declaration  their  bulwark 
and  stay. 

Well  may  we  be  proud  of  America,  "  the  land  we  love,"  stretching  from  the  blue 
Atlantic  to  the  broad  Pacific,  from  the  Arctic  to  the  Antarctic  oceans.  Snow-clad 
mountains  towering  three  thousand  feet  above  sea  level,  mighty  cataracts,  giant 
geysers,  vast  prairies,  broad  rivers  flowing  between  fields  heavy  with  golden  grain. 

And  deep  in  the  bowels  of  the  hills 
Is  coal  and  mineral  wealth  untold. 
New  riches  every  year  unfold 
As  nature  opens  wide  her  gate 
That  stood  ajar  so  long,  we  wait 
Expectant,  thankful,  glad  to  say 
This  is  the  land  we  love  today. 

Placid  lakes  that  would  bear  on  their  bosoms  the  leviathans  of  the  centuries,  cities 
whose  magnificence  vies  with  those  across  the  ocean,  and  sixty-five  millions  of  people 
brave  and  true  as  ever  God's  sunshine  smiled  upon.  On  every  sea  her  vessels  float, 
and  in  every  land  her  people  are  found.  She  is  at  peace  with  all  the  world,  and 
plenty  and  prosperity  and  strength  surround  her. 

To  our  great  festival,  this  Columbian  Jubilee,  from  all  lands  visitors  have  come  to 
rejoice  with  us.  Welcome,  welcome,  welcome,  one  and  all!  Without  doubt  each 
heart  and  voice  will  unite  in  the  Nation's  Hymn  and  say: 

"Long  may  the  land  be  bright 
With  freedom's  holy  light, 
Protect  her  by  thy  might. 
Great  God,  her  king!  " 

How  wonderful  the  discovery  he  had  made  Columbus  never  knew,  for  he  believed 
it  to  be  a  part  of  India.  The  gold  he  sought  in  large  quantities  he  never  found,  yet 
the  land  teems  with  mineral  wealth.  It  has  filled  the  coffers  of  many  nations,  and 
when  famine  gaunt  and  grim  stalked  among  less  favored  people  we  could  throw  open 
immense  granaries,  and  blessings  of  plenty  and  abundance  bestow  cheerfully  and 
gladly,  for  are  we  not  all  brothers?  So  lavish  is  Nature  from  the  Western  prairies 
and  Southern  cotton  fields,  her  Northern  pines  and  Eastern  granite  hills,  we  can 
gather  the  richest  products  and  bid  all  to  come  and  share  our  abundance,  while  her 
starry  flag  floats  proudly  above  them  as  an  emblem  of  that  country,  able  and  willing 
to  protect  the  stranger  within  her  gates.  The  pulse  and  pace  of  this  land  has  been  so 
niarvelously  quickened  during  the  last  century,  time  will  not  permit  me  to  even  men- 
tion the  thousands  of  noble  ideas  that  have  enriched  the  world  and  startled  it  into 
wondering  applause,  while  as  a  manufacturing  people  we  have  won  first  rank.  All 
forces  seem  to  be  at  our  bidding  and  the  nations  wait  in  awe,  whispering  what  next? 
Steam  and  electricity,  says  one,  have  compressed  the  earth  till  the  elbows  of 

(15) 


226  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

nations  touch.  We  recognize  with  heartfelt  joy  the  pleasant  amenities  of  this 
occasion.  Looking  around  we  fancy  old-time  fairy  tales  have  come  to  be  true.  The 
stories  of  Arabian  knights  no  longer  a  myth,  for  nothing  could  be  more  wonderful 
than  this  reality.  In  the  distance  we  hear  the  beating  pulsations  of  the  heart  of  the 
great  city,  which  phcenix-like  rose  from  its  own  ashes  to  become  the  eighth  wonder 
of  the  world.  Only  a  year  and  a  half  ago  this  place  about  us  was  a  wilderness.  The 
White  City  now  standing  before  us,  more  beautiful  than  artist's  dream  or  poet's  fancy 
could  portray,  rivaling  in  dazzling  glory  the  tales  we  have  read  of  Babylon  of  old, 
wonderful  in  conception,  no  less  magnificent  in  execution,  it  stands  a  completed 
picture,  worthy  of  the  land  and  the  century  of  progress  it  so  nobly  demonstrates. 

In  New  York  harbor  stands  the  colossal  statue  of  "  Liberty  Enlightening  the 
World,"  the  largest  ever  erected  in  modern  times;  its  total  height  is  three  hundred  and 
five  feet  eleven  inches.  It  cost  over  a  million  francs,  which  were  paid  in  France  by 
popular  subscription  and  presented  to  the  United  States.  Many  of  us  have  seen  it 
standing  as  guard  over  the  city.  Beyond  that  we  need  not  devote  time  now  to  describe 
it,  wonderful  and  elegant  in  detaib  although  so  large  in  size.  A  fitting  emblem  at  the 
gateway  all  must  pass  to  enter  this  free  and  happy  land,  ours  by  inheritance,  as  they 
would  desire  to  make  it  theirs  by  adoption.  The  years  have  taught  us  many  lessons, 
and  to  one  and  all  we  would  say:  Leave  behind  you  Old  World  superstitions  and  ideas 
of  anarchy  and  confusion.  Liberty  can  never  here  mean  license.  Let  all  learn  what 
Columbus  began  to  teach  four  hundred  years  ago — that  indomitable  perseverance  and 
courage,  with  faith,  in  the  right,  will  at  last  bring  success;  and  no  better  motto  can  we 
give  to  each  man,  woman  and  child  who  visits  America  this  Columbian  year,  than  that 
we  bear  on  our  nation's  coin,  "In  God  we  trust." 

Then  nation  and  people  and  land  shall  be  blessed, 

Prosperity  dwell  with  us  ever  a  guest, 

Each  century  add  to  the  stars  in  her  brow. 

From  thirteen  they've  grown  up  to  forty-four  now. 

So  bright  is  their  luster  that  over  the  wave 

They  call  us  "the  land  of  the  true  and  the  brave." 

Long,  long  may  the  red,  white  and  blue  testify: 

"America's  honor  was  not  born  to  die." 

Proclaim  far  and  near,  from  the  lakes  to  the  sea, 

This  national  birthday,  July  Fourth,  '93; 

At  peace  with  the  world  doth  America  stand. 

To  welcome  the  world  as  it  comes  to  our  land. 

Then  throw  out  your  flags  to  the  breeze,  let  it  tell 

The  tale  of  this  country  we  all  love  so  well: 

"The  Star  Spangled  Banner,  oh,  long  may  it  wave 

O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave!" 

"Columbia  the  gem  of  the  ocean  has  proved. 

And  favored  of  God  seems  the  land  we  love." 


COLUMBUS— OR  "  IT  WAS  MORNING." 


By  MRS.  LILLIAN  ROZELL  MESSENGER. 
(Copyright,  1893,  by  Lallian  Rozell  Messenger.) 

Fame's  voice  sublime,  a  magic  siren  song 

Sung  to  the  youth  about  his  sea-girt  home. 

The  sea's  wild  grandeur  early  was  first  page. 
Earth  turned  to  him.     To  him  the  firmament 
Was  not  blue  space  and  blank,  but  handiwork 
Of  the  Invisible  his  soul  had  learn'd 
To  love — beside  his  mother's  earnest  love — 
Beside  her  knee,  as  lights  burn'd  low  at  eve, 
And  her  sweet  love  made  earth  and  heaven  one. 

When  science  taught  him  first,  Columbus  saw 
Through  nature's  silence  all — God's  mighty  truth 
Reach'd  to  the  clouds;  and  law  and  order  His. 
The  Pleiades,  Arcturus  and  Leo, 
Orion  bold,  and  all  that  starry  chase 
Would  nightly  woo  his  thought  and  wonder-flight; 
When  truth  and  wisdom,  from  the  deep-toned  years 
Wearing  the  phantom  veils  of  hope,  lastly 
O'er-arch'd  his  world  with  highest  majesty, 
And  beauty  inexpressible.     In  awe 
He  dwelt  upon  old  ocean's  shifting  page, 
'Tween  Venice  and  his  sea-kiss'd  land,  full  oft 
His  father,  mother,  sail'd  with  gleaming  prows 
When  galleys  splendid  borne  on  sunset  waves 
To  this  ocean  queen,  bride  of  War  and  Fame. 

Throughout  long  years  he  oft  intently  thought 
Of  one  lov'd  scene  which  burned  in  holy  fire 
Upon  his  brain,  a  holy  flame  as  'twere, 
That  lighted  Mem'ry's  altar,  tower  and  dome; 
In  depths  of  night,  when  on  the  solemn  deep, 
Alone,  his  mother  bent  above  his  couch 

To  watch  his  slumber  light,  in  sweet  concern 
Of  happy  love,  as  storms  march'd  o'er  the  waves 
With  lightning  spears,  and  dark  and  thunder  cloth'd: 
She,  trembling  in  pathetic  solitude 
Lest  some  hid  terror  seize  his  little  life. 

Mrs.  Lillian  Rozell  Messenger  is  a  daaghter  of  Dr.  F.  O.  Rozelle,  and  a  native  of  Millersbnrg,  Ky.  She  moved  in 
early  life  to  Arkasas,  moving  later  to  Washington,  D.  C,  where  she  still  resides.  She  married  North  A.  Messenger,  an 
editor  of  Tascambia,  Ala.,  who  died  four  years  later.  Mrs.  Messenger's  education  was  completed  at  Forest  Hill  Seminary, 
near  Memphis.  It  was  here  her  poetry  first  attracted  pablic  attention.  Her  principal  works  are  "  Fragments  from  an  Old 
Inn,"  " The  Vision  of  Gold."  "Disappointment,"  "Importuning,"  "Halloween,"  "The  Southern  Cross,"  and  "Colnmbns; 
or,  It  Was  Morning,"  first  read  on  July  4,  before  the  Woman's  Building  Congresses  of  the  Columbian  Exposition.  Mrs. 
Messenger  is  a  dramatic  reader,  and  has  met  with  singular  success  in  her  own  state  and  elsewhere.  She  delights  in  mosic 
and  painting  as  recreations.    Her  postoffice  address  is  No.  25  Lafayette  Street,  Washington,  D.  C. 

227 


MRS.   LILLIAN   ROZELL   MESSENGER. 


228  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

In  sea-hunting  his  father  bore  him  oft 
To  distant  waves,  when  galleys  swiftly  sped 
With  high  emprise,  and  splendors  from  the  East. 
'Twas  then  the  boy  heard  marvels  of  strange  lands, 
Saw  stranger  peoples  and  their  curious  wealth, 
Heard  Wisdom  speak  from  Persia  and  the  Ind 
Of  Eastern  lore,  and  sages  not  a  few. 

Yet  solitude,  and  isolation  strange 
Had  borne  the  lad,  first,  love  of  truth,  the  same 
That  maketh  man  as  gods,  the  love  of  sea, 
Whose  stormy  waves  his  first  playfellows  were; 
Deep  love  of  nature,  through  whose  veil  he  gazed 
On  God's  eternal  truth  and  secret  laws. 

The  father  had  quick  wrath,  so  earnest  he 
Lest  youth  should  fail;  he  oftener  thrust  the  boy 
Unto  the  sea,  and  strange  and  cruel  men, 
To  lonesome  lands,  and  thence  to  Venice  proud. 
For  thus  he  thought  to  harden  this  brave  youth. 
Whose  nobler  soul  and  larger  mind  surpass'd 
By  hundred  years  his  puny  world  and  age. 
Visions  for  him  had  thrown  a  golden  scale 
Unto  his  gaze,  wherein  he  saw  his  world 
Weigh'd  strong  in  light,  and  error  sink  in  cloud. 

Musing,  he  said:  this  world  is  but  the  deep, 
And  where,  as  in  a  cradle,  truth,  and  love — 
Man's  guardian  spirits — rock  this  little  life. 
Till  muffled  to  sleep.     Why  should  I  pause. 
When  faith  and  soul  and  nature  call  me  hence, 
To  turn  that  page  which  men  have  never  seen. 
What  is  my  body?     What  is  every  life 
But  one  fleet  airship?     He  alone  then  takes 
Some  guidance — plants  my  pole  star — stilleth  waves, 
And  shows  me  once  by  His  own  light  on  them 
That  nether  world — all  worlds  my  vision  sees; 
Deep  calleth  unto  deep,  and  I  shall  on! 

Meanwhile  Columbus'  brain  held  surer  thought 

And  visions  vast,  that  ray'd  the  beamy  wings 

Of  tireless  faith  with  their  undying  light. 

To  Isabella's  larger  heart  and  mind 

He  would  unfold  his  scheme:  I'll  pierce  this  realm 

With  my  sword  of  truth,  ay,  England,  and  France, 

And  Italy,  unto  the  utmost  sphere! 

The  unknown  deep  hath  won  my  youth,  and  well; 

It  bore  my  love,  Felipa,  in  soft  folds. 

To  mystic  death,  and  now,  God  will,  it  shall 

Give  me  that  virgin  world  men  disbelieve. 

Yon  deep  allures  me  on,  and  she,  our  queen. 
May  light  a  path  o'er  undivided  waves 
To  newer  Eden  lands,  henceforth  her  own. 
Such  image  looms  before  my  waking  soul, 
Columbus,  meek  and  brave,  his  sovereigns  sought; 
The  king  was  kingliness,  and  Isabella 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  229 

Most  queenly  fair,  and  stately  shown;  her  hair 
Of  sunny  waves  just  rippled  o'er  her  brow 
So  sadly  pale,  yet  tinged  with  faintest  flush 
Of  proud  delight,  and  dewy  violet  eyes, 
Mute  melodies,  or  homes  of  lofty  thoughts. 

The  queen  spake:  "Gold  nor  wealth  hath  now  our  realm 

To  venture  thee,  most  brave  and  noble  one; 

But  these,  my  jewels,  seeming  yet  to  hold 

The  sunshine  of  my  past,  and  years  of  joy, 

Or  brave  and  daring  hist'ries  of  my  race, 

And  memories  too  precious  for  one  life — 

These  shall  command  the  way;  a  power  within 

Nerveth  my  hands  to  lift  that  veil  which  hides 

Yon  stars  that  burn  in  Truth's  fair  sky,  and  o'er 

Thy  world  unknown." 

.     Columbus  scarcely  heard, 
For  th'  music  of  his  hopes  and  her  sweet  voice 
And  blessing  prayers  and  thrilling  faiths  that  grew, 
For  it  was  morning  now;  and  Error  paled. 

From  evening  lands,  at  morn,  half  hour  ere  rose 
The  sun  o'er  Spain,  he  loos'd  the  falcon  birds 
Of  fate,  of  Heaven-born  hope — his  vessels  three — 
And  sail'd  and  sail'd,  to  one  vast  far  Unknown. 

Three  days  the  Lord  and  Prince  of  Righteousness 
Entomb'd  did  close  his  eyes  for  sake  of  Death, 
For  sake  of  Man;  three  days  may  mean  more  time — 
Fullness  of  Fate — than  twice  three  thousand  years. 
Three  vessels  frail  were  yet  to  bear  to  men 
Earth's  other  half  of  life,  unclaim'd,  unknown. 

It  was  morning  when  they  sail'd;  and  sail'd  away 
Three  vessels  brave  from  Spain,  true  land  of  love, 
Of  wild  romance,  and  song,  where  Beauty  dream'd 
In  Nature's  arms,  and  beamed  from  woman's  eye. 
Alhambra's  splendid  towers  paled  from  sight. 
Like  phantoms  thro'  a  dream;  the  "  Moor's  Sigh  " 
(That  mount  o'er  which  he  pass'd  to  alien  worlds) 
Rose  distantly  against  the  blue,  with  dreams 
Of  glory  'cross  its  brow,  solemn  and  grave 
As  th'  exil'd  Moor's  glance,  when  he  in  tears 
Forever  bade  Alhambra's  halls  farewell. 

So  beat  Columbus'  heart  with  hope  insistent. 
Had  silver  clouds  on  those  blue  mountains  clove 
The  heavens  then,  with  blue-white  ships  a-sail 
From  hidden  realms,  an  angel  at  each  prow, 
Calling  through  golden  trumpets,  "  Hail  the  day!" 
He  had  felt  no  surprise,  but  follow'd  on. 

Since  man  first  left  his  Eden  vales,  his  step 
Hath  wander'd  to  the  West,  his  morning  land. 
The  East  but  holds  his  life's  embalmed  past, 
The  West,  the  glory  of  his  dream-ideal. 
Soon  trackless  waves  come  tumbling  out  of  space, 


230  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Like  oceans  fresh  from  Chaos,  on  before 

The  vessels  three;  when  raged  the  deep  and  all 

Mad  demons  of  the  winds  howl'd  forth  in  glee, 

Columbus  sent  his  prayer  across  the  storm 

On  wings  of  faith,  and  touch'd  the  realm  of  Peace — 

Deep  call'd  to  deep,  alluring  him  still  on. 

Last,  brilliant  birds,  and  musical,  in  throngs 

Flew  near,  fleet  messengers  of  hope  to  him. 

On  waste  of  waters,  over  which  had  flown 

No  form  or  breath  of  spirit-life  save  his. 

Since  morning  stars  first  sang  in  golden  choir — 

The  Maker's  voice  called  forth.  Let  there  be  light. 

Sublime,  he  rose,  to  speak  and  cheer  his  crew; 

With  lofty  mein  he  bared  his  brow  to  Night, 

Brooding  o'er  boundless  seas,  and  parted  thus 

From  deeps  abysmal  by  the  trembling  ships; 

He  fed  their  minds  with  hopes  of  richest  Ind. 

And  Faith's  true  bravery,  when  Silence  wrapt 

Them  and  the  world  as  in  an  endless  tomb; 

While  pleasant  winds  from  starry  head-lands  bathed 

Their  brows,  and  fled,  the  demons  of  despair. 

Lo!  suddenly  their  deap  calm  broke  in  joy, 

And  blissful  shout  of  land.     Now  Night's  thin  veil 

Just  hid  from  gaze  a  new  and  virgin  world. 

While  stars  their  golden  shadows  cast  they  watch'd, 

As  Wonder,  like  a  rainbow,  clove  the  dark. 

Yet  perfumed-laden  winds  bore  them  no  tales 

Of  flower'd  homes,  and  Beauty's  summer  land. 

And  it  was  morn,  when  rose  their  gorgeous  world; 

As  though  the  sun,  more  brilliant  than  when  robed 

For  common  days,  at  midnight  shone,  and  smote 

Mankind  in  awe;  so  to  their  wondering  gaze 

The  New  World  rose  august  in  youth  and  bloom. 

The  epic  grand  Columbus  gave  to  man, 
•  Look'd  on  the  gladsome  wave  all  beautiful, 
Crown'd  by  Heaven's  smile,  serene  in  Heaven's  calm; 
Here,  Death  pass'd  on,  o'ercome  by  Beauty's  gaze, 
Nor  touch'd  this  Eden,  throned  on  purple  waves. 
October's  golden  haze,  an  autumn  dream, 
Stole  o'er  the  virgin  woods  and  dreamy  world. 

Columbus  and  his  braves  knelt  on  the  sod; 
They  heard  God's  rosy,  fragrant  silence  breathe; 
They  kiss'd  the  earth,  and  lifted  souls  in  prayer. 

To  muse  alone  he  left  his  joyful  crew. 

And  went  some  paces  deeper  in  the  glow 

Of  fragrant  woods.     Approaching  this  deep  joy, 

He  would  all  earthly  sandals  leave. 

Hard  by 
A  velvet  plot  of  moss,  that  ne'er  had  thrill'd 
To  human  touch — this  took  his  weary  form. 
While  thrilling  thought,  and  lofty  hopes  yet  breathed 
Their  music  to  his  soul. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  231 

Down  tangled  heights 
The  crystal  waters  fell  o'er  mossy  cliffs, 
From  broken  urns  of  sea  nymphs  who  had  lost 
Their  way  and  fled  from  sight.     A  hoary  limb 
Midway  the  lucid  pool,  and,  tendril  twined, 
Let  fairies  cross  to  wayward  paths  in  joy; 
And  od'rous  breadths  of  land  kiss'd  tuneful  lips 
Of  flowery  waves.     Arcadian  vales  were  fed 
By  pearly  streams  and  purple  winds,  and  clouds 
That  held  no  gloomy  thoughts  of  cold  or  storms. 
Thro'  spicy  groves  came  lissome  dusky  forms. 
Night-phantoms  fleet,  with  wonder-sparkling  eyes; 
Dusky  sons,  whom  beauty  in  shadow  veil'd 
And  stealthy,  to  view  the  pale-faced  men. 
Borne  on  white  pinions  of  the  clouds,  they  thought. 

In  awe  Columbus  mused:  "Alas  for  her, 
My  loved  one  lost!  the  cruel  waves  that  claimed 
Gives  now  me  this  for  bride,  my  fair  world-bride! 
Ah,  would  that  she,  our  queen,  they  two  might  smile 
On  me  this  hour,  as  doth  th'  morn  and  heav'n." 
List'ning,  he  turned  to  note  strange,  lovely  birds, 
And  heed  his  New  World's  song  from  scented  groves 
An'  cooler  depths  of  green,  where  sunbeams  slept 
Or  held  lost  moon-rays  of  fair  evenings  gone. 
The  air  was  balmy  soft,  enticing  life. 
As  though  of  roses  made,  or  lover's  sighs,  low  breath'd 
In  moonlight  yester  eve.     Silent  he  gazed. 
Like  one  of  old  on  Patmos  Isle, 
Seeing  hid  realms  not  lawful  earth  could  see. 
"Now  doth  there  pass  before  my  prophet  soul. 
Some  vision  swift,  prefigured  as  a  dream. 
Soft  glowing  on  the  rose-gray  mists  of  sleep. 
Of  this  New  World's  fair  future!  blest  of  peace, 
Blest  of  all  nations'  praise — of  Liberty, 
Whose  flag  shall  take  the  azure  dome  and  stars; 
Whose  mighty  mountains,  streams  and  forests  grand 
Shall  move  to  Freedom's  hymn,  and  ope  new  gates 
To  larger  life,  to  highest  truth  for  men?  " 
Saw  he  the  mighty  ships?     Heard  he  the  roar 
Of  vasty  cities,  labor's  thunders  loud; 
As  Toil  and  Art  wore  garments  radiant 
In  Time's  fresh  loom  for  this  fair  virgin  world 
That,  like  a  star,  should  light  the  voyageur 
From  stormy  Wrong  to  God's  wide  seas  of  Peace? 

He  dwelt  on  spirit  truths  that  dome  this  life; 
Of  ancient  lore,  of  inspiration  new. 
For  he  had  delved  in  wisdom  old,  once  hid 
By  seers  Iberian,  the  Greek,  and  Egypt's  wise, 
Who  called  the  stars  and  grouped  the  Zodiac, 
And  with  the  Hebrew  learn'd  the  steps  of  God 
In  solitudes  of  space,  afire  with  worlds. 
What  means  that  fable  old  of  Orpheus, 
Of  Amphion  sweet,  if  not  to  symbol  forth, 
This  fair  world  shall  to  heavenly  place  be  built 


232  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

By  harmonies  of  wisdom,  and  the  pow'r 
Of  Justice — these  two,  flowing  into  Love, 
Gives  back  our  earth  complete  into  His  hands. 

Long,  long  alone  he  wrestled,  planned  and  dreamed, 

Of  what  this  giant  young  world  held  for  man; 

Saw  with  prophetic,  deeper  sense,  more  plain 

Than  he  of  Bethel  fame,  new  angels  come 

And  go  along  the  secret  steeps  of  God, 

With  banner'd  thoughts,  and  hymns,  he  only  read 

And  heard  of  his  New  World's  fair  destiny. 

By  joy  and  thought  oppress'd  beyond  all  speech, 

Still  from  the  eternal,  hearing  melodies 

Shipward,  he  grandly  moved  and  faced  the  sea. 


MEMBERS  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  LADY  MANAGERS. 


1.  Mrs,  Mary  C.  Bell, 

Florida. 

4.  Mrs.  Charles  H.  Olmstead. 

Georgia. 

7.  Mrs.  Richard  J.  Oglesby, 

Illinois. 


2.  Miss  E.  Nellie  Beck, 

Florida. 

5.  Mrs.  Anna  £.  M.  Farnnm, 

Idaho. 

8.  Mrs.  Frances  Welles  Shepard, 

Illinois. 


10.  Mrs.  Virginia  C.  Meredith,  11.  Mrs.  Whiting  8.  Clark, 

Indiana,  Iowa. 


8.  Mrs.  Wm.  H.  Felton, 

Georgia, 

0.  Mrs.  Joseph  C.  Stranghan, 

Idaho, 

9.  Miss  Wilhelmine  Reitz, 

Indiana, 

12.  Miss  Ora  Elizabeth  Miller, 

Iowa, 


HOUSEHOLD   ECONOMICS. 


By  MRS.  LAURA  S.  WILKINSON. 

When  the  woman's  branch  of  the  World's  Congress  Auxiliary  was  formed,  and  a 
committee  was  appointed  to  take  charge  of  Household   Economics,  I  was  asked  to 

act  as  chairman.     I  am  here  today  to  report  what  has 

been  done  in  our  short  history,  and  what  are  our 

hopes  and  aspirations  for  the  future.     The  National 

4  Columbian    Household    Economic   Association    is   a 

^  direct  outgrowth  from  one  of  the  committees  of  the 

World's  Congress  Auxiliary. 

The  objects  of  this  association  are,  as  the  consti- 
tution announces,  "To  awaken  the  public  mind  to  the 
importance  of  establishing  a  bureau  of  information, 
where  there  can  be  an  exchange  of  words  and  needs 
between  the  employer  and  employed  in  ^v^xy  depart- 
ment of  home  and  social  life.  Second,  to  promote 
among  its  members  a  more  scientific  knowledge  of 
the  economic  value  of  the  various  foods  and  fuels,  a 
more  intelligent  understanding  of  correct  plumbing 
and  drainage  in  our  homes,  as  well  as  need  for  pure 
water  and  good  light  in  a  sanitarily  built  house;  also 
to  secure  skilled  labor  in  every  department  of  woman's 
work  in  our  homes." 

The  work  of  the  association  was  to  be  done 
through  seven  committees.  It  was  not  our  intention 
to  confine  our  work  to  Chicago,  and  for  this  reason 
we  adopted  the  name  of  "The  Columbian  Association  of  Housekeepers."  Since,  the 
word  "  National "  was  added  to  it,  and  by  the  end  of  the  first  year,  our  secretary's 
book  showed  that  we  had  members  all  the  way  from  San  Francisco  to  Boston,  and 
Texas  to  Duluth. 

The  Columbian  Association  of  Housekeepers  has  held  meetings  regularly  since 
its  organization  in  1891.  No  special  program  is  prepared  beforehand;  but  the  secretary 
announces  on  her  postal  what  will  be  the  most  interesting  feature  of  the  meeting. 

Essays  have  been  read,  plans  discussed,  in  hope  of  solving  the  vexed  question  of 
"  domestic  service."  We  had  one  small  excitement,  when  at  one  of  our  meetings  it 
was  announced  that  all  women  who  belong  to  the  Columbian  Association  of  House- 
keepers were  to  be  boycotted  by  the  hired  girl.  Exactly  why,  we  never  have  been 
able  to  understand.  But,  in  point  of  fact,  we  could  not  find  anyone  who  had  refused 
to  work  for  a  member  of  the  association. 

The  one  thing  that  has  been  most  persistently  discouraged  in  our  meetings  has 
been  that  of  relating  of  personal  experiences  with  the  family  domestic.  As  some  one 
has  most  wittily  said:  "  Wc  have  avoided  those  experience  meetings  where  each  one 

•  Mrs.  Laara  Starr  Ware  Wilkinson  is  a  native  of  Deerfield,Ma88.  She  wa«  born  June  20, 1843.  Her  parent*  were  Edwin 
Ware  and  Harriet  8.  Ware.  She  was  educated  in  Deerfield  schools  «uid  Mrs.  David  Mach's  school,  Belmont,  Mass.  She  has 
traveled  in  England,  Italy,  Switzerland,  Germany  and  America.  She  married  John  Wilkinson,  Esq.,  of  Syracuse,  N.  Y., 
November  20, 1867.  Her  special  work  haa  been  in  the  interest  of  domestic  economy.  DuriuK  the  World's  Fair  she  was  chair- 
man of  the  Congress  of  Household  EVsonomics,  and  organized  the  National  Columbian  Household  Economic  Association, 
which  proposes  to  have  a  vice-president  in  each  state,  and  a  chairman  of  Household  Economics  in  each  county  in  each  state. 
In  religious  faith  she  is  a  Unitarian.    Her  postoffice  address  is  No.  482  La  .Salle  Avenue,  Chicago. 

23;^ 


MRS.   LAURA  S.  WILKINSON. 


234  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

is  eager  to  relate  her  own  personal  grievance,  and  never  willing  to  listen  to  another's 
tale  of  woe." 

Our  aim  has  been  to  consider  the  condition  of  the  girl  at  service,  her  limitations, 
her  hours  of  labor,  and  constantly  to  ask  ourselves  if  we,  in  her  place,  without  a  special 
training,  could  do  as  well.  Failing  in  our  efforts  to  improve  the  intelligence  offices, 
we  next  turned  our  attention  to  what  could  be  done  toward  establishing  schools  where 
instruction  could  be  given  for  housework,  and  to  see  what  could  be  done  to  induce 
girls  to  take  a  three  months'  course  of  training  before  she  went  out  to  service. 

We  found  that  there  were  no  such  schools.  To  establish  one  would  demand 
trained  teachers,  salaries,  buildings,  etc.  And  then,  where  could  we  find  the  girl  to  take 
this  preparatory  course  when  every  kitchen  is  open  to  her  to  learn  at  the  employer's 
expense? 

We  have  brought  the  topic  before  the  association,  committees  have  been  appointed; 
but  the  fact  is  slowly  but  surely  being  impressed  upon  our  minds  that  the  fault  lies 
with  the  housekeeper.  Recognizing  this,  we  decided  to  have  a  course  of  lectures  on 
domestic  service.  These  lectures  were  given  by  Prof.  Lucy  M.  Salmon,  of  Vassar  Col- 
lege, who  brought  before  us,  in  a  most  historical  and  scholarly  way,  the  condition  of 
domestic  service  as  it  now  is  and  has  been  since  earliest  time.  This  was  a  most  valu- 
able course  of  lectures  for  those  who  had  made  a  sociological  study  of  the  question,  but 
few  women  and  fewer  housekeepers  realize  the  importance  of  adjusting  themselves  to 
the  condition  of  the  era  they  now  live  in. 

Not  succeeding  in  arousing  enthusiasm  for  our  school  of  household  science,  we 
next  turned  our  attention  to  what  could  be  done  in  the  way  of  establishing  a  house- 
keepers' emergency  bureau,  which  is,  as  its  name  indicates,  to  supply  temporary  help, 
the  employe  returning  to  her  home  each  day.  A  committee  of  ladies  have  charge  of 
this  work,  look  up  the  references  of  those  who  apply  for  the  work,  and  a  book  of  regis- 
tration for  employer  and  employe  is  kept  at  the  office. 

On  these  books  are  found  women  wishing  and  willing  to  do  all  kinds  of  work; 
sewers,  menders,  housekeepers,  teachers,  stenographers,  caterers,  nurses,  scrubwomen 
and  daily  governesses,  etc. 

The  monthly  reports  for  the  housekeeper's  Emergency  Bureau  constitute  one  of 
the  most  interesting  features  of  our  regular  meetings,  and  we  have  many  testimonials 
testifying  to  the  ability  of  those  who  constitute  a  corps  of  workers  for  the  Bureau,  and 
we  have  also  had  many  complaints  because  we  cannot  find  trained  girls.  But  who  will 
give  the  time  to  the  work?     We  need  more  helpers  in  our  work. 

Owing  to  a  continual  storm,  the  attendance  was  not  large  at  anyone  meeting;  but 
it  was  a  most  enthusiastic  audience,  and  it  was  voted  that  another  convention  should 
be  held  the  same  time  and  place  the  next  year,  it  being  the  sense  of  the  meeting  that 
the  Conventions  of  Housekeepers  should  be  a  yearly  occurrence. 

Early  in  1893  the  chairman  of  the  food  supply  committee  began  her  market 
reports.  When  these  reports  were  read  at  our  regular  meetings,  they  proved  so  accept- 
able that  it  was  voted  that  the  association  print  them  in  pamphlet  form  for  distribu- 
tion. These  reports  make  a  general  survey  of  the  condition  of  the  markets,  both  East 
and  west,  and  contain  many  valuable  hints  in  regard  to  purchasing  food,  as  well  the 
most  practicable  suggestions  all  the  latest  improvements  in  prepared  foods  are 
mentioned;  and  it  is  usually  the  case  that  these  preparations  have  been  tested  by  the 
one  who  prepares  the  report,  so  that  they  go  out  with  the  recommendation  of  the 
association. 

The  question  of  what  is  the  advantage  of  becoming  a  member  of  the  National 
Columbian  Household  Economic  Association,  is  constantly  asked. 

The  first  is,  because  it  brings  those  women  who  are  most  interested  in  the  real 
study  of  economic  problems  in  closer  relation  with  each  other. 

We  aim  to  put  everything  upon  a  scientific  and  hygienic  basis,  to  understand  what 
is  the  true  economy  of  time,  material  and  strength,  to  find  out  the  best  ways  of  per- 
forming our  daily  routine  of  housework,  and  to  thoroughly  understand  what  is  good 
housekeeping.     It  is  not  to  be  learned  in  any  one  course  of  lessons  in  cookery. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  235 

While  the  cooking  schools  have  played  a  most  important  feature  in  the  revolu- 
tionizing of  the  preparation  of  our  daily  food,  still,  they  have  not  solved  the  prob- 
lem. They  have  rather  added  to  the  complications.  However,  we  wish  to  do  full 
justice  to  the  work  that  these  schools  have  done. 

The  difficulty  in  this  department  of  women's  work  is  that  many  of  those  women 
who  are  the  best  housekeepers  do  not  join  with  us  and  give  us  the  benefit  of  their  long 
years  of  experience. 

If  one  has  found  a  better  way  of  doing  some  part  of  housework,  why  not  share 
this  knowledge  with  those  who  are  wasting  their  strength  and  time  by  going  on  in  the 
old  way?  It  is  the  little  things  that  count  in  the  wear  and  tear  of  housework,  and  the 
trouble  is,  so  many  have  not  the  time  to  give  to  the  investigation  of  some  shorter  and 
easier  way.  It  is  the  reporting  of  these  small  items  which  add  to  the  usefulness  of  an 
association  like  ours. 

We  do  not  endeavor  to  suddenly  change  the  existing  order  of  things  in  our 
kitchens.  The  work  of  the  association  is  not  in  any  sense  revolutionary.  We  do  not 
establish,  or  try  to  establish  any  set  rules  as  to  how  this  work  should  be  done;  but, 
what  we  do  hope  to  bring  about  is  a  more  intelligent  understanding  of  the  existing 
condition.  First,  we  must  fully  understand  the  case  before  we  can  suggest  any 
changes,  or  make  any  efforts  to  remove  the  cause  of  dissatisfaction.  Each  woman  in 
her  home,  not  comparing  her  method  with  that  of  another,  has  little  or  no  chance  of 
getting  out  of  the  dull  routine.  That  there  is  this  routine  we  think  no  one  will  ques- 
tion. 

Spasmodically,  in  our  newspapers  and  in  our  magazines  comes  up  this  outcry  of 
what  can  be  done  to  obtain  a  better  class  of  domestic  service  in  our  homes.  This 
wave  of  inquiry  goes  over  the  country  periodically;  but  dies  down  with  little  or  no  sat- 
isfactory answer. 

The  justice  of  the  remarks,  the  correctness  of  the  criticisms  made  upon  the  queer 
way  women  conduct  their  household  affairs  is  justly  merited.  Occasionally,  remedies 
are  suggested;  but,  very  little  advance  is  made,  and  the  interest  dies  down  at  the  end 
of  the  year  to  be  taken  up  by  another  set  of  writers  before  the  next  ten  months  have 
run  their  course. 

It  is  the  hope  of  this  association  that  the  next  ten  years  will  bring  about  quietly 
and  steadily  a  better  state  of  affairs.  For  this  reason  we  have  adopted  the  constitu- 
tion and  by-laws.  We  have  carefully  considered  every  line  in  this  long  constitution 
and  by-laws,  and  we  feel  convinced  that  no  one  can  question  the  importance  of  the 
objects  for  which  we  are  organized. 

This  is  said  to  be  an  era  of  women's  clubs.  But  we  find  it  would  be  easier  to 
organize  art  clubs.  Browning  clubs,  classes  in  the  study  of  mediaeval  art,  or  even  the 
study  of  Sanscrit,  than  to  start  housekeeper's  clubs  in  our  various  towns  and  villages. 

The  explanation  for  this  state  of  affairs  is,  women  are  willing  to  let  housekeeping 
drift  along  in  the  old  way,  not  recognizing  that  housekeeping  is  one  of  the  fine  arts, 
and  can  only  be  acquired  by  study  and  patient  work. 

In  summing  up  the  year's  work  last  October,  one  thing  which  we  had  pledged 
ourselves  to  take  hold  of,  was  to  establish  a  school  for  household  science.  We  had 
made  a  study  of  the  plans  outlined  in  the  Pratt  Institute,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  We 
found  this  the  best  of  any  we  had  heard  of,  but  with  our  limited  means  could  do 
nothing  to  establish  such  a  school;  yet  nothing  short  of  that  would  be  satisfactory 
to  us. 

In  the  meanwhile,  Armour  Institute  was  started  on  Thirty-third  street,  with  Dr. 
Gunsaulus  as  president,  and  we  soon  learned  that  Armour  Institute  was  to  be  modeled 
after  Pratt  Institute. 

Dr.  Gunsaulus  has  recognized  the  importance  of  a  school  of  household  science, 
and  added  that  to  their  curriculum,  and  in  their  institute  will  be  given  the  opportu- 
nity for  our  young  girls  to  become  fully  instructed  in  scientific  housekeeping.  The 
Columbian  Association  of  Housekeepers  is  recognized  on  their  advisory  council. 


236  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

We  know  what  has  been  taught  in  the  domestic  department  of  Pratt  Institute,  and 
will  be  in  Chicago  in  the  Armour  Institute. 

Those  of  us  who  remember  all  the  opposition  when  training  schools  for  nurses 
were  started  take  heart,  and  ask  why  not  do  for  domestic  service  what  has  been  done 
for  the  sick? 

We  must  stand  by  our  own  convictions,  and  ask  women  to  come  forward  and 
furnish  the  money  for  the  dormitories,  where  the  girls  can  live  while  receiving 
instruction. 

When  we  recognize  the  fact  that  the  girls  in  domestic  service  need  the  same 
thoughtful  consideration  as  the  girls  in  shops  and  offices,  then  shall  be  found  college 
settlements  springing  up  to  help  the  servant  girls,  by  establishing  clubs  and  study 
classes. 

It  will  not  break  up  our  homes  to  have  our  cooks  and  our  maids  come  at  regular 
hours  to  do  their  work  and  depart.  But  it  will  occasion  a  more  systematic  arrange- 
ment of  all  housework,  and  will  ultimately  end  in  establishing  a  system  of  co-operation 
differing  from  those  plans  of  co-operation  which  have  been  tried  and  found  wanting; 
because,  in  this  new  era  of  co-operation,  skilled  labor  will  be  demanded  in  each  depart- 
ment, and  the  work  will  be  done  by  those  who  really  like  the  work.  Each  department 
will  be  filled  by  the  workers  choosing  the  work. 

Women,  as  a  rule,  do  not  object  to  housework,  but  to  its  many  complications; 
and  to  be  mistress  of  one  occupation  demands  a  long  training,  while  in  every  home 
the  woman  at  the  head  must  know  how  to  do  fifty  things  equally  well.  In  point  of 
fact,  she  does  not,  and  becomes  discouraged.  She  cannot  do  the  things  she  likes  to 
do,  and  has  to  waste  her  time  and  strength  in  doing  those  things  for  which  she  has  no 
aptitude. 

It  is  my  conviction  that  two -thirds  of  the  trouble  in  having  housework  done  is 
because  the  majority  will  not  make  a  study  of  the  dainty  ways  of  doing  the  work. 
There  is  always  a  great  enthusiasm  to  receive  lessons  in  cooking;  but  few  or  any  are 
willing  to  learn  to  wash  the  dishes  and  cooking  utensils  in  the  most  skillful  and 
artistic  way. 

Artistic  way  of  washing  dishes  I  know  will  cause  a  smile;  but  still,  it  can  be  done, 
and  if  the  methods  are  carried  out  it  is  not  drudgery,  but  a  delightful  occupation. 
The  simple  rules  embodied  in  the  kitchen  garden  manuals,  if  put  in  practice  in  our 
kitchens,  would  establish  a  new  order  of  things,  and  housework  would  be  done  with  the 
least  possible  friction. 

When  business  methods  shall  have  been  established  in  the  kitchen  as  in  the  shop, 
none  will  be  selected  for  any  line  of  labor  save  those  educated  in  that  line. 

A  bookkeeper  in  accepting  a  situation  in  a  store,  takes  no  thought  of  the  duties  of 
a  porter,  and  as  little  should  a  person  employed  as  cook  those  of  a  chambermaid. 


LOOKING  BACKWARDS. 


By  MISS  KIRSTINE  FREDERICSEN. 

Woman's  demand  for  her  rights  is  generally  considered  as  a  revolutionary  move- 
ment.    I,  for  my  part,  do  not  object  to  revolutionary  movements;  I  believe  that  the 

world  cannot  do  without  them.  But  truth  must  have 
her  say;  and,  to  my  mind,  the  Woman's  Rights'  move- 
ment may  as  correctly  be  called  conservative,  for,  in 
a  certain  sense,  it  means  going  back  to  a  more  simple 
arrangement  of  the  relation  between  the  sexes,  which 
have  been  artificially  separated  by  a  differentiation, 
carried  too  far.  This  is  the  lesson  I  read  on  the 
pages  of  history,  and  which  I  would  like  to  impress 
on  the  mind  of  my  kind  audience. 

The  subject  of  which  I  will  treat  to  this  end,  is 
the  influence  on  the  position  of  woman  of  the  general 
evolution  of  mankind,  especially  of  the  development 
of  industry.  I  remember,  when  quite  a  child,  I  saw  a 
picture  in  some  cheap  almanac,  which  struck  my  eye 
and  set  me  thinking  on  the  strange  fate  of  woman. 
Two  pictures  of  family  life  were  there:  First,  an 
Indian  chief  adorned  with  beads  and  feathers,  march- 
ing proudly  onward,  followed  by  his  wife,  who 
carried  heavy  burdens — the  children,  the  tent  that 
sheltered  the  family,  and  a  great  many  other  articles 
belonging  to  the  household.  The  other  picture  was 
meant  to  show  modern  family  life.  Here  it  was  the 
wife  who  marched  in  front,  and  who  wore  the  beads  and  the  feathers,  while  the  hus- 
band worked  hard,  wheeling  the  babies  and  carrying  the  dinner-basket  for  the  family 
picnic. 

To  my  childish  mind  the  last  situation  was  as  little  becoming  to  woman  as  the 
first,  and  since  then  I  have  often  had  occasion  to  reflect  on  the  two  phases  of  woman's 
life  depicted  on  that  rough  sketch;  for,  although  caricatures,  these  pictures  showed 
one  side  of  the  change  which  historic  evolution  has  brought  to  woman. 

In  the  barbaric  age,  man  did  not  think  it  fit  for  him  to  do  anything  but  hunting 
and  fighting,  and  woman  had  to  do  outside  as  well  as  inside  work,  to  dig  the  ground,  to 
build  the  houses,  to  look  after  the  cattle;  in  fact,  all  those  things  are  done  still  by 
women,  not  only  among  Indians  and  Greenlanders,  but,  to  a  certain  extent,  also  by 
women  belonging  to  civilized  peoples,  as,  for  instance,  by  some  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  smaller  islands  in  my  fatherland,  Denmark,  where  the  men  are  occupied,  not,  to 
be  sure,  by  hunting  and  by  war,  but  by  ploughing  the  sea  and  fighting  the  storm. 

Now  these  women  are  by  no  means  subjugated.  On  the  contrary,  they  are  very 
independent,  really  much  more  so  than  their  sisters  in  the  city.  As  far  as  I  under- 
stand the  story  told  by  a  lady — I  believe,  Miss  Alice  Fletcher,  in  Washington,  at  the 

Miss  Kirstine  Elsebeth  Fredericsen  is  a  native  of  Denmark,  Earope.  She  was  born  Febraary  6, 1845.  Her  parents 
were  Johan  Ditlev  Fredericsen  and  Maria  Hansen  Fredericsen.  She  was  educated  at  home  under  the  care  of  a  tutor  till 
her  sixteenth  year,  when  she  began  studies  in  Copenhagan.  She  has  traveled  in  England  and  America.  Her  principal 
literary  works  are  editorial  work,  "  Woman's  Society,"  "  Object  Lessons,"  "  Book  for  Teachers,"  "  Mental  Life  of  Childhood," 
and  an  "  E?>say  on  Education,"  for  which  she  was  awarded  a  gold  medal  by  the  University  of  Coi>enhagan.  Her  i>oetoffioe 
address  is  Kastanievy  4,  Copenhagan,  Denmark. 

237 


MISS  KIRSTINE  ELSEBETH    FREDERICSEN. 


238  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

first  International  Woman's  Congress — this   was   exactly  the   impression  she  brought 
back  from  an  inquiry  into  the  life  of  the  Indian  women  of  this  country. 

If  you  take  work  out  of  the  hands  of  woman,  it  may  be  a  relief  to  her,  but,  at  the 
same  time,  it  means  taking  influence  away  from  her.  The  Pilgrim  Fathers  of  New 
England,  who  would  not  let  the  women  cut  their  hair  short,  because  they  would  keep 
them  modest  and  womanly;  who  chased  Anna  Hutchinson  out  into  the  wilderness 
because  she  spoke  out  frankly  opinions  of  her  own;  who  forbade  unmarried  women  to 
live  in  a  house  of  their  own — those  harsh  Puritans  were  obliged  to  pass  exceptional 
laws  of  freedom  for  the  women  who  did  the  spinning  and  the  weaving,  because  they 
could  not  do  without  their  help.  It  is  told  in  the  Saga  of  one  old  Danish  king, 
Erode,  that  he  once  got  into  great  trouble;  he  had  offended  his  daughter  so  that  she 
left  him  with  all  her  damsels,  and  neither  he  nor  his  men  could  have  their  clothes 
mended  till  he  had  softened  her  heart.  What  makes  woman  independent  and 
influential  is  real  usefulness. 

But  mankind  does  not  stand  still;  evolution  made  the  men  lay  down  the  sword 
and  take  up  the  spade  and  the  hatchet,  and  later  even  more  refined  instruments  of 
work.  Woman  by  this  change  was  thrown  back  upon  her  household.  She  had  the 
first  opportunity  to  make  a  home  for  herself  and  her  family.  She  did  it;  but,  while 
she  had  her  hands  full  of  work  in  the  house,  she  still  kept  an  eye  on  what  was  going 
on  outside.  Only  little  by  little  was  she  outdone  by  the  men.  In  the  middle  age  the 
women  of  Germany  fought  bravely  for  their  right  to  artisanship,  but  had  to  give  it 
up.  Laws  were  passed  forbidding  more  than  a  limited  number  of  women  to  work 
together  with  one  man;  laws  against  a  widow  taking  up  her  husband's  work  on  the 
same  conditions  as  he  had  it;  finally  it  was  denied  a  woman  to  take  out  a  license  as 
artisan  of  any  kind. 

In  Denmark  and  Sweden  the  noble  born  ladies  not  only  very  often  managed  their 
estates,  but  to  a  large  extent  busied  themselves  with  the  establishment  of  new  indus- 
tries— cloth  manufacturing  and  even  shipbuilding,  much  of  which  was  considered 
patriotic  work.  No  law  was  passed  against  this  kind  of  woman's  work,  but  custom, 
strong  as  the  law,  little  by  little,  compelled  the  ladies  to  take  care  of  their  own  clothes 
instead  of  other  people's,  and  to  manage  their  kitchens  instead  of  their  farms,  forests 
and  lakes. 

The  next  historic  transition  was  made  when  machinery  took  the  place  of  hand 
work.  To  nobody  has  the  wonderful  inventions  of  modern  times  brought  greater 
change  than  to  woman.  She  never  need  be  the  household  drudge,  the  slave  of  the 
spinning  wheel — the  spinning  Jenny  has  relieved  her  of  that — and  even  as  the  spin- 
ning, the  weaving,  the  baking,  the  sewing,  and  so  much  more  has  been  monopolized 
by  machinery,  so,  very  likely,  will  the  washing  and  the  cooking.  Of  course  this  has 
had  some  good  effect  on  the  life  of  woman,  especially  on  her  education  P'ormerly 
only  the  hand  and  not  the  brain  of  the  girl  was  trained.  In  Poland  down  to  this  day 
the  girls  in  the  public  schools  are  taught  nothing  but  sewing  and  knitting.  Only 
thirty  years  ago  some  highly  honored  members  of  the  Danish  parliament  most  ear- 
nestly maintained  that  a  woman  was  not  able  to  teach,  even  to  girls,  the  art  of  writing, 
nor  the  principles  of  true  religion.  Going  back  to  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, it  was  forbidden  by  law  for  Danish  women  to  teach  boys  more  than  four  years  old. 
All  this  is  changed  now.  Everybody  acknowledges  the  necessity  for  unmarried  women 
to  go  outside  the  home  to  earn  their  living,  and  consequently  the  necessity  of  their 
training  for  their  work.  This  is  largely  the  effect  of  industrial  development.  But 
still  I  hold  that  modern  evolution  in  some  degree  will  tend  to  degrade  woman  if  she  does 
not  look  out  sharp.  A  striking  example  from  the  very  last  times  illustrates  this: 
Not  more  than  twenty  years  ago  the  head  industry  of  Denmark — butter  making — 
was  under  the  direct  supervision  of  woman;  she  had  the  honor,  if  not  always  the  profit 
of  it.  It  is  not  so  since  machinery  has  come  in,  since  it  is  no  more  the  farmer  who 
makes  the  butter,  but  the  butter  factory  that  buys  the  milk  and  makes  it  profitable. 
To  be  sure,  woman  works  in  the  factory,  but  she  only  does  the  lower  work,  the  super- 
vision has  gone  out  of  her  hands;  if  she  wants  it  she  will  have  to  fight  for  it. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  239 

This  is  only  a  single  example,  for  civilization  has  a  general  tendency  to  subvert 
woman  either  into  the  handmaid  of  labor  or  into  the  queen  of  the  drawing-room. 
Only  a  few  days  ago  I  found  in  an  American  paper  that  civilization  was  claimed  for  a 
new  place — Yellowstone  Park,  I  think  it  was — on  the  ground  that  the  ladies  there 
changed  their  dresses  three  or  four  times  a  day.  Is  not  this  a  false  civilization?  Has 
not  Henrik  Ibsen  been  applauded  by  the  public,  as  well  as  by  the  critics,  when  he 
showed  us  in  Hedda  Gabler  that  the  last  kind  of  woman  is  no  more  likely  to  find  true 
happiness  than  the  first?  The  gifted  and  accomplished  Hcdda  Gabler  ends  in  suicide, 
because  she  cannot  bear  to  live  without  influence.  Take  then  a  simple-minded  woman, 
like  the  one  old  Pestalozzi  paints,  "Gertrud,  who  teaches  her  children."  In  her  humble 
way,  just  by  teaching  her  children,  she  succeeds  in  reforming  not  only  her  own  house- 
hold, but  a  whole  village.  And  does  not  history,  as  well  as  poetry,  teach  us  that  the 
pioneers  of  new  womanhood  are  the  women  who  work  and  gain  their  influence  through 
personal  exertion?  In  the  long  run  it  is  neither  birth  nor  money,  nor  what  can  be 
bought  for  money,  but  personality  which  conquers  the  world.  And,  as  in  private  life, 
so  in  public.  Woman,  when  she  demands  her  rights,  is  only  taking  back  what  belongs 
to  her.  Who  cared  for  the  sick,  the  poor,  the  children  in  olden  times,  if  not  the  women? 
Only  when  all  these  cares  were  put  under  public  supervision  was  woman  shutout  from 
them,  and  now  has  to  fight  her  way  back  to  the  duties  which  her  mother  heart  and 
her  womanly  feeling  cannot  let  alone.  Even  political  rights,  for  the  first  time  in  civil- 
ized life,  have  been  taken  out  of  her  hands  by  modern  constitutions.  In  1661,  when 
the  last  Danish  parliament,  according  to  the  old  constitution,  was  held,  votes  were 
passed  for  women  owning  property.  Since  then  thousands  and  thousands  of  men, 
who  had  no  rights  formerly,  have  come  in  as  voters,  but  no  woman's  vote  is  now  laid 
upon  the  scale  in  the  old  countries.  As  the  New  England  women  taught  the  Puritans 
that  they  could  not  do  without  free  and  equal  women,  so  is  the  Western  woman  of 
America  of  our  day  teaching  the  world  that  womanhood  must  not  be  shut  out  from 
public  life  if  we  do  not  want  it  to  be  crippled,  one-sided  and  poor.  It  is  for  the  woman 
of  civilization — nay,  any  woman,  wherever  she  lives,  if  she  knows  how  to  reign — to 
make  her  influence  felt  for  good,  as  the  society  lady  does,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
work,  to  make  herself  real  useful,  as  the  factory  girl  does — it  is  she  who  is  the  pioneer 
of  modern  womanhood. 


HISTORIC  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT. 

By  MRS.  CAROLINE  G.  REED. 

Eve,  the  beautiful  mother  of  our  race,  with  every  function,  physical  and  mental,  in 
perfect  order  to  transmit  health  and  immortality  to  her  posterity,  must  have  trodden 

in  its  pristine  verdure  the  soil  of  the  wonderful  land 
of  Egypt. 

Three  hundred  and  thirty-four  years  after  Menes, 
the  first  king  of  Egypt,  the  succession  of  women  to 
the  throne  of  Egypt  was  made  valid,  and  nearly  a 
thousand  years  later  Nitocris,  "  the  beautiful  woman 
with  rosy  cheeks,"  while  floating  in  her  barge  from 
Philae  to  Memphis,  beheld  with  pride  the  glory  and 
pomp  of  her  own  people.  Three  hundred  years  after 
the  reign  of  Nitocris  history  discloses  a  woman  who 
should  become  the  mother  of  nations,  Sarai,  the  beau- 
tiful wife  of  the  rich  Chaldean  Satrap  Abram,  jour- 
neying from  the  plains  of  Chaldea  by  way  of  Haran 
and  Damascus  toward  Egypt,  the  seat  of  learning 
then  at  the  zenith  of  its  glory.  So  beautiful  was  Sarai 
that  the  princes  and  courtiers  of  Egypt  reported  her 
charms  to  their  sovereign,  who  brought  her  to  his 
court.  In  the  retinue  of  Sarai  at  her  departure,  as  one 
of  her  bondswomen,  presented  to  her  by  Pharaoh, 
was  Hagar,  a  magnificent  Egyptian  woman,  who  like 

MP«  r-Apr„,»i.7  .^AiTiTi.  uKxrr,  ^^^  mlstrcss  was  to  become   the  mother  of  mighty 

MRS.  CAROLINE  GALLUP  REED.  .  autit  !•  r  i  i- 

nations.  All  of  the  Israelites  from  that  day  to  this 
have  looked  to  Sarai  as  their  mother,  and  all  of  the  Arab  races  and  the  Bedouins  of  the 
desert  and  the  Ishmaelites  of  the  East  rejoice  in  being  called  the  sons  of  Hagar. 

A  century  later  the  famous  Queen  Hatasu,  as  she  gazed  from  her  terraced  palace, 
and  lifting  her  eyes  northward,  could  see,  glittering  like  constellations,  the  points  of 
the  obelisks  which  she  had  set  there  in  honor  of  her  father.  Two-and-a-half  centuries 
after  Hatasu,  in  the  grandest  era  of  Egypt's  glory,  we  see  descending  from  the  porch 
of  the  palace  of  the  great  Rameses  a  princess  of  the  blood  royal  with  her  train  of  maid- 
ens to  bathe  in  the  river  of  Egypt.  There,  amid  the  flags  on  the  banks,  she  beheld  a 
Hebrew  child,  a  weeping  infant  boy,  hidden  by  his  sister  Miriam  to  escape  the  edict 
of  the  monarch  who  had  commanded  every  Hebrew  male  child  to  be  destroyed.  The 
heart  of  the  royal  lady  was  touched  with  compassion.  She  sent  Miriam  for  a  Hebrew 
nurse,  and  his  mother  pressed  her  child  to  her  breast  again.  Adopted  by  the  Prin- 
cess, taught  by  his  mother  in  the  knowledge  and  faith  of  his  own  people,  Moses 
became  the  deliverer  and  lawgiver  of  his  people.  It  was  Miriam,  the  prophetess,  the 
sister  who  had  watched  over  him  amid  the  rushes  of  the  Nile,  who  stood  by  hi.m  on 

Mrs.  Caroline  Gallap  Reed  was  born  in  Albany  County,  New  York,  Augusts,  1821.  Herparents  were  the  Hon.  Albert 
Gallup  and  Eunice  Smith  Gallup,  both  descended  from  the  founders  of  Connecticut.  She  was  educated  at  the  School  of  St. 
Peter's  Church,  Albany,  N.  Y.,  and  at  the  school  of  the  Misses  Carter,  Albany.  After  four  years  at  the  Albany  Female  Academy, 
graduated  in  1839,  and  has  traveled  several  times  in  Europe  and  in  the  East,  spending  the  winter  of  1891  and  1892  in  Egypt.  She 
married  in  1851  the  Rev.  Sylvanns  Reed,  a  priest  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the 
interest  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  the  care  of  her  family  and  of  the  Reed  School,  New  York  City,  which  was  founded  in  1864, 
and  has  graduated  many  of  the  most  accomplished  women  in  this  country.  She  has  written  many  essays  on  various  topics. 
Her  profession  has  been  for  thirty  years  that  of  a  teacher  and  head  of  a  school.  In  religious  faith  she  is  a  member  of  the 
Anglican  branch  of  the  Catholic  Church.    Her  postoffice  address  is  East  Street,  New  York  City,  N.  Y. 

240 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  .    241 

the  eastern  shore  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  with  all  the  women  of  Israel  came  out  with 
timbrels  and  dancing  to  take  up  the  great  autiphon  to  the  Song  of  Moses  and  the  hosts 
of  Israel. 

Then  came  the  Greeks  to  Egypt  with  their  graceful  women  and  modern  customs, 
and  later  on,  Cambyses  the  Persian,  with  his  beautiful  wife,  true  heir  to  the  throne  of 
Egypt,  and  for  two  hundred  years  the  Persians  had  dominion,  until  Alexander  con- 
quered Darius  at  Issus.  The  Ptolemies  brought  their  learning  and  gayety  to  Egypt, 
The  Cleopatras  became  co-regents  with  the  Greek  kings  of  Egypt  for  half  a  century. 
It  was  by  the  seductive  charms  of  Cleopatra  VII.,  when  Caesar  and  Antony  in  turn 
were  her  captives,  that  Egypt  became  a  Roman  province. 

About  this  time  there  arrived  in  Egypt  a  family  party  journeying  from  Bethlehem. 
They  were  Joseph,  a  just  man,  the  young  and  gentle  Mother  Mary,  and  her  perfect 
child  Jesus.  They  had  fled  to  the  land  of  Egypt  to  preserve  the  life  of  the  Divine 
Child,  and  that  Child  sanctified  the  land  by  the  first  steps  He  ever  trod. 

Roman  matrons,  pagan  and  Christian,  dwelt  in  Egypt  for  two  centuries.  The 
Empress  Helena  built  religious  houses  throughout  Egypt  near  to  the  ancient  temple 
of  Osiris,  Horus  and  Pan,  lifting  the  cross  of  Christ  amid  the  emblems  of  heathenism. 

The  privacy  and  seclusion  of  the  Moslem  women  have  not  prevented  them  from 
influence  and  intrigue  in  the  politics  of  the  past  twelve  centuries.  In  our  days,  in  the 
triumphal  pageant  of  the  Suez  Canal,  the  Empress  Eugenie  vied  with  Cleopatra  in 
pomp,  and  luxury,  and  the  cicerones  descant  upon  the  places  visited  by  her  with  as 
much  pride  as  upon  those  associated  with  Cleopatra. 

And  what  shall  we  say  of  the  gentle  and  beautiful  wife  of  Tewfik — his  only  wife? 
Only  one  who  has  seen  her  in  her  great  palace  surrounded  by  her  maidens  can  fully 
appreciate  the  life  of  the  highest  woman  in  Egypt  today  Of  high  breeding,  and  with 
the  various  accomplishments  of  European  women  of  her  rank,  familiar  with  modern 
literature,  of  most  affable  manners  and  sprightly  conversation,  she  might  pass  for  a 
Parisian  of  the  highest  social  talent.  Her  description  of  the  devices  to  which  she 
resorted  to  see  the  performers  at  the  opera  over  the  screens,  without  showing  her  face, 
was  most  amusing  as  well  as  historic,  as  an  incident  of  Oriental  customs.  The  Harem 
of  the  opera  is  as  impenetrable  as  that  of  the  palace  or  the  home,  As  the  screens 
were  high,  they  could  only  see  by  standing  and  holding  their  cushions  above  their 
faces  and  peeping  between  the  cushions  and  the  screens.  She  talked  with  maternal 
pride  of  her  sons,  then  at  school  in  France,  and  exhibited  their  photographs.  P"ar 
from  envying  the  European  princesses  and  American  ladies,  she  said:  "Oh  I  could 
know  well  but  twenty  or  thirty  men  at  most,  and  I  am  content  with  the  affection  and 
society  of  one.  "  There  must  indeed  be  a  power  in  custom  and  education  which  could 
make  such  a  woman  happy  and  contented  to  have  a  fancy  ball  in  the  superb  salons  of 
her  own  royal  palace,  with  music  and  flowers  and  feasting,  filled  with  the  beauty  and 
chivalry  of  all  nations,  and,  though  herself  dressed  for  the  ball  in  the  costume  of  Mary, 
Queen  of  Scots,  to  view  the  scene  through  a  screen  embroidered  with  palms  and 
flowers.  She  saw  her  husband  and  his  nobles  talking  and  dancing  with  English,  French 
and  American  ladies,  but  none  of  the  ladies  could  enter  the  sacred  precincts  of  her 
presence.  The  only  man  allowed  to  enter  the  house  of  a  modern  Egyptian  woman  is 
the  physician,  and  then,  whatever  the  occasion  of  his  visit,  the  eunuch  is  always 
present. 

In  a  visit  to  the  Khedive  with  Lady  Greenfel,  whose  husband,  Sir  P"rancis,  is  at 
the  head  of  the  P^gyptian  army,  a  line  of  Egyptian  women  stood  in  the  antechamber 
to  speak  to  her  as  she  passed.  Each  had  a  petition  for  place  or  promotion  in  the 
army  for  husband,  brother  or  son.  Not  to  the  wife  of  Tewfik  within  her  own  palace, 
but  to  the  wife  of  the  English  commander  were  the  appeals  of  the  Egyptian  women 
made. 

The  prominent  and  presiding  women  of  a  few  years  ago  were  Lady  Baring,  now 
Lady  Cromer;  Lady  Greenfel,  the  young,  beautiful  but  unconventional  wife  of  Gen. 
Forrester  Walker,  and  Lady  Charles  Beresford.     The  Civil  Service,  the  Army  of 

(16) 


242  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Occupation,  the  Egyptian  army  and  navy  were  there  to  guard  the  interests  of  Egypt. 
Young  Englishmen  of  noble  families  dance  and  flirt  with  English  girls  at  private  balls 
and  clubs.  Social  rivalries  and  social  mistakes  in  a  system  not  yet  crystallized  con- 
ventionally make  as  much  gossip  as  when  Caesar  and  Antony  and  the  Romans 
entered  upon  the  social  platform  before  the  Ptolemies  had  departed. 

While  I  was  in  Egypt  a  censor  came  from  England  to  review  the  armies  and  to 
define  some  lines  of  military  and  social  etiquette,  which  caused  unreserved  comment. 
But  the  highest  power  had  spoken,  and  though  a  Briton  may  scold  yet  he  obeys. 
When  the  Duke  of  Cambridge,  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  English  armies,  repri- 
manded a  young  officer  who  forgot  to  order  his  company  to  salute,  saying,  "You 
spend  time  in  dancing  which  should  be  spent  in  studying  your  tactics,"  all  the  army 
approved.  When  he  said  to  the  pretty  wife  of  the  general  commander  of  the  Army 
of  Occupation,  who  drove  upon  the  parade  ground  with  a  young  girl  in  a  pony  cart, 
"  Madam,  you  are  the  wife  of  the  highest  military  officer  in  Egypt.  You  represent  the 
women  of  England,  and  you  should  sustain  the  dignity  of  the  situation.  In  this 
pageant  on  this  day  only  Lady  Baring  should  precede  you.  Your  equipage,  with  all 
the  pomp  you  could  command,  with  your  runners  and  your  mounted  postilions, 
should  have  been  next  to  hers,  and  preceded  Lady  Greenfel  and  all  others.  You  must 
acquaint  yourself  with  the  rules,  responsibilities  and  duties  public  and  social  of  your 
position;  and,  Madam,  if  you  flirt,  which  I  suppose  you  must,  let  it  be  with  your  hus- 
band's equal,  a  major  or  a  general — let  it  not  be  with  your  husband's  aid-de-camp.'" 
I  did  not  hear  it,  but  authority  and  all  Cairo  affirm  that  her  ingenious  reply  was,  "  I 
do  not  know  what  your  grace  can  mean!" 

At  the  time  of  my  visit  there  were  sojourning  in  Egypt  very  many  American 
ladies,  some  who  had  filled  at  home  the  highest  position  which  society  and  the  gov- 
ernment can  give.  One  had  entered  the  White  House  at  Washington  a  young  girl, 
and  taken  position,  not  as  wife  or  daughter,  but  niece  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States.  No  authority  ever  gave  a  reprimand  to  her,  no  censor  ever  found  a  flaw  in 
her  administration. 

Egypt  is  now  trodden  by  women,  and  one  who  has  just  departed  this  life.  Miss 
Amelia  B.  Edwards,  has  done  more  to  discover  and  reveal  to  others  the  interesting 
story  of  this  land  than  any  other  woman  who  ever  lived. 


HENRIK  IBSEN  AND  BJORNSTJERNE  BJORNSON. 


By  MRS.  NICOLINE  BECH-MEYER. 

It  is  said  about  great  men  that  they  create  their  own  age  or  a  coming  age.  In 
one  sense  of  the  word  this  is  not  true.     Man  cannot  create  a  leaf  on  the  tree,  much 

less  a  coming  age.  It  is  the  eternal  spirit  of  life, 
existing  from  times  unknown,  that  spirit  which  con- 
stitutes the  light  of  our  eye  and  the  strength  of  our 
hand,  which  is  leading  humankind  along  inexplicable 
roads  toward  one  and  the  same  aim — fulfillment  of  all 
promises,  perfection  of  all  possibilities.  The  spirit  of 
humankind,  being  at  the  same  time  contents  and  form, 
must  work  through  outward  forms;  undividable  as  it 
is,  the  spirit  of  all  mankind  works  at  the  same  time, 
through  the  single  individual.  There  are  times  for 
rest  and  for  consummation  of  what  was  given;  and 
there  are  times  where  burning  tides  of  spirit  sweep 
across  the  world,  where  it  makes  way  for  itself  and 
bursts  forth  through  man  and  woman. 

Thus  our  great  men  and  women  are  created  by 
the  accumulated  forces  of  past  and  present  genera- 
tions. Hence  we  in  great  poets,  philosophers,  musi- 
cians and  artists  find  the  standard  progress  of  their 
age.  "  He  was  ahead  of  his  time,"  some  say.  Not  so. 
But  the  hidden  forces  of  the  time  were  to  such  a 
degree  personified  in  one  individual  that  it  seemed  to 
those  hitherto  blind  as  a  revelation.  Great  minds 
have  ears  which  hear  the  voices  of  by-gone  ages  and  catch  the  unspoken  prophecies 
of  times  to  come;  they  have  eyes  which  look  through  the  covers  of  their  own  time 
and  through  the  curtain  of  the  future.  Time  and  eternity  is  through  them  brought 
together  in  unity.  There  are  times  where  the  pressure  of  the  spirit  is  so  powerful  that 
no  single  individual  could  give  vent  to  it;  then  we  see  two  or  more  kindred  spirits 
raise  side  by  side,  revealing  the  same  facts,  though  each  in  his  own  way.  So  in  the 
Roman  nations  in  the  days  of  the  renaissance,  and  the  same  again  in  Germany,  when 
Goethe  and  Schiller  represented  the  spirit  of  their  time. 

The  Norsemen,  those  contributors  to  the  common  treasury  of  mankind,  unequaled 
among  occidental  nations,  had  for  centuries  appeared  to  be  asleep.  It  seemed  as  if 
the  creating  spirit  of  mankind  had  left  the  icebergs  and  taken  its  abode  in  warmer 
climates. 

Those  northern  people  who,  in  "the  old  and  the  young  Edda,"  gave  to  the  world 

Nicoline  Bech  was  bom  on  the  heaths  of  Jutland,  where  her  father  was  a  teacher.  She  was  educated  in  her  home  by 
studying  the  Bible,  the  old  Gothic  sagas  and  the  folk-lore  of  the  Northern  nations.  Later  she  went  to  Copenhagen  and  regis, 
tered  in  Natalie  Zahle's  college  for  public  teachers.  She  took  a  diploma  with  the  higheHt  degree.  She  there  took  up  her  pen 
as  writer  to  the  best  Scandinavian  illustrated  weekly,  "  Nutiden."  She  became  engaged  to  Axel  Meyer,  of  Copenhagen.  The 
young  man  went  to  Kansas,  and  about  a  year  after  she  followed  him.  They  were  married  in  Stockton,  Rooks  County,  Kan- 
sas. In  the  seventh  year  of  her  married  life  some  of  the  leaders  of  the  reform  party  in  Denmark  wanted  Mr».  Bech-Meyer  to 
come  home  and  lecture  about  the  United  States.  She  went  with  her  children,  her  husband  moving  to  Chicago.  For  half  a 
year  she  remained  in  Denmark,  lecturing.  Her  books,  "Sketches  from  Kansas"  and  "Divided  Opinions,"  s  novel,  were 
published  in  Copenhagen.  Toward  the  fall  of  1891  she  with  her  children  set  sail  for  Chicago  again,  where  she  engaged  in 
writing  for  several  jwipers:  " The  Parthenon,"  "The  Union  Signal,"  "Goodform"  and  " The  Sculptor  News."  In  1893  her 
native  country  entrusted  her  with  the  honor  of  representing  Denmark  at  the  Woman's  Congress  and  at  the  Peace  Congress. 
Her  postofiSce  address  is  Chicago. 

243 


MRS.  NICOLINE  BECH-MEYER. 


244  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

what  the  Bible  and  Homer  was  to  the  southerners,  were  through  climatic  and  geo- 
graphical conditions  so  excluded  from  the  rest  of  the  world  that  it  seemed  as  if  all 
they  could  do  was  to  preserve  the  treasures  from  the  childhood  of  the  nation.  Den- 
mark, being  the  country  closest  connected  with  the  continent,  had  its  great  minds  of 
the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  century,  none  of  whom,  however,  being  wide  enough  to 
become  universal,  except  Hans  Christian  Andersen. 

Norway,  during  its  "  four  hundred  years  of  sleep,"  seemed  to  have  lost  its  power 
of  production;  but  those  who  looked  with  eyes  undimmed  by  the  cover  of  time  would 
have  seen  a  work  going  on  deep  in  the  life  of  the  nation.  The  folk-lore  bursting 
with  tales  about  brownies,  hobgoblins,  spirits  of  icebergs,  waters  and  mountains,  the 
sagas  of  their  warriors  and  kings,  were  there,  though  unknown  to  the  world.  When- 
ever the  eternal  spirit  was  revealed  to  man  through  man,  it  has  been  in  the  garb  of 
the  nation  in  which  it  appeared.  In  the  childhood  of  the  race  the  outward  forms 
attracted  the  eyes  more  than  the  contents.  Thus  the  early  literature  became  object- 
ive more  than  subjective.  It  was  descriptive  and  picturesque,  as  in  Homer.  With 
the  growth  of  the  nations  the  subjective  element  appeared,  until  it,  as  in  the  German 
school  of  philosophers  and  poets,  threatened  to  run  into  abstraction. 

The  present  time  brings  the  dawning  idea  of  universal  unity,  of  the  oneness  of 
soul  and  body,  of  man  and  woman,  of  nation  and  nation;  therefore,  the  great  minds 
of  our  age  must  represent  the  objective  and  subjective  element  as  inseparably  one. 

The  ancient  times,  with  their  intense  love  of  life  and  beauty  in  outward  forms, 
must-be  united  with  the  search  for  eternal  principles  revealed  in  those  forms.  And 
when  it  comes  to  that,  where  could  we  expect  to  find  the  intense  desire  for  individu- 
ality— that  is,  the  one  as  a  world,  the  world  in  one — more  than  in  the  nation  which, 
during  centuries,  had  the  echoes  from  the  Edda's  sounding  in  its  ears. 

When  at  last  the  spirit  burst  forth,  astonishing  the  world,  locating  itself  in  old 
Norway,  there  were  such  uncontrolled  forces  to  gather,  such  walls  to  be  broken,  such 
floods  of  light  to  be  dealt  out  in  all  directions,  that  one  individual  would  be  insufficient 
as  medium.  And  the  nation  saw  Henrik  Ibsen  and  Bjornstjerne  Bjornson  arise  side 
by  side.     Through  their  work  is  sounding  the  words  from  the  Edda: 

See,  it  is  rising, 
The  sunken  land; 
Green  as  a  springtime, 
It  grows  from  the  ocean. 
*  *  *  * 

Harvest  shall  come 
From  fields  unsown. 
Weak  and  strong  together  inhabit 
Abode  eternal. 
Do  you  understand  this? 
*  *  *  * 

As  children  we  only  saw  half  of  a  table;  only  a  corner  of  a  room  at  a  time  was 
brought  to  the  consciousness  of  our  mind.  Growing  up,  we  slowly  commenced  unit- 
ing fragments,  and  with  surprise  we  saw  a  whole  grow  out  of  them.  Thus  with  the 
evolution  of  the  human  race.  At  a, time  only  body  was  acknowledged;  at  a  time  only 
soul;  humankind  has  been  divided  into  races,  into  nations,  into  men  and  women  and 
children.  The  leaders  of  the  spiritual  life  of  this  generation  would,  according  to  the 
laws  of  evolution,  have  to  represent  the  unity  of  one  and  the  unity  of  all.  Therefore, 
it  is  said  about  the  newest  literature,  that  its  peculiar  feature  is  its  striving  to  solve 
individual  and  social  problems,  while  the  greatest  minds  of  the  German  school  mainly 
were  dealing  with  philosophical  problems.  Ibsen's  mission  might  be  defined  as  the 
seeking  to  find  "  God  in  one;  "  Bjornson's  as  the  seeking  to  find  "  God  in  all."  Thus 
the  two  are  completing  each  other.  Ibsen's  book,  "  Brand,"  was  the  first  work  to 
carry  his  name  all  over  the  brother  countries. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  245 

Brand  is  a  preacher  who,  in  his  search  for  truth  above  all  things,  leaves  the 
orthodox  church,  refuses  a  sure  income,  sees  his  child  die  and  his  wife  suffer  through 
all  the  hardships  to  which  they  are  exposed  in  his  self-chosen  working  place.  "Noth- 
ing or  all  "  is  his  motto. 

If  you  wish  the  name  of  soul. 
You  must  be  an  entire  whole. 

«  4K  «  « 

Not  in  fractions,  not  in  halves; 
Be  a  whole,  or  thou  art  doomed. 

*  *  *  # 

^      It  is  not  martyrdom  to  perish 
In  suffering  on  a  cross  of  wood; 
But  are  you  willing  thus  to  die? 
Willing  in  suffering  of  flesh, 
Willing  in  agony  of  mind. 
Willing  to  conquer  in  the  strife? 
Your  will  shall  be  your  crown  of  life. 

He  came  seeking  individuality  in  a  society  where  public  opinion  was  the  opinion 
of  each  single  individual,  where  everybody  acted  as  the  rest  acted;  hence  there  at  times 
was  almost  bitterness  in  his  view  of  society.     In  the  poem,  "  The  Miner,"  he  says: 

Down  below,  down  below. 
That  is  where  I  want  to  go; 
There  is  peace  from  chaos  sleeping. 
Break  my  way,  thou  heavy  hammer, 
To  the  treasures  safe  in  keeping. 

Hammer  blow  on  hammer  blow, 

Till  the  hours  of  life  are  waning; 

Here  no  morning  star  is  shining; 

Here  the  sun  of  hope  is  hidden. 
«  *  «  « 

And  in  the  song,  "  On  the  Heights:" 

Now  I  am  stalwart; 

I  follow  the  call 

Which  tells  me  the  heights  to  explore. 

Here  on  the  mountains  is  freedom  and  God; 

Down  below  they  are  groping  in  darkness. 

*  *  *  *  * 

Sorrow  and  joy  are  really  expressions  of  the  same  kind  of  feeling;  they  are  both 
born  of  the  longing  for  life  in  its  fullness.  They  are  lying  close  together,  the  element  of 
sorrow  being  an  intense  desire  to  embrace  joy  and  become  one  with  it.  Goethe  has 
felt  this  when  he  said: 

•' Wer  nie  die  kummervollen  Nachte 
Auf  seinem  Bette  weinend  sasz, 
Wer  nie  sein  Brod  mit  Thranen  asz, 
Der  kennt  euch  nicht,  ihr  himmlischen  Machte!" 

(He  who  never  through  the  live-long  nights) 
(Sat  weeping  on  his  bedside,) 
(He  who  never  ate  his  bread  with  tears,) 
(He  does  not  know  ye,  ye  heavenly  powers!) 

Thus  he  who  has  the  clearest  conception  of  the  ideal  set  before  us;  he  who  with 
a  burning  will  wants  to  see  this  ideal  established  among  us— he  will  feel  with  the  deep- 


246  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

est  sorrow  how  far  from  perfection  both  he  and  the  rest  of  humankind  still  is  standing; 
with  sorrow;  and  with  bitterness  if  he  realizes  that  society  at  a  given  time  is  deaf  to 
his  expostulations.  But  never  was  Ibsen  despairing;  never  did  he  in  his  war  against 
privileged  fractions  and  halves  reach  the  point  where  he  lost  his  faith  in  life  and  truth 
as  the  triumphing  powers  at  last.  He  who  sees  the  ideal  in  its  beauty,  but  despairs 
of  its  ever  being  realized  among  mankind,  will  lay  down  his  weapons  and  prefer  death 
to  a  life  without  meaning. 

From  the  time  when  Henrik  Ibsen  in  "  Brand"  showed  colors,  he  never  has  ceased 
to  declare  the  same  over  and  over  again:  the  necessity  of  each  individual  being  an 
entire  whole,  if  we  ever  want  a  society  which  represents  an  entire  whole. 

He  is  solemnly  earnest  in  his  way  of  working,  and  his  force  is  so  great  that  he  is 
always  above  his  subject.  Whenever  bis  muse  happens  to  carry  him  into  sunnier  regions 
it  moves  us  strangely;  a  smile  on  a  very  earnest  face  has  a  beauty  of  its  own  never  to 
be  resisted.  The  poem,  "  Thanks,"  shows  how  far  he  can  reach  in  peaceful,  heart-felt 
lyric: 

THANKS. 

Her  sorrow  was  each  trouble 

Which  met  me  on  my  way; 
Her  happiness  the  spirits 

Which  came  to  me  to  stay. 

Her  home  must  be  located 

On  liberty's  main. 
Where  the  verses  of  the  poet 

Their  force  and  freedom  gain. 

The  character  and  features 

That  silently  step  in 
To  take  their  seats  around  me, 

Are  her  family  and  kin. 

Her  aim  it  is  to  lighten 

All  darkness  in  a  glow, 
To  be  my  strength  in  stillness 

That  the  world  should  never  know. 

But  just  because  she  always 

Not  even  thanks  awaits, 
I  sing  her  now  and  print  her 
A  song  of  thanks  and  praise. 
As  the  storm  purifying  the  air,  and  the  sun  afterward  calling  forth  life,  thus  do 
the  two  Norwegian  poets  complete  each  other.   To  the  present  generation  is  revealed 
a  wider  understanding  of  the  word  love. 

Punishment,  condemnation,  temptations,  are  words  slowly  dying  out  of  the  lan- 
guage of  intelligent  men  and  women.  This  universal  love  is  the  Alpha  and  Omega 
of  Bjornson's  teachings.  In  him  was  personified  the  hope  and  strength  of  a  new 
human  belief,  from  the  moment  when  he  in  his  first  youth  sang  out: 

Lift  thy  head,  thou  youthful  lad; 
Even  if  hopes  are  crushed,  be  glad; 
Others  greet  thee  in  the  sky. 
Fraught  with  blessings  from  on  high. 
****** 
Lift  thy  head  and  look  around; 
Don't  you  hear  the  joyful  sound — 
How  it  with  a  million  tongues 
In  the  air  around  thee  sings? 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  247 

Lift  thy  head  and  sing  it  out; 
Thou  canst  not  kill  the  springtime  sprout. 
Where  there  is  power  to  burst  and  grow, 
Next  year's  spring  sun  will  it  show. 

At  the  same  time  he  says,  in  one  of  the  poems  in  "  Arne": 
He  who  was  longing  for  twenty  years 
Over  the  mountains  high  and  steep, 
He  who  knows  that  he  never  will  reach, 
Feels  himself  smaller  year  after  year. 
Hears  a  bird  on  the  mountain  singing. 
As  it  sits  on  the  birch-tree  swinging. 

Once  I  know  that  it  shall  go  forth 

'Way  over  the  mountains  high, 

Perhaps  thy  door  is  opened  now. 

O  Lord,  my  God,  thy  home  is  fair; 

Still,  for  awhile  leave  thou  it  shut. 

And  let  me  strive  in  my  longings. 
It  is  the  never-ceasing  thirst  of  a  soul  craving  for  knowledge,  for  light,  in  which 
to  solve  the  problems  of  life.     Before  us  is  an  ocean  of  wisdom,  its  invisible  sources 
are  located  in  eternity;  the  life  of  the  oldest  human  being  will  only  be  sufficient  for 
a  few  draughts. 

Though  Bjornson  claims  to  be  intently  national  in  his  works  as  well  as  in  personal 
inclination,  he  yet,  without  realizing  it,  is  compelled  to  represent  internationalism. 
He  intends  to  say,  Norway  first  and  last;  but  his  soul  reaches  too  far,  and  he  could 
not  be  a  true  medium  for  the  spirit  of  his  age,  were  not  internationalism  to  leave 
its  traces  in  his  work.  One  of  the  most  beautiful  national  songs  ever  written  in  any 
language  is  to  be  found  in  his  novel,  "The  Fisher-girl." 

I  shall  guard  thee,  my  land; 

I  shall  build  up  my  land; 

I  shall  love  it  through  life  in  my  prayer  and  my  child; 

I  shall  work  for  its  good; 

I  shall  look  for  its  wants, 

From  its  borders  and  out  to  the  fisherman's  yarn. 

We  have  plenty  of  sun; 

We  have  plenty  of  soil; 

Only  we,  only  we  could  have  plenty  of  love. 

Here  is  creating  power 

Through  the  work  of  the  hour; 

We  could  lift  up  this  land,  if  we  lifted  as  one. 

****** 

This  home-land  is  ours. 

And  we  worship  it  for 

What  it  was,  what  it  is,  what  it  will  be  again; 

And  as  love  shall  grow  forth 

From  the  soil  of  our  earth. 

That  shall  grow  from  the  seeds  of  our  love,  in  it  laid. 
When  we  get  this  kind  of  national  hymn  instead  of  boasts   about   conquering 
nations,  and  nonsense  about  being  the  first  and  the  only  ones,  then  the  first  step 
toward  internationalism  is  taken. 

The  subjective  national  hymn,  appealing  to  the  will  and  work  of  the  single 
individual,  to  the  creating  love  instead  of  the  contemplating  love,  is  in  its  nature  so 
wide-reaching,  that  it,  even  without  realizing  it,  will  sow  the  seeds  of  internationalism, 


248  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

will  carry  us  toward  those  higher  regions  where  the  earth  is  our  fatherland,  all  man- 
kind our  countrymen. 

Cosmopolitanism  is  the  feeling  with  which  the  wayward  soul  regards  the  different 
nations,  they  are  all  of  equal  value  to  him,  for  the  reason  that  he  has  home  nowhere. 
Internationalism  is  a  feeling  growing  out  of  the  deepest  love  to  the  spot  where  we 
are  born — through  loving  that,  we  slowly  reach  farther  toward  loving  the  whole  earth. 

In  correspondence  with  that  tendency  to  internationalism,  which  Bjornson  does 
not — or  at  least  did  not  some  years  ago— acknowledge  himself,  Bjornson  is  an  ardent 
friend  of  the  Pease-cause,  in  favor  of  which  a  great  deal  of  his  talent  as  orator  has 
been  used. 

In  their  view  of  that  omnipotent  power,  love  between  man  and  woman,  Bjornson 
and  Ibsen  are  true  representatives  of  the  present  generation.  This  age,  which  has 
understood  the  identity  of  soul  and  body,  does  not  loose  itself  in  contemplation  of 
outward  forms,  as  forms  alone,  but  seeks  at  every  place  the  contents  of  those  forms. 
The  objective  element  has  ceased  to  be  the  ruling  one  in  the  analysis  of  love. 
In  Bjornson's  and  Ibsen's  works  true  love  is  measured  by  the  degree  of  strength  it 
gives  to  the  self.  Reasoning  thus,  Norah  came  to  the  conclusion  that  her  marriage 
with  Helmer  had  on  both  sides  been  without  true  love. 

Ibsen's  bitter  satire  on  love  between  man  and  woman,  as  practiced  in  publicly 
sanctified  engagements  and  later  on  in  marriage,  awoke  such  hissing  wrath  in  his  father- 
land that  he  for  ten  years  lived  abroad. 

Norwegian  society  was  not  yet  ready  to  understand  that  it  was  not  love  between 
man  and  woman  which  Ibsen  denied  and  attacked,  it  was  the  social  ideal  of  this  love, 

Bjornson,  believing,  full  of  hope,  optimist  in  the  most  beautiful  sense  of  that  word, 
as  he  is,  attacked  this  established  ideal  by  painting  one  completely  different.  His 
"  Flags  are  hoisted  in  city  and  at  port,"  teaches  the  new  social  moral,  that  ignorance  is 
not  identical  with  innocence.  He  wants  mothers  to  teach  their  boys  and  girls  about 
the  laws  of  life,  that  they  may  no  more  need  to  go  to  playmates  or  servants  to  get 
questions  answered  in  a  way  which  may  injure  them  for  lifetime.  We  must  have 
mothers  who  bend  their  knees  in  reverence  to  the  laws  of  nature,  the  beautiful  and 
sacred;  mothers  who  realize  that  nature  is  good  and  pure  and  true  in  all  her  ways; 
first  then  will  the  houses  of  prostitution  be  things  unknown  among  us,  buried  with  mis- 
takes of  the  past.  Some  six  or  seven  years  ago  Bjornson  traveled  in  Denmark,  lectur- 
ing about  his  favorite  subject,  true  love  between  man  and  woman.  He  only  recognizes 
that  union  between  man  and  woman  which  rests  upon  a  unity  of  soul  and  body;  no 
decree  of  society,  neither  clerical  nor  civil,  can  establish  such  a  union,  nor  can  it 
destroy  it.  They  who  look  forward  to  those  reforms  of  society,  needed  so  sorely,  yet 
so  little  acknowledged,  will  especially  appreciate  one  feature  common  to  both  Ibsen 
and  Bjornson,  We  may  pile  up  before  us  every  book  written  by  them,  not  on  one  page, 
not  in  a  single  expression,  will  we  find  charity  lauded.  Those  two  men  never  bent  their 
proud  heads  to  money,  never  changed  their  opinion  for  the  sake  of  wealth  or  rank;  to 
them  the  charity  of  society  is  only  a  simple  duty  as  long  as  it  is  a  deplorable  necessity. 
They  both  believe  in  a  ruling  justice  in  life,  the  justice  involved  in  the  fact  that  certain 
causes  have  certain  effects  as  sure  as  a  splash  follows  the  stone  thrown  into  the  water. 
By  the  power  of  this  justice  Ibsen  was  at  last  acknowledged  by  his  countrymen;  by  the 
same  justice  the  heart  of  the  Norwegian  nation  went  out  to  Bjornson  from  the  time 
when  his  first  idyls  from  Norwegian  peasant  life  appeared. 

Around  these  two  representatives  of  the  best  in  our  own  age,  those  prophets  of 
a  still  better  future,  gather  all  who  believe  in  the  old  prophecy:  "  Your  sons  and  your 
daughters  shall  see  sights,  and  the  spirit  shall  descend  to  all  mankind,"  The  structure 
of  future  society  shall  have  the  word  "  justice  "  written  over  its  portals  with  flaming 
letters;  charity  shall  be  buried  deep  in  the  ground,  and  the  two  Norwegian  poets,  nay, 
poets  of  the  world,  shall  be  counted  among  those  who  wrote  its  funeral  march. 

When  Ibsen's  teachings  about  "  God  in  one,"  and  Bjornson  s  about  "God  in  all," 
have  reached  their  aim,  then  the  poet,  be  it  woman  or  man,  shall  arise  among  us,  who 
shall  sing  about  "All  in  God," 


THE  HOME  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


By  MISS  L.  C.  McGEE. 

The  significance  of  the  fact  that  the  high  school  is  practically  sending  forth  only 
young  women  from  its  halls,  and  that  the  women  of  the  world  are  not  only  seeking, 

but  acquiring,  practical  information  of  the  varied 
and  complex  concerns  of  life,  points  to  nothing  less 
than  a  reorganization  of  society,  and  that  the  high 
school  is  second  to  no  other  formative  agent  in  this 
work.  These  two  facts  have  led  me  to  formulate  the 
following  as  the  most  important,  as  well  as  the  most 
portentous,  of  their  results,  namely: 

I.  Women  of  ability  are  actively  taking  upon 
themselves  the  greater  half  of  the  responsibility  of 
the  future.  2.  Thinking  women,  by  the  conditions 
which  their  own  activity  is  bringing  about,  are  debar- 
ring themselves  from  the  fruition  of  their  own  crea- 
tion and  their  own  rightful  heritage — the  home.  3. 
The  success  or  failure  of  this  whole  speculation  of 
the  public  school  and  self-government  very  largely 
depends  on  woman's  ability  to  marshal  the  forces 
which  her  magic  has  called  into  being. 

To  appreciate  the  truth  of  the  fact  that  women 
are  assuming  the  greater  half  of  the  responsibility  of 
the  future,  it  is  only  necessary  to  observe  her  in  the 
various  walks  of  life  that  she  has,  of  her  own  free 
choice,  chosen  to  enter.  That  she  is  honorable,  caoa- 
ble,  deserving  and  successful  is  no  longer  denied.  Thatthe  majority  of  such  women  have 
gone  out  from  the  home  as  professional  women  or  women  of  affairs,  earning  distinction 
along  every  line  of  activity  and  of  thought,  is  one  of  the  many  surprises  of  the  century. 
But  that  she  has  thus  gone  out  from  the  home  is  to  be  the  regret  of  the  future,  not  that  she 
has  not  the  ability  to  uphold  the  usefulness  and  dignity  of  professional  life,  but  that  she 
is,  with  her  whole  energy  and  might,  engaging  in  the  performance  of  service  which  lies 
beyond  the  confines  of  the  home.  That  the  service  is  grave  and  true  service  does  not  nec- 
essarily justify  its  performance  by  women.  Do  not  mistake  my  meaning;  not  for  a 
moment  do  I  wish  to  imply  that  the  home  should  be  a  limitation  upon  a  woman's  activity, 
but  rather,  if  home  service  under  existing  conditions  is  her  limitation,  it  is  her  privilege, 
and  hers  alone,  to  reorganize  the  home  on  a  basis  that  is  true  and  broad  enough  to 
offer  ample  and  adequate  activity  for  her  varied  and  magnificent  capacity.  It  is  not 
so  much  that  she  fails  to  realize  her  own  high  womanhood  outside  of  the  home,  but 
rather  that  her  seeking  fields  of  activity  elsewhere  is  an  eternal  disadvantage  to  the 
home  as  a  social  institution.  That  will  be  a  sorry  day  when  the  home  is  entirely  left 
to  woman  without  capability  and  without  ambition,  when  it  is  left  to  women  who  do 

Miss  Lacy  Castina  McGee  was  borB-in  MartinsbarKh,  Iowa,  in  IH.'iO.  Her  parents  were  S.  and  8.  J.  McGee,  .\merican- 
born  citizens,  her  father  being  of  Scotch-Irish  and  her  mother  of  French  origin.  She  wasgradaated  from  the  Iowa  Wesleyan 
University  (Mount  Pleasant)  in  1880,  taking  the  degree  M.  8.  In  1890  she  was  graduated  from  the  University  of  Michigan, 
taking  the  degree  Ph.  M.  She  has  spent  four  years  in  the  Rocky  Mountains.  During  her  three  years'  residence  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Michigan  she  did  special  work  iif  philosophy,  English  and  history.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  essays,  philo- 
sophical and  literary.  Miss  McGee  is  now  assistant  in  the  Omaha  high  school,  where  she  occupies  the  chair  of  senior,  Eng- 
lish and  elocution.  The  Omaha  high  school  is  one  of  the  largest  in  the  West,  having  about  one  thousand  pupils.  She  is  a 
member  of  the  Episcopal  I'hurch.    Her  postoffice  address  is  No.  210  Twenty-fifth  Street,  Omaha,  Neb. 

249  ' 


MISS  LUCY  CASTINA    MCGEE. 


250  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

not  consciously  form  a  part  of  the  bone  and  sinew  and  brain  of  national  life;  and  yet 
the  high  school  is  helping  to  bring  about  just  this  condition,  for  as  things  are  moving  at 
present,  the  high  school  has  too  many  women  among  its  graduates — not  too  many  for 
the  sake  of  womankind,  nor  for  the  sake  of  the  home  and  the  world,  but  too  many  as 
compared  with  the  number  of  young  men  among  the  graduates. 

It  must  originate  from  some  strange  misconception  among  the  mothers  of  the 
country,  that  the  daughters  only  are  encouraged  to  look  over  into  the  promised  land 
from  the  eminence  furnished  by  the  high  school. 

This  points,  it  seems  to  me,  to  a  fact  already  in  existence,  namely,  that  women  of 
ability  are  already  debarred  from  their  own  rightful  heritage,  and  so  they  are  uncon- 
sciously making  provision  to  further  forego  its  privileges  and  its  rights.  Let  us  pre- 
dict, for  the  sake  of  the  welfare  of  posterity,  that  this  phase  of  woman's  development 
is  only  ancillary  to  this  period  which  is  believed  to  be  transitional  in  all  vital  respects, 
.  and  that  it  is  merely  a  passing  phase  And,  furthermore,  it  is  reasonably  safe  to 
eagerly  anticipate  that  the  conditions  which  have  been  largely  due  to  woman's  activity 
will  be  so  ordered  and  controlled  that  when  she  does  return  to  the  home,  it  may  be 
enriched  by  the  broadening  and  deepening  and  ennobling  experience  she  has  enjoyed 
among  strangers  in  a  foreign  land.  You  will  say  to  all  this  that  the  university  is,  on 
the  other  hand,  sending  only  men  from  its  halls,  and  that  these  are  they  who  keep  the 
intellectual  current  moving,  and  who  see  to  it  that  the  world  goes  on  to  a  higher  and 
better  condition. 

It  is  true,  and  I  am  sorry  it  is  true,  that  the  university  is  crowded  with  men 
instead  of  with  women.  However,  there  is  encouragement  in  the  fact  that  from  one- 
half  to  one-third  of  the  students  in  the  state  universities  are  women.  The  majority  of 
these  women  are  to  be  teachers,  who  will,  by  their  influence,  principally  in  the  high 
school,  cause  a  mighty  wave  of  reaction  when  it  is  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  large 
classes  of  girls  that  are  graduating  every  year,  that  the  high  school  is  only  the  "  light 
from  which  the  dome  of  the  university  is  brought  to  view."  The  exodus  from  the 
high  school  to  the  university  will,  in  the  future,  principally  consist  of  young  women. 
Young  men  must  have  preparation  for  college.  As  a  rule,  young  men  are  clever,  but 
they  are  not  clever  enough  to  enter  a  university  without  serious  preparation.  The 
great  majority  must  get  this  preparation,  if  they  get  it  at  all,  in  the  high  school.  They 
are  not  now  in  these  schools.  The  business  world  embraced  in  early  life  may  enable 
them  to  amass  an  abundance  of  wealth  in  the  course  of  years,  but  it  will  not  give  the 
necessary  preparation  for  the  university;  neither  will  the  accumulation  of  wealth,  or 
the  success  in  business,  suffice  for  a  lack  of  mental  grace  and  development.  I  have 
no  quarrel  to  make  with  the  business  world,  for  it  is  the  commercial  world  that  is  to 
carry  the  gospel  of  good-will  and  honest  dealing  into  every  community  in  Christen- 
dom, and  it  is  the  mercantile  ship  that  is  preeminent  in  genuine  missionary  work.  My 
protest  is  against  the  sentiment  that  young  men  do  not  need  the  advantage  that  gen- 
erous education  gives  to  thinking  human  beings,  and  that  business  success  is  the 
mantle  whose  elegance  and  richness  cover  a  multitude  of  faults. 

The  significance  of  this  state  of  affairs  is  altogether  unsatisfactory.  That  women 
must  be  educated  has  been  settled  once  for  all.  History  has  shown  that  an  abso- 
lutely unequal  education  on  the  two  sides  of  the  world  is  altogether  undesirable.  I 
do  not,  however,  wish  to  intimate  that  conditions  can  ever  again  be  such  as  they  were, 
or  even  nearly  as  bad,  as  when  women  were  floating  on  a  sea  of  blissful  ignorance. 
For  when  this  movement  that  is  now  apparent  among  women  reaches  its  acme,  and 
woman  finds  man  in  the  mental  degradation  that  results  from  unrealized  capacity,  her 
remembrance  of  past  waves  and  winds  will  make  her  pitiful  for  her  belated  brother, 
and  she  will  not  hinder  or  retard  his  efforts  to  get  back  into  the  current  of  thought 
and  intellectual  endeavor. 

If  my  insight  into  womanhood  is  correct,  the  educated  woman,  the  woman  of 
advantages,  sets  higher  ideals  for  herself  than  does  the  uneducated.  This  ideal  of  the 
woman  who  is  in  touch  with  the  thought  current  which  pulsates  through  the  realm  of 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  251 

the  higher  activities  of  life,  includes  educated  husbands,  educated  fathers,  educated 
brothers,  and  above  all,  educated  lovers.  Where  are  these  to  come  from?  The  high 
school  of  the  country  does  not  give  evidence  that  the  supply  will  meet  the  demand. 
Any  woman  who  has  self-respect,  to  say  nothing  of  aesthetic  taste,  would  intuitively 
refuse  a  partnership  with  one  of  whom  she  might,  under  many  circumstances  eas- 
ily imagined,  be  ashamed.  A  woman  who  is  once  ashamed  of  her  lord  and  master's 
static  intellect  has  already  committed  conjugal  suicide.  In  this  respect  the  conditions 
were  different  when  women  were  yet  embryonic,  for  if  women  were  coy,  sweet  tem- 
pered and  pretty,  admirable  traits  surely,  the  catalogue  of  requirements  was  adequate. 
That  will  not  do  any  longer.  The  seriousness  and  earnestness  and  womanliness  with 
which  she  has  taken  hold  of  life  takes  woman,  once  for  all,  from  the  playhouse,  and 
puts  her  in  the  workshop. 

With  the  educated  woman  on  the  outside,  although  her  personal  endeavor  be  rich 
with  results,  the  home  will  sustain  endless  disadvantages;  for  it  is  altogether  a  plati- 
tude to  say  that  upon  the  intellectual  and  moral  character  of  the  mother  largely 
depends  the  welfare  of  the  home,  as  well  as  on  the  state  and  society.  The  edu- 
cated woman  in  the  school  can  only  educate,  cultivate  what  is  already  in  the 
child's  mental  make-up;  even  the  vigor  and  conscience  of  a  well  equipped  teacher 
cannot  create  a  new  make-up  in  the  child.  The  home,  then,  as  an  institution,  meeting 
the  demands  of  an  advancing  civilization,  must  be  the  resultant  of  equally  good  types 
of  constituent  elements. 

It  is  unquestionable  that  men  do  and  are  to  hold  the  places  of  distinction.  So 
let  it  be.  They  are  naturally  fitted  for  leadership  in  executive,  legislative,  judicial 
and  commercial  activities.  They  have  the  brain  and  the  virile  character  which  emi- 
nently qualifies  them  to  direct  the  affairs  and  the  thought  of  the  world.  But  man  as 
man  is  on  the  precise  plane  with  woman  as  woman.  Man  as  man  is  not  what  the  future 
demands.  Men  who  actively  and  consciously  make  special  preparation  for  the  per- 
formance of  life's  duties  are  they  only  who  can  serve  a  struggling  humanity.  Only  , 
the  men  who  are  willing  to  absolutely  devote  themselves  to  the  principles  which 
underlie  this  complex  civilization;  only  men  who  can't  meet  the  century  in  its  chal- 
lenge not  only  for  deep  insight,  but  for  the  most  outspoken  convictions  resulting 
from  that  insight — only  these  men  will  be  qualified  to  take  hold  vigorously  of  the 
problems  which  are  already  crying  for  solution.  Duties  assumed,  though  faithfully 
and  expeditiously  performed  by  the  women  of  the  world,  can  never  elevate  the  race 
as  a  race.  There  must  be  a  full  and  rich  manhood,  as  well  as  a  complete  womanhood, 
to  constitute  the  home  of  the  future. 

The  public  school  system  is  an  organic  part  of  this  stupendous  American  specu- 
lation— the  speculation  of  self-government.  This  speculation  is  not,  however,  of  the 
same  sort  as  the  South  Sea  scheme,  based  on  the  "  vain  imagination  of  the  heart." 
On  the  contrary,  our  speculation  of  the  public  school,  of  self-regulated  life — one  could 
not  exist  without  the  other — is  based  on  the  deepest  needs  and  the  broadest  sympa- 
thies and  the  most  exalted  aspirations  of  the  human  soul.  Such  a  speculation  as 
this  means  a  trial  at  living  under  the  highest  conditions  yet  furnistied  for  man  by 
man.  If  this  speculation  is  to  be  more  than  a  South  Sea  scheme,  the  foundation  of 
the  whole  inclusive  scheme  of  self-government  must  be  made  adequate  to  bear  up  the 
whole  enormous  structure  which  we'are  assisting  to  construct.  It  matters  not  what 
one's  religious,  social  or  political  views  may  be,  every  law-loving  man  agrees  that  the 
home  is  the  basal  unit  of  our  institutions,  and  that  the  man  best  equipped  for  the  per- 
formance of  either  public  or  private  duties  is  the  man  directly  from  the  home  influ- 
ence. The  faithful  performance  of  these  duties  means  more  here  and  now  than  at  any 
other  place  or  time  since  the  beginning  of  human  history.  To  be  a  true  citizen  of  a 
nineteenth  century  republic  is  to  be  the  center  of  myriad  responsibilities.  From  the 
individual  extends  ten  thousand  threads  which  touch  at  their  ends  the  state,  the  school, 
the  home,  the  church,  society.  Each  of  these  is  a  part  of  the  individual,  and  the 
individual  is  a  part  of  each  of  them.     Never  before  have  there  been  such  demands 


252  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

made  of  womanhood  and  of  manhood.  To  be  a  man  in  the  democratic  sense  of  the 
term,  means  that  he  shall  have  intelligence  enough  to  see  the  right  and  courage 
enough  to  do  it  at  all  times  and  under  all  conditions;  and  to  be  a  woman  in  the  nine- 
teenth-century sense  of  the  term,  is  to  have  understanding  enough  to  see  the  needs  of 
a  people  struggling  with  the  problem  of  self-regulation,  and  to  have  the  heart  to  throw 
the  whole  force  of  her  womanliness  on  the  side  of  continual  and  ceaseless  effort  to 
reach  the  goal  that  the  human  soul  sets  for  its  own  realization — self-government 
founded  on  law-abiding  conduct  and  noble  thinking. 

This  goal  of  self-government,  which  implies  intelligence  and  right  disposition,  is 
not  alone  an  American  speculation.  Not  a  state  in  Christendom  but  has  felt  a  heart- 
throb in  response  to  "  be  a  man!  "  It  is  the  one  thought  of  the  century — this  thought 
of  a  united  brotherhood,  living  and  working  together  in  sympathy  and  love  without 
the  imposition-  of  priestcraft  or  kingcraft.  This  kingdom  of  man  will  not,  however, 
be  at  hand,  until  men  and  women  more  fully  appreciate  the  fullness  and  richness  of 
such  a  brotherhood.  But  since  the  American  democracy  is  leading  the  way  in  the 
solution  of  some  of  the  most  momentous  problems  now  to  be  conceived  from  the 
human  point  of  view,  it  is  all  important  that  our  wrong  should  be  made  right,  that  our 
right  be  maintained.  It  is  imperative  that,  first  of  all,  men  and  women  get  into  the 
thought  movement,  get  into  the  way  of  right  and  true  thinking  about  our  needs,  and 
about  the  meaning  of  our  speculation,  for  the  ills  of  democratic  life  are  directly  or 
indirectly  traceable  to  undeveloped  heart  or  brain.  Educate  the  boys  and  girls  till 
they  appreciate  the  meaning  of  this  complex  life  of  ours;  until  they  realize  that  they 
are  personally  responsible  for  the  success  or  failure  of  this  idea,  that  to  be  manly,  to 
be  womanly,  is  of  first  importance,  and  that  all  else  will  be  added  unto  them;  educate 
them  till  they  understand  that  as  modern  conditions  grow  in  complexity  and  gravity 
that  there  must  be  a  rise  in  manhood  and  womanhood  to  meet  the  demand;  educate 
them  till  they  feel  in  their  deepest  selfhood  that  the  highest  freedom  is  identical  with 
the  law  of  the  spirit  of  man;  educate  them  to  this  extent  and  prosperity  will  rejoice  in 
blessings  ten-fold  better  than  we  now  enjoy.  There  is,  however,  no  way  to  salvation 
other  than  that  it  be  wrought  by  individual  effort.  The  rectitude  of  the  individual 
life  is  the  salvation  of  the  world.  Then,  until  all  men  and  women  share  alike  in  rational, 
self-regulated  life  all  possessing  common  power  of  self-direction,  all  claiming  common 
rights,^all  recognizing  common  obligations — not  until  then  is  an  institution  that  we 
have  erected  safe.  When  the  new  generation  of  thinking  women — the  dearest  chil- 
dren of  the  public  school  speculation — silently  concludes  that:  "  Be  not  unequally 
yoked  with  unbelievers  "  should  be  written  "  Be  not  unequally  yoked  with  the  unedu- 
cated, for  what  communion  hath  light  with  darkness,"  the  basal  unit  of  the  race — 
the  home  as  an  institution — will  for  the  first  time  become  a  spiritual  boon  to  humanity, 
which  will,  by  virtue  of  its  own  essence,  make  for  righteousness. 


THE  MOORS  OF  SPAIN. 


By  MRS.  ELLEN  M.  HARRELL  CANTRELL. 

When  Columbus,  the  man  of  destiny,  standing  in  the  vestibule  of  the  Old  World, 
drew  aside  the  mysterious  curtains  that  veiled  its  threshold,  and  set  out  on  his  career 

into  unknown  space,  the  peoples  around  him  strained 
forward  their  eager  vision  to  follow  his  dazzling  course, 
while  we,  who  stand  here  today  in  the  culminated 
glory  of  his  conception,  look  backward,  with  an  in- 
terest scarcely  less  vivid,  to  pierce  the  obscurity  from 
whence  he  emerged.  There  we  find  storm  and  light- 
ning, blackness  and  gloom,  marking  the  extinction  of 
a  nation,  which,  perhaps,  more  than  any  other,  has 
held  us  with  its  spell  of  romance;  namely,  the  Moors 
of  Spain. 

Beginning  with  the  records  of  the  patriarchs: 
they  have  been  the  theme  for  mediaeval  and  modern 
writers;  have  been  sung  by  troubadours,  chronicled 
by  historians,  dramatized  by  poets,  and  may  yet  sup- 
ply a  subject,  not  inappropriate  to  this  occasion,  since 
they  form  the  environment  of  Columbia's  embryo 
hero,  who,  like  the  mythical  Arabian  bird,  developed 
a  new  nation,  from  the  ashes  of  the  one  just  extin- 
guished. 

Prophet,  poet,  and  painter  have,  in  turn,  brought 
before  us  for  contemplation  a  certain  group,  which, 
though  draped  in  the  mists  of  antiquity,  still  appears 
in  vivid  outlines,  appealing  to  our  deepest  emotions  by  its  pathos,  and  which  serves 
as  an  exponent  of  the  histories  of  successive  nations,  more  especially  that  of  Spain. 

I  refer  to  the  dual  group  of  fugitives,  Hagar  and  Ishmael,  the  outcast  wanderers 
in  the  desert  of  Shur  and  the  wilderness  of  Beersheba. 

The  prophet  tells  us,  that  of  Ishmael  it  was  foretold  before  his  birth,  by  the  angel 
of  the  Lord: 

"  He  will  be  a  wild  man;  his  hand  will  be  against  every  man,  and  every  man's  hand 
against  him,  and  he  shall  dwell  in  the  presence  of  his  brethren;"  and  later,  in  response 
to  Abraham's  prayer — '*  O  that  Ishmael  might  live  before  Thee,"  the  Almighty  God 
established  with  him  this  covenant — "As  for  Ishmael,  I  have  heard  thee:  Behold,  I 
have  blessed  him  and  will  make  him  fruitful,  and  will  multiply  him  exceedingly; 
twelve  princes  shall  be  beget,  and  I  will  make  him  a  great  nation.  But  my  covenant 
will  I  establish  with  Isaac,  which  Sarah  shall  bear  unto  thee  at  this  set  time  next  year." 
When  Ishmael,  the  son  of  Hagar,  the  bondwoman,  was  thirteen  years  of  age,  a 

Mrs.  Ellen  Maria  Harrell  Cantrell  is  a  native  of  Virginia.  She  was  bom  in  1883.  Her  parents  were  Rev.  Samuel  Har- 
rell,  native  of  North  Carolina,  member  of  the  Methodist  Conference,  and  Ellen  C.  Collins,  of  Cork,  Ireland.  She  was  edncated 
chiefly  by  her  mother,  was  gradaated  from  the  Nashville  Female  Academy,  Tenn.,  December,  1848,  and  has  traveled  only  in 
the  Sonthern  States,  bnt  is  familiar  with  the  known  world  as  geographer  and  historian.  She  married  William  Armoar  Can- 
trell, M.  D.,  in  1852,  at  Little  Rock,  Ark.  She  is  the  mother  of  eight  children,  seven  of  whom  have  reached  majority  and  of 
whom  one  died  in  infancy.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  stories  for  magazines  and  fugitive  newspaper  articles  and  edi- 
torials as  associate  editor  of  the  "Arkansas  Ladies'  Journal,"  afterward  the  "Southern  Ladies'  Journal."  In  the  social 
world  Mrs.  Cantrell  has  always  held  'a  prominent  place  as  a  finished  musician,  a  polished  local  writer,  and  lady  of  refine, 
ment.  In  religious  faith  she  acknowledges  the  Holy  Trinity  and  Jesus  Christ  as  Redeemer  and  Savionr.  Mrs.  Cantrell  is  a 
member  of  the  Episcopal  Church.    Her  postoffice  address  is  No.  619  Scott  Street,  Little  Rock,  Ark. 

263 


MRS.  E,  M.   H.  CANTRELL. 


254  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

great  feast  was  made  in  honor  of  Isaac,  the  babe,  on  the  day  of  his  weaning,  and  Sarah 
saw  Ishmael  mocking. 

All  the  tenderness,  pride,  jealousy  and  resentment  of  a  woman's  heart  rose  in 
rebellion  against  this  alien  boy,  whose  ancestral  Eber  blood  was  tainted  by  that  of 
Egypt,  and  she  cried  out:  "  Cast  out  this  bondwoman  and  her  son,  for  the  son  of  the 
bondwoman  shall  not  be  heir  with  my  son,  even  with  Isaac." 

An  English  poetess,  whose  womanly  endurance,  resignation,  and  religious  trust 
made  her  the  fitting  lyrist  for  this  pathetic  incident,  and  whose  lovely  countenance 
adorns  these  walls,  gives  this  sympathetic  lament: 

"  Nor  was  thy  way  forgotten. 

Whose  worn  and  weary  feet 
Were  driven  from  thy  homestead 

Through  the  red  sand's  parching  heat; 
Poor  Hagar,  scorned  and  banished, 

That  another's  son  might  be 
Sole  claimant  on  that  father. 

Who  felt  no  more  for  thee. 

"Ah,  when  thy  dark  eye  wander'd, 

Forlorn,  Egyptian  slave. 
Across  that  lurid  desert 

And  saw  no  fountain  wave; 
When  thy  southern  heart,  despairing, 

In  the  passion  of  its  grief, 
Foresaw  no  ray  of  comfort. 

No  shadow  of  relief, 

"But  to  cast  the  young  child  from  thee 

That  thou  mightst  not  see  him  die. 
How  sank  thy  broken  spirit — 

But  the  Lord  of  Hosts  was  nigh! 
He  (He  too  oft  forgotten 

In  sorrow  as  in  joy) 
Had  will'd  they  should  not  perish — 

The  outcast  and  her  boy. 

"The  cool  breeze  swept  across  them, 

From  the  angel's  waving  wing, 
The  fresh  tide  gushed  in  brightness 

From  the  fountain's  living  spring; 
And  they  stood — those  two — forsaken 

By  all  earthly  love  or  aid, 
Upheld  by  God's  firm  promise. 

Serene  and  undismay'd." 

The  illustrious  painters,  Correggio,  Vanderwerf  and  Lanfranco,  supplemented 
this  word-picture  with  paintings  which,  once  seen,  cannot  fail  to  linger  in  the  memory 
with  a  plaint  as  penetrating  as  that  of  the  poetess.  The  boy  and  his  mother  were  res- 
cued by  Divine  compassion,  and  in  the  course  of  time,  we  are  told,  his  mother  "  took 
him  a  wife  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,"  Twelve  sons  were  born  of  this  union,  who 
became  the  twelve  princes  of  Arabia.  Their  descendants  led  the  life  of  nornads  or 
wanderers,  as  predicted,  for  thousands  of  years,  maintaining  their  freedom,  their  faith 
and  their  peculiar  customs  against  the  assaults  of  great  military  empires.  Neither  the 
Babylonian  and  the  Assyrian,  nor  the  Egyptian  and  the  Persian  kings  could  reduce 
these  wild  sons  of  the  desert  to  a  state  of  subjugation.  The  Arab  devoted  his  life  to 
his  horse,  his  weapons,  his  women  and  his  poets,  who  sang  the  feuds  of  the  tribes  and 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  255 

the  praises  of  their  heroes  and  their  fair  women.  Prizes  were  awarded  for  these  poems, 
which  were  written  in  golden  letters  and  suspended  in  their  chapel  of  worship,  the 
Caaba  at  Mecca,  which  contained  the  black  stone — the  object  of  the  religious  devotion 
of  the  Arabs  from  a  very  ancient  period.  This  stone  they  believed  to  have  been 
handed  down  from  Heaven  to  Abraham  by  the  angel  Gabriel. 

Beneath  a  canopy  of  molten  brass  outstretched  in  eternal  serenity,  lay  the  desert 
"  dreary,  vast  and  silent,"  which,  changed  in  a  moment  by  wild  tornadoes  to  a  scene  of 
fury,  was  reflected  in  the  aspect  of  her  children.  Alternating  from  mysterious  tran- 
quillity to  reckless  rage,  their  faces  showed  a  corresponding  conflict  of  calm  and  tem- 
pest. Their  fine,  Oriental  features  and  melancholy  eyes  gave  silent  token  of  their 
sense  of  isolation,  and  completed  the  spell  of  their  wild  and  vigorous  minstrelsy. 

For  thousands  of  years  Arabia  was  a  land  of  religious  freedom.  All  religious 
sects,  Jews,  Fire-worshipers  and  Christians  were  tolerated  within  its  borders;  Jewish 
colonies  were  formed  by  emigrants,  who  found  entrance  after  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem by  the  Romans,  and  who  made  many  proselytes.  About  the  year  600  A.  D. 
Christianity  had  penetrated  to  the  heart  of  Arabia,  through  Syria  on  the  one  hand  and 
Abyssinia  on  the  other.  Besides  these  two,  other  religious  sects,  remnants  of  more 
ancient  ones  prevailed.  It  was  left  for  Mohammed  to  teach  a  new  faith,  which  should 
dispense  with  idolatry  on  the  one  hand,  as  with  Judaism  and  Christianity  on  the  other. 
These  various  sects  became  a  unit  by  the  acceptance  of  the  new  faith,  and  under  the 
banner  of  the  crescent  Mohammed   led  them  to  the  conquest  of  the  ancient  world. 

The  introduction  of  the  doctrine  of  Mohammed  forms  the  grand  epoch  in  Arabian 
history,  and  brings  it  into  close  connection  with  that  of  Spain.  The  creed  of 
Mohammed  was  contained  in  the  well-known  symbol  of  Islam,  "There  is  no  god  but 
God,  and  Mohammed  is  the  prophet  of  God;"  and  his  express  precept  was  "to  prop- 
agate by  fire  and  sword,  throughout  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe  the  new  Unitarian 
faith  of  Arabia." 

Like  a  match  dropped  on  oil,  this  appeal  to  mankind  for  spiritual  and  tem- 
poral authority,  fired  the  fanaticism  of  the  Arabs,  and  like  a  mighty  conflagration 
they  swept  over  the  northern  states  of  Africa,  and  formed  a  new  and  powerful 
empire,  which  took  the  name  of  Saracen.  This  name  is  by  mediaeval  Christian  authors 
supposed  to  be  derived  from  Sarai,  the  wife  of  Abraham,  by  others  from  the  Arab 
saraca  (to  steal),  or  from  the  Hebrew  sarak  (poor),  but  the  opinion  which  now  pre- 
vails is  that  it  came  from  the  Greek  sareknoi  (eastern  people),  from  which  the 
Romans  derived  their  word  Saraceni.  As  they  spread  over  Morocco,  then  called 
Mauritania,  they  took  the  name  of  Moors,  from  mauri,  meaning  dark.  When  the 
Arabs  or  Saracen  conquerors  invaded  Spain,  they  were,  naturally  enough,  called  Moors, 
so  that  in  Spanish  history  the  terms  Arabs,  Saracens  and  Moors  are  synonymous. 
In  the  short  space  of  eighty  years  after  the  death  of  Mohammed,  they  had  passed 
like  a  fiery  tornado  over  Northern  Africa,  and  had  extended  their  domains  from  Egypt 
to  India  and  from  Lisbon  to  Samarcand.  In  the  meanwhile,  Christianity,  falling  like 
drops  of  fertilizing  rain,  was  making  a  fruitful  harvest  in  Northern  and  Southern 
Europe. 

In  Spain,  the  cross  confronted  the  crescent.  Visigoths  or  Western  Goths,  who 
were  in  possession,  defied  the  Moors  for  its  dominion.  The  treachery  of  one  man 
betrayed  the  Gothic  cause.  Count  Julian,  a  Visigothic  noble  of  Spain,  irritated  by 
the  treatment  he  had  received  from  his  sovereign,  the  tyrant  Roderic,  secretly  dis- 
patched a  messenger  to  Musa,  the  governor  of  Africa  and  invited  the  Moors  into 
Spain,  Roderic,  more  familiarly  known  as  "The  last  of  the  Visigoths,"  whose  tragic 
downfall  has  supplied  the  theme  for  poets,  romancers  and  historians,  was  hated  by 
his  people,  and  during  the  battle,  which  continued  seven  days  on  the  banks  of  the 
Guadalete,  a  portion  of  his  forces,  as  had  been  previously  arranged,  deserted  to  the 
Moors. 

The  Goths  were  finally  routed  with  immense  slaughter,  but  the  victory  of  the 
Moors  was  purchased  at  the  expense  of  sixteen  thousand  lives.     The  renowned  rock 


256  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

of  Gibraltar,  England's  bulwark  of  pride  since  1779,  still  preserves  the  name  of  the 
Saracen  hero  who  took  it — Gibel-al-Taric,  the  Moorish  substitute  for  the  original, 
classic  Calpe  Most  of  the  Spanish  towns  submitted  after  this,  without  opposition, 
and  before  the  end  of  a  year  the  whole  of  Spain  passed  under  the  sway  of  the  Moors, 
except  a  solitary  corner  in  the  northern  part,  Asturias,  now  Oviedo,  where  Christianity 
preserved  a  foothold.  It  required  nearly  eight  hundred  years  to  regain  it  from  the 
Moslem  sway. 

Once  entered  on  their  career  of  conquest,  the  Saracen  hosts  had  almost  simulta- 
neously spread  over  Syria,  the  valley  of  the  Euphrates,  Persia,  and  Egypt,  thus  fulfill- 
ing their  destiny  in  becoming  a  "  great  nation."  Nor  was  their  progress  brilliant  only 
in  the  arts  of  war.  The  Arab  "  stood  in  the  presence  of  his  brethren"  as  a  learner,  for 
learning  was  mostly  in  the  hands  of  the  Jews  and  Christians.  The  caravan  trade  first 
opened  channels  of  communication  and  more  extended  contact  with  the  world  which 
they  conquered,  and  the  great  cities  of  the  East  and  West  supplied  instructors.  The 
ancient  seats  of  civilization  throughout  the  East,  Northern  Africa,  Spain,  and  the 
Mediterranean  Isles  bestowed  upon  them  the  rich  legacy  of  letters,  which  they  trans- 
lated into  their  native  language.  Thus  the  mind  of  the  Moor  became  loosened 
from  the  fetters  of  the  religion  which  had  enthralled  it,  and  became  illuminated  with 
the  reflected  light  of  the  word,  just  as  Europe  has  been  rescued  from  the  dark  supersti- 
tions of  Romanism  by  the  electric  spark  of  the  Protestant  Bible.  In  natural  science, 
physics,  medicine;  in  botany,  mathematics,  astronomy,  alchemy  and  the  arts,  they 
equaled  and  often  surpassed  the  Chinese,  Jews,  Gentiles  and  Christians,  whose  pupils 
they  were.  Seats  of  learning  were  located,  as  the  demand  for  them  arose,  at  Samar- 
cand  and  Bokhara  beyond  the  Oxus,  at  Ispahan  in  Persia,  at  Bagdad  on  the  Tigris,  at 
Alexandria  and  Cairo  in  Egypt,  at  Fez  and  Morocco  in  Western  Africa,  at  Cordova, 
Seville,  Toledo,  Granada,  Salamanca  and  Alcala  in  Spain,  and  even  in  Sicily.  The 
Moors  "  studied  everything  and  wrote  on  everything  they  studied."  The  libraries 
became  phenomenal  in  their  growth.  The  library  at  Bagdad  was  enriched  by  thou- 
sands of  volumes  and  precious  manuscripts.  It  rapidly  rose  to  splendor,  and  was  the 
center  of  enlightenment  until  Cordova,  in  her  beauty,  rivaled  and  eclipsed  her. 
Bagdad,  on  the  Tigris,  with  its  gorgeous  palaces  and  splendid  mosques,  was  the  liter- 
ary metropolis  of  the  East,  and  Cordova,  upon  the  Guadalquiver,  of  the  West,  while 
Cairo,  upon  the  Nile,  divided  the  prestige  of  each  as  the  metropolis  of  Egypt. 

The  library  of  El  Hakem  II.,  of  Spain,  was  stored  in  his  palace  at  Cordova,  and  is 
said  to  have  numbered  six  hundred  thousand  volumes.  What  wonder  that  the  light 
that  shone  from  the  Moorish  schools  should  have  attracted  the  more  poorly  supplied 
scholars  of  Christian  Europe,  and  that  the  fair  surroundings  of  the  Spanish  university 
towns,  where  schools  were  attached  to  every  mosque,  beguiled  them  from  their  coarser 
northern  homes!  Cordova  was  the  Delphi  of  the  peninsula,  while  the  sterner  Goths 
retired  to  the  rugged  Asturias.  The  Crusades  aided  in  awakening  the  mind  of  Europe 
by  emphasizing  this  contrast  of  the  culture  and  refinement  of  the  East  with  that  of 
the  barren  North. 

The  genius  of  the  Moors  was  poetic,  and  their  songsters  outnumber  those  of  all 
other  peoples  put  together.  The  "  Poema  del  Cid,"  the  oldest  as  well  as  the  finest 
ballad  of  the  Iberian  muse,  gave  birth  to  the  latter  songs  of  Spanish  chivalry. 

In  romance,  the  store  was  more  meager,  but  where  has  any  later  achievement 
eclipsed  the  splendor  and  charm  of  the  "Arabian  Nights'  Entertainment?"  For  a 
hundred  years  it  has  been  a  European  classic,  one  of  the  few  books  that  delights  all 
classes  and  all  ages.  Haroun-al-Raschid,  Caliph  of  Bagdad,  is  almost  as  familiar  to 
children  as  Santa  Claus.  Aladdin's  lamp  will  serve  to  illuminate  the  day-dreams  of 
the  young  as  long  as  girls  covet  dancing  slippers  and  boys  long  for  racing  ponies. 

In  architecture  the  Moors  have  given  expression  to  their  religion.  The  shifting 
tent  of  the  Bedouin  gave  place  to  edifices  resembling  those  built  by  Christian  archi- 
tects from  Constantinople,  who  imitated  those  of  Greece  and  Rome,  and  more  ancient 
predecessors,  with  one  noticeable  distinction — the  fanciful  ornamentation  known  as 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  257 

the  Arabesque,  which  differed  from  that  of  the  Egyptians  and  others  in  entirely 
excluding  the  figures  of  animals  (the  representation  of  which  was  forbidden  by  the 
Mohammedan  religion),  and  confining  itself  entirely  to  foliage,  flowers,  fruits  and 
tendrils  of  plants  and  trees,  curiously  and  elaborately  intertwined,  which  Schlegel  de- 
scibes  as  "the  oldest  and  most  original  form  of  fancy." 

The  mosque  at  Cordova,  with  its  thousand  columns  of  vari-colored  marble, 
jasper  and  porphyry,  forming  a  perfect  grove,  is  the  finest  type  of  a  Moslem  temple  in 
Europe.  The  royal  residence  at  Seville,  the  Al-Kasa  (house  of  Caesar),  enchants  the 
beholder  with  its  colonnades,  courts,  halls  and  porches,  whose  delicate  ornamentation 
has  been  said  "  to  have  the  effect  of  old  point  lace,  and  whose  walls,  tilings  and  ceilings 
show  the  harmonious  mingling  of  ivory,  amber,  turquoise-blue  or  v'iolet-purple,  and 
look  like  the  inside  of  sea-shells." 

The  most  conspicuous,  the  most  romantic,  as  well  as  the  most  venerated  pile  of 
Arabian  architecture  is  the  Alhambra  of  Granada.  That  name  calls  up  such  pictures 
of  beauty  and  such  scenes  of  historic  interest,  as  only  the  pen  of  Washington  Irving 
could  depict.  To  him  we  are  indebted  for  a  faithful  representation  of  this  Oriental 
palace  in  a  Christian  land — an  elegant  memento  of  a  brave,  intelligent,  graceful  peo- 
ple, whose  Paradise  was  an  earthly  one,  and  that  Paradise  beautiful  Granada,  with  its 
mountain  crest  rising  gravely  and  grandly  above  the  lovely  plain  below,  where  gilded 
palaces,  fountains,  rivers  and  gardens,  pillared  avenues  and  arcades,  galleries  and 
balconies,  blossoms  and  perfume,  music,  moonlight  and  charming  women,  did  indeed 
form  an  Pllysium!  But  Moslem  ambition  awoke  from  this  seductive  thralldom.  At 
Constantinople,  which  they  had  vainly  besieged  for  six  years,  the  Saracens  had  been 
sternly  repulsed  by  the  terrible  liquid  fire,  called  "Greek  Fire,"  u.sed  by  the  inhabit- 
ants for  defense.  Foiled  at  this  point,  the  Moors  boldly  scaled  the  Pyrenees  and 
cast  their  rapacious  eyes  on  the  fair  land  of  France,  which  now  promised  the  only 
pathway  to  the  Euxine — the  object  of  their  dreams  and  hopes,  as  the  last  step  toward 
universal  empire.  Can  we  think  of  it  without  a  shudder!  We,  who  are  here  today 
as  grateful  disciples  of  Him  who  gave  His  presence  and  benediction  to  the  marriage 
feast;  who  rebuked  the  pecuHar  form  of  idolatry  practiced  by  the  Jewish  kings,  that 
had  provoked  God's  wrath  and  precipitated  their  ruin;  who  made  the  religion  of 
Mohammed  a  mockery  and  a  crime,  by  His  awful  condemnation,  and  who  has  lifted 
our  sex  from  the  degradation  of  the  harem  to  the  exalted  position  we  occupy  here 
today! 

On  the  plain  between  Tours  and  Poitiers  the  contending  armies  met,  the  Moors 
led  by  Abd-el-Rahman,  the  P>anks  and  the  German  tribes  by  Charles  Martel,  the  illus- 
trious mayor  of  the  palace  of  the  Frankish  king.  After  six  days'  skirmishing,  the 
enemies  engaged  in  that  fearful  battle  that  was  to  decide  the  fate  of  Christendom. 
In  the  light  skirmishing,  the  Moorish  archers  maintained  the  advantage,  but  in  the 
close  onset  of  deadly  strife,  the  German  auxiliaries  of  Charles,  grasping  their  ponder- 
ous swords  with  "stout  hearts  and  iron  hands" — for  they  fought  for  faith  and  home — 
stood  the  shock  like  walls  of  stone,  and  beat  down  the  light-armed  Moors  with  ter- 
rific slaughter. 

Was  this  the  battle-ground  of  the  man  of  flesh  and  the  man  of  Spirit?  Amid  the 
clash  of  the  contending  armies  do  we  not  hear,  resounding  through  the  ages,  the  echo 
of  Sarah's  imperious  cry:  "Cast  out  this  bondwoman  and  her  son,  for  the  son  of  this 
bondwoman  shall  not  be  heir  with  my  son!  "  Were  the  thirteen  years  of  Ishmael's 
ascendency  in  the  house  of  his  father  Abraham  a  prototype  of  the  thirteen  centuries 
of  Moslem  supremacy? 

The  Arabs  "  folded  their  tents  and  silently  stole  away"  in  the  night,  fugitives 
before  the  wrath  of  Christian  knights,  leaving  their  camp  rich  with  the  plunder  of 
Southern  Europe  to  reward  the  victorious  Franks,  and  375,0(X)  of  their  slain  on  the 
battle-field.  The  spell  of  Islam  was  broken,  and  "  the  most  brilliant  life  of  the  most 
brilliant  of  civilizations  went  down  to  its  setting! "  Long  mercifully  deferred,  the 
doom  of  Ishmael  had  sounded! 

(17) 


258  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Twenty-seven  years  elapsed  before  the  Moors  were  wholly  dislodged  from  the 
Pyrenees,  but  in  1492  their  capital,  Granada,  was  taken  by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and 
the  great  peninsula  was  again  under  Christian  rule,  prepared  to  enter  on  the  "  heritage 
of  the  West,"  and  to  make  gracious  response  to  that  eloquent  appeal  of  Columbus: 

"  I  ask  but  for  a  million  maravedes; 
Give  me  three  caravels  to  find  a  world. 
New  shores,  new  realms,  new  soldiers  for  the  Cross!  " 

In  a  picture  gallery  in  the  palace  of  Generaliffe  hangs  the  portrait  of  Boabdil,  the 
last  of  the  Moorish  kings  of  Spain;  in  the  tower  of  Comares,  in  the  Alhambra,  are  the 
rooms  where  he  was  imprisoned  by  his  father,  from  the  gallery  of  which  his  mother 
lowered  him  with  scarfs,  to  escape  the  cruelties  of  a  parent  who  hated  and  repudiated 
him;  the  gate  through  which  he  departed  from  the  Alhambra,  when  about  to  surren- 
der his  capital  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  was  walled  up  at  his  request.  A  tablet  on 
the  walls  of  a  small  mosque  relates  that  on  this  spot  Boabdil  surrendered  the  keys  to 
the  Castilian  sovereigns.  From  the  summit  of  one  of  the  Alpuxarras  Mountains  the 
unfortunate  Boabdil  took  his  last  look  of  Granada;  there  is  the  rock  where  he  stood 
and  turned  his  eyes  away  from  taking  their  farewell  gaze,  still  called  "  el  ultimo 
suspiro  del  Moro  (the  last  sigh  of  the  Moor),  and  there  it  was  that  the  reproach  of 
his  mother  embittered  his  heart.  "  You  do  well  to  weep  as  a  woman  over  what  you 
could  not  defend  as  a  man." 

"Woe  is  me!"  was  the  mournful  cry  of  the  dethroned  monarch,  as  he  led  his  for- 
lorn troops  through  the  mountain  pass,  over  the  beloved  Andalusian  plains,  away  to 
the  desert  sands  of  Africa. 

"  Winding  along  at  break  of  day, 

And  armed  with  helm  and  spears. 
Along  the  martyr's  rocky  way, 

A  king  comes  with  his  peers; 
Unto  the  eye  a  splendid  sight. 
Making  the  air  all  richly  bright. 

Seen  flashing  through  the  trees; 
But,  to  the  heart,  a  scene  of  blight. 

Sadder  than  death  were  these. 

"For  brightly  fall  the  morning  rays 
;  Upon  a  conquer'd  king; 

The  breeze  that  with  his  banner  plays. 
Plays  with  an  abject  thing. 
•  -  Banner  and  king  no  more  will  know 

Their  rightful  place  'mid  friend  and  foe: 

Proud  clarion,  cease  thy  blast! 
Or,  changing  to  the  wail  of  woe. 
Breathe  dirges  for  the  past. 

"Along,  along,  by  rock  and  tower, 
That  they  have  failed  to  keep, 
By  wood  and  vale,  their  father's  dower, 
\  The  exiled  warriors  sweep. 

The  chevroned  steed,  no  more  elate, 
As  if  he  knew  his  rider's  fate. 

Steps  languidly  and  slow, 
As  if  he  knew  Granada's  gate 
Now  open  to  the  foe! 


THK  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  259 

"Along,  along,  till  all  is  past 

That  once  they  called  their  own; 
Till  bows  the  pride  of  strength  at  last, 

And  knights,  like  women,  moan. 
Pausing  upon  the  green  hillside, 
That  soon  their  city's  tower  will  hide, 

They  lean  upon  their  spears; 
And  hands  that  late  with  blood  were  dyed 

Are  now  wash'd  white  with  tears, 

"Another  look,  from  brimming  eyes, 

Along  the  glorious  plain; 
Elsewhere  may  spread  as  lovely  skies, 

Elsewhere  their  monarch  reign; 
But  nevermore  in  that  bright  land, 
With  all  his  chivalry  at  hand, 

Now  dead  or  far  departed! — 
And  from  the  hillside  moves  the  band, 

The  bravest  broken-hearted." 


,^- 


mi 


NATIONALISM. 


By  MRS.  LILLIAN  CANTRELL  BAY. 

The  leading  thinkers  and  writers  on  social  questions  seem  to  agree  that  optimism 
is  no  longer  suitable  for  the  age,  and  that  the  laissez  faire  (let  alone)  principle  will  not 

meet  the  issues  of  the  day;  and  that  charity  in  laws 
may  soon  be  a  fundamental  doctrine  that  will  become 
a  matter  of  public  conscience.  It  is  even  maintained 
that  President  H  arrison  in  his  last  message  recommends 
measure  after  measure,  which,  whether  so  intended 
or  not,  are  in  perfect  harmony  with  Mr.  Bellamy's 
plan  of  nationalism,  as  his  leading  recommendations 
add  additional  strength  and  power  to  the  general  gov- 
ernment and  take  away  certain  rights  and  privileges 
from  the  states  and  citizens  that  have  never  been 
questioned  heretofore.  Mr.  Bellamy  desires  to  na- 
tionalize everything  and  everybody,  and  make  the 
powers  of  the  general  government  absolute  and  su- 
preme. He  argues  that  large  syndicates  are  handling 
immense  revenues,  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men, 
with  an  efficiency  and  economy  unattainable  by  the 
individuals;  hence  the  larger  the  business  the  simpler 
the  principles  to  be  applied — that  railroads,  tele- 
graphs, expressage  and  other  public  necessities,  now 
formed  into  corporations,  should  be  controlled  and 
operated  by  the  government  for  the  benefit  of  all  and 
not  a  few;  that  the  people  will  never  be  contented 
until  the  government  displaces  all  monopolies  and  becomes  one  grand  co-operation, 
and  that  this  country,  which  has  unlimited  power  of  production  under  existing  con- 
ditions, permits  its  power  to  be  broken  and  made  inefficient  by  fractional  efforts. 

Social  reforms  are  as  varied  as  the  flowers  of  the  field,  or,  if  you  please,  as  the 
resources  of  the  evil  one.  We  hear  of  societies  based  upon  communities  of  wives 
and  upon  celibacy;  upon  the  Word  of  God,  and  upon  the  denial  of  God;  upon  Christian 
communism,  and  the  naturalism  of  Rousseau;  upon  the  slave-based  military  systems  of 
Sparta  and  the  modern  ideal  of  social  and  industrial  equality;  upon  the  military  sys- 
tem and  religious  brotherhoods  of  the  Middle  Ages;  the  Jesuitism  of  Loyola,  and  the 
Shakerism  of  Mother  Ann  Lee,  which  are  diverse  and  varied  in  their  forms  and  con- 
ceptions, and  yet  all  were  suggested  by  either  the  religious  or  social  condition  of 
mankind  and  must  be  called  communism,  which  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  dis- 
content created  by  the  succe'ss  of  the  few  and  the  misery  and  want  of  the  many,  brought 
about  by  the  principle  and  practice  of  competition  in  war,  politics,  finances,  capitaliza- 
tion and  industry,  which  makes  might  the  basis  of  right. 

Against  this  triumph  of  might,  against  right  and  humanity,  the  Socialists  in  Europe 
and  the  Nationalists  in  America  raise  their  protest.     Lord  Lytton,  in  his  Utopia  "  The 

Mrs.  Lillian  Cantrell  Bay  was  bom  in  Little  Rock,  Ark.,  and  is  the  dansrhter  of  Dr.  W.  A.  Cantrell  and  Ellen  Harrell 
Cantrell,  She  was  educated  chiefly  in  Little  Rock,  finished  her  course  of  study  at  St.  Mary's  Hall,  Burlington,  N.  J.,  and 
has  visited  the  eastern  and  northern  cities  of  the  United  States.  She  married  Joseph  Lovell  Bay,  and  has  an  interesting 
family  of  children.  Mrs.  Bay  is  a  lady  of  unusual  gifts  of  mind  and  person,  is  a  favorite  in  social  circles,  has  many  devoted 
friends  and  admirers  of  her  virtues,  and  is  rarely  excelled  as  an  amateur  pianist.  In  religions  faith  she  is  Protestant  Episco- 
pslian.    Her  pontofiice  address  is  Hot  Springs,  Ark. 

260 


MRS.  LILLIAN  CANTRELL  BAY. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  261 

Coming  Race,"  says:  "The  primary  condition  of  mortal  happiness  consists  in  the 
extinction  of  that  strife  and  competition  between  individuals  which,  no  matter  what 
form  of  government  they  adopt,  render  the  many  subordinate  to  the  few,  and  annul 
the  calm  of  existence. 

The  social  dream  of  co-operation,  like  the  clouds  of  sunset,  has  changed  form  and 
name  since  the  time  of  Plato  to  Bellamy,  and  there  is  some  reason  to  believe  that  the 
clouds  are  becoming  the  reflection  of  an  actual  future;  that  all  the  various  social 
reforms,  nihilism  in  Russia  and  nationalism  in  America,  must  present  some  perma- 
nent idea,  some  just  complaint,  as  the  rock  lies  beneath  the  torn  seaweed  and  the 
shivering  foam  on  the  beach.  What,  then,  is  the  message,  the  soul  of  good,  the  impel- 
ling spirit  and  inspiration  in  these  things  that  seem  so  evil?  Nihilism  in  Russia  alone 
has  given  to  prison,  to  Siberia,  and  to  the  executioner  genius  enough,  self-sacrifice 
enough,  and  love  enough  to  have  inspired  an  hundred  epochs  in  the  history  of  the 
world.  It  may  be  said.  What  is  the  use  of  pursuing  the  impossible,  however  bright 
the  dream  may  be;  but  the  answer  is,  That  we  have  never  yet  discovered  what  the 
impossible  may  be  in  social  problems,  and  that  we  cannot  say,  in  the  light  of  past 
experience,  what  may  or  may  not  be  true,  as  the  history  of  the  world  is  a  history  of 
derided  dreams.  A  large  number  will  thrust  the  subject  aside  as  disagreeable  or  dan- 
gerous, and  say:  "  It  is  no  business  of  mine;"  which  may  mean,  "  It  is  not  to  be  helped, 
and  that  it  is  natural  for  the  weakest  to  go  to  the  wall."  These  weird  reformers  reply 
that  it  is  not  nature,  but  that 

"  Man's  inhumanity  to  man 
Makes  countless  thousands  mourn." 

Mr.  Bellamy  presents  a  bright  picture  of  a  .social  democracy,  giving  to  all  the 
greatest  advantages  and  the  highest  civilization,  and  obliterating  corruption,  degra- 
dation and  poverty,  which,  he  says,  is  demanded  by  increasing  civilization  and  the 
laws  of  evolution,  in  order  to  prevent  the  people  from  being  handed  over  to  the  rapac- 
ity of  a  feudal  system  of  capitalists,  and  that  we  must  either  choose  nationalism  or 
despotism. 

I  must  acknowledge  that  the  personal  history  of  Edward  Bellamy  is  unknown  to 
me.  It  is  inevitable  in  the  world  of  letters  that  an  author  must  be  at  rest  in  his  mau- 
soleum before  the  doors  of  his  earthly  home  are  thrown  open  and  the  public  admitted 
to  the  hallowed  hearthstone.  There  are  instances  where  authors  are  permitted  to  read 
their  own  biographies,  and  to  enjoy  the  doubtful  pleasure  of  "  seeing  themselves  as 
others  see  them;"  but  if  Mr.  Bellamy  occupies  a  place  in  this  coterie  I  am  not  pos- 
sessed of  the  evidence. 

There  is  thus  only  one  other  way  for  me  to  become  acquainted  with  him,  and  that  is 
his  writings.  We  judge  a  tree  by  its  fruit.  In  this  instance  the  fruit  hangs  very  high,  by 
almost  like  the  apples  of  Hesperides,  in  the  region  of  Allegory,  and  surrounded: — 
the  mists  of  a  century  of  time  in  advance  of  us.  It  promises  to  be  luscious  to  the 
taste,  having  for  us  all  the  enchantment  that  distance  is  said  to  lend. 

Mr.  Bellamy  has,  in  his  most  interesting  book,  "Looking  Backward,"  stationed 
himself  on  the  heights  of  the  twentieth  century,  and  through  the  magical  medium  of 
a  dream  has  looked  back  on  the  nineteenth  century  with  the  eyes  of  a  philanthropist 
who  would  see  us  all  bestowed  in  an  earthly  elysium,  where  fraternity  and  equality  go 
hand  in  hand,  "the  one  being  a  flower  growing  on  the  soil  of  the  other;"  where  love 
enters  all  the  doors  and  poverty  has  been  relegated  to  parts  unknown,  and  where  plu- 
tocracy has  been  banished  to  its  own  Plutonian  shores.  This  is  a  delightful  dream,  a 
beautiful  vision  of  a  possible  better  condition  than  existing  surroundings,  free  from 
selfishness,  and  where  the  relations  of  mankind  are  perfectly  harmonious.  It  is  really 
the  dream  of  a  noble  and  very  sympathetic  type  of  man,  guided  by  the  hope  that  the 
greatest  good  will  eventually  prevail. 

Mr.  Bellamy's  "  Looking  Backward  "  has  not  only  attracted  the  most  marked 
attention  of  the  literary  world,  but  has  also  been  subjected  to  the  most  vigorous  criti- 
cism and  condemnation. 


262  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

M.  Emil  de  Loveleye,  the  eminent  French  critic,  says:  "As  for  Mr.  Bellamy's 
dream,  it  will,  I  fear,  always  remain  an  Utopia,  unless  man's  heart  be  entirely  trans- 
formed. His  ideal  is  pure  communism,  and  as  such  raises  my  invincible  objections." 
And  Mr.  Vinton,  in  his  "Looking  Further  Backward,"  has  drawn  a  gloomy  picture  of 
the  outcome  of  nationalism  as  advocated  by  Mr.  Bellamy,  However,  all  seem  to  admit 
that  he  has  instilled  heart  into  the  usually  dry  subject  of  political  economy,  and 
has  woven  poetry  around  the  dread  problem  of  social  reform,  which  wrecks  lives 
and  embitters  souls,  and  that  he  has  offered  a  pleasing  remedy  instead  of  a  raven 
prophecy. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  "  Looking  Backward,"  like  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  may 
be  one  of  those  unexpected  incidents  which  occasionally  bring  mighty  causes  and 
forces  into  play,  and  with  astonishing  results. 

The  plan  is  beautifully  conceived  and  quaintly  sketched  with  the  skill  of  a  mas- 
ter, but  I  very  much  fear  that  the  time  for  the  lion  and  the  lamb  to  live  together  and 
not  covet  each  other's  strength  or  flesh  will  be  deferred  to  our  millennium  instead  of 
the  twentieth  century. 

However  it  may  be,  public  opinion  says  that  [f.  at  least  demands  attention  and  is 
worthy  of  investigation;  that  it  may  be  garnished  with  a  multiplicity  of  ornamental 
towns,  columns  and  entablatures,  a  wild  mingling  of  the  Greek,  Roman,  Byzantine, 
Romanesque  and  Gothic  styles  of  architecture,  and  yet  suggest  many  needed  additions 
to  the  edifice  of  our  government.  I  believe  in  looking  at  bright  things,  at  pictures  of 
places  that  I  may  never  hope  to  see,  at  grand  mountains  that  I  may  never  hope  to 
climb,  and  in  hoping  that  the  survival  of  the  fittest  will  be  the  survival  of  the  most 
gracious  spirit  and  the  most  tender  heart. 

Duty,  assisted  by  anxiety,  compels  us  to  ask:  "What  is  there  in  this  weird  propo- 
sition to  which  generation  after  generation  comes  in  such  questionable  shapes?  "  Is 
it  a  curse,  or  a  blessing  in  disguise,  or  some  angel  in  the  process  of  development? 
We  seem  to  be  driven  to  the  necessity  of  saying,  as  Hamlet  said,  "Thou  comest  in 
such  a  questionable  shape  that  I  will  speak  with  thee;"  or  as  Carlylesaid  of  the  dingy, 
soiled  and  ragged  toiler:  "  Thou  wert  our  conscript,  on  whom  the  lot  fell,  and,  fight- 
ing our  battles  wert  so  marred."  We  know  that  glorious  dreamers,  unselfish  martyrs, 
untamed  lovers  of  liberty  and  noble-minded  women,  as  well  as  dynamite  fiends  and 
incendiary  hags,  have  been  led  to  the  executioner's  block,  or  doomed  to  pass  their 
lives  in  the  dark  mines  of  Siberia,  toiling  with  broken  hearts  under  the  lash  of  heart- 
less masters.  It  is  said  that  the  barricades  have  their  Christs,  in  whom  we  can  detect 
aspirations,  emotions,  instincts  and  ideas  essentially  beneficent  and  good,  the  despair- 
ing anguish  of  nature's  longing  for  justice  and  right.  Oscar  Wilde,  with  real  insight, 
touched  a  right  note  when  he  said: 

"I  love  them  not,  whose  hands  profane 
Plant  the  red  flag  upon  the  piled-up  street 
For  no  right  cause;  beneath  whose  ignorant  reign, 
Arts,  culture,  reverence,  honor,  all  things  fade. 
Save  treason,  and  the  dagger  of  her  trade. 
And  murder,  with  his  silent,  bloody  feet, 
*  *  *  And  yet,  and  yet, 

These  Christs  upon  the  barricades, 
God  knows,  I  am  with  them  in  some  things." 

John  the  Baptist,  clad  in  his  camel's  hair  blanket,  and  feeding  upon  locusts  and 
wild  honey,  was  a  most  startling  character,  and  the  victim  of  unfortunate  circum- 
stances; although  he  was  a  forerunner  of  our  Saviour,  who,  also,  by  the  way,  came  to 
be  Saviour  only  after  Calvary  and  the  cross. 

We  might  do  worse  things  than  remember  that  it  was  a  murderer  who  said: 
"Am  I  my  brother's  keeper?"  and  listen  to  these  weird  reformers  why  teach  us  the 
Divine  lesson  of  inculcating  self-sacrifice;  or  condemn  or  dread  them  us  we  will,  no 
selfish  thoughts  taint  the  simplicity  of  their  aims. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  263 

We  consider  Nationalists  as  dreamers,  for  "  Looking  Backward  "  and  all  similar 
Utopias  are  but  dreams  to  our  practical  people;  but  such  dreams  are  a  mirage,  which 
could  not  appear  in  the  sky  unless  as  a  reflection  of  a  former  reality  somewhere  on 
earth.  Mr.  Bellamy  would  be  insane,  indeed,  did  he  conclude  that  even  the  main 
features  of  his  plan  will  be  adopted,  or  that  the  world  can  grow  up  on  the  basis  of  a 
book.  The  growth  must  be  natural,  but  the  forecast  of  that  growth  can  be  either 
hopeful  or  disheartening,  "  You  will  get  well,"  says  Dr.  Bellamy,  and  the  world 
opens  its  heart  to  the  good  and  gentle  tidings. 


LITERATURE  FOR  YOUNG  PEOPLE. 


By  MISS  CORA  M.  MCDONALD. 

In  this  glorious  year  we  are  often  reminded  of  that  immortal  day  on  which  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers  gained  a  foothold  upon  the  solid  rock  of  America. 

The  story  of  the  hardships  of  these  pioneers  of 
our  civilization,  of  their  comfortless  homes  and  their 
limited  resources,  is  familiar  to  us  all.  Upon  the  best 
table  in  the  best  room  was  their  library,  the  Bible, 
Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress,  Young's  Night  Thoughts, 
Milton,  Baxter's  Saints'  Rest,  Fox's  Lives  of  the 
Martyrs,  Addison's  Spectator,  and  Watts'  Improve- 
ment of  the  Mind.  And  yet  from  these  homes  of  pri- 
vation, the  mind  nourished  by  a  few  choice  books, 
came  the  sublime  men  and  women  of  our  colonial  age. 
Have  modern  luxury  and  an  exhaustless  supply  of 
varied  literature  produced  nobler  manhood  and 
womanhood?  Far  be  it  from  my  purpose  to  argue 
that  the  former  days  were  better  than  these.  Present 
advantages  mean  enlarged  opportunity  and  power, 
but  the  voice  of  the  past  can  teach  us  how  to  use 
wisely  the  inheritance  of  this  teeming  age.  Then,  in 
determining  what  the  young  ought  to  read,  we  should 
consider  carefully  the  results  of  past  effort,  to  learn 
the  principles  that  govern  this  important  factor  in  the 
formation  of  character. 

Let  us  glance  at  the  situation  of  our  youth  in 
regard  to  literature.  In  the  homes  of  many  the  text-books  of  the  children  form  the 
larger  part  of  the  books  possessed.  Not  repression  in  childhood,  but  skillful  guidance 
develops  self-control,  correct  habits,  and  true  morality.  A  forcible  writer  says:  "  The 
evils  of  a  pernicious  literature  are  pressing  hard  upon  us  with  every  click  of  the 
printing-press.  Its  corrupting  and  blighting  power  is  felt  in  our  schools  and  in  society. 
Its  baneful  effect  is  seen  in  the  disrespect  of  our  youth  for  parental  authority,  in  their 
treatment  of  the  aged,  in  their  wrong  ideas  of  life,  and  in  their  general  spirit  of  insub- 
ordination." 

What  can  we  do  to  stay  its  power  ?  This  work  must  begin  in  our  homes  with 
the  babe  at  its  mother's  knee,  in  the  lullaby  that  cradles  the  child  to  rest.  It  must 
continue  through  childhood  and  youth,  until  our  children  shall  go  forth  from  home 
and  school  with  fixed  habits  and  cultivated  tastes. 

Noteworthy  steps,  indeed,  have  already  been  taken  by  educators  to  make  books 
more  potent  in  bettering  our  American  life.  What  we  now  need  is  masters  of  books, 
guides  to  the  library;  those  who  understand  the  art  of  leading  the  young  spirit,  those 
who  have  the  ability  to  kindle  intelligence  and  awaken  thought. 

Miss  Cora  Martin  McDonald  was  born  in  Talmage,  Ohio.  Her  parents  were  John  McDonald  and  Fannie  A.  Coy 
McDonald,  of  New  England.  She  was  educated  in  Salem,  Ohio,  Oberlin  College  and  Wooster,  Ohio.  Received  the  degree  of 
A.M.  from  the  University  of  Wooster.  She  began  teaching  when  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  soon  gained  first  rank  in  her  chosen 
profession.  She  was  principal  of  the  Defiance  Ohio  High  School  for  eight  years,  the  Boone  Iowa  High  School  three  years, 
and  the  Cheyenne  Wyoming  High  School  three  years.  Miss  McDonald  now  occupies  a  chair  in  the  State  university  of 
Wyoming,  and  also  the  principalship  of  the  Academic  Department.  She  has  written  many  papers  on  educational  subjects, 
contributed  largely  to  the  "Wyoming  School  Journal,"  and  has  lectured  successfully  in  Wyoming  on  educational  themes.  In 
religions  faith  she  is  Presbyterian.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Laramie,  Wyo. 

264 


MISS  CORA    MARTIN    MCDONALD. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  265 

In  this  century,  as  never  before,  God  is  revealing  to  the  nations  woman's  place 
and  work  in  the  world.  She  will  lead  the  children  aright,  she  will  influence  them 
through  those  institutions  which  are  the  glory  and  the  hope  of  America — the  home  and 
the  public  school.  She  will  direct  the  physical,  the  intellectual,  the  spiritual  energy 
of  her  life  toward  the  rising  generation.  In  the  home,  in  the  Sunday-school,  and  in 
the  day  school,  she  will  feed  the  mind  upon  pure  and  noble  thoughts,  thus  giving  it  a 
habit,  a  tendency,  which  shall  determine  character  and  destiny.  And  now,  in  the  full- 
ness of  time,  God  has  given  her  such  agencies  of  self-improvement  for  the  guidance 
of  others  as  the  Chautauqua  Circle  and  University  Extension.  Early  disadvantages 
no  longer  form  a  barrier  to  her  usefulness.  Through  physical  culture,  hygienic  reform 
in  dress  and  fashion,  intellectual  ambition  awakened  by  opportunity,  she  becomes 
young  at  fifty;  is  beginning  the  study  of  foreign  languages  at  seventy.  With  our 
greatest  American  author,  James  Russell  Lowell,  she  sings: 

"  One  day,  with  life  and  heart,  is  more  than  time  enough  to  find  a  world." 

No  longer  will  she  entrust  the  education  of  her  child  to  the  teacher  alone,  but  she 
will  co-operate  with  that  teacher  to  secure  the  best  results. 

Instruction  in  science  has  awakened  in  the  mind  of  many  a  boy  and  girl  a  train  of 
thought,  an  interest  in  nature,  which  has  led  to  research,  and  has  redeemed  the  life 
from  devotion  to  degrading  literature  and  its  attendant  evils. 

The  educational  progress  of  this  century  is  in  no  way  more  manifest  than  in  the 
introduction  of  elementary  science  into  the  lower  grades  of  our  leading  schools. 

It  has  been  stated  that  "  childhood  is  the  era  of  scientific  acquisition."  Every  day 
the  child  gathers  facts,  makes  discoveries,  and  deduces  generalizations  far  grander  and 
far  richer  in  practical  import  to  him  than  any  made  by  Newton  or  Cuvier.  These  dis- 
coveries stimulate  and  ennoble  him,  not  only  in  the  same  way  as  the  Newtons  and 
Cuviers  were  ennobled,  but  relatively  to  a  far  higher  degree. 

The  instructor  must  first  have  accepted  Dame  Nature's  invitation  to  Agassiz: 

"  Come,  wander  with  me,"  she  said, 
"  Into  regions  untrod. 

And  read  what  is  still  unread 

In  the  manuscripts  of  God." 

Let  us  commune  with  Coleridge,  Ruskin,  Wordsworth  and  Bryant.  We  would 
not  banish  Mother  Goose  from  childhood  lore,  but  we  plead  for  the  use  of  sim- 
ple stories  from  the  world's  mythology  and  from  the  Bible,  interesting  incidents 
of  history,  the  gems  of  poetry  and  the  ideals  of  fiction.  So  bright,  so  attract- 
ive must  the  stories  seem,  that  curiosity  will  be  awakened  to  be  gratified  only  by 
reading.  Suitable  books  are  now  prepared  with  a  view  to  this  instruction.  The 
fairy  tale  can  cultivate  the  imagination,  the  fable  illustrate  and  impress  truth;  the 
carefully  chosen  story  from  mythology  may  become  a  teacher  of  ethics,  and  certainly 
will  develop  a  taste  for  classic  and  historic  literature. 

Let  us  begin  this  work  in  the  simplest  manner,  with  the  little  child,  and  continue 
until  he  pursues,  as  special  studies,  those  branches  of  knowledge  to  which  he  has  been 
so  gradually  and  delightfully  introduced. 

It  is  now  admitted  that  the  correct  use  of  language  is  to  be  learned  through  asso- 
ciation with  pure  English,  spoken  and  written.  Is  our  speech  in  the  home  chaste  and 
accurate?  So  will  be  that  of  our  youth.  Then  let  them  study  standard  English,  com- 
mitting to  memory  often  "  grand  and  ennobling  thoughts,  clothed  in  beautiful 
language;  thoughts  that  will  incite  them  to  noble  aspirations;  thoughts  that  incul- 
cate virtue,  patriotism,  love  of  God,  of  father,  of  mother,  kindness  to  dumb  animals, 
and  that  give  correct  rules  of  action." 

In  the  child's  reading  aloud,  too  much  time  is  often  given  to  "  mere  imitative 
reading,  and  not  enough  to  logical  analysis  to  ascertain  the  meaning  of  the  words  and 
sentences."  The  skillful  hearer  will  ask  many  questions,  and  the  well-trained  child 
will  question,  too.     Shall  we  avoid  an  answer,  reply  indifferently  or  ignorantly? 


266  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Let  us  not  permit  our  children,  or  those  whom  we  can  influence,  to  waste  time  in 
committing  for  declamation  selections  of  no  literary  value;  but  let  the  recitation, 
essay,  and  oration  exert  an  elevating  influence.  Our  boys  will  imbibe  the  spirit  of 
patriotism  while  their  hearts  are  thrilled  with  the  fervid  oratory  of  such  men  as  Fox, 
Chatham  and  Everett.  The  thought  has  been  thus  forcibly  expressed:  "The  boy 
who  feels  the  greatness  of  Burke  and  of  Webster  is  more  apt  to  acknowledge  the 
power  of  the  'Oration  on  the  Crown.'  He  who  has  been  thrilled  by  the  sublimity  of 
Milton  will  grow  enthusiastic  over  the  pages  of  Virgil  and  Dante;  and  when  the  vast 
world  of  Shakespeare's  thought  has  been  opened  before  his  vision,  he  will  see  more 
clearly  what  is  immortal  in  the  Iliad  and  the  Odyssey." 

History  should  be  impressed  through  historical  and  biographical  literature,  rather 
than  by  memorizing  dates  and  facts,  which  robs  the  narrative  of  vitality  and  creates  a 
distaste  for  historical  works.  Biography  has  been  called  the  soul  of  history,  and  is  a 
powerful  force  in  character  culture. 

Generalities  are,  for  practical  purposes,  dead  things,  but  particulars  contain  the 
germs  of  life,  and  stimulate  to  action.  The  biographies  of  distinguished  men  record 
the  important  history  of  their  times,  and  are  interesting  to  the  young.  The  works  of 
Cooper,  Parkman,  Irving,  Longfellow,  Whittier  and  Choate,  the  "Statesmen  Series," 
and  Coffin's  books  will  make  United  States  history  attractive.  What  better  introduc- 
tion to  Roman  history  than  Macaulay's  "  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome,"  or  Shakespeare's 
"Julius  Caesar"  and  "  Coriolanus?  "  Walter  Scott's  novels  should  be  to  our  youth  a 
continual  source  of  pleasure  and  profit.  They  have  "  Ivanhoe,"  "The  Talisman"  and 
"  Quentin  Durward  "  for  Louis  XL,  Charles  the  Bold  and  the  Wars  of  the  Roses; 
"  Kenilworth"  and  the  "  Abbott "  for  Elizabeth  and  Mary  Queen  of  Scots;  "Wood- 
stock," "  Old  Mortality "  and  "  Peveril  of  the  Peak "  for  the  Stuarts.  Bulwer's 
"  Harold,"  his  "  Last  of  the  Barons,"  and  Thackeray's  "  Henry  Esmond,"  will  also 
instruct  and  delight  them.  Why  not  have  them  read  Kingsley's  "Hypatia"  for  a 
knowledge  of  the  fifth  century,  and  Victor  Hugo  for  the  battle  of  Waterloo?  Why  not 
Thackeray,  Dickens  and  George  Eliot  for  the  age  of  Victoria? 

What  historian  has  given  us  a  more  faithful  picture  of  New  England  than  Haw- 
thorne in  the  "  Scarlet  Letter,"  Holland  in  "  Bay  Path,"  Longfellow  in  "  Miles 
Standish,"  or  Whittier  in  "Snow  Bound?"  "Evangeline"  will  impress  the  pathetic 
story  of /eligious  persecution  in  Acadia. 

There  seems  now  to  be  a  general  awakening  to  the  importance  of  Bible  knowl- 
edge for  the  young.  The  worthy  president  of  John  Hopkins'  University  deplores  the 
ignorance  of  Scripture  history  among  college  students,  and  urges  the  movement  to 
place  the  study  of  the  Bible  in  the  university  or  college  curriculum. 

Our  American  colleges  are  beginning  to  put  the  Bible  into  its  "  rightful  place  of 
honor  as  the  center  of  the  highest  culture." 

If  the  secular  world  thus  realizes  the  importance  of  the  Bible,  what  a  stimulus  to 
us,  who  see  in  it  not  only  "  the  greatest  of  all  classics  and  the  foremost  book  in  the 
world's  literature,"  but  infinitely  more,  the  revelation  of  God  to  men.  Shall  we  plan 
a  course  of  reading  for  the  young  and  exclude  the  only  guide  to  true  wisdom? 

Shall  they  not  learn  that  we  may  enjoy  a  communion  with  God  which  is  as  "  real 
as  ever  communion  was  with  friend?  "  That  here  we  find  our  "  proof  of  God,  of  duty, 
and  of  destiny."  "  We  may  enter  in,  may  shut  the  door;  let  the  outer  darkness  gather; 
but  all  is  light.  The  invisible  becorhes  visible,  and  we  adore,  treading  where  science 
never  trod,  in  realms,  the  door  of  which  no  science  can  unlock." 

Would  you  impress  youth  with  the  ruin  that  crime  brings  to  him  who  commits  it? 
Persuade  them  to  read  "  Macbeth,"  Hawthorne's  "  Marble  Faun,"  or  Mrs.  Browning's 
"  Drama  of  P^xile.'  Would  you  inspire  them  with  ideals  of  manhood  and  woman- 
hood?    Let  them  study  the  lives  of  David  Copperfield  and  the  gentle  Agnes. 

Fiction,  through  the  presentation  of  beautiful  character,  awakens  sympathy; 
refines  and  ennobles. 

"  Ben  Hur  "  and  the  "  Mill  on  the  Floss  "  are  types  of  the  novel  which  we  cannot 
commend  too  highly. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  267 

Poetry  cultivates  the  imagination,  and  fills  the  soul  with  pure,  bright  pictures. 
Homer,  Dante,  Shakespeare!  How  they  outweigh  kings  and  warriors  and  millionaires. 
Poetry  is  power,  truth,  beauty,  pathos,  exaltation.  The  utility  of  the  ideal!  How 
the  glowing  theme  expands  as  we  try  to  compass  it. 

In  a  lecture  given  recently  at  Oxford,  on  mediaeval  universities,  Gladstone  said 
he  feared  that  under  pressure  from  without  they  should  lean,  if  ever  so  little,  to  that 
theory  of  education  which  "  would  have  it  construct  machines  of  so  many  horse-power, 
rather  than  form  characters,  and  rear  into  true  excellence  that  marvelous  creature  we 
call  man,  which  gloats  upon  success  in  life,  instead  of  studying  to  secure  that  the 
man  shall  always  be  greater  than  his  work,  and  never  bounded  by  it;  but  that  his  eye 
shall  boldly  run,  in  the  words  of  Wordsworth, 

"  Along  the  line  of  limitless  desires." 

Mr.  Emerson  replied  to  his  daughter,  who  inquired  whether  she  should  study 
botany,  Greek,  or  metaphysics,  that  it  was  of  no  consequence  what  she  studied;  the 
question  was  with  whom  she  studied. 

We  recall  Garfield's  tribute:  "A  university  education  might  have  been  received 
while  sitting  on  the  same  log  with  Mark  Hopkins." 

Unconscious  tuition!  The  old  theme,  you  say.  Yes,  old  as  humanity;  and  yet 
our  chief  source  of  inspiration.  Let  us  dwell  upon  it  until  we  are  filled  with  a  sense 
of  its  real  grandeur. 

Foreign  nations  acknowledge  the  greatness  of  our  land,  but  they  deny  our  claim 
to  superiority  in  literary  productions.  They  tell  us  that  American  writers  are  not 
original;  that  America  lacks  historical  associations,  and  that  we  are  too  hurried,  too 
practical  a  people  to  excel  in  literature.  Is  this  true?  America  has  had  less  than 
three  centuries  of  existence,  and  much  of  that  time  has  been  spent  in  clearing  forests 
and  subduing  enemies.  Has  she  not  already  given  the  world  a  greater  number  of 
worthy  authors  than  any  other  nation  in  the  same  period  of  its  early  existence?  Bry- 
ant and  Longfellow,  Whittier,  Lowell,  Holmes,  Hawthorne,  Bancroft,  Cooper,  Mrs. 
Stowe,  and  Emerson— who  can  say  that  coming  generations  will  not  award  to  these 
first  rank? 

But,  grant  that  we  have  not  yet  produced  one  truly  great  writer,  the  future  is 
radiant  with  promise.  When  centuries  have  passed  and  time  has  lent  enchantment, 
the  romantic' and  thrilling  incidents  connected  with  the  discovery  and  colonization  of 
our  country  will  furnish  themes  as  grand  as  any  ever  presented  to  epic  poet.  What 
historic  associations  more  sacred,  more  inspiring,  than  those  that  cluster  about  Plym- 
outh Rock,  Bunker  Hill,  Valley  Forge,  Yorktown  and  Gettysburg? 

The  nations  of  the  earth  are  coming  to  our  shores  and  mingling  with  our  people. 
Into  the  blood  of  coming  generations  will  be  infused  the  best  elements  of  every  race, 
giving  rise  to  a  new'nation  superior  in  intellectual  vigor  to  any  that  has  existed.  We 
believe  that  the  poet  of  the  future  will  be  an  American.  What  may  we  not  expect 
from  woman  in  this  land  of  her  emancipation?  Now  that  her  opportunities  and  priv- 
ileges are  enlarging,  may  she  not  give  to  us  golden  thoughts  in  enduring  form  that 
will  be  a  worthy  expression  of  the  highest  civilization?  What  a  heritage  of  patriotic 
literature  in  soiig  and  story  will  this  year  bequeath  to  the  youth  of  America!  What 
is  this  wondrous  exhibition  but  the  volume  of  the  nineteenth  century,  opened  on 
American  soil  that  the  world  may  read  its  radiant  chapters?  Upon  its  gilded  pages 
are  science  and  art,  prose  and  poetry. 

Here  is  indelibly  inscribed  an  immortal  tribute  to  woman's  worth  and  power,  and 
here,  engraved  in  letters  of  light,  is  the  characteristic  of  the  coming  heroes  and  hero- 
ines:  "  Whosoever  of  you  will  be  the  chiefest,  shall  be  servant  of  all." 


THE  MEDICAL  PROFESSION  FOR  WOMAN. 


By  F.  M.  LANKTON,  M.  D. 

You  know  the  story,  how  Eve  ate    the  fruit  of    the  "tree  of  knowledge;"  not 
because  she  was  particularly  fond  of  apples,  but  in  the  literal  wording — "when  woman 

saw  that  the  tree  was  good  for  food,  and  that  it  was 
pleasant  for  the  eyes,  and  a  tree  to  be  desired  to 
make  one  wise,  she  took  of  the  fruit  thereof  and  did 
eat,  and  gave  to  her  husband  and  he  did  eat."  We 
have  always  had  a  secret  satisfaction  in  the  knowl- 
edge that  it  required  Satan  himself,  the  strongest  of 
known  powers  for  evil,  to  tempt  Eve  in  the  first  place, 
and  he,  in  his  Satanic  ingenuity,  could  do  so  only 
through  her  desire  for  wisdom,  not  curiosity,  the 
story  says,  knowledge,  which  is  quite  a  different  matter. 
There  is  no  thirst  equal  to  that  of  inheritance,  and 
this  desire  for  wisdom,  for  growth,  could  no  more  be 
extinguished  than  could  the  covering  of  the  seed 
deep  in  the  earth  deprive  it  of  life.  It  finally  struggles 
upward  to  find  its  proper  elements  of  light,  air  and 
sunshine — its  world;  finds,  too,  that  the  depth  of  cover- 
ing and  obstacles  overcome  have  served  as  truest 
friends,  giving  firmness  of  root  and  greater  possibil- 
ities of  broader  development.  We,  in  the  year  1893, 
with  its  privileges  of  education,  its  progressive  con- 
ceptions of  equality  and  justice,  can  have  but  a  faint 
idea  of  the  struggles  and  martyrdom  of  the  early 
crusaders  along  these  lines.  Susan  B.  Anthony  says:  "Even  little  children  were  taught 
to  believe  that  I  had  hoofs  and  horns."  We  say,  God  bless  her!  To  such  women, 
strong  of  purpose,  strong  to  bear  the  scorn  of  the  world,  if  need  be,  with  eyes  fixed 
upon  the  future,  with  hearts  stayed  upon  the  God  of  justice,  they  pressed  firmly  on 
through  the  forest  of  public  opinion,  and  the  brambles  of  public  prejudice,  over  the 
rocks  of  cruel  criticism,  blazing  the  pathway  for  us  to  follow.  It  was  natural  that 
woman  should  choose  the  line  of  education  which  nature  had  best  prepared  her  by 
taste  and  natural  talent  to  follow.  But  where  were  the  schools  to  give  her  this  edu- 
cation? We  can  scarcely  believe  that  the  first  school  for  the  higher  education  of 
women  was  established  in  1819  and  1820,  Mount  Holyoke  and  Oberlin  in  1837.  There 
were  the  same  fears  for  the  influence  upon  women  of  these  schools  and  seminaries,  as 
we  find  later  in  regard  to  their  entrance  into  the  medical  profession.  There  has  been  no 
line  of  effort  or  pathway  of  progress  more  difficult  to  follow,  than  for  woman  to  obtain 
entrance  into  this  one  of  the  learned  professions.  Her  natural  ability  as  nurse,  com- 
panion, friend;  her  deftness  of  touch,  quickness  of  perception,  patience  through  long 
suffering;  these  and  many  other  qualifications  which  made  her  peculiarly  fitted  for  the 
position  were  as  naught  to  overcome  custom,  that  dragon  to  progress,  and  prejudice, 

Dr.  Freeda  M.  Lankton  was  bom  in  Oriskany,  N.  V.,  August  10,  1852.  Her  parents  were  Elizabeth  Tremain  Lodmer,  of 
Southampton,  England,  and  Eber  Lodmer,  of  Nova  Scotia,  a  Baptist  clergyman.  She  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of 
Rome,  N.  Y.,  later  by  private  teachers,  and  graduated  from  the  State  University  of  Iowa.  She  married  Mr.  Byron  F.  Lankton, 
of  New  York,  in  1870.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  fallen  womanhood  and  the  sick  and  suffering. 
Her  principal  literary  works  are  papers  for  medical  journals  and  societies,  "The  King's  Daughters,"  and  W.  C.  T.  U. 
Conventions.  Her  profession  is  that  of  physician  and  snrgeon.  Dr.  Lankton  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
Her  postoifice  address  is  Omaha,  Neb. 

268 


F.  M.  LANKTON,  M.  D. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  269 

that  most  difficult  of  all  foes  to  overcome.  Said  one  of  the  prominent  professors  in 
the  medical  world,  now  holding  a  chair  in  one  of  the  eastern  colleges:  "History, 
physiology,  and  the  general  judgment  of  society,  unite  in  a  negative  of  woman's  fitness 
for  the  medical  office."  In  the  "Buffalo  Medical  Journal,"  1869,  is  found  among  its  edi- 
torial, the  following:  "If  I  were  to  plan  with  malicious  hate  the  greatest  curse  I  could 
conceive  for  woman;  if  I  would  estrange  them  from  the  protection  of  women  and 
make  them  so  far  as  possible  loathsome  and  disgusting  to  men,  I  would  favor  this 
so-called  reform,  which  proposes  to  make  doctors  of  them."  This  was  in  1869,  less 
than  twenty-five  years  ago.  We  trust  this  editor  has  taken  the  position  of  the  wise 
man,  who  always  changes  his  mind  when  he  finds  that  his  conclusions  have  been  based 
upon  false  conceptions.  We  hope  that  he  is  alive  today  to  see  that  his  prophecy  has 
failed  utterly  of  its  fulfillment.  The  curse  which  he  feared  has  proved  a  blessing 
both  to  men  and  women.  Why  should  the  office  of  physician  make  women  "loath- 
some and  disgusting  to  men?" 

The  modesty  and  sense  of  propriety,  which,  in  their  opinion,  should  forever  keep 
us  from  the  halls  of  medical  colleges  where  we  may  study  with  all  grave  and  reverend 
feeling  the  mysteries  of  these  bodies  of  ours,  which  are  truly  "fearfully  and  wonder- 
fully made,"  and  which  can  only  inspire  us  with  awe,  and  a  more  firm  belief  in  the 
wisdom  and  love  of  our  Creator.  While  this  type  of  person  is  filled  with  consterna- 
tion at  the  thought  of  woman  as  student  and  physician,  there  seems  never  to  have 
entered  his  masculine  brain  the  possibility  of  woman's  objection  to  lay  bare  all  her 
secrets  and  sufferings,  and  to  receive  the  administrations  necessary  at  his  hands. 
Custom  has  so  long  given  him  these  privileges  that  he  cannot  easily  adapt  himself  to 
any  change.  It  was  said,  too,  that  the  result  of  woman's  medical  education  would  be 
a  lowering  of  her  moral  nature.     This  also  has  proved  untrue. 

It  is  said,  also,  that  woman  has  not  sufficient  physical  strength  to  endure  the 
demands  of  the  life  of  the  physician.  This  also  is  fallacy.  In  reply  to  questions  sent 
out  to  large  numbers  of  women  in  the  profession,  the  universal  answer  has  been 
"  health  better  than  before  entering  the  profession."  Many  of  them  add:  "  I  attribute 
it  to  the  constant  tonic  of  fresh  air."  To  be  sure  it  is  a  laborious  life,  so  is  that  of  the 
society  woman,  with  far  less  mental  compensation.  Work  seldom  kills;  to  each  of  its 
victims  can  be  counted  ten  killed  by  discontent,  born  of  too  much  time,  and  too  little 
definite  aim  and  purpose  in  life.  It  is  well  known  that  the  Blackwell  sisters,  Eliza- 
beth and  Emily,  were  the  pioneers  in  medical  education.  This  was  in  1845.  There 
was  no  college  willing  to  admit  a  woman,  and  not  until  1849  did  the  elder  sister  grad- 
uate. A  Boston  journal  at  that  time  published  an  article  in  which  we  find  this  sen- 
tence: "The  ceremonies  of  graduating  Miss  Blackwell  at  Geneva  may  well  be  called 
a  farce.  The  profession  was  quite  too  full  before."  Even  this  criticism  did  not  put  a 
stop  to  the  whole  business,  as  evidently  this  cynic  expected  it  would.  Think  of  the 
crowded  condition  of  the  profession  having  added  to  its  numbers  one  lone  woman.  It 
was  the  beginning  of  a  new  era.  What  had  been  done  could  be  done  again.  It  is  interest- 
ing to  note  the  courage  and  perseverance  of  these  women.  Dr.  Susan  B.  Edson  was  the 
entering  wedge  to  open  the  doors  of  the  Cleveland  HomcEopathic  College.  She  grad- 
uated in  1854.  Says  the  "  Woman's  Tribune:  "  This  college  would  not  sell  its  scholar- 
ships to  women."  It  was  owing  on  the  construction  of  its  new  building  which  it  could 
not  pay,  and  the  creditor  insisted  on  having  a  scholarship  before  he  turned  over  the 
keys  of  the  building.  This  scholarship  he  sold  to  Miss  Edson,  who  became  thereby 
entitled  to  enter.  They  had  a  faculty  meeting  over  her,  and  decided  that  she  could 
not  enter  the  following  year,  but  she  informed  them  that  she  should  be  there.  "Well," 
said  the  president,  "  it  will  not  be  very  pleasant  for  you."  "That  is  your  lookout," 
said  Miss  Edson;  "  If  the  men  who  come  here  to  study  medicine  cannot  treat  a  woman 
decently  here,  they  are  not  fit  to  treat  them  elsewhere.  If  I  live  I  shall  be  here." 
When  the  authorities  found  that  she  could  not  be  frightened  away,  they  admitted  a 
few  others  who  applied  later.  Dr.  Edson  was  for  years  the  physician  of  President 
Garfield  and  his  family,  and  "  was  in  constant  attendance  upon  him  during  his  last 


270  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

illness,  though  he  was  under  the  surgical  care  of  six  other  physicians."  She  also 
*'  introduced  to  the  United  States  the  first  Chinese  baby  of  rank  born  in  this  country." 
There  are  now  thirty-six  medical  colleges  which  admit  mixed  classes,  and  five  med- 
ical schools  exclusively  for  women,  besides  a  school  of  pharmacy  for  women  at  Louis- 
ville, Ky.  All  this  since  1849,  when  one  woman  was  too  great  a  crowd  for  the  Boston 
editor.  He  has  probably  gone  long  since,  to  the  country  where,  if  present  indications 
are  at  all  reliable,  he  will  find  the  majority  of  its  inhabitants  women.  What  are  the 
qualifications  necessary  for  a  woman  to  be  successful  in  the  profession?  We  can 
only  give  a  few  of  them. 

First,  energy  and  courage,  self  reliance,  great  perseverance,  firmness,  love  for  sci- 
entific truths,  dignity  above  and  beyond  all  true  womanliness.  There  was  never  greater 
mistake  made  than  in  thinking  one's  influence  greater,  or  that  it  is  in  any  sense  neces- 
sary, to  become  masculine  or  mannish  when  entering  upon  any  line  of  public  work. 
The  exact  reverse  is  true.  We  can  neither  afford  to  create  prejudice  nor  offend  good 
taste  by  being  ill-mannered  or  ill-bred.  To  hold  the  confidence  and  respect  of  both 
good  men  and  good  women  we  must  not  only  avoid  evil  in  all  forms,  but  even  the 
appearance  of  evil.  Each  one  must  prove  her  ability  by  doing  better  work  than  her 
brother  practitioner  to  receive  the  same  credit.  Does  she  lose  a  patient,  nine  out  of 
ten  of  the  neighbors  and  friends  will  say,  or  think,  if  too  courteous  to  express  their 
opinion,  you  should  have  known  better  than  to  have  employed  a  woman.  Does  her 
brother  physician  lose  half  a  dozen  in  the  same  neighborhood,  there  are  grateful  words 
of  how  he  stood  by  them  to  the  last;  of  how  peculiar  were  the  complications  of  dis- 
ease, and  the  impossibility  of  understanding  the  dispensations  of  providence.  Unjust, 
do  you  say  ?  Yes,  but  it  will  grow  less  so  as  the  years  go  by.  For  already  it  is  becom- 
ing noticeable  that  women  do  not  lose  their  patients  as  frequently  or  in  as  large  a  per 
cent  as  do  men.  This  is  easily  accounted  for  when  we  pause  to  consider  the  facts 
and  reason  to  natural  conclusions.  Men  too  frequently  drift  into  the  profession.  The 
father,  or  brother,  or  uncle,  is  a  doctor,  and  it  is  easy  to  read  with  them,  and  so  they 
drift,  as  we  say,  into  the  medical  profession,  without  thought  of  special  fitness,  or 
special  taste,  or  qualification.  Not  so  with  the  woman  seeking  this  avocation.  Truly 
to  her  must  there  be  a  distinct  call,  an  overwhelming  must.  There  is  no  ease  or  drift- 
ing to  her.  She  must  be  the  woman  who  has  the  pride  of  excelling,  the  pride  of 
standing  at  the  head,  who  will  have  the  best  and  do  the  best  or  nothing.  Who  has 
the  courage  of  her  convictions,  who  knows  no  defeat.  This  is  the  type  of  woman  who 
comes  into  the  profession  because  nature,  which  is  our  most  imperative  councilor, 
has  been  her  teacher;  because  she  knows  that  suffering  womanhood  can  be  better 
understood  by  women  than  it  ever  can  be  by  men.  Theory  and  experience  are  widely 
different  in  practical  results.  The  woman  understands  at  once,  from  a  woman's  knowl- 
edge and  woman's  standpoint,  what  the  man  fails  to  get  from  books  or  theory,  and 
cannot  experience  in  himself.  The  prejudice  against  women  among  the  men  of  the 
profession  is  fast  dying  out  in  college  and  class  room;  at  the  bedside  and  in  our  med- 
ical societies  we  are  accorded  every  help  and  encouragement,  every  courtesy  and 
equality.  It  is  only  occasionally  that  we  meet  one  of  the  ancient  type,  and  he 
impresses  us  with  a  feeling  of  amusement  rather  than  one  of  resentment.  It  is  said 
that  women  are  nervous  and  fail  in  emergencies.  This  is  a  libel  upon  the  sex.  No 
greater  acts  of  heroism  have  ever  been  shown  to  the  world  than  those  performed  by 
women.  It  is  my  experience  and  observation  that  sex  has  nothing  to  do  whatever 
with  the  matter  of  coolness  in  emergency.  I  have  seen  extremely  nervous  men  in  the 
profession,  and  women  who,  for  calrhness,  might  have  stepped  from  the  pedestal  of 
the  marble  statue.  Knowledge  is  the  basis  of  self-reliance.  The  man  or  woman  who 
knows  what  to  do  and  does  it,  knows  also  that  they  have  nothing  to  fear  either  from 
public  criticism  or  self-accusation,  whatever  the  results  may  be. 

In  a  medical  journal  we  read,  not  long  since,  two  articles,  both  upon  women  as 
physicians  and  surgeons.  The  editor  must  have  had  a  fine  sense  of  humor,  placing 
them,  as  he  did,  upon  consecutive  pages  of  his  journal.     The  first  stated  certain  facts 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  271 

regardint;  some  operations  performed,  then  added  words  of  praise  and  thanksgiving 
that  "the  time  had  come  when  women  coming  to  the  hospital  or  clinic  could  there 
meet  women  as  physician  and  surgeon,  standing  side  by  side  as  equals  with  the  men 
in  the  profession,  thus  taking  away  much  of  the  fear  and  dread  which  every  woman 
must  feel  in  being  in  the  hands  of  men  only  during  her  unconscious  helplessness. 
Now  woman  was  there  as  operator  or  assistant,  with  deft  touch,  kindly  encourage- 
ment, gentle  womanly  ministration,  although  thoroughly  scientific  and  strong  to  do 
her  duty."  The  pages  following  were  also  in  regard  to  her  position  as  physician. 
The  writer,  a  man,  as  in  the  former  article,  said  that  "  while  women  had  proven  them- 
selves capable,  they  had  also  proved  to  be  utterly  heartless,  and  without  pity  or  sense 
of  care  and  gentleness;"  that  they  were  "  far  less  cautious  in  inflicting  pain,"  and 
ended  by  a  most  solemn  warning  to  all  women  to  "avoid  the  sex  professionally,  unless 
they  expected  and  wish  rough  handling."  Here  were  two  men  speaking  from  their 
respective  standpoints — the  one  of  elderly  years  and  long  experience,  a  firm  friend  of 
woman,  and  one  who  has  done  much  to  place  her  in  the  position  which  she  holds 
today  in  the  profession.  The  other,  a  young  man,  with  probably  a  rival  whom  he 
wished  to  annihilate.  Possibly  he  had  met  one  who  did  not  honor  her  calling.  Even 
among  the  disciples  of  our  Lord  there  was  one  who  failed  utterly  in  his  professions. 
We  do  not  take  him  as  a  type,  however,  of  the  other  eleven.  Women  do  not  ask 
favors,  they  expect  criticism.  They  do  not  ask  leniency,  but  they  do  ask  justice  and 
fair  dealing.  Taking  the  same  course  of  study — passing  the  same  examinations, 
standing,  with  but  few  exceptions,  at  the  head  of  her  classes,  compelling  by  her  hard- 
earned  success  the  admiration  of  both  faculty  and  classmates — woman  demands  only 
fair  play,  at  the  hands  of  both  the  men  in  the  profession  and  the  public  at  large.  She 
should  have,  too,  in  all  state  and  public  institutions  where  women  and  children  are 
confined,  the  first  positions  as  physician  in  charge.  The  conditions  unearthed  in  some 
of  our  insane  asylums,  so  monstrous  as  to  defy,  almost,  our  belief  in  possibilities, 
would  be  made  impossible  did  we  have  women  as  physicians  and  attendants,  as  we 
should  have.  In  our  police  stations,  our  jails  and  prisons,  wherever  we  find  women 
degraded,  poverty-stricken  or  diseased,  there  should  we  find  women  by  their  side  as 
physician.  We  are  so  frequently  told  that  women  do  not  stand  by  each  other,  do 
not  trust  each  other,  and  then  when  we  ask  that  she  may  be  placed  in  positions  where 
she  may  prove  this  assertion  untrue,  they  are  refused  her.  These  congresses,  meeting 
as  they  have,  day  after  day,  and  month  after  month,  have  been  one  great  object  lesson 
of  the  fallacy  of  this  saying. 

Believing  most  thoroughly  in  womanhood  and  womankind,  proud  of  my  sisters 
in  the  profession  and  the  business  world,  you  will  accept  kindly,  I  trust,  one  bit  of 
criticism  which  I  have  to  offer,  some  of  our  business  and  professional  women;  that  is, 
in  regard  to  the  use  of  our  names.  Think  of  Susan  B.  Anthony  as  "  Susie,"  or  Harriet 
Beecher  Stowe  as  "  Hattie  "  Beecher  Stowe.  Would  our  peerless  Frances  Willard 
seem  quite  as  dignified  as  "  Fannie?"  Had  Abigail  Adams  lived  in  our  day  we  hope 
she  would  not  have  been  "Abbie,"  or  that  Martha  Washington  would  have  been  "Mat- 
tie."  We  have  grave  fears,  however,  and  feel  thankful  that  they  got  safely  into  another 
world  before  losing  the  plain  but  dignified  names  which  always  convey  a  sound  of 
strength  and  sturdy  independence.  Personally,  we  see  no  necessity  for  the  women  in 
the  profession  to  use  the  whole  name  unless  they  so  wish.  The  initials  only  are  suf- 
ficient for  men — why  not  for  women?  Let  me  make  this  plea,  then,  for  greater  appre- 
ciation of  the  small  things  which  go  to  make  up  the  success  of  our  business  life,  one 
of  which,  by  no  means  the  smallest,  is  a  more  dignified  standard  for  the  names  which 
we  bear,  and  which  we  all  hope  to  hand  down  to  posterity  as  honored,  worthy  a  place 
among  those  remembered  as  having  done  something  to  lessen  the  sum  total  of  human 
suffering,  and  to  have  made  broader  the  pathway  and  brighter  the  light  shining  upon 
woman's  work.  That  work,  in  its  many  departments,  has  received  an  impetus  by  these 
congresses,  held  during  this  never-to-be-forgotten  year,  which  in  their  results  can  never 
be  measured.     W^e  have  taken  great  strides  in  learning,  in  this  world-wide  touch  with 


272  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

humanity,  that  "  all  mankind  is  kin,"  learned  that  we  have  one  common  interest,  and 
that  "from  one  blood  was  made  all  nations  of  the  earth."  To  this  great  American 
republic,  founded  upon  principles  of  justice  and  freedom  for  all  good,  must  we  give 
the  no  small  honor  of  first  placing  woman  with  equal  education,  equal  rights  and  equal 
privileges  in  the  medical  profession.  Here,  with  a  purpose  unfaltering,  a  will  unchang- 
ing and  a  faith  undying,  does  she  stand,  to  work  for  the  betterment  of  humanity  and 
add  what  she  may  to  the  sum  of  human  happiness. 


THE  LEGAL  PROFESSION  FOR  WOMEN. 


By  MRS.  WINONA  BRANCH  SAWYER. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  to  woman  as  an  Emancipation  Procla- 
mation, in  that  it  erects  no  barriers,  imposes  no  limitations,  sanctions  no  discrimina- 
tions on  account  of  sex.  Tacitly  implying  the  per- 
fect equality  of  man  and  woman  as  citizens,  alike 
entitled  to  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness, 
its  v^ery  silence  concerning  the  status  of  woman  is  an 
eloquent  pleading  in  her  behalf. 

Even  in  those  countries  where  woman  had  been 
esteemed  most  happy,  we  find  her  debarred  by  the 
salic  law,  restrained  by  the  canon  law,  coerced  by  the 
common  law,  subordinated  by  the  civil  law,  misrepre- 
sented and  robbed  of  freedom  of  will  by  the  fictions  of 
the  statutory  law.  Whether  enthroned  as  the  idol  of 
chivalry  in  one  country,  or  bartered  as  chattels  in 
another;  whether  affronted  by  poligamy,  or  tormented 
with  a  condition  between  indifference  and  contempt; 
whether  immured  by  asceticism,  or  given  the  free- 
dom of  social  expulsion;  whether  crowned  with  a 
halo  of  a  Madonna,  or  dishonored  with  the  stigma  of 
a  Magdalen,  in  every  land  and  in  every  age  she  has 
been  the  one  legislated  against,  the  one  excluded 
from  the  benefit  and  deprived  of  the  protection  of 
the  law. 

The  Renaissance  and  Reformation,  which  indeed 
widened  existing  horizons,  sketched  no  line  of  demarcation  between  the  zenith  of 
man's  prerogative  and  the  nadir  of  woman's  proscription,  but  the  great  wave  of  Revo- 
lution— a  self-consciousness  and  self-assertion  of  individuality — which  had  been  gath- 
ering momentum  for  generations,  culminated  on  the  shores  of  the  Western  Continent. 
Our  country  is  pledged  to  a  mission  of  justice  to  the  individual.  There  is  no  forcing 
back  the  waters  of  this  tide,  no  "thus  far  and  no  farther."  Those  who  attempt  to  close 
the  flood  gates,  to  repairthe  old-time  dykes,  are  wasting  precious  time  which  might  better 
be  improved  in  accommodating  themselves  to  the  requirements  of  the  age.  The  under- 
tow of  this  current  has  been  undermining  and  sweeping  away  the  accumulated  debris 
of  custom  and  tradition.  The  prejudices  of  race  and  religion  have  gone,  and  the  dis- 
qualification of  sex  is  disappearing  by  the  free  opening  up  of  all  professions  to  meri- 
torious applicants. 

That  "  custom  is  law,"  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  fundamental  maxims  in  ancient 
jurisprudence.  For  many  ages  advocates  and  judges  tried  to  make  all  litigation  rest 
on  this  "Procrustean  bed."  The  deformities  and  failures  which  resulted  from  their 
efforts,  gave  rise  to  a  new  code  based  on  principles  of  justice  and  denominated  equity. 

Mrs.  Winona  Branch  Sawyer  is  a  native  of  New  York.  She  was  born  in  1847.  Her  parents  were  Rev.  Wm.  Branch  and 
Elizabeth  Trowbridge  Branch.  She  was  educated  at  Mt.  CarroU  Seminary,  111.,  Class  of  1871.  She  has  traveled  in  all  part«  of 
the  United  States.  She  married  Mr.  A.  J.  Sawyer  in  1875.  She  is  engaged  in  literary  parsoits  and  in  aiding,  self-sastaining 
young  men  and  women  to  obtain  a  start  in  life.  Over  twenty-five  sach  yonng  i)eople  have  been  members  of  her  family.  Her 
principal  literary  works  are  addresses,  lectures,  essays,  fiction  and  newspaper  correspondence;  her  profession,  attorney  at 
law.  She  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  District  Conrt  in  1887;  to  the  Supreme  Court  in  1889.  She  began  the  study  of  law 
under  her  husband's  instruction.  While  not  actively  in  the  practice  she  assists  her  husband  in  the  preparation  of  his  cases. 
PostoflSce  address,  Lincoln,  Neb. 

(18)  273 


MRS.  WINONA  BRANCH  SAWYER. 


274  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

In  no  department  of  law  is  the  change  more  marked  than  in  its  application  to  woman. 
The  common  law  measured  her  with  the  "regulation  girdle"  of  home-maker  and 
home-keeper.  She  was  commanded  and  compelled  to  fill  her  prescribed  limit  of 
obedience  and  servitude.  She  was  subordinated  and  coerced,  lest  she  outgrow  the 
standard.  Thus  saith  the  old  law:  "The  husband  hath  by  law  power  and  dominion 
over  his  wife,  and  may  keep  her  by  force  within  the  bounds  of  duty,  and  may  beat  her, 
provided  the  size  of  the  cane  be  no  larger  than  his  thumb."  The  civil  law  gave  to  the 
husband  the  same  or  a  greater  authority  over  his  wife. 

What  to  do  with  woman  has  ever  been  one  of  the  knottiest  points  of  the  law.  At 
first,  jurists  thought  to  evade  the  issue  by  attempting  to  reduce  woman  to  a  ghostly 
nonentity;  but,  like  Banquo's  ghost,  she  would  not  "down"  at  the  command  of  her 
Macbeth.  Next  she  was  concealed  beneath  the  garb  of  legal  fictions,  and  under  the 
guise  of  vested  rights  smuggled  through  the  departments  of  the  blind  goddess. 

One  link  after  another  in  the  myriad  chains  which  fettered  her  freedom  and  inde- 
pendence has  been  broken,  until  she  is  now  not  only  recognized  in  legal  procedure, 
but  admitted  into  the  very  halls  of  justice,  as  an  officer  of  the  court,  and  permitted  to 
participate  in  its  proceedings.  She  may  not  only  advocate  her  own  rights,  but  may 
plead  the  rights  of  others.  She  has  left  in  the  rear  her  former  colleagues — infants, 
idiots  and  the  insane — and  almost  overtaken  her  rivals  of  the  fifteenth  amendment. 

Perhaps  you  recall  some  early  morn  after  a  night  of  storm  and  darkness,  how  the 
first  gleams  of  light  struggled  through  scarcely  perceptible  rifts  in  the  clouds,  closing 
and  reopening  as  the  billowy  curtains  of  the  night  were  swayed  by  the  lingering 
tempest.  Anon  a  roseate  hue  would  tinge  the  receding  clouds,  then  spread  and 
change  until  the  many  colors  were  blended  into  clear  effulgent  light,  and  the  golden 
sun  looked  from  the  dazzling  sky.  Then  the  whole  stretch  of  earth  became  eloquent 
with  voice  of  man  and  bird  and  the  hum  of  industry. 

*  Such  has  been  the  breaking  of  dawn  to  woman,  after  her  long  civil  night.  The 
Sapphos  and  Cornelias,  the  Esthers  and  Hortensias,  were  only  fitful  gleams  amid  the 
surrounding  shadows  of  superstitious  customs.  From  the  age  of  chivalry,  which 
tinged  her  career  with  the  rosy  light  of  sentiment  and  love,  the  changes  were  rapid. 
Great  rays  of  light,  like  Queen  Elizabeth,  Madame  de  Stael,  Hannah  Moore  and 
Florence  Nightingale  gleamed  above  the  horizon.  The  legal  fictions  and  the 
guardians  of  her  person  and  property  melted  away  like  the  mist,  and  the  present  cent- 
ury ushered  in  a  day  of  life  and  activity  for  woman  in  every  department  of  art, 
science,  literature  and  the  professions. 

This  achievement  has  not  been  instantaneous.  No  "  open  sesame  "  has  mirac- 
ulously placed  within  her  reach  this  accumulated  wealth  of  all  vocations.  No 
alchemy  has  transmuted  the  base  elements  of  ignominy  and  degradation,  to  the 
noblest  types  of  respect  and  equality.  Woman  has  not  obtained  a  place  in  the  pro- 
fession by  "  demanding  her  rights,"  as  Shylock  contended  for  his  pound  of  flesh,  but 
like  Portia,  by  unfolding  the  harmony  and  the  correllation  of  legal  and  equitable 
claims. 

The  present  century  recognizes  that  the  sphere  of  women  is  no  longer  a  mooted 
question.  Merit  has  no  sex;  and  the  meritorious  lawyer,  man  or  woman,  who  deserves 
success,  who  can  both  work  and  wait  to  win,  is  sure  to  achieve  both  recognition  and 
reward. 

Of  the  three  so-called  "learned  professions"  which  are  necessities  of  civilization, 
the  legal  profession  has  been  perhaps  the  most  reluctant  to  swing  open  its  portals  to 
admit  in  fellow  ship  the  former  "pariahs"  of  legal  procedure :  nevertheless  these  majestic 
gates  have  in  hundreds  of  cases  responded  to  the  reiterated  taps  of  a  woman's  hand. 
In  some  states  requests  for  admission  to  the  bar  were  unheeded,  and  the  dockets  are 
tarnished  by  the  lawsuits  which  ensued  ere  the  struggle  for  recognition  was  ended. 
Even  supreme  courts  and  legislatures  have  been  importuned  for  opinions  and  special 
enactments,  that  woman  might  waive  the  custom  of  a  proxy,  and  stand  iii  suo  jure,  in 
the  presence  of  the  ermine.     The  woman  lawyer  has  ceased  to  be  a  novelty.     The 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  275 

United  States  inaugurated  her  reign,  and  like  all  American  inventions,  no  matter  how 
ultra  and  radical  the  innovation  may  appear,  the  indorsement  of  the  inaugurator  is  a 
sufficient  guarantee  for  its  propriety  and  legality.  Since  June,  1869,  upward  of  three 
hundred  women  have  been  admitted  to  practice  law  in  the  various  state  and  federal 
courts,  and  at  least  one-third  of  these  are  in  actual  practice.  It  is  a^  impossible  to  give 
the  exact  number  of  women  lawyers  ir^  the  United  States,  as  it  would  be  to  state  the 
actual  number  of  practitioners  among  men.  Twenty-two  states  have  reported  seventy- 
four  women  lawyers  in  active  practice.  Four  states,  Arkansas,  Idaho,  Indiana  and 
Maryland  have  statutory  prohibitions  comprised  in  the  words  "  male  citizens."  In  the 
remaining  eighteen  states  and  territories  there  is  no  agitation  of  the  subject  at  pres- 
ent, but  nothing  in  the  laws  to  prevent  their  admission. 

That  the  proportion  of  women  engaged  in  the  law  is  less  than  in  the  other  profes- 
sions is,  in  a  measure,  due  to  the  peculiar  requirements  of  the  law.  Woman  may  be  the 
weakest  in  this  profession,  but  in  it  she  lifts  with  the  longest  lever  the  social  and  legal 
status  of  her  sex.  A  certain  sentimentality  concerning  sex,  supplemented  by  her 
innate  dread  of  criticism,  are  the  two  monstrous  lions  that  intimidate  her  at  the 
entrance  to  the  Palace  Beautiful. 

Also  it  is  no  trifling  education  that  is  needed  for  successful  competition  in  this 
profession.  The  ramifications  of  the  law  are  infinite,  and  the  successful  lawyer  must 
be  versed  in  all  subjects.  The  law  is  not  a  mere  conglomeration  of  decisions  and 
statutes;  otherwise  "  Pretty  Poll "  might  pose  as  an  able  advocate.  A  mind  unadapted 
to  investigation,  unable  to  see  the  reasons  for  legal  decisions,  is  as  unreliable  at  the 
bar  as  is  a  color-blind  person  in  the  employ  of  a  signal  corps.  The  woman  lawyer  who 
demands  an  indemnity  against  failure  must  offer  as  collateral  security  not  only  the 
ordinary  school  education,  but  also  a  knowledge  of  the  world  and  an  acquaintance 
with  that  most  abstruse  of  all  philosophies — human  nature.  She  must  needs  cultivate 
all  the  common  sense  and  tact  with  which  nature  has  endowed  her,  that  she  may 
adjust  herself  to  all  conditions.  She  must  possess  courage  to  assert  her  position  and 
maintain  her  place  in  the  presence  of  braggadocio  and  aggressiveness,  with  patience, 
firmness,  order  and  absolute  good  nature;  a  combativeness  which  fears  no  Rubicon; 
a  retentiveness  of  memory  which  classifies  and  keeps  on  file  minutest  details;  a  self- 
reliance  which  is  the  sine  qua  non  of  success;  a  tenacity  of  purpose  and  stubbornness  of 
perseverance  which  gains  ground,  not  by  leaps,  but  by  closely  contested  hair  breadths; 
a  fertility  of  resource  which  can  meet  the  "  variety  and  instantaneousness  "  of  all  occa- 
sions; an  originality  and  clearness  of  intellect  like  that  of  Portia,  prompt  to  recognize 
the  value  of  a  single  drop  of  blood;  a  critical  acumen  to  understand  and  discriminate 
between  the  subtle  technicalities  of  law  and  an  aptness  to  judge  rightly  of  the  interpre- 
tation of  principles. 

No  more  is  required  of  woman  than  of  man,  for  it  is  said:  "God  made  her  to 
match  the  men,"  not  rival  them,  but  perhaps  not  one  in  ten  of  the  men  who  enter  the 
legal  profession  succeeds,  and  not  one  in  fifty  of  these  attains  any  degree  of  eminence. 

It  is  premature  to  attempt  to  judge  of  the  effect  of  women  lawyers  on  the  bar,  for 
as  a  class  they  are  yet  minors.  The  universal  verdict  concerning  their  reception  by 
their  brothers-in-law  is  that  of  courtesy,  kindness,  and  cordial  welcome. 

P2ven  if  woman's  achievements  were  placed  at  issue  with  those  of  the  Alexanders, 
the  Caesars,  the  Hannibals  and  the  Napoleons  of  the  other  sex,  woman  would  not  enter 
a  nolle  pros.,  nor  lose  her  case  by  default,  for  it  must  be  remembered  that  there  are 
conquerors  who  do  not  inscribe  the  record  of  their  conquests  on  the  landscape,  with 
sword  and  spear,  nor  write  their  victories  with  blood.  In  the  enlargement  of  her  legal 
privileges  woman  has  invaded  and  conquered  realms  unknown  to  the  Macedonian 
madman;  by  her  identification  with  economic  and  political  questions  she  has  been  an 
important  factor  in  a  type  of  civilization  unimagined  by  the  dread  arbiter  of  Rome; 
in  a  successful  campaign  against  civil  disabilities  and  the  allegations  of  incompetency 
she  has  executed  vows  more  ennobling  than  the  oath  of  the  Carthaginian  general,  and 
in  the  uplifting  of  her  sex  she  follows  a  diviner  star  of  ambition  than  that  which  set 


276  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

at  St.  Helena.  Contact  with  the  world  shows  woman  that  she  has  not  yet  learned  her 
strength.  Acquaintance  with  history  demonstrates  that  even  such  men  as  Webster, 
Clay  and  Douglas  did  not  escape  shipwreck  on  the  troubled  sea  of  worldly  ambition. 

It  is  particularly  fitting  for  woman  to  enter  the  legal  profession  in  view  of  her 
former  status  under  the  law.  Where  she  has  been  most  ignored,  there  should  she  vin- 
dicate her  worthiness.  Before  that  bar  which  at  one  time  recognized  her  individual- 
ism, save  when  a  criminal,  should  she  demonstrate  the  dualism  of  sex.  She  who  has 
suffered  wrong  should  stand  where  wrongs  are  corrected. 

In  civil  actions  a  large  percentage  of  clients  are  women.  In  questions  which 
involve  foreclosure  of  mortgages,  probating  and  contesting  wills,  collecting  claims, 
settling  estates,  clearing  titles,  marriage  and  divorce  laws,  the  custody  of  children, 
management  of  public  schools  and  many  others,  it  is  not  equitable  for  one  sex  to 
settle  matters  in  which  both  have  a  vital  interest. 

In  regard  to  the  demand  for  women  lawyers,  it  must  be  confessed  that  in  the  great 
mart  called  the  world,  where  all  classes  of  exchangeable  things  are  regulated  by  the 
one  universal  law  of  "  demand  and  supply,"  the  "  calls  "  for  Helens  and  Cleopatras  and 
Eugenias  exceed  the  demand  for  Portias  and  Deborahs  and  Hypatias.  Woman  her- 
self must  create  a  demand  for  her  talents,  by  a  broader  education,  by  giving  less  atten- 
tion to  petty  details  of  life  and  more  attention  to  those  of  vital  importance,  by  out- 
growing the  chrysalis  of  the  butterfly,  to  enter  the  realm  of  a  bold  thinker.  Insofar 
as  women  prepare  themselves  for  lives  of  increased  usefulness,  broadening  in  every 
way,  they  receive  recognition. 

There  is  not  encouragement  for  all  women  anxious  for  employment  or  a  liveli- 
hood to  enter  the  legal  profession,  for,  as  with  men,  it  requires  peculiar  ability,  both 
natural  and  acquired,  to  insure  success. 

Evidences  of  misfits  are  too  frequently  seen  in  all  professions.  No  woman,  there- 
fore, who  has  no  predilection  for  law  should  seek  the  profession.  An  eminent  writer 
has  said:  "  It  requires  two  workmen  to  make  a  lawyer,  the  Almighty  and  the  man  him- 
self. The  legal  mind  is  the  workmanship  of  God,  and  no  power  beneath  His  can  create 
it.  Not  possessing  it,  no  one  ever  became  a  successful  lawyer;  with  it,  no  one  ever 
failed  if  he  earnestly  tried." 

Of  the  law  it  is  said:  "There  can  be  no  less  acknowledged  than  that  her  seat  is 
the  bosom  of  God,  her  voice  the  harmony  of  the  world;  all  things  in  heaven  and  earth 
do  her  homage,  the  very  least  as  feeling  her  care,  and  the  greatest  as  not  exempt  from 
her  power."  While  America's  sons  sit  at  the  feet  of  this  divine  Law,  let  not  the 
daughters  be  unmindful  of  the  peculiar  position  which  they  occupy.  While  old  cus- 
toms are  crumbling  and  hoary  usages  are  tottering  with  decay,  woman,  emerging  from 
the  bondage  and  solitude  of  their  ruins,  offers  in  evidence  her  broken  chains,  mute 
witnesses  that  she  has  both  felt  the  "power"  and  participates  in  the  "care"  of  that 
law;  therefore,  her  homage  is  due,  and  her  voice  needed  with  that  of  man  to  complete 
the  harmony  of  the  world. 

In  England  there  is  a  bird  which  builds  its  nest  on  the  ground,  but  its  note  is  never 
heard  except  when  on  the  wing.  "The  skylark  to  the  first  sunbeam  gives  her  voice; 
and,  singing,  soars." 

So  above  woman  is  an  azure  waiting  to  be  filled  with  the  melodious  rapture  of  a 
new  day.  As  long  as  she  was  confined  by  customs  and  laws  in  the  obscurity  of  "  vested 
rights,"  her  voice  was  never  heard;  but  no  sooner  were  the  gates  of  a  day  of  civil  free- 
dom unlocked  than  from  press,  pulpit,  rostrum  and  the  bar  resounded  her  voice.  If 
progress  is  to  be  real,  men  and  women  must  go  forth  hand  in  hand  along  its  many 
paths,  and  together  advocate  and  promulgate  principles  of  equity,  while  they  bear  aloft 
the  standard  of  a  universal  jurisprudence  as  perfect  in  its  application  as  is  the  law  in 
theory. 


WHAT  THE  WOMEN  OF  KANSAS  ARE   DOING  TODAY. 


By  MRS.  EUGENE  WARE. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  state  of  Kansas  had  its  birth  at  a  time  of  a  great  crisis 
in  the  life  of  our  nation,  and  as  the  women  of  the  state  have  been  an  important  factor 

in  its  growth  and  development,  and  as  Kansas  has 
always  been  the  battle-ground  where  the  political  and 
ethical  questions  which  have  interested  the  people, 
have  been  and  are  being  fought  and  decided  by  pub- 
lic opinion  and  by  legislation;  and  inasmuch  as  these 
conditions  have  made  Kansas  women,  like  the  Israel- 
ites of  old,  "  a  peculiar  people,"  it  may  not  seem  pre- 
tentious to  follow  the  footsteps  of  my  sisters  over  the 
ground  they  have  trod,  reviewing  the  progress  they 
have  made,  and  discussing  the  work  in  which  they  are 
today  engaged. 

When  the  vast  area  is  considered  which  we 
acquired  as  a  state,  with  its  western  portion  almost  a 
Sahara  (although  it  is  gradually  being  transformed 
into  an  irrigated  garden);  when  we  consider  that  from 
185 1  to  1865  its  eastern  boundary  was  torn  by  con- 
tending factions,  and  overwhelmed  by  civil  war;  when 
we  consider  that  from  then  until  now  we  have  been 
in  turn  the  victims  of  grasshoppers,  drouths,  floods 
and  cyclones,  or  the  prey  of  strange  politics  and  poli- 
ticians, who,  though  with  us,  are  not  of  us;  when  we 
consider  that  the  state  has  been  infested  by  cranks, 
"isms"  and  seisms;  by  those  who  thought  they  had  bright  ideals  and  purposes,  and  by 
those  who  had  purposes  without  ideals;  when  we  consider  all  these  obstacles  to  suc- 
cess, what  wonder  is  it  that  we  have  been  called  "  poor,  bleeding  Kansas,"  and  regarded 
with  successive  pity,  admiration  and  dislike? 

In  the  midst  of  every  calamity  the  Kansas  women  have  remained  undaunted. 
Shoulder  to  shoulder,  singly  and  together,  they  have  fought  with  poverty  and  mis- 
fortune; have  fought  for  principle  and  improvement,  and  have  kept  through  it  all  their 
faith  in  Kansas.  As  one  corps  of  workers  grew  weary  or  faint-hearted  another  took 
up  the  struggle,  working  perhaps  on  an  entirely  different  line,  but  all  to  the  same  pur- 
pose, to  make  the  state  a  grand  factor  in  the  uplifting  of  humanity,  a  power  for  good 
which  should  be  felt  wherever  the  name  of  Kansas  might  reach  on  this  broad  earth — 
a  synonym  for  principle  and  right. 

In  the  early  days,  before  the  war,  there  came  out  from  Puritan,  liberty-loving  New 
England,  colonies  of  men  and  women  who  were  inspired  to  make  a  home  in  Kansas,  a 
"home  of  the  brave  and  the  free;"  men  and  women  whose  one  desire  was  to  secure 
liberty  of  race,  of  action,  and  of  opinion. 

How  much  these  early  pioneers  suffered  for  the  sake  of  this  great  cause  will  be 
known  only  when  the  Omnipotent   Lover  of   Freedom  makes  up  the  jewels  for  His 

Mrs.  Eagene  F.  Ware  is  a  native  of  Straftsbory,  Vt.  She  was  born  June  19,  1849.  Her  parents  were  George  Hantington 
and  Abigail  Galnstra.  She  gradnated  from  Yassar  College  in  1870,  and  has  traveled  through  the  United  States,  Canada  and 
Enrope.  She  married  Eagene  F.  Ware  ("  Ironqaill ")  of  Kansas,  and  is  the  mother  of  four  children.  Mrs.  Ware  is  a  woman 
of  rare  culture  and  refinement;  devoted  to  the  best  interests  of  society.  In  religious  faith  she  is  a  Christian,  and  amember 
of  the  Baptist  Church.    Her  postofiice  address  isTopeka,  Kan. 

277 


MRS,   EUGENE   F.    WARE. 


278  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

crown.  The  history  of  those  early  struggles  was  most  ably  written  by  the  wife  of  our 
first  state  governor,  Mrs.  Charles  Robinson.  Vivid  are  the  pictures  she  presents  of 
the  midnight  ride,  the  attacks  of  the  Indians,  wolves,  and  of  fell  famine;  the  burning 
of  the  prairies  with  perhaps  the  little  shanty  itself,  and  most  of  the  earthly  belongings 
of  its  occupants.  These  things,  and  many  greater  than  these,  which  brave  women 
experienced  without  flinching,  or  yielding  their  purpose  to  make  Kansas  free,  show 
the  fortitude  and  heroic  spirit  of  the  pioneer  Kansas  woman.  When  "  home  they 
brought  her  warrior  dead,  she  nor  swooned  nor  uttered  sigh."  Silently,  quietly,  she 
took  up  the  duty  that  came  nearest  to  her,  caring  for  the  home,  nursing  the  sick,  scrap- 
ing lint  and  making  bandages,  yet  in  the  midst  of  all  cares,  at  all  times,  she  gave  the 
impetus  which  kept  brave  men  from  wavering. 

Thus,  when  Kansas  became  a  state,  the  strong  sentiment  which  possessed  each 
soul  was  that  of  patriotism  and  freedom.  These  were  the  principles  which  the  first 
Kansas  teachers,  who  were  also  women,  sought  to  instill  into  the  minds  of  their  pupils. 

Is  it  remarkable  that  Kansas  children,  born  of  such  mothers,  and  instructed  by 
such  teachers,  should  feel  that  they  live  for  a  purpose,  and  that  their  mission  is  to 
promote  in  every  way  possible,  the  welfare  of  Kansas  and  mankind? 

After  the  war  the  influx  of  immigration  added  great  numbers  to  the  already  accli- 
mated New  Englander,  and  brought  the  hospitable,  genial-hearted  Southerner,  the 
energetic  New  Yorker,  and  the  staunch,  sturdy  people  from  the  North  and  West.  These 
additions  to  our  population  had  the  effect  of  making  the  state  thoroughly  cosmopol- 
itan. 

We  entertain  every  difference  of  opinion  and  belief.  We  arc  orthodox  and  hetero- 
dox, suffragists  and  anti-suffragists,  temperance  and  anti-temperance.  Christians, 
agnostics,  and  theosophists. 

The  result  of  all  this  comingling  of  forces  is  to  rub  down  the  rough  edges  of  eccen- 
tricities and  pet  hobbies,  and  to  teach  a  wholesome  respect  for  the  opinion  of  other 
people,  and  to  give  a  capacity  to  perceive  that  they  may  be  right  and  we  ourselves  be 
wrong.     This  process  is  now  going  on. 

The  church  and  missionary  associations  are  largely  the  work  of  women,  and  the 
fact  that  today  there  are  about  three  thousand  church  organizations  in  Kansas,  and 
over  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  church  members,  shows  how  zealous  and  devoted 
has  been  the  labor  in  that  direction. 

The  number  of  moral  and  social  reforms  and  charitable  institutions  which  these 
same  women  have  established — non-sectarian  in  character — proves  how  little  there  is 
of  religious  bigotry  and  intolerance,  and  gives  the  secret  of  the  marvelous  growth  of 
the  churches  in  our  progressive  state;  for  the  motto  under  which  the  women  work  is: 
"  In  things  essential,  unity;  things  doubtful,  liberty;  and  in  all  things,  charity." 

The  temperance  workers  feel  that  their  labors  are  nearly  ended  since  the  prohibi- 
tion amendment  has  been  added  to  the  constitution,  and  prohibition  has  become  a 
law. 

Women  who  came  into  all  the  dangers  and  privations  of  a  new  territory  came  to 
help  make  Kansas  not  only  a  free  state,  but  a  free  woman's  state.  These  were  aided 
by  the  best  talent  of  the  East,  who  canvassed  the  territory,  that  when  Kansas  should 
become  a  state  the  same  privileges  should  be  accorded  to  women  as  to  men  in  the  laws 
which  were  to  govern  both.  Though  they  were  unsuccessful,  their  efforts  have  given 
us  the  most  favorable  laws  regarding  the  rights  and  property  of  women  of  any  state 
in  the  Union,  except  perhaps  Wyoming. 

The  Woman's  Club  is  a  living,  breathing,  influencing  institution  in  Kansas.  Else- 
where it  is  a  great  power,  but  with  us  it  is  an  inspiration.  There  are  reasons  for  this. 
Kansas  is  yet  young — only  thirty-two  years  old — and,  although  making  rapid  strides 
in  many  directions,  she  is  as  yet  almost  destitute  of  the  fine  art  galleries,  vast  libraries 
and  opportunities  for  intellectual  research  which  are  only  acquired  by  wealth  and  age. 
Some  years  ago  when  the  Chautauqua  movement  was  started  it  was  seized  upon  by 
Kansas  women  as  a  vital  opportunity  which  should   not  be  lost.     They  became  also 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  279 

interested  in  university  extension,  and  club  extension;  and  clubs  sprang  up  as  if  by 
magic  in  almost  every  city,  town  hamlet  and  school  district  throughout  the  state,  like 
the  "walls  of  corn"  pn  its  rolling  and  verdant  prairies.  We  have  Mothers' Clubs, 
Ethical  Clubs,  The  Woman's  Press  Club,  and  The  Authors'  and  Artists'  Club,  which 
includes  both  sexes;  also  the  annual  Chautauqua  Assembly,  and  last,  but  not  least,  the 
Social  Science  Club. 

Each  year  since  this  last  society  was  formed,  the  circle  of  its  influence  has  ex- 
panded; the  contact  of  bright  minds,  the  interchange  of  ideas,  the  discussion  of  literary, 
artistic  and  practical  questions  has  had  a  broadening  effect  which  has  gone  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  the  state.  The  members  of  the  society  form  a  state  acquaintance  which 
of  itself  is  an  education.  Today  there  are  on  its  enrolled  list  nearly  a  thousand  names 
which  represent  the  culture  and  intellect  of  the  women  of  the  state,  with  tastes  so 
diverse  and  lines  of  study  so  varied  that  they  can  say  with  Browning — 

"I  have  not  chanted  verse  like  Horner's — No 
Nor  swept  string  like  Terpander,  no;  nor  carved 
And  painted  men  like  Phidias  and  his  friend. 
I  am  not  great  as  they  are,  point  by  point; 
But  I  have  entered  into  sympathy  with  these  four, 
Running  these  into  one  soul, 
Who  separate,  ignored  each  other's  arts; 
Say,  is  it  nothing  that  I  know  them  all?" 

This  year — the  year  1893 — the  Social  Science  Club  took  one  step  onward.  Em- 
boldened by  its  marked  success  and  accumulation  of  membership  and  energy  it  merged 
itself  into  a  Social  Science  Federation,  taking  in  all  the  local  clubs  who  may  wish  to 
join. 

In  isolated  places  where  there  is  no  club  the  Social  Science  Federation  is  prepar- 
ing to  send  out  delegates  to  help  organize  such  a  society  with  a  plan  of  work  adapted 
to  the  taste  and  mental  requirements  of  the  persons  sought.  In  this  way  the  club 
woman  hopes  to  bring  a  mental  stimulant  to  every  careworn,  tired  housewife,  who  has 
nothing  to  look  forward  to  but  the  monotonous  routine  of  farm  life,  and  its  lonesome 
cares.  To  such  a  woman  a  reading  club,  debating  circle  or  literary  society  of  any  kind 
is  a  godsend.  It  takes  her  outside  of  herself  and  outside  of  the  economy  and  care 
with  which  her  life  is  filled  and  leads  her  into  the  green  pastures  of  thought  and 
imagination  and  beside  the  still  waters  of  hope. 

To  save  the  intellect  from  stagnation,  as  well  as  to  awaken  lofty  thoughts  and 
purposes  in  a  dormant  mind  is  a  mission  only  less  than  that  of  saving  a  soul,  if  per- 
chance it  does  not  often  save  the  soul. 

Outside  the  club,  however,  there  is  an  ever-increasing  list  of  women  in  the  state 
who  are  making  a  name  and  fortune  for  themselves  by  original  literary  effort. 

We  who  follow  are  still  traveling  in  the  same  path  as  did  the  pioneer  Kansas 
woman,  but  with  this  difference,  which,  better  than  I  can  give,  is  summed  up  in  the 
words  of  a  noble  Kansas  man,  who  is  a  noble  friend  of  Kansas  men  and  women.  I  refer 
to  Noble  L.  Prentis,  Esq: 

"  But  the  worst  is  over;  gone  are  border  ruffians  and  drouth  and  privation;  gone 
danger  and  difficulty.  The  sunflowers  are  growing  on  the  roof  of  the  abandoned  dug- 
out and  within  the  roofless  walls  of  the  old  sod  house.  The  claim  is  a  farm  with 
broad  green,  or  golden,  or  russet  acres  now.  The  family  is  sheltered  in  a  stately  man- 
sion now.  Having  brought  Kansas  about  where  she  wanted  it,  the  Kansas  woman  is 
devoting  her  attention  to  culture,  to  literature,  to  music,  to  art.  She  discusses  all  the 
artists  from  Henry  Worrall,  a  Kansas  artist,  to  Praxiteles;  all  the  musicians  from 
Nevada  to  the  piper  who,  according  to  Irish  tradition,  played  before  Moses.  She  be- 
longs to  the  Kansas  Social  Science  Club,  and  traverses  the  field  of  human  knowledge 
and  investigation,  from  the  hired  girl  to  the  most  abstruse  problems  of  society  and 
government.     In  the  summer  she  goes  to  Long  Branch  and  Saratoga,  and  is  accom- 


280  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

panied  by  her  daughter,  born  in  Kansas,  a  girl  who  has  caught  in  the  meshes  of  her 
hair  the  light  of  the  Kansas  sun,  and  in  her  eyes  the  violet  shadow  that  girts  the  Kan- 
sas sky  at  evening.  With  this  beauteous  companion  she  goes  about  the  world,  blessed 
with  that  calm  serenity  which  characterizes  people  who  have  an  assured  position;  who 
do  not  want  the  earth,  because  they  already  possess  all  of  it  worth  having.  But  if  you 
would  disturb  this  dignified  repose;  if  you  would  see  the  frown  of  Juno,  and  hear  some- 
thing like  the  thunder  of  Jupiter,  just  intimate  to  her  that  Kansas  is  not  the  best  country 
in  the  world,  or  that  it  was  ever  anything  else. 

"  And  today  in  Kansas  song  and  story  stands  Kansas  woman.  She  has  climbed 
through  difficulties  to  the  realms  of  the  stars.  Below  her  lower  the  dark  clouds,  and 
mutter  the  reverberating  thunders  of  civil  strife;  below  her  are  the  mists  of  doubt  and 
difficulty;  below  her  are  the  cold  snows  and  bleak  winds  of  adversity;  above  her  God's 
free  heaven,  and  before  her  Kansas  as  she  shall  be  in  the  shining,  golden  tomorrow." 


INTERNATIONAL  ARBITRATION.* 

By  MISS  ELEANOR  L.  LORD. 

Apropos  of  such  disturbances  of  the  national  equanimity  as  the  New  Orleans  lynch- 
ing affair  or  the  Behring  Sea  difficulties  occasioned,  the  subject  of  international  rela- 
tions becomes  one  of  sudden  and  special  interest  to 
the  general  public.  Of  all  the  multitudinous  prob- 
lems that  confront  the  present  generation,  the  war 
problem  has  been,  perhaps,  the  slowest  to  awaken 
popular  feeling  to  anything  like  rebellion  against  war- 
fare and  its  consequences.  The  speculations  of  the- 
orists have  been  confined  in  their  influence  to  very 
narrow  circles;  and  the  possibility  of  the  abolition  of 
war,  and  of  the  downfall  of  the  standing  army,  has 
scarcely  dawned  upon  the  world  at  large.  The  expe- 
riences of  recent  years,  however,  have  here  and  there 
afforded  opportunities  for  theories  of  peaceful  arbi- 
tration to  be  put  to  the  test  of  practice;  and  the  time 
cannot  be  far  distant  when  public  opinion  will  be 
called  upon  to  declare  the  final  verdict  of  success 
or  failure  for  international  arbitration  as  a  working 
system. 

As  it  is  understood  today,  international  arbitra- 
tion is  limited  in  meaning,  implying:  (i)  The  par- 
ticipation of  sovereign  states  of  acknowledged  inde- 
pendence and  autonomy;  (2)  a  formal  agreement  ::n 
the  part  of  the  litigants  to  submit  their  difficulties  to 
the  decision  of  an  arbitrating  body  or  individual;  (3)  the  consent  of  the  latter  to 
undertake  such  decision  and  to  render  an  award  after  a  thorough  and  impartial  exam- 
ination of  the  facts  in  the  case;  (4)  an  agreement  on  the  part  of  the  contracting  parties 
to  accept  the  decision  as  final  and  conclusive. 

Before  passing  to  the  application  of  pacific  principles  to  international  relations  in 
the  present  century,  it  may  be  well  to  review  briefly  changes  which  the  last  nineteen 
hundred  years  have  witnessed  in  the  attitude  of  civilized  nations  toward  war.  The 
Christian  religion,  as  taught  by  its  Founder  and  His  disciples,  placed  especial  empha- 
sis on  the  principles  of  brotherly  love,  forbearance,  forgiveness  of  enemies,  and  peace 
and  good  will  toward  all  men.  All  the  records  of  the  early  church  which  have  come 
down  to  us  of  the  first  two  centuries  of  its  existence  would  seem  to  show  that  the 
inconsistency  of  warfare  with  the  tenets  of  the  new  religion  had  made  a  strong  impres- 
sion upon  the  sect.  There  is  a  saying  current  among  the  early  fathers  that  Jesus,  in 
disarming  Peter,  disarmed  all  soldiers;  and  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  so  large  a  num- 
ber of  Christians  refused  to  serve  in  the  armies  of  Rome.  It  is  to  be  remembered, 
however,  that  comparatively  few  individuals  experienced  anything  like  "  conversion," 

Miss  Eleanor  Louisa  Lord  is  a  native  of  Salem,  Mass.  She  was  born  Jaly  27th,  186(5.  Her  parents  were  Henry  Clay 
Lord  and  Katherine  Holland  Lord.  She  was  educated  at  the  public  Krammar  and  high  school,  of  Maiden,  Mass.,  at  Smith 
College  (Class  of  '87),  Fellow  in  History  Bryn  Mawr  College,  1888-89.  She  is  a  woman  of  wide  culture  and  commanding 
appearance.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  histor}-  and  economics.  Her  profession  is  instructor  in  history  in 
Smith  College,  Massachusetts.  Miss  Lord  is  a  member  of  the  ('ongregational  Church.  Her  poetofflce  address  is  No.  46 
Auburn  Street,  Maiden,  Mass. 


MISS  ELEANOR  LOUISA  LORD. 


*Published  by  permission  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science. 

281 


282  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

in  the  sense  of  a  readjustment  of  themselves  to  a  new.  standard  of  life  and  thought. 
When  whole  armies  were  converted  en  masse,  as  in  the  days  of  Clovis,  there  seems  to 
have  been  no  question  of  exchanging  their  arms  for  the  weapons  of  spiritual  warfare. 
It  was  the  church,  as  an  organization,  that  throughout  the  Middle  Ages  uttered  the 
sole  remonstrance  against  the  practice  of  private  war.  When  in  France  the  atrocities 
of  feudal  warfare  became  so  great  as  to  threaten  the  very  foundations  of  society,  it 
was  the  church  that  came  to  the  rescue  with  the  "  Peace  of  God,"  and,  five  years  later, 
the  "  Truce  of  God,"  by  which  fighting  was  forbidden  from  Thursday  morning  to 
Monday  morning  of  each  week,  on  all  feast  days  and  in  Lent,  leaving,  practically,  about 
eighty  days  in  the  year  when  war  was  allowable.  During  the  eleventh  and  twelfth 
centuries  numerous  associations  were  formed,  which  were  the  prototypes,  on  a  small 
scale,  of  modern  peace  societies.  There  was  not  as  yet,  however,  any  conception  of 
international  peace.     The  word  international  could  hardly  have  had  any  meaning. 

To  the  Pope,  the  head  of  the  church,  the  world  looked  for  judgment  in  political 
quarrels.  Although  the  sacredness  of  their  high  position  would  seem  to  have  pecu- 
liarly fitted  them  for  the  position  of  universal  arbiters,  the  Popes  lacked  one  indis- 
pensible  qualification  of  an  umpire — impartiality. 

Mediaeval  methods  of  grappling  with  the  war  problem  ended  then  in  practical 
failure;  and  the  cause  of  universal  peace  was  forgotten  in  the  horrors  of  the  Inquisition 
and  the  bloodthirsty  wars  of  the  Reformation.  The  conception  of  Henry  IV.  of 
France,  of  a  grand  Christian  Republic  of  fifteen  states,  and  his  scheme  of  international 
arbitration  were  too  far  in  advance  of  his  time  not  to  have  been  regarded  either  as 
the  dreams  of  a  visionary  fanatic  or  as  a  subtile  attempt  at  the  aggrandizement  of 
France.  Here  it  will  be  observed  that  the  character  of  the  peace  movement  has 
changed.  It  is  no  longer  religious,  but  political  in  its  aims.  Efforts  toward  recon- 
ciliation no  longer  originate  with  the  church,  but  with  monarchs  and  statesmen.  The 
opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  brought  with  it  a  return  to  the  religious  point  of 
view,  and  to  the  primitive  notion  that  Christianity  is  the  basis  of  all  international  law. 
Europe  entered  upon  the  century  worn  out  with  conflict,  and  in  desperate  need  of 
peace.  Russia,  Austria  and  Prussia  accordingly  in  1815  formed  what  is  known  as  the 
Holy  Alliance,  agreeing  by  sacred  compact  to  respect  the  great  principles  of  right 
and  justice,  and  to  repress  violence — promises  which  fell  far  short  of  fulfilment. 

In  1818,  at  the  conference  held  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  the  four  nations  that  had  con- 
quered Napoleon,  joined  later  by  France,  formed  themselves  into  the  Great  Pentarchy, 
in  the  interests  of  permanent  peace.  The  Holy  Alliance  forms  a  link  between  the 
peace  policy  of  the  past  and  that  of  the  present.  The  unsatisfactory  results  of  the 
Grand  Alliance  dealt  the  death  blow  to  the  theory  of  the  balance  of  power  as  an 
efficient  and  practicable  system.  Henceforth  all  efforts  toward  amicable  adjustment 
of  international  affairs  are  to  be  based  upon  other  principles.  The  work  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  in  view  of  this  end  takes  on  three  forms: 

I.  The  organization  and  work  of  peace  conferences  and  associations  for  the  pro- 
motion of  arbitration.  2.  Legislation  favoring  arbitration.  3.  The  practicable 
application  of  the  principle. 

Peace  societies  began  to  be  established  early  in  the  century.  Their  object  was 
to  unite  all  the  advocates  of  peace  for  concerted  action.  Conferences  have  been  held 
from  time  to  time  at  London,  Brussels,  Geneva,  Paris  and  elsewhere,  for  the  inter- 
change of  sympathy  and  the  discussion  of  plans. 

About  1873  efforts  were  made  to  bring  the  subject  of  arbitration  before  the 
legislative  bodies  of  the  different  countries.  Signor  Mancini  presented  a  similar 
resolution  to  the  Italian  Parliament  the  same  year.  From  time  to  time  petitions  and 
memorials  have  been  presented  to  the  various  governments  of  Europe  and  America. 

More  attractive  to  the  practical  observer  is  the  record  of  actual  cases  of  settle- 
ment by  arbitration  during  the  present  century.  Their  number  is  surprising.  I  have 
carefully  examined  the  records  of  seventy- five  cases,  and  there  are  half  a  dozen  more 
of  which  I  have  hitherto  been  unable  to  find  more  than  a  statement  of  the  dates  and 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  283 

participants.  The  questions  which  have  proved  susceptible  of  arbitration  fall  under 
five  main  heads:  i.  Boundary  disputes.  2.  Unlawful  seizure  of  vessels  or  other 
property.  3.  Claims  for  damage  for  the  destruction  of  life  or  property.  4.  Disputed 
possession  of  territory.     5.    The  interpretation  of  treaties. 

The  most  noteworthy  cases  of  arbitration  are  two  or  three  of  special  character, 
which  hardly  come  under  the  five  heads  named  above.  The  first  is  the  Luxembourg 
question,  which  was  settled  in  1867.  The  jealousy  manifested  by  France  toward 
Prussia  during  the  peace  negotiations  which  terminated  the  Austro-Prussian  war, 
found  expression  in  Napoleon's  demand  for  territorial  recompense  to  reconcile  France 
to  the  changes  in  Europe  effected  by  the  peace  of  Prague.  Prussia  was  now  in  pos- 
session of  military  strength  equal  to  that  of  France  herself,  and  her  recent  exploits 
and  successes  were  looked  upon  by  France  as  the  precursor  of  efforts  toward  self- 
aggrandizement.  Napoleon's  eye  fell  upon  the  grand  duchy  of  Luxembourg,  which 
was  under  the  sovereignty  of  the  King  of  Holland,  but  a  member  of  the  German  con- 
federation until  the  dissolution  of  the  latter  in  1866.  The  fortress  of  Luxembourg 
was  still  occupied  by  the  Prussian  troops.  The  negotiations  begun  by  Napoleon  with 
the  King  of  Holland  for  the  annexation  of  the  duchy  to  P"rance  failed  on  account  of 
the  objection  of  Prussia,  whereupon  F'rance  demanded  the  evacuation  of  the  fortress 
by  Pr-ussia.  A  warm  dispute  ensued,  and,  as  the  excitement  spread  through  F^urope, 
war  seemed  inevitable.  The  Queen  of  F^ngland,  however,  offered  her  services  as 
arbitrator,  in  accordance  with  Article  VH.  of  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  1856.  It  was  finally 
agreed  that  the  question  be  settled  by  a  conference  of  the  great  powers  of  Europe. 
This  conference  met  at  London  May  11,  1867,  and  decided  that  the  fortress  should  be 
dismantled  and  its  neutrality  guaranteed  by  the  signatories  of  the  Treaty  of  Paris. 
The  duchy  became  the  property  of  the  House  of  Orange.  War  was  averted  for  three 
years  only;  the  jealousy  of  P>ance  found  its  outlet  in  the  Franco-Prussian  war. 

A  rebellion  of  the  Island  of  Crete  (then  under  the  rule  of  the  Turks)  occurring  in 
the  same  year,  resulted  in  an  uninterrupted  struggle  of  two  years.  The  great  powers 
of  Europe  pursued,  for  the  most  part,  the  policy  of  non-intervention.  But  Greece 
manifested  a  friendly  interest  in  her  neighbor's  welfare,  and  some  sympathy  with  the 
cause  of  the  oppressed  Cretans.  Incensed  at  what  was  deemed  the  instigation  of 
Turkish  subjects  to  revolt,  the  Porte  launched  at  Greece  an  ultimatum  charging  her 
with  aiding  and  abetting  the  rebellion.  The  Greek  minister  replied  haughtily,  and 
diplomatic  relations  were  broken  off.  A  threatened  engagement  between  a  Turkish 
and  a  Greek  vessel  was  prevented  by  the  French  minister  in  Greece,  but  the  incident 
brought  matters  to  a  crisis,  and  roused  the  attention  of  all  Europe.  The  Prussian 
government  proposed  to  France  to  call  a  conference  of  the  powers  at  London.  After 
much  diplomatic  correspondence  the  plan  was  adopted  and  the  conference  met  Janu- 
ary 9,  1869,  but  it  barely  escaped  disintegration  at  the  outset.  Turkey,  as  a  signatory 
of  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  was  admitted,  with  deliberative  powers.  Greece  claimed  the 
same  privilege,  but  was  refused  in  spite  of  indignant  remonstrance.  After  several 
sessions,  a  declaration  was  drawn  up  in  favor  of  Turkey.  This  conference  has  been 
variously  judged,  some  blaming  its  members  for  assuming  the  functions  of  judges 
when  they  had  merely  been  invited  to  deliberate  and  advise;  others  praising  with 
much  warmth  the  work  of  the  conference  in  averting  a  war  which  might  have  involved 
all  the  powers  of  Europe.  Both  criticisms  are  just  in  part.  This  much  may  be  safely 
said:  Although  its  results  were  important,  the  conference  can  hardly  be  held  up  as  a 
type  of  a  well-managed  commission  of  arbitration. 

The  circumstances  which  led  to  the  famous  ''Alabama"  case  are  too  familiar  to 
need  rehearsal  here.  The  apathy  of  Great  Britain  toward  the  depredations  of  the 
Confederate  cruiser  gave  great  offense  to  the  United  States  government,  which  pro- 
nounced t:ngland  responsible  for  all  these  acts,  and  guilty  of  a  breach  of  neutrality. 
Diplomatic  correspondence  became  more  and  more  bitter,  complicating  rather  than 
clearing  up  the  matter.  After  four  years  of  weary,  fruitless  negotiation,  settlement  by 
joint  commission  was   suggested   by  Mr.    Reverdy  Johnson.     The    proposition    was 


284  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

accepted  by  the  British  minister,  but  failed  to  pass  the  United  States  Senate.  The 
conditions  of  the  protocol  were  pronounced  insufficient  to  secure  just  reparation  to 
the  United  States.  It  was  probably  only  the  strong  aversion  to  war  by  both  the  liti- 
gants that  prevented  an  outbreak.  When,  in  1871,  it  was  finally  agreed  to  submit  the 
vexed  question  to  arbitration,  owing  to  the  insufficiency  and  vagueness  of  international 
laws,  much  time  was  wasted  in  the  discussion  of  legal  points.  That  the  temper  of  two 
nations  so  high-spirited  as  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  stood  the  test  of  a  long 
and  irritating  negotiation  until  the  vexed  question  was  finally  settled,  is  worthy  of  high 
commendation.  These  three  arbitrations,  involving  as  they  do  questions  of  national 
honor,  are  instructive  precedents. 

It  is  difficult  to  analyze  the  present  situation  of  the  world  as  to  peace  and  war. 
The  history-making  events  of  today  will  not  be  properly  understood  until  they  have 
been  looked  at  in  perspective.  In  spite  of  the  progress  of  arbitration  during  the  last 
half  century,  to  venture  an  opinion  one  must  carefully  have  studied  the  general  trend 
of  social  revolution.  The  character  of  warfare  and  ifs  causes  have  greatly  changed. 
The  brutal  struggle  for  self-preservation  is  no  more.  Wars  of  conquest  belong  to  the 
days  of  Caesar  and  Alexander.  Wars  undertaken  for  the  gratification  of  personal 
ambition  have  hardly  been  possible  since  the  First  Napoleon.  With  the  change  from 
unlimited  to  constitutional  monarchy,  the  people  have  too  strong  a  voice  to  allow  a 
war  to  be  undertaken  rrerely  for  the  aggrandizement  of  an  ambitious  monarch;  the 
populace  of  today  does  not  clamor  for  war  unless  under  strong  provocation.  Broadly 
speaking,  we  may  infer  that  wars  arising  from  trivial  disputes  tend  to  become  less  and 
less  frequent.  On  the  other  hand,  the  great  underlying  causes  of  strife  tend  to  become 
fewer,  but  far  more  deep-seated,  reaching  to  the  very  vitals  of  national  life.  Whether 
war  will  finally  vanish  from  off  the  face  of  the  earth,  no  man  can  tell.  It  seems 
probable  that  conflicts  will  become  fewer  and  more  intense;  but  not  until  the  deep- 
lying  causes  of  strife  are  removed  will  the  evil  be  banished  forever. 

Fifteen  years  ago  much  was  said  about  the  establishment  of  an  International 
tribunal  or  of  a  court  of  arbitration.  According  to  recent  reports  of  the  Peace  Asso- 
ciations, the  present  aim  of  the  movement  is  to  persuade  the  nations  to  sign  arbitra- 
tion treaties. 

The  most  serious  obstacle  to  the  introduction  of  international  arbitration  as  a 
permanent  institution  has  been  the  indecision  of  its  advocates  as  to  the  method  of 
conducting  cases.  The  most  popular  and  successful  plan  has  been  the  appointment 
of  a  mixed  commission,  small  enough  to  be  easily  managed,  large  enough  to  work 
rapidly  and  systematically,  unhampered  by  diplomatic  "  red  tape."  Still,  such  a  com- 
mission is  temporary — unsuited  to  a  scheme  of  permanent  arbitration.  A  permanent 
mixed  tribunal  would  insure  impartiality.  Such  a  scheme  would  imply  the  abolition  of 
standing  armies  or  a  uniform  reduction  in  their  numbers.  The  question  has  been 
raised  by  doubters,  how  will  such  a  tribunal  be  able  to  enforce  its  decisions  if  the  army 
be  banished?  Some  have  suggested  that  each  nation  furnish  its  quota  of  soldiers  to 
form  a  kind  of  international  police.  Such  an  institution,  however,  would  seem  an 
inconsistency,  if  a  tribunal,  aiming  to  substitute  reason  and  justice  for  the  sword  and 
bayonet,  be  obliged  to  use  them  in  the  execution  of  its  decrees. 

There  is  apparently  some  confusion  in  the  public  mind  between  an  International 
Court  and  a  Permanent  Commission  of  Arbitration.  The  former  should  mean  a  Court 
of  International  Law,  and  to  be  effective,  should  be  composed  of  the  most  eminent 
jurists  and  statesmen  of  whom  the  world  can  boast,  men  who  know  the  laws  of 
nations  as  they  now  exist,  and  who  are  capable  of  interpreting  and  codifying  these 
laws.  There  is  urgent  need  of  a  complete  and  precise  code  of  International  Law.  A 
Court  of  International  Law  would  find  its  authority  in  the  majesty  of  the  law,  and  the 
moral  support  of  the  nations  ought  to  be  a  sufficient  guarantee  for  the  acceptance  of  its 
decrees.  Any  government  which  refused  to  abide  by  the  decisions  of  so  august  a 
body  would  suffer  eternal  disgrace  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
material  loss  of  commercial  good-will.  The  expense  of  such  a  court,  shared  by  the 
participating  nations,  would  be  comparatively  light. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  285 

When  a  dispute  arose  the  plaintiff  would  at  once  carry  the  case  to  this  great  Court 
of  Appeals,  which  would  investigate  the  said  case  on  a  purely  legal  basis.  This  would 
take  the  place  of  special  arbitration,  but  should  any  question  not  susceptible  of  legal 
interpretation  arise,  a  Commission  of  Arbitration  could  easily  be  formed  from  the 
panel  of  the  international  jury. 

There  might  still  remain  a  few  great  questions  incapable  of  pacific  solution  until 
the  moral  consciousness  of  the  nations  becomes  much  more  highly  developed  than  it 
is  today.  Is  there  no  solution  but  the  standing  army?  The  question  is  largely  eco- 
nomic in  character,  and  its  discussion  would  occupy  a  much  larger  space  than  can  be 
spared  here. 

The  peace  question  is  only  one  of  the  many  tangled  problems  with  which  this 
generation  has  to  deal.  It  may  not  be  solved  by  the  next  generation  or  the  next. 
Whatever  is  done,  the  world  looks  to  America  for  leadership.  "  Nothing  impressed 
the  delegates  sent  from  the  United  States  to  the  late  Peace  Congress  at  Paris  more 
seriously,"  says  the  secretary  of  the  American  Peace  Society  in  his  annual  report, 
"  than  the  sentiments  of  various  European  countries  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Great 
Republic  of  the  West  not  only  to  keep  abreast  with  the  world's  endeavor  to  abolish 
war,  out  to  lead  the  nations  in  the  better  way  of  Universal  Peace." 


GEORGE   ELIOT* 

By  MISS  IDA  M.  STREET. 

Thought  flows  over  the  world  in  waves.  These  thought-waves  have  different 
manifestations  in  government,  society,  religion  and  literature.     Indeed,  literature  may 

be  called  their  index,  giving  often  a  perfect  reflection 
of  their  manifestations  in  society  and  religion.  Jus- 
tin McCarty  says  that  each  reform  or  era  of  reform 
has  its  accompanying  wave  of  writers  as  well  as  states- 
men, Whipple  believes  that  every  change  in  the 
habits,  opinions,  manners,  governments,  and  religions 
of  society  calls  for  and  creates  a  new  epoch  in  litera- 
ture, and  Bascom  has  made  the  presence  of  these 
literary  waves  the  basis  of  his  philosophical  survey 
of  English  literature.  Moreover,  there  have  been 
borne  on  every  new  flood  of  thought  that  has  swept 
over  the  world,  some  individuals  who  have  personified 
the  predominant  idea  of  their  era;  men  whose  ante- 
cedents, education  and  temperament  have  made  them 
typical  of  the  mass  of  their  cotemporaries;  men  whose 
actions  or  whose  words  have  voiced  the  peculiar  theo- 
ries of  their  times.  They  have  not  only  been  promi- 
nent for  their  intrinsic  genius  but  types  of  their  era — 
either  in  action,  in  philosophy,  or  in  literature. 

The  present  century  has  been  what  the  Germans 
would  call  a  Sturm  und  Dra?ig  period.  It  began  in 
revolutions,  and  at  times  seems  likely  to  end  in  the 
same  turbulent  fashion.  The  overpowering  rush  of  new  ideas  has  been  made  mani- 
fest by  the  excitable  French  in  bloody  revolutions  and  the  establishment  of  futile 
republics,  by  the  phlegmatic  and  dreamy  Germans  in  new  and  startling  philosophies, 
by  the  conservative  and  practical  English  in  peaceful  political  reforms  and  fresh  and 
highly  imaginative  literature. 

At  the  close  of  the  last  century  this  dogmatic,  arbitrary  tenor  of  mind  was  repre- 
sented in  religion  by  a  lifeless  set  of  mere  forms;  in  statesmanship,  by  the  despotism 
of  the  Bourbons  in  France,  and  the  domination  of  the  aristocracy  in  England;  in  lit- 
erature, by  the  servile  imitation  of  Boileau  and  Pope. 

The  movement  peculiar  to  this  century  is  the  exaltation  of  man  and  law.  This 
movement  might  be  more  accurately  compared  to  a  tide  than  a  flood,  for  it  had  its  ebb 
and  flow,  its  spring  and  neap  tide,  its  law  of  action  and  reaction.  Starting  from  con- 
ventionalism in  the  eighteenth  century,  there  has  not  been  one  grand  sweep  on  to  a 
Utopia  of  perfect  liberty  in  the  close  of  the  nineteenth.     Although   we  have  not  yet 

Miss  Ida  M.  Street  is  a  native  of  Oskaloosa,  la.  Her  parents  were  William  B.  and  Carolina  M.  Street.  To  her  mother, 
who  was  a  woman  of  wise  judgment  and  untiring  energy,  is  due  her  large  intellectual  attainments.  She  took  an  A.  B.  Degree 
at  Vassar  College  in  1880,  and  won  the  Western  Association  of  Collegiate  Alumniae  Fellowship  in  1888.  This  was  the  first  fel- 
lowship given  by  the  association  and  was  placed  at  Michigan  University.  She  took  an  A.  M.  Degree  in  this  university  in  1889. 
She  has  contributed  essays  and  short  poems  to  the  Neio  Englander  and  other  periodicals.  The  more  important  of  these  are  an 
Essay  on  Coriolanus,  a  Study  of  Browning's  Dramas,  and  the  Christian  Spirit  in  United  States  History.  She  holds  high  rank 
as  a  professional  teacher  and  is  a  young  woman  of  rare  culture  and  accomplishments.  Her  present  postoifice  address  is 
Omaha  High  School,  Omaha,  Neb. 


MISS  IDA    M.   STREET. 


*  The  title  of  the  address  as  delivered  was:  "George  Eliot  as  a  Representative  of  Her  Time." 

286 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  287 

seen  the  close  of  the  century  we  can  distinctly  trace  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  great 
idea — liberty — and  see  that  it  has  limitations  and  a  law  of  control. 

The  first  political  wave  appeared  in  the  French  revolution  in  1792,  when  the 
Bourbon  dynasty,  representing  the  tyranny  of  the  feudal  system,  was  overthrown. 
The  tide  rose  to  a  destructive  height  in  the  Reign  of  Terror.  License  was  found  to 
be  a  greater  tyrant  than  an  absolute  monarch.  Popular  feeling,  especially  in  England, 
revolted  from  the  new  movement.  This  high  tide  was  followed  by  an  ebb  in  the 
emperorship  of  Napoleon  I.,  and  the  new  movement  seemed  utterly  defeated  and  con- 
servatism to  be  again  in  the  ascendency  after  the  battle  of  Waterloo.  It  was  during 
this  period  of  reaction  when  the  old  dogmatism  was  again  dominant,  and  the  new 
ideas  were  fermenting  in  secret,  that  George  Eliot  was  born  and  attained  maturity. 
The  new  movement  broke  forth  again  in  the  French  revolution  of  1848.  With  minor 
tides  of  success  and  defeat,  political  freedom  has  since  steadily  advanced  in  France, 
and  by  reflex  action  in  England  also. 

The  American  Revolution  of  1776  had  shaken  England  out  of  some  of  her  old 
ideas,  when  by  the  constitutional  monarchy,  inaugurated  by  William  III.  she  had 
already  placed  herself  one  step  in  advance  of  other  European  countries.  For  this 
reason  and  because  of  the  natural  conservatism  of  English  people,  the  danger  of 
bloody  political  revolutions  was  not  great  in  England,  but  her  peaceful  reforms  indi- 
cated the  growth  of  the  liberating  impulse.  The  labor  trouble  and  plots  that  were 
brewing  under  the  arbitrary  policy  of  Castlereagh  were  counteracted  by  the  liberal 
policy  of  Canning.  In  1829,  England  emancipated  the  Catholics.  In  1832  she  passed 
the  Reform  Bill  which  gave  the  large  towns  representatives  in  Parliament,  and  two 
years  later  restored  to  them  their  right  of  self-government.  This  was  the  most  import- 
ant step  in  her  political  reform.  In  1833  she  abolished  slavery,  and  struck  a  blow  at 
monopolies  in  commerce  by  opening  the  East-India  trade  to  all  merchants.  In  1846 
the  protective  corn  laws  were  repealed  and  the  principles  of  free-trade  established. 
In  1867  the  new  reform  bill  and  national  education  made  the  last*  steps  to  political 
freedom.  All  these  changes  were  permeated  by  that  spirit  of  democracy  and  charity 
toward  one's  fellowmen,  that  is  the  best  element  of  the  nineteenth-century  movement. 

Lecky  says:  "  Men  like  Bacon,  Descartes,  and  Locke,  have  probably  done  more 
than  any  others  to  set  the  current  of  their  age.  They  have  formed  a  certain  cast  and 
tone  of  mind.  They  have  introduced  peculiar  habits  of  thought,  new  modes  of  rea- 
soning, new  tendencies  of  inquiry.  The  impulse  they  have  given  to  higher  literature 
has  been  by  that  literature  communicated  to  the  more  popular  writers,  and  the  impress 
of  these  master  minds  is  clearly  visible  in  the  writings  of  multitudes  who  are  totally 
unacquainted  with  their  works." 

The  minds  of  men  at  any  one  era  might  be  represented  by  a  placid  lake,  into 
which  the  theory  of  some  great  thinker,  thrown  like  a  pebble,  creates  ripples,  at  first 
small,  but  gradually  widening  to  the  farthest  shore.  If  several  pebbles  were  thrown 
about  the  same  time,  the  result  would  be  more  or  less  confusion  of  ripples  upon  the 
water.     This  was  somewhat  the  condition  of  thought  in  the  middle  of  the  century. 

This  religion  of  humanity  is  the  keynote  to  the  most  liberal  thought  of  the  cent- 
ury. The  ideas  expressed  by  Comte  have  been,  in  one  form  or  another,  either  par- 
tially or  wholly  believed  by  almost  every  prominent  man  during  the  last  fifty  years, 
and  published  in  every  popular  magazine.  Even  the  conservative  element — the  mys- 
tics, as  Hegel  would  call  them — who  still  held  to  their  belief  in  a  Supreme  Power 
outside  humanity,  dwelt  more  often  than  formerly  on  Christ's  second  commandment 
and  preached  more  frequently  from  the  text  of  "  The  Good  Samaritan." 

The  bitter  contest  between  science  and  religion  has  now  settled  down  into  an 
amiable  compromise  in  which  religion  has  adopted  science;  but  we  are  principally 
interested  in  the  Sturm  und  Drang  period  when  this  conflict  was  one  of  the  straws  of 
the  popular  current.  The  great  age  of  ihe  earth,  as  told  by  geology,  was  an  agitating 
missile  thrown  by  science,  but  probably  the  largest  pebble  from  that  source  was  Dar- 
win's theory  of  evolution.     This  may  be  considered  both  as  a  result  and  a  cause.     It 


288  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

was  an  outgrowth  of  the  system  of  investigation  and  method  of  thought  used  by  Dar- 
win and  his  scientific  contempories.  It  has  been  also  a  great  impetus  to  the  growth 
of  the  materialistic,  as  opposed  to  the  spiritualistic,  theory  of  the  origin  of  man.  A 
belief  in  the  law  of  evolution  does  not  now  necessarily  imply  a  disbelief  in  a  Divine 
Creator,  but  for  a  long  time  it  did.  The  fallacy  lay  in  the  supposition  that  law  was 
itself  a  creator,  and  not  a  method  of  action.  The  scientists  of  the  century  have  done 
a  missionary  work  in  discovering  and  explaining  laws  of  nature;  but  they  have  made 
the  mistake  of  deifying  law,  as  the  positivists  have  man. 

A  third  pebble  was  John  Henry  Newman,  and  the  Oxford  movement.  The 
Tractarian  gospel  was  a  protest  against  the  formalism  of  the  Established  Church.  It 
wished  to  convince  churchmen  that  they  did  not  belong  to  a  mere  national  institution, 
but  to  a  living  branch  of  that  great  Catholic  Church  which  Christ  had  founded  eight- 
een centuries  ago.  They  wished  to  make  the  dry  bones  live,  to  turn  formal 
devotions  into  joyous  acts  of  faith  and  piety.  Coleridge  had  partly  paved  the  way  for 
this  movement  in  calling  attention  to  the  writings  of  the  earlier  Anglican  divines  and 
in  his  transcendental  philosophy.  Both  Newman  and  Coleridge  were  as  far  as  possi- 
ble from  the  materialists  in  most  points;  they  only  agreed  in  opposition  to  the  old 
dogmatism,  and  belief  in  a  divine  element  in  man.  They  differed  on  the  source  of 
this  divinity — Coleridge  and  Newman  deriving  it  from  God,  the  materialists  from 
nature.  Coleridge,  being  more  of  a  philosopher,  turned  to  Unitarianism;  Newman,  a 
devotionist,  to  Roman  Catholicism.  The  apparent  result  of  Tractarianism  was  the 
rise  of  Ritualism,  and  a  great  revival  in  the  charities  which  had  become  a  neglected 
fringe  upon  the  garment  of  the  church.  The  practical  outcome  of  Positivism  and 
Ritualism  was  the  same — a  greater  devotion  to  the  needs  of  humanity. 

Another  pebble  in  the  pool  of  English  thought  was  the  iconoclast,  Thomas 
Carlyle.  He  was  not  the  founder  of  any  philosophy,  but  as  a  fearless  disciple  of 
truth  he  demolished  many  idols  of  dogmatism.  He  might  be  called  the  grand  Eng- 
lish skeptic.  If,  like  a  reckless  pioneer,  he  sometimes  blazed  the  wrong  tree,  yet  he 
most  effectively  cleared  out  the  underbrush,  and  gave  those  who  came  after  him  a 
chance  to  see  his  mistakes  and  avoid  them.  He  carried  with  him  a  healthful  mental 
breeze  that  has  cleared  the  fogs  from  the  brain  of  many  a  young  student. 

To  this  period,  skeptical  in  religion,  scientific  in  method,  philosophical  in  thought, 
fond  of  prose,  drama  and  the  novel  in  literature,  belongs  George  Eliot.  We  now  wish 
to  show  that  in  antecedents,  education,  temperament,  and  in  her  writings,  she  repre- 
sents the  mass  of  her  contemporaries — is  a  type  of  her  era. 

Her  birthplace  was  in  the  Midlands,  where  the  good,  old-fashioned  agricultural 
and  Tory  element  was  just  beginning  to  feel  the  encroachments  of  the  manufacturing 
towns,  but  had  not  yet  lost  the  rural  characteristics.  Mr.  Gross  says  of  her:  "  Her 
roots  were  down  in  the  pre-railroad,  pre-telegraphic  period — the  fine  old  days  of 
"leisure — but  the  fruit  was  found  during  an  era  of  extraordinary  activity  in  scientific 
and  mechanical  discovery." 

Her  father  was  a  Tory  of  the  best  type — conscientious  in  his  business,  thorough 
in  his  work,  and  naturally  conservative.  She  has  represented  him  in  Adam  Bede  and 
Caleb  Garth.  And  what  she  says  of  Caleb  Garth  was  no  doubt  true  of  her  father: 
"Though  he  had  never  regarded  himself  as  other  than  an  orthodox  Christian,  and 
would  argue  on  prevenient  grace,  if  the  subject  were  proposed  to  him,  I  think  his  vir- 
tual divinities  were  good  practical  schemes,  accurate  work,  and  the  faithful  comple- 
tion of  undertakings;  his  prince  of  darkness  was  a  slack  workman."  Her  mother  was 
a  shrewd,  practical  woman  of  much  natural  force,  and  with  a  dash  of  Mrs.  Poyser's  wit. 

This  love  of  old  and  aversion  to  change,  link  her  with  her  countrymen.  The 
average  Englishman  of  the  middle  of  the  century  had  his  origin  in  such  communities 
as  those  described  in  Adam  Bede,  Silas  Marner,  Felix  Holt  and  Mill  on  the  Floss. 
To  fully  understand  the  average  man  of  the  century,  we  must  know  not  only  the 
French  influences  that  worked  upon  him,  but  the  good  English  soil  from  which  he 
sprung;  not  only  the  liberal  thought  of  his  later  life,  but  the  narrow  conventionalism, 
of  his  childhood.  • 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  289 

Her  middle-class  birth  also  makes  her  a  representative  of  a  numerous  class  of 
Englishmen.  The  well-to-do  farmer,  the  intelligent  artisan  and  tradesman,  form  the 
bulk  of  her  characters.  The  very  aristocratic  or  the  very  poor,  enter  upon  her  pages 
but  as  supernumeraries.  In  this  she  is  in  perfect  sympathy  with  her  age.  The  great 
struggles  of  the  century  have  been  to  emancipate  the  middle  class  and  place  them, 
socially,  mentally,  and  politically,  on  a  level  with  the  highest.  They  have  become  in 
reality  the  ruling  power  in  England. 

In  looking  at  her  life,  we  see, then,  a  child  of  middle-class  parents,  born  and  bred  in 
Middle  England  among  a  rural  old-fashioned  people,  and  surrounded  by  conservative 
influences.  Upon  this  foundation  of  conservatism  is  engrafted  a  capability  of  intense 
feeling.  She  says  of  herself:  "I  can  never  live  long  without  enthusiasm  in  some  form 
or  another."  This  capability  for  feeling  is  the  main  element  of  a  religious  character, 
if,  as  Adam  Bede  says,  "  Religion's  something  else  besides  notions  and  doctrines.  It 
isn't  notions  set  people  doing  the  right  thing,  it's  feelings."  With  this  emotion,  there 
was  in  her  mind,  as  in  Dorothea's,  "a  current  into  which  all  thought  and  feeling  were 
apt  sooner  or  later  to  flow — the  reaching  forward  of  the  whole  consciousness  toward 
the  fullest  truth,  the  least  partial  good."  "She  yearned  toward  the  perfect  right,  that 
it  might  make  a  throne  within  her,  and  rule  her  errant  will.  The  keystone  of  the  intel- 
lectual faculties  is  the  reason,  and  George  Eliot  had  a  thoroughly  logical  mind.  In 
one  of  her  letters  she  speaks  of  a  book  that  is  full  of  "  wit "  to  her.  "  It  gives  me  that 
exquisite  kind  of  laughter  that  comes  from  the  gratification  of  the  reasoning  facul- 
ties." This  book — Mr.  Hennel's  Inquiry  Concerning  the  Origin  of  Christianity — was 
the  awakener  of  her  skepticism.  It  expressed  the  reaction  of  reason  against  the  arbi- 
trary or  miraculous  system  of  explaining  the  facts  in  the  New  Testament,  He  attempted 
to  show  that,  leaving  out  of  account  miraculous  agencies,  Christ's  life  could  be  explained 
in  a  logical  way.  His  proof  in  detail  is  not  conclusive  to  us,  but  its  significance  lay  in 
the  fact  that  men  were  beginning  to  dare  to  apply  reason  to  the  fundamental  facts  of 
Christianity.  George  Eliot  expressed  this  daring  when  she  said:  "  To  fear  the  exam- 
ination of  any  proposition  appears  to  me  an  intellectual  and  moral  palsy,  that  will 
ever  hinder  the  firm  grasping  of  any  substance  whatever.  For  my  part,  I  wish  to  be 
among  the  ranks  of  that  glorious  crusade  that  is  seeking  to  set  Truth's  Holy  Sepulchre 
free  from  a  usurped  domination."  Carlyle  was  the  leader  in  this  crusade  that  fear- 
lessly said:  "Two  and  two  make  four,  in  religion  and  society,  as  well  as  mathematics." 
Her  logical  faculty  is  as  strong  an  element  in  her  as  her  emotions,  and  her  life  from 
this  on  is  a  struggle  between  religious  feelings  and  intellectual  skepticism.  Of  other 
writers  in  this  era,  Tennyson  mirrors  the  same  struggle  in  "In  Memoriam,"  and  Mat- 
thew Arnold  in  his  futile  attempts  to  be  an  agnostic.  It  was  truly  the,  "  Strum  und 
Drang''  period,  and  these  men  and  women  of  the  time  were  tossed  about  between 
the  buffets  of  dogmatism  and  skepticism  till  their  poor  weather-beaten  boats  were 
almost  unseaworthy. 

George  Eliot's  life  in  London  as  Mr.  Chapman's  assistant  on  the  "Westminster 
Review,"  and  her  union  with  Mr.  Lewes  strengthened  her  skepticism,  and,  at  least  out- 
wardly, identified  her  with  positivism.  Let  us  next  consider  how  far  she  agreed  with  the 
main  ideas  of  Comte's  theory.  She  believed  there  was  a  law  governing  human  society; 
that  nothing  came  by  chance;  that  every  event  had  its  logical  cause  in  preceding 
events;  that  every  act  had  its  reason  in  the  nature  of  the  individual.  Mr.  Irwine 
says  in  Adam  Bede: — "A  man  can  never  do  anything  at  variance  with  his  own  nature. 
He  carries  within  him  the  germ  of  his  most  exceptional  action;  and  if  we  wise  people 
make  eminent  fools  of  ourselves  on  any  particular  occasion,  we  must  endure  the  legit- 
imate conclusion  that  we  carry  a  few  grains  of  folly  to  our  ounce  of  wisdom." 

In  the  delineation  of  her  principal  characters,  she  follows  a  natural  law  and  not  a 
false  criterion  of  perfection.  "  The  blessed  work  of  helping  the  world  forward,  hap- 
pily does  not  wait  to  be  done  by  perfect  men;  and  I  should  imagine  that  neither 
Luther  nor  John  Bunyan,  for  example,  would  have  satisfied  the  modern  demand  for 
an  ideal  hero,  who  believes  nothing  but  what  is  true,  feels  nothing  but  what  is  exalted 

(19) 


290  *  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

and  does  nothing  but  what  is  graceful.  The  real  heroes  of  God's  making  are  quite 
different;  they  have  their  natural  heritages  of  love  and  conscience,  which  they  drew 
in  wath  their  mothers'  milk;  they  know  one  or  two  of  those  deep  spiritual  truths 
which  are  only  to  be  won  by  long  wrestling  with  their  own  sins  and  their  own  sorrows; 
they  have  earnest  faith  and  strength  so  far  as  they  have  done  genuine  work,  but  the 
rest  is  dry,  barren  theory,  blank  prejudice,  vague  hearsay." 

In  her  fictitious  world  the  heroes  and  heroines  grow  by  a  series  of  misfortunes  and 
mistakes  to  know  their  weaknesses  and  conquer  them.  "  No  man  is  matriculated  to 
the  art  of  life  till  he  has  been  well  tempted."  Heroism  consists  in  facing  the  results 
of  mistakes,  not  succumbing  to  them. 

George  Eliot's  princes  of  darkness  are  not  intrinsically  bad,  but  are  fallen  angels 
like  Tito  Melema,  Hetty  Poyser  and  Rosamond  Vincy — fallen  through  a  persistent 
course  of  self-indulgence. 

But,  as  Mr.  Farebrother  says,  "You  have  not  only  got  the  old  Adam  within  your- 
self against  you,  but  you  have  got  all  those  descendants  of  the  original  Adam,  who 
form  the  society  about  you."  How  to  conquer  the  external  Adam  is  the  problem  of 
social  regeneration.  In  solving  this  problem  the  positivists  have  deduced  from 
experience  the  same  law  that  the  Christians  have  by  revelation,  that  self-interests 
must  be  sacrificed  where  they  interfere  with  the  interests  of  all.  We  are  too  closely 
bound  together  to  have  separate  interests.  "  So  deeply  inherent  is  it  in  this  life  of 
ours  that  men  have  to  suffer  for  each  other's  sins;  so  inevitably  diffusive  is  human 
suffering  that  even  justice  makes  its  victims,  and  we  can  conceive  no  retribution  that 
does  not  spread  beyond  its  mark  in  pulsation  of  unmerited  pain." 

Our  duty,  however,  is  not  to  extol  nor  condemn  this  religion  of  humanity;  simply 
to  ascertain  as  accurately  as  we  can  its  place  and  value  as  a  regenerator.  The  general 
theory  of  monotheism  is  that  there  is  a  Divine  being,  a  God,  who  created  the  universe 
and  man.  Man  is  dual,  consisting  of  an  earthly  or  bodily  life  connecting  him  with  the 
material  universe,  and  a  spiritual  or  soul  life  connecting  him  with  his  Creator.  The 
generally  accepted  religion  of  the  Western  World — Christianity — ^has  two  laws,  love 
thy  God  and  love  thy  neighbor.  These  two  were  meant  to  be  equally  binding,  but 
gradually,  in  the  course  of  centuries,  the  second  fell  into  disuse.  The  church  imagined 
it  was  fulfilling  the  first  law,  but  it  is  hard  to  love  a  being  of  whom  one  has  no  imme- 
diate knowledge.  The  idea  of  God  became  more  and  more  indistinct.  Theologians 
created  gods  from  their  own  minds,  whom  they  set  up  for  worship,  and  these  became 
the  deities  of  the  Christian  Church.  This  error  would  have  been  avoided  if  the  second 
law  had  been  rigorously  obeyed;  for  man  was  originally  created  in  his  Maker's  image, 
and  the  love  of  one's  neighbor,  and  the  self-denial  necessary  thereto,  would  have 
taught  man  some  of  the  most  important  attributes  of  divinity.  The  spark  of  divinity 
which  God  had  placed  in  man — the  soul — was  smoldering  for  lack  of  fuel,  and  that 
once  out  man  would  be  forever  alienated  from  his  Creator.  Man  had  lost  faith  in  the 
divinity  within  him,  and  was  by  his  theology  putting  his  God  further  and  further 
away.  Since  the  time  of  Luther  there  had  been  no  widespread  reformation  among 
Christian  nations,  and  they  had  reached  such  a  state  of  religious  torpor  that  one  was 
necessary.  The  reformation  of  the  nineteenth  century  has  been  to  revivify  the  second 
commandment,  "  Love  thy  neighbor."  The  folly  lay  in  ignoring  the  first  law,  love 
thy  God.  Dogmatism  said,  "  There  is  a  God;"  and  skepticism,  reacting  from  that, 
said,  "  How  do  you  know?  We  know  nothing  but  what  we  can  prove."  They  denied 
in  toto  the  Divine  authority  of  both  commandments,  but  deduced  the  second  from 
human  experience. 

God  has  two  means  of  revelation — his  material  creation  and  the  spiritual  nature 
of  his  creature,  man.  Communicating  through  the  spiritual  natures  of  the  first  races 
of  men,  he  had  by  inspiration,  so-called,  produced  a  Bible  or  written  law,  and  after- 
ward, through  his  special  prophet  Christ,  a  more  advanced  Gospel.  This  had  been 
accepted  by  the  church  as  sole  authority,  and  its  correlative  nature  had  been  ignored. 
Without  this  key  or  safeguard  against  misinterpretation,  God's  written  law  became  a 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  291 

blind  guide.  In  the  course  of  time  man  so  tortured  its  meaning,  so  overlaid  it  with 
his  own  misconceptions,  that  church  Christianity  became  null  as  a  means  of  regenera- 
tion to  the  average  man.  The  reformers  very  naturally  took  the  other  extreme,  and, 
ignoring  God's  written  law,  exalted  his  natural  law.  They  would  believe  only  in  such 
a  good  as  they  could  learn  from  nature.  As  far  as  it  goes,  nature  is  a  more  accurate 
expositor  of  God  than  the  revealed  word,  but  it  is  incomplete,  since  it  cannot  reveal 
man's  spiritual  nature  nor  its  own  origin.  The  Bible  and  nature  were  meant  to  be 
complements,  and  by  adopting  one  and  denying  the  other  the  reformers  made  them- 
selves liable  to  error.  The  natural  scientists  were  the  more  liable  because  their  investi- 
gations ceased  at  animal  nature,  and  it  was  easier  there  to  deny  a  Creator  than  for  the 
sociologists,  who  carried  their  studies  on  to  man's  social  and  higher  nature.  Thus 
arose  materialism,  which  would  naturally  become  popular  with  a  large  class  of  people 
who  were  ready  to  accept  any  religion  that  released  them  from  obedience  to  a  spir- 
itual law. 

Each  new  thinker  in  this  new  movement  took  a  step  in  advance,  and  we  shall  now 
see  how  George  Eliot  advanced  upon  Comte.  She  belonged  to  the  class  of  investi- 
gators who  were  studying  the  higher  nature  of  man.  She  believed  in  its  spiritual  exist- 
ence, and  in  studying  and  expounding  its  laws  she  drew  nearer  the  truth  that  it  must 
have  a  Divine  origin.  She  believed  in  a  Divine  element  in  man  that  had  its  own  laws 
and  could  live  at  least  partly  independent  of  material.  "Justice  is  like  the  kingdom 
of  God — it  is  not  without  us  as  a  fact,  it  is  within  us  as  a  great  yearning." 

George  Eliot  not  only  had  faith  in  the  Divine  element  in  man  to  help  him  make 
this  decision:  "  You  must  have  it  inside  you  that  your  plan  is  right;"  but  she  believed 
in  its  partial  ijidependence  of  material  causes;  in  this  she  advanced  upon  Comte.  She 
believed,  also,  that  this  divinity  grew,  and  by  its  growth  became  human  regeneration. 
The  method  of  its  growth  was  by  sorrow  and  by  love.  "  It  would  not  be  well  for  us 
to  overleap  one  grade  of  joy  or  suffering;  our  life  would  soon  lose  its  completeness 
and  beauty." 

She  believed  in  the  self-regenerating  power  of  love,  not  to  the  recipient,  but  to  the 
lover.  With  Romola,  Dorothea  and  Milly  Barton,  to  love  was  a  "  Divine  necessity;" 
they  had  a  "  sublime  capacity  "  for  it.  Dempster's  love  for  his  mother  was  the  only 
hope  of  regeneration  in  his  degraded  nature. 

The  love  of  the  best  we  know  is  Carlyle's  idea  of  hero-worship:  "We  needs  must 
love  the  highest  when  we  see  it."  Through  the  best  human  love.  Browning  leads  his 
men  up  to  a  Divine  love.  And  George  Eliot  also,  in  Adam  Bebe,  says:  "  Our  love  at 
its  highest  flood  rushes  beyond  its  object  and  loses  itself  in  the  sense  of  Divine  mys- 
tery! "  And:  "The  growth  of  higher  feeling  within  us  is  like  the  growth  of  faculty, 
bringing  with  it  a  sense  of  added  strength;  we  can  no  more  wish  to  return  to  a  nar- 
rower sympathy  than  a  painter  or  musician  can  wish  to  return  to  his  cruder  manner, 
or  a  philosopher  to  his  less  complete  formula! " 

This  belief  in  the  power  of  human  beings,  to  save  each  other  from  soul  destruction 
by  leading  them  to  a  Divine  love,  is  a  great  advance  upon  Comte,  because  it  implies 
a  God  and  His  direct  communication  with  at  least  some  of  His  creatures.  There  comes 
a  time  in  the  life  of  all  when  the  human  helpers  fail.  Janet's  last  temptation  came 
when  she  was  alone,  and  it  was  an  impulse  rather  than  a  resolution  that  finally  caused 
her  to  dash  the  brandy  bottle  down.  Romola,  after  she  lost  faith  in  Savonarola,  fled 
again  from  duty,  until  some  unseen  power  floated  her  to  the  pestilence-stricken  vil- 
lage, and  she  learned  God's  love  afresh.  To  what  then  has  George  Eliot's  conscien- 
tious study  of  humanity  led  her,  and  how  far  from  the  materialists  and  Comte?  To  a 
belief  in  the  divinity  in  man  that  is  directly  dependent  on  a  Divine  source.  That  she 
does  not  altogether  believe  her  own  conclusions  seems  to  be  proven  by  her  life.  That 
she  had  learned  to  depend  on  human  love,  without  looking  suflficiently  at  the  Divine 
love  beyond,  seems  to  be  the  secret  of  her  marriage  to  Mr.  Cross.  She  dreaded  lone- 
liness. She  felt  no  companionship  with  an  unseen  power,  though  she  might  believe 
in  its  existence.     She  had  worked  out  her  problem  carefully  and  slowly,  but  in  doing 


292  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

so  she  had  exhausted  her  strength  and  was  not  sure  of  her  conclusions.     Like  Amos 
Barton  she  could  think  herself  strong  but  not  feel  herself  so. 

Thus  George  Eliot,  living  in  a  period  of  change  and  upheaval,  represents  the  con- 
flict. By  her  antecedents  and  early  surroundings  she  is  joined  by  the  bonds  of  love  to 
her  countrymen,  by  her  intellectual  development  she  is  linked  to  the  democratic, 
active  spirit  of  her  mature  age.  Her  innate  love  of  truth,  her  fearless  avowal  of  it, 
and  her  contempt  for  dogmatism,  are  common  attributes  of  her  contemporaries.  By 
her  capability  for  deep  emotion,  and  by  her  lingering  affection  for  the  old,  she  more 
truly  represents  her  countrymen  than  more  skeptical  thinkers  do.  Like  the  mass  of 
the  people  through  all  the  conflict  she  held  latent  in  her  the  capability  of  evolving  a 
new  religion.  In  her  faith  in  the  truth  of  feeling  she  foreshadows  the  present  era,  which ' 
would  guide,  not  repress  emotion  by  reason.  If  she  had  lived  after  the  struggle  of 
opinions  were  over,  and  a  new  peace  and  joy  were  lighting  the  world  with  promise, 
we  know  not  how  much  more  perfect  her  life  and  philosophy  would  have  been. 


FOOT  FREE  IN  GOD'S  COUNTRY. 

By  MRS.  MARIE  ANTOINETTE  NATHALIE  POLLARD. 

As  we  look  out  on  the  ocean,  and  think  of  the  thousand  islands  that  gem  its  bosom, 
we  know  that  they  are  created  by  the  gradual  accretions  of  the  minutest  particles. 

Far  down  in  the  deep  waters  the  coral  insect  rears  its 

superstructure.     Year  after  year  elapses,  and  its  labors 

are  visible  only  when  the  tempest  tosses  the  foam 

over  the  hidden   reef  or  the  waves  expose  in  their 

^^^  deep  hollows  its  white  edge.     But  by  and  by  it  lifts 

^dHnfe  itself  above  the  waters,  and  catches  upon  its  rugged 

^^^^^^^  horns  the  wreck  of  some  shattered  vessel,  the  soil, 

^^HP^^^^  broken  branches  and  seeds  from  some  far  off  beaten 

g^^^^^^M,  strand,  to  re-create  in  the  wilderness  of   waters   an 

•5^   i^jf^m  oasis  with  its  fruits  and  flowers,  a  resting-place  for 

Iff  ],  ^  man  on  the  wild  bosom  of  the  deep.     So  that  which 

once  gave  terror,  the  reef  with  its  trembling  billows 
which  hymned  the  dirge  of  many  a  gallant  crew,  they 
now  seek  as  they  cross  the  trackless  waters  as  an 
asylum  of  hope  and  safety.  So,  too,  grows  up  out 
of  the  bewildering  and  chaotic  sea  of  intemperance 
and  corruption  the  enduring  edifice  of  temperance 
reform. 

Intemperance  has  in  it  crimes  darker  than  mur- 
der, and  a  deep  more  hopeless  than  despair.  It  is  as 
wide  as  the  habitable  earth,  began  with  the  birth  of 
man,  and  may  not  cease  until  his  race  perishes  from 
the  globe.  Strangest  of  all  strange  things  in  human  conduct,  man  created  it  himself, 
fosters,  nourishes,  extends  and  builds  it  up  of  his  own  eager,  voluntary  effort,  without 
which  it  would  perish  in  a  day.  Bringing  to  him  no  semblance  of  good;  bringing 
none  to  anything  that  he  loves,  values  or  cherishes;  blasting,  burning  and  consuming 
his  best  and  proudest  moments;  consuming  him  in  his  form,  his  mind,  his  heart,  his 
hope,  his  health  and  home,  in  his  soul  and  in  his  hope  of  Heaven. 

If  this  visitant  from  another  world  should  recover  from  his  astonishment,  he 
might  inquire  further:  "Why  does  not  the  government  prohibit  its  production  and 
sale?"  Well,  it  derives  a  profit  by  permitting  it  to  be  made  and  sold;  and  besides, 
the  government  receives  every  year  S75,ooo,OCX)  for  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  liquors. 
The  states  receive  $25,000,000  for  licenses,  making  Sioo,ooo,ooo.  As  there  are  one 
hundred  thousand  men  who  die  drunkards  every  year,  this  is  equai  to  Si,oco  to  the 
government  for  every  man  who  dies  a  drunkard — a  sort  of  partnership  with  the  devil, 
you  know.  Yet  this  does  not  pay  one  quarter  the  cost  for  caring  for  criminals? 
Besides,  the  majority  of  our  people  think  it  would  be  wrong  to  prohibit  it." 

"What  good  comes  of  it?"  "  None  at  all.  It  never  did  any  good."  "Did  it 
always  produce  evil,  as  now?"  "Always,  everywhere;  just  as  we  see  it  here." 
"Explain,  then,  why  all  men  do  not  agree  to  prohibit  it?"     "  I  can  not."     "  How  can 

Mrs.  Marie  Antoinette  Nathalie  Pollard,  lecturer,  poet  and  authoresH,  was  born  in  Norfolk,  Va.  Her  parents  were  the 
Countess  de  Boussoumart  and  Col.  Pierre  Joseph  (iranier.  At  Norfolk,  Va.,  Mrs.  Pollard  received  her  traininK  under  the 
careful  guidance  of  a  Koverness.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  she  married  James  R.  Doweli.  After  the  close  of  the  Civil  war  she 
married  Edward  Albert  Pollard,  author  of  "The  Lost  Cause."  Her  postoffice  address  is  Safe  Deposit  Company,  East 
Fourteenth  Street,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

293 


MRS.   MARIE  ANTOINETTE  NATHALIE   POLLARD. 


294  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

men  be  found  so  abandoned  as  to  sell  it?  "  "  They  are  not  the  worst  men  among  us. 
They  only  supply  a  common  want  of  our  people,  which  our  laws  permit."  "Why  do 
men  drink  it?  "  "  Because  many  of  them  have  an  uncontrollable  appetite  for  it;  many 
because  it  is  a  mere  fashion,  a  common  custom."  "  What,  a  fashion  to  drink  this 
dreadful  liquid?"  "Yes."  "I  do  not  understand  that."  "  Nor  do  I."  "Are  men  born 
with  this  uncontrollable  appetite?"  "A  very  few  inherit  it."  "  How  is  it  formed?  " 
"  Simply  by  drinking."  "  Explain  this."  "Well,  a  natural  appetite  in  a  healthy  nature 
of  this  world,  when  it  is  fed,  lies  down  like  a  full  animal  and  goes  to  sleep  until 
awakened  by  its  own  voice.  This  appetite  for  drink  is  created  by  that  which  feeds  it, 
and  the  more  it  is  gratified  the  more  ravenous  it  becomes.  It  can  never  be  allayed 
or  gratified,  but  goes  forth  roaring  and  devouring,  until  the  unhappy  wretch  whom  it 
inhabits  perishes."  "  Is  there  danger  that  every  man  who  tastes  this  may  thus  create 
that  appetite  ?  "  "  Very  great  danger."  "And  yet,  among  you  mortals  of  this  wretched 
world,  your  laws  encourage  the  production  and  furnishing  of  this  diabolical  fluid,  and 
your  fashions  and  customs  compel  its  use." 

Its  evil  lies  in  the  passion  and  will  of  man,  and  away  below  the  reach  of  law  and 
written  constitutions,  but  within  the  grasp  of  a  power  that  alone  can  control  heart  and 
soul.  The  evil  burns  deeper,  its  fiery  breath  blasts  wider.  There  seems  no  power  in 
man's  effort  to  stay  it. 

How  beautiful  the  work  of  woman  comes  in.  God  has  called  you  my  sisters. 
Will  you  heed  His  voice?  Will  you  stand  up  and  say,  as  David  did,  "  I  will  walk 
within  my  house  with  a  perfect  heart;  I  will  set  no  unclean  thing  before  my  eyes?" 
Remember,  it  is  line  upon  line  and  precept  upon  precept.  Remember  that  intemper- 
ance deprives  men  of  their  reason  and  fosters  and  encourages  all  kinds  of  immorality. 
It  destroys  the  peace  and  happiness  of  millions  of  families.  It  takes  a  boy  of  beauty 
and  makes  him  a  bloated,  loathsome,  worthless  man.  It  takes  a  young  girl,  lovely 
and  lovable,  and  makes  her  a  degraded  being,  at  whom  passers-by  point  with  the 
finger  of  scorn.  You  remember  these  lines:  "  Hated  and  shunned,  I  walk  the  street, 
hunting  for  what?  For  my  prey,  'tis  said.  I  look  at  it,  though,  in  a  different  light. 
For  this  mighty  shame  is  my  daily  bread,  my  food,  my  shelter,  the  clothes  that  I 
wear.  Only  for  this  I  might  starve  or  drown.  What  made  me  the  guilty  thing  I  am — 
for  I  was  innocent  once,  you  know?  It  was  drink — that  horrid  word  says  all. 
What  had  I  to  gain  by  a  moment's  sin  to  weigh  in  the  scales  with  my  innocent  years, 
my  womanly  .shame,  my  ruined  name,  my  father's  curses,  my  mother's  tears?  The 
love  of  drink.  Was  it  worth  it?  The  price  was  a  soul  paid  down.  Your  guilt  was 
heavy,  the  world  will  say;  and  heavy,  heavy  your  doom  must  be,  for  to  pity  and  par- 
don woman's  fall  is  to  set  no  value  on  chastity." 

Oh,  women,  who  have  suffered  as  only  a  woman  can  suffer,  who  have  felt  as  only 
a  woman  can  feel,  who  have  hoped  as  only  a  woman  can  hope,  come  forth!  Come 
without  law!  Come  without  man's  help!  Come  in  defiance  of  both,  and  kneel  down 
on  the  cold,  bare  stones,  if  need  be,  amid  hearts  harder  and  colder  than  marble,  and 
lift  your  voices  and  souls  in  undoubting  faith  to  the  God  of  Heaven,  and  men  will 
feel  their  hearts  thrill  as  if  under  the  touch  of  His  finger. 

Stay  thou,  O,  Lord!  the  tide  of  death! 
Rebuke  the  demon's  blasting  breath, 
And  speed,  O  speed,  on  every  shore 
The  day  when  strong  drink  slays  no  more. 

The  clouds  and  storms  of  life  are  lessened  by  our  love  of  God,  and  the  nearer  we 
live  to  Him,  the  lighter  our  burdens  seem.  Next  to  God  man  believes  in  the  good- 
ness and  purity  of  woman.  He  believes  that  God  does  and  will  hear  her  prayer,  and 
when  she  comes  to  Him  in  his  haunts  of  sin,  in  her  purity  and  faith,  and  asks  God  to 
touch  his  heart  and  change  his  will  and  power,  God  does  touch  and  change  him. 
There  is  not  a  living  man,  save  some  abnormal  or  diseased  wretch,  who  can  and  will 
hold  out  against  this  persistent  pleading  and  imploring.     Man  may  be  affronted  and 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  295 

talk  of  his  constitutional  rights  of  property;  but  the  constitution  written  by  God  on 
the  hearts  of  men  is  the  paramount  law.  We  are  told  that  the  public  sense  of  decency 
is  offended  by  the  appearance  of  processions  of  praying  women  on  its  streets.  Let  it 
be  offended.  The  public  sense  of  decency  always  was  and  will  be  when  the  public 
vices  and  crimes  are  rebuked  by  plain  truths  spoken  according  to  the  Scriptures. 
Popular  religion  veils  her  decorous  face,  and  pulls  her  skirts  away,  and  fears  that  the 
cause  of  religion  will  suffer  from  such  scandalous  proceedings  on  the  part  of  pious 
temperance  men  and  women  in  the  name  of  God,  Poor  thing!  Let  popular  religion 
not  be  alarmed,  for  God  is  quite  equal  to  the  management  of  His  own  affairs. 

This  temperance  movement  is  one  of  the  deep  throbbing  movements  of  the 
human  race;  with  unanimity  and  persistency,  faith  and  prayer,  on  the  part  of  the  women 
of  this  land  this  huge  evil  can  be  dealt  with  as  an  offense  against  law  and  private 
morals. 

I  would  ask  you  to  sum  up,  if  you  can,  the  amount  paid  in  a  single  day  for  drink 
alone.  Now  let  the  mind  go  out,  extend  the  vision  and  the  sum  to  all  the  cities, 
towns,  villages,  hamlets  and  waste  places  in  the  republic,  and  put  the  sum  total  in 
figures  and  multiply  it  by  the  days  in  the  year,  and  you  have  a  sum  greater  than  the 
revenue  of  the  United  States  Government.  And  paid  for  what?  For  that  which  is 
related  to  no  good  and  which  is  wholly  and  utterly  bad. 

Add  the  yearly  waste  for  drink  of  all  the  years  of  human  life  on  this  continent 
and,  if  the  mind  can  carry  it  forward,  estimate  the  cost  of  drink  for  all  the  years  of 
modern  Europe,  and  you  reach  a  sum  which  can  hardly  find  expression  in  words  and 
figures. 

Give  me  what  is  thus  expended  in  fifty  years,  with  wisdom  to  rightly  use  it,  and 
what  would  I  not  do?  I  would  feed  and  clothe,  nurse  and  house  every  wretched  child 
of  wretched  mortal  man  and  woman  on  the  broad  earth.  I  would  build  up  school- 
houses  on  all  hillsides,  in  all  the  pleasant  valleys,  on  all  the  smiling  plains  known 
to  man.  I  would  hire  men  to  do  good  until  they  should  fall  in  love  with  goodness. 
I  would  banish  that  nameless  sin,  for  every  female  child  should  be  placed  above  want 
and  be  made  mistress  of  herself,  to  be  approached  only  for  her  purity;  and  man  should 
come  to  seek  and  love  woman  for  that  alone. 

Drunkenness  should  be  no  more,  for  I  would  buy  up  the  art  and  wish  to  produce 
that  which  could  cause  it,  until  the  appetites  and  habits  of  men  were  healthy  and 
pure.  Men  should  be  taught  the  science  and  art  of  self-government,  and  their  labors 
and  energies  taxed  alone  for  their  self-good.  Then,  indeed,  would  fair  opportunity 
come  to  all  the  sons  and  daughters  of  men  unwarped  and  unfettered  by  starvation 
and  want;  uncrippled  by  crime  and  unstained  by  vice;  with  healthful,  vigorous 
natures,  pure  desires  and  passions;  with  the  broad,  peaceful,  beautiful  earth  opening 
its  paths  to  their  innocent  feet  without  snares  and  pitfalls  to  go  and  do  as  they  will. 

This  is  a  dream,  you  will  say.  I  know  it  is.  Such  boundless  wealth  is  not  to  be 
placed  at  the  disposal  of  any  mortal  born,  nor  will  mortal  ever  be  endowed  with  such 
wisdom  in  its  disposal.  But  could  the  fatal  waste  of  these  unknown  millions  of  human 
beings  at  once  and  forever  be  stayed,  and  the  little  streamlets  and  drops  of  this  waste 
turned  and  converted  even  to  the  ordinary  means  known  to  human  advancement,  my 
dream  would  be  no  longer  a  dream,  but  a  hope  of  wondrous  inspiration,  leading  the 
races  of  men  to  its  happy  realization,  and  then,  and  not  until  then,  can  we  be  foot  free 
in  God's  country,  America. 


THE  KINDERGARTEN  AS  A  CHARACTER    BUILDER. 


By  MRS.  SARAH  B.  COOPER. 

Dear  friends  and  co-workers,  I  bid  you  a  hearty  God-speed!  This  is  the  era  of 
woman      It  has  been  found  not  in  keeping  with  the  Divine  plan  to  attempt  to  carry 

on  this  world  with  half  its  forces.  As  some  one  aptly 
puts  it,  the  flag  of  humanity  has  been  at  half-mast. 
The  vessel  has  been  drifting  about,  with  half  its  crew 
down  in  the  hold  with  the  hatches  nailed  upon  them. 
The  laborer  has  been  at  his  work  with  one  arm  bound 
up  very  tenderly,  but  firmly,  in  a  sling.  This  is  not 
God's  plan.  Male  and  female  created  He  them  for 
the  work  of  life.  The  way  to  make  a  noble  race  is 
to  make  nobler  women.  The  way  to  make  nobler 
women  is  to  expand  their  sympathies,  enlarge  their 
energies,  and  elevate  their  aims.  Nothing  can  do 
more  to  conserve -such  an  end  than  a  great  convoca- 
tion like  this,  and  so  I  bid  you  again  a  hearty  God- 
speed, as  I  betake  myself  to  my  theme,  thanking  you 
with  all  my  soul  for  the  privilege  of  presenting  a  plea 
in  behalf  of  the  little  child.  I  have  said,  this  is  the 
era  of  women.  I  might  say.  also,  this  is  the  epoch  of 
childhood.  I  am  to  speak  on  "  The  Kindergarten  as 
a  Character  Builder." 

I  believe,  dear  friends,  there  is  a  vast  range  of 
"  unmapped  country  within  us,  awaiting  discovery;  a 
vast  domain  of  unexplored  territory,  as  yet  unpre- 
empted  and  uncultivated,  toward  which  the  eye  of  Frederick  Froebel,  that  great  edu- 
cational Columbus,  was  directed  with  a  steady  and  divining  gaze.  He  saw  with  true 
spiritual  insight  what  eternal  continents  of  truth,  what  priceless  stores  of  hidden- 
away  possibilities  there  are  in  the  human  mind.  He  saw  the  rich  loam  of  faculty, 
needing  only  the  clearing  away  of  underbrush  and  briers,  the  letting  in  of  soft  sun- 
light and  of  gentle  showers,  to  beckon  forth  the  sleeping  germs.  Frederick  Froebel 
saw  it  all  in  prophetic  clarity  of  vision,  and  having  consecrated  himself  to  the  Heaven- 
inspired  work  while  he  lived,  with  a  perfect  faith  in  its  ultimate  triumph,  he  bade  a 
brave  farewell  to  the  few  true  friends  who  stood  by  him  in  his  work,  knowing  that 
what  is  excellent,  as  God  lives,  is  permanent.  And  so  it  has  proved;  for  to-day  the 
great  educational  principles  which  he  discovered  and  laid  down  are  going  forth  in 
every  direction,  conquering  and  to  conquer.  The  kindergarten  is  his  enduring  monu- 
ment. 

Mrs.  Sarah  B.  Cooper  is  a  native  of  Cazenovia,  Madison  County,  N.  Y.  She  was  born  in  1836.  Her  parents  were  Samuel 
Clark  IngersoU  and  Lanra  Case  Ingersoll,  both  of  old  Revolutionary  stock ;  she  was  educated  in  the  Oneida  Conference  Sem- 
inary, graduating  with  high  honors.  Sabeequently  she  attended  Troy  Female  Seminary  under  Emma  Willard.  She  has 
traveled  in  nearly  every  state  in  the  Union.  She  was  married  in  1855  to  Halsey  Fenimore  Cooper,  former  teacher  in  mathe- 
matics in  Cazenovia  Seminary.  She  has  had  four  children,  only  one  of  whom  is  now  living,  Harriett  Cooper,  who  is  asso- 
ciated with  her  mother  in  the  kindergarten  work,  and  who  possesses  rare  executive  ability.  Mrs.  Cooper  originated  the 
Golden  Gate  Kindergarten  Association  of  San  Francisco,  which  has  trained  over  sixteen  hundred  little  children.  Over  $450,- 
000  have  been  given  her  for  this  great  work.  Mrs.  Cooper  gave  thirty-six  addresses  in  Chicago  at  the  World's  Exposition.  She 
is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church  and  has  taught  a  Bible-class  for  forty-four  years,  and  has  one  of  the  largest  Bible- 
classes  in  the  world.  She  is  vice-president  of  the  Pacific  Coast  Woman's  Club,  and  also  of  the  Associated  Charities  of  San 
Francisco ;  is  a  member  of  the  Century  Club  and  of  the  Congregational  Ministers'  Club.  Her  postoffice  address  is  1902  Val- 
lejo  Street,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

296 


MRS.    SARAH   B.  COOPER. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  297 

The  kindergarten  concerns  itself  more  with  the  development  of  faculty  than  with 
the  mere  imparting  of  knowledge.  It  recognizes  the  fact  that  all  true  education  is 
learning  transformed -to  faculty.  It  does  not  ask  so  much,  "What  does  the  child 
know  ?  "  as,  "  Has  the  child  learned  how  to  learn  ?  "  it  looks  less  to  mere  acquirements 
than  to  the  capacity  to  acquire.  It  is  teaching  the  little  child  to  teach  himself.  It  is 
controlling  the  little  child  that  he  may  learn  the  art  of  self-control.  The  senses  are 
sharpened,  the  hands  are  trained,  and  the  body  is  made  lithe  and  active.  The  gifts 
and  occupations  represent  every  kind  of  technical  activity.  The  children  must  work 
for  what  they  get.  They  learn  through  doing.  They  thus  develop  patience,  persever- 
ance, skill  and  will  power.  They  are  encouraged  by  every  fresh  achievement.  What 
they  know  they  must  know  thoroughly  and  accurately.  Every  element  of  knowledge 
is  transformed  into  an  element  of  creation.  The  mind  assimilates  what  it  receives, 
just  as  a  healthy  organism  assimilates  its  food,  and  is  nourished  thereby.  In  his  occu- 
pations in  the  kindergarten  the  child  is  required  to  handle,  reconstruct,  combine  and 
create.  "  Let  the  very  playthings  of  your  children  have  a  bearing  upon  the  life  and 
work  of  the  coming  man,"  said  Aristotle.  It  is  early  training  that  makes  the  master. 
This  universal  instinct  of  play  in  the  child  means  something.  It  should  be  turned  to 
good  account.  It  should  be  made  constructive  in  its  income  instead  of  destructive.  This 
restless  activity  of  the  child  is  the  foundation  of  the  indefatigable  enterprise  of  the 
man.  This  habit  of  work  must  be  formed  early  in  life,  if  we  would  have  it  a  pleasure. 
Activity  is  the  law  of  healthful  childhood.  Turn  it  to  good  account!  The  perceptive 
faculties  in  a  well-endowed  child  are  far  in  excess  of  the  reflective  faculties.  He  sees 
everything.  He  wants  to  know  about  everything.  He  will  find  out  if  he  can.  Sensi- 
ble mothers  understand  this  fact,  and  keep  their  household  goods  well  out  of  the  way 
of  the  young  "heir  apparent."  Just  as  old  Dolly  Winthrop  said,  in  "Silas  Marner":- 
"  If  you  can't  bring  your  mind  to  frighten  the  child  off  touching  things,  you  must  do 
what  you  can  to  keep  'em  out  of  the  way.  That's  what  I  do  wi'  the  pups  as  the  lads 
are  allays  a-rearing.  They  will  worry  and  gnaw — worry  and  gnaw  they  will,  if  it  was 
one's  Sunday  cap  as  hung  anywhere  so  as  they  could  drag  it.  They  know  no  differ- 
ence, God  help  'em;  it's  the  pushing  o'  the  teeth-  as  sets  'em  on,  that's  what  it  is." 
That's  exactly,  what  it  is  with  the  restless  child.  It's  the  pushing  of  the  teeth — the 
intellectual  molars  and  bicuspids,  so  to  speak.  They  are  getting  ready  to  masticate 
their  mental  food. 

Bodily  vigor,  mental  activity  and  moral  integrity  are  indispensable  to  a  perfected 
life.  The  kindergarten  is  the  best  agency  for  setting  in  motion  the  physical,  mental 
and  moral  machinery  of  a  little  child,  that  it  may  do  its  own  work  in  its  own  way.  It  is 
the  rain  and  dew  and  sun  to  wake  the  sleeping  germ  and  bring  it  into  self-activity 
and  growth.  The  heart  as  well  as  the  head  comes  in  for  its  share  of  training.  The 
kindergarten  regards  right  action  to  be  quite  as  important  as  rare  scholarship.  It 
works  for  both,  knowing  that  ignorance  and  lack  of  character  in  the  masses  will  never 
breed  wisdom,  so  long  as  ignorance  and  lack  of  character  in  the  individual  breed  folly. 
What  we  need  to  do  is  to  bring  more  happiness  into  childhood,  and  then  we  shall  bring 
more  of  virtue,  for  "  virtue  kindles  at  the  touch  of  joy."  The  kindergarten  is  the 
"Paradise  of  Childhood."  Froebel  insisted  that  education  and  happiness  should  be 
wedded,  that  there  should  be  as  much  pleasure  in  satisfying  intellectual  hunger  as 
physical  hunger.  And  should  not  this  be  so?  Is  it  not  more  or  less  the  fault  of 
methods  that  it  is  not  so? 

Just  here  I  wish  to  say  that  the  moral  and  religious  influences  of  the  kindergarten 
can  scarcely  be  overestimated.  The  kindergarten  does  not  attribute  every  mistake  of 
a  child  to  total  depravity.  To  be  perpetually  telling  a  little  child,  even  a  very 
naughty  child,  that  there  is  no  good  thing  in  him,  that  he  is  vile  and  corrupt,  is  one  of 
the  very  best  ways  of  making  a  rascal  out  of  him  if  he  has  any  spirit  in  him,  and  of 
making  a  little  hypocrite  of  him,  if  he  is  mean-spirited  and  weak.  And  this  holds 
equally  true  of  all  children,  whether  they  come  from  the  palatial  homes  of  the  rich  or 
the  wretched  homes  of  the  poor.     There  is  more  ignorance  than  depravity  when  a  little 


298  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

child  goes  wrong.  He  must  stumble  and  fall  many  times  before  he  learns  to  walk 
uprightly,  either  physically  or  spiritually.  He  must  learn  to  climb  the  stairs  of  moral 
difficulty  as  he  learned  to  climb  the  household  stairs.  As  we  patiently  wait  for  the 
body  to  unfold  and  do  its  best,  wisely  guiding  it  all  the  while,  so  should  we  patiently 
wait  for  the  soul's  unfolding.  All  education  is  a  growth,  not  a  creation.  And  to  all 
growth  belongs  the  element  of  time.  We  are  none  of  us  born  with  the  "trade  of  con- 
duct" learned.  The  primal  ideal  of  all  government  should  be  to  teach  a  child  to 
govern  himself  at  the  earliest  possible  period.  And  to  learn  how  to  govern  himself  a 
child  must  be  indulged  in  self-government.  The  true  teacher  will  be  aiming  all  the 
time  at  the  child's  enfranchisement — not  in  making  him  an  unwilling  slave. 

Above  all,  the  true  kindergarten  aims  at  the  cultivation  of  the  heart  and  soul  in 
the  right  direction,  and  leads  them  to  the  Creator  of  all  life  and  to  personal  union  with 
Him.  The  law  of  duty  is  recognized  by  the  little  ones  as  the  law  of  love.  It  is  the 
aim  of  the  kindergarten  to  lead  the  little  ones  to  their  Heavenly  Friend.  They  are 
taught  to  love  Him,  They  are  taught  to  love  one  another,  to  help  one  another,  to  be 
kind  to  one  another,  to  care  for  one  another.  No  one  can  love  God  who  does  not  love 
his  fellows.  The  child  in  the  kindergarten  is  not  only  told  to  be  good,  but  he  is 
actually  helped  to  be  good. 

The  very  foundations  on  which  true  character  rests  are  laid  in  the  kindergarten. 
Habits  of  virtue,  truth,  purity  and  usefulness  are  here  inculcated;  and  what  is  charac- 
ter but  crystallized  habit? 

As  to  the  moral  effect  of  the  kindergarten,  a  little  three-year-old  can  best  tell  the 
story.  A  bright  little  blonde  lassie  of  three  years,  belonging  to  one  of  our  kinder- 
gartens, was  holding  tightly  the  hand  of  her  lady  guardian,  as  they  wandered  among 
the  marvels  of  the  Mechanics'  Institute  Fair.  It  was  high  carnival  with  the  little  kin- 
dergarteners. This  nervous  little  midget  was  wild  with  delight  at  the  wonderful  things , 
to  be  seen  on  every  hand.  Just  then  she  was  delving  into  the  mysteries  of  the  chicken 
incubator.  Suddenly  one  of  the  regularly  deputized  policemen,  who  do  duty  during 
the  fair,  passed  by.     He  did  not  escape  the  vigilance  of  "  little  blue  eyes." 

"See,  there's  a  perlice  !  "  she  ejaculated,  with  resonant,  ringing  tone,  pointing  her 
little  finger  deprecatingly  as  she  spoke.  "There  he  goes,"  she  added,. with  increased 
fervor.  "  Why,  he  needn't  be  a  watchin'  of  us,  'cos  we  don't  nip  nothin'  now,  seiice 
we  went  to  the  kindergarten!  " 

The  poor  little  dear — she  had  no  idea  that  a  "  perlice  "  could  have  any  other  pos- 
sible vocation  than  to  be  watching  her  and  the  other  little  Barbary  Coasters,  who  had 
been  wont  aforetime  to  "  nip"  fruit  and  vegetables  on  the  sly,  as  a  sort  of  filial  duty 
imposed  by  thriftless,  shiftless  parentage. 

And  now,  dear  friends,  although  I  have  overstepped  the  limits  allotted  me,  I  can- 
not clos,e  without  a  brief  reference  to  this  beneficent  kindergarten  work  in  San 
Francisco. 

Fifteen  years  ago  there  was  not  a  single  free  kindergarten  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  There  are  now  over  sixty  in  San  Francisco  alone,  including  those  in 
orphanages  and  day  homes.  Branching  out  from  San  Francisco  as  a  center,  they  have 
extended  in  every  direction,  from  the  extreme  northern  part  of  Washington  Territory 
to  Lower  California  and  New  Mexico,  and  they  have  planted  themselves  in  Oregon, 
Nevada,  Colorado,  and  in  almost  every  large  city  in  California.  The  work  in  San 
Francisco  has  been  phenomenal.  No  city  in  the  Union  has  made  more  rapid  strides 
in  this  work  among  the  little  children  than  San  Francisco.  This  is  owing  very  largely 
to  the  fact  that  persons  of  large  wealth  have  been  induced  to  study  the  work  for  them- 
selves, and  have  become  convinced  of  its  permanent  and  essential  value  to  the  state. 
Foremost  among  those  who  have  given  largely  to  the  support  of  these  kindergartens 
is  Mrs.  Leland  Stanford,  who  has,  from  first  to  last,  given  $174,000  to  the  support  of 
these  beneficent  schools  for  the  neglected  children  of  San  Francisco.  Over  eight 
hundred  children  have  been  under  training  in  the  Stanford  kindergartens  the  past 
year.     Mrs,  Senator  Hearst,  and  others  of  generous  mind,  also  support  these  schools. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  299 

Over  $450,000  have  been  given  me  to  carry  on  the  kindergartens  of  the  Golden  Gate 
Association. 

The  kindergarten  gets  hold  of  the  little  child  just  as  early  in  life  as  possible — the 
earlier  the  better.  It  believes,  with  Lord  Broughham,  that  a  child  can  and  does  learn 
more  before  the  age  of  six  years  than  it  does  or  can  learn  after  that  age  during  his 
whole  life,  however  long  it  may  be.  For  this  is  the  root-life  of  the  human  plant,  and 
the  root-life  must  forever  determine  what  the  stem  and  blossoms  shall  be.  In  short, 
the  world  is  beginning  to  recognize  the  fact  that  a  general  education,  that  has  not  in 
it  some  provision  for  a  special  education  and  training  in  some  particular  industry,  is 
practically  a  failure.  Technical  and  industrial  education  for  the  people  is  no  theory. 
It  is  a  question  of  civilization.  It  is  a  national  question,  and  touches  the  very  exist- 
ence of  the  state.  The  kindergarten  lies  at  the  foundation  of  this  sort  of  education. 
All  honor,  then,  to  those  who  foster  these  blessed  schools  for  the  little  children! 

Governor  Stanford  struck  the  key-note  when  he  said,  that  he  believed  the  surest 
foundation  on  which  any  educational  structure  could  rest  was  the  rock  of  thorough 
kindergarten  training,  begun  at  the  earliest  possible  age.  At  the  age  when  moral  and 
industrious  habits  are  most  easily  formed,  the  taste  improved,  and  the  finer  feelings 
which  give  fiber  to  the  will  are  cultivated.  On  the  bed-rock  of  such  training  the  true 
university  may  rest — a  university  such  as  the  Stanford  University  is  outlined  to  be — 
a  university  embracing  the  science  of  human  life,  in  its  varied  industries,  arts,  science, 
literature,  government,  political  economy,  ethics,  moral  unfoldment,  hygiene — and  in 
short  all  that  goes  to  make  up  a  perfected  human  life;  a  university  where  the  school 
and  the  workshop  clasp  hands,  where  body  and  mind  are  educated  together,  where 
the  mechanical  and  classical  student  will  strike  hands  together,  where  the  artist  and 
the  artisan  will  eat  at  one  common  board.  Democracy  means  equitable  opportunity. 
Liberty  of  growth  and  equality  at  the  start  is  the  law  of  all  true  democratic  life. 

And  the  primal  aim  of  all  education,  from  the  kindergarten  straight  through  to 
the  university,  should  be  the  unfolding  of  all  that  is  in  the  human  being — the  equip- 
ping of  the  young  for  maintaining  themselves  in  honest  independence.  Some  one 
has  said  there  are  three  ways  of  earning  a  living:  by  working,  by  begging,  or  by 
stealing;  and  those  who  come  to  years  of  responsibility,  and  do  not  work,  are  doing 
one  of  the  other  two  things,  dress  it  out  in  whatever  pretty  guise  you  please.  I 
believe  it  was  Florence  Nightingale  who  said:  "If  to  three  R's — Reading,  'Riting 
and  'Rithmetic — there  be  not  added  something  that  will  give  the  mind  a  practical 
turn,  we  shall  soon  have  a  fourth  R,  which  will  stand  for  rascality."  The  true  mission 
of  education  is  the  developing  of  vigorous,  capable,  and  cultivated  human  beings, 
and  launching  them  on  their  life  career,  well  armed  and  equipped  with  facts  and 
principles  as  a  propelling  power  on  the  track  of  an  instructed  industry.  We  have  all 
too  many  sad  travesties  of  highly  educated  folks,  whom  old  Dame  Poyser  describes 
as  being  "too  high  learnt  to  have  much  common  sense."  Hence,  we  must  go  back  to 
the  method  of  Providence  in  educating  the  race,  and  begin  with  labor  and  experience, 
which  are  sure  to  lead  up  to  science  and  art. 

Throw  open  the  kindergarten  and  the  schools  for  industrial  and  art  training  to 
every  child,  and  with  the  heart  pure,  the  head  clear,  the  hand  skillful  and  ready,  we 
shall  hear  no  more  of  the  vexed  question:  "What  shall  we  do  with  our  boys  and 
girls?"  Our  fair  land  shall  take  its  place  in  the  very  front  ranks  of  nations  distin- 
guished for  their  industrial  achievements. 

There  must  be  more  of  genuine  human  sympathy  between  the  top  and  the  bottom 
of  society.  The  prosperous  and  the  happy  must  clasp  hands  and  heart  with  the  toil- 
ers and  the  strugglers.  The  living,  loving  self  is  wanted.  The  heart  must  be  the 
missionary.  The  life  must  be  the  sermon.  All  mankind  must  be  brothers.  The  chil- 
dren must  be  taught  these  great  principles  and  aided  in  putting  them  in  practice. 
They  must  be  made  to  feel  and  to  know  that  it  is  what  they  put  into  life  and  not 
what  they  get  out  of  it  that  measures  their  worth  to  the  world.  "Then  shall  our  sons 
be  as  plants  grown  up  in  their  youth,  our  daughters  as  corner-stones  polished  after 


300  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

the  similitude  of  a  palace."  They  shall  be  the  fathers  and  mothers  of  a  great  race; 
and  long  after  you  and  I  shall  have  finished  our  earthly  work,  the  breath  of  God  still 
breathing  upon  the  great  sentient  human  soul,  shall  lift  them  higher  and  higher  in 
their  purposes  and  work,  as  they  press  forward  in  their  beauty  and  their  strength 
"clear  as  the  sun,  fair  as  the  moon,  and  terrible  as  an  army  with  banners." 


POETRY  OF  THE  STARS. 

By  MISS  MARY  A.  PROCTOR. 

Let  us  go  backward  in  imagination  six  thousand  years,  and  stand  beside  our  great 
ancestor  as  he  gazed  for  the  first  time  upon  the  going  down  of  the  sun.     What  strange 

sensations  must  have  swept  through  his  bewildered 
mind  as  he  watched  the  last  departing  rays  of  the 
sinking  sun  and  saw  it  slowly  fading  from  sight.  A 
mysterious  darkness  creeps  over  the  face  of  nature 
and  the  beautiful  scenes  of  earth  are  hidden  beneath 
the  shades  of  night. 

Now  came  still  evening  on;  and  twilight  gray 
Had  in  her  sober  livery  all  things  clad; 
Silence  was  pleased;  now  glow'd  the  firmament 
With  livid  sapphires;  Hesperus,  that  led 
The  starry  host,  rode  brightest;  till  the  moon, 
Rising  in  clouded  majesty,  at  length, 
Apparent  queen,  unveil'd  her  peerless  light, 
And  over  the  dark  her  silver  mantle  threw. 

As  the  solitary  gazer  watches  the  silver  crescent 
of  light  hanging  in  the  western  sky  the  hours  glide 
swiftly  by  and  the  moon  is  gone.  One  by  one  the 
stars  are  rising,  slowly  ascending  the  heights  of 
heaven,  and  solemnly  sweeping  downward  in  the  still- 
ness of  the  night. 

How  many  bright 
And  splendid  lamps  shine  in  heaven's  temple  high, 

Day  hath  its  golden  sun,  her  moon  the  night, 
Her  fixed  and  wandering  stars,  the  azure  sky. 

The  galaxy,  or"  milky  way,"  appears  against  the  dark  background  of  the  sky  like 
a  shining  zone  of  brilliant  light. 

A  broad  and  ample  road,  whose  dust  is  gold, 
And  pavement  stars,  as  stars  to  thee  appear. 

The  first  grand  revelation  to  mortal  sight  is  nearly  completed.  A  faint  streak  of 
silver  light  is  seen  in  the  east;  it  brightens;  the  stars  fade;  the  planets  are  extinguished; 
the  eye  is  fixed  in  mute  astonishment  upon  the  growing  splendor  of  the  heavens  till 
the  first  rays  of  the  returning  sun  pierce  the  gray  mists  of  morning,  and  the  sun 
rises  glorious  and  triumphant  from  its  imprisonment  in  the  dark  caves  of  night. 

Are  we  surprised  that  this  mysterious  daily  disappearance  and  reappearance  of 
the  orb  of  day  should  have  inspired  feelings  of  awe,  and  an  eager  desire  to  compre- 
hend these  wonders  in  the  minds  of  those  who  first  watched  and  those  who  have 

Miss  Mary  A.  Proctor  was  bom  in  Dublin,  Ireland ;  is  the  danghter  of  Richard  A.  Proctor,  the  astronomer.  She  was 
edacated  in  a  convent  in  Norwood,  Surrey.England,  and  has  traveled  both  in  Enroi)e  and  the  United  States.  She  is  a  teacher  of 
astronomy,  lecturer  and  author.  Following  the  lectures  in  Chicago  she  arranged  for  a  lecture  course  for  the  season  of  1893-4 
in  Eastern  states,  and  she  expresses  thanks  to  the  Woman's  Congress  for  favorable  introduction  to  the  public.  In  religious 
faith  she  is  an  Episcopalian.    Her  present  address  is  No,  293  Forty-sixth  Street,  Now  York  City,  N.  Y. 

301 


MISS  MARY  A.  PROCTOR. 


302  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

watched  during  the  long  lapse  of  six  thousand  years?  To  trace  the  efforts  of  the 
human  mind  through  the  long  and  ardent  struggle  to  solve  these  mighty  problems;  to 
reveal  the  weary  years  of  patient  watching;  the  struggles  to  overcome  insurmountable 
obstacles;  to  develop  the  means  by  which  the  rock-built  pyramid  of  science  is  slowly 
rearing  its  stately  form  from  age  to  age,  until  its  vertex  pierces  the  very  heavens — 
these  are  tasks  of  no  ordinary  difficulty.  Music  is  here,  but  it  is  the  deep  and  solemn 
harmony  of  the  spheres.  Poetry  is  here,  but  traced  in  letters  of  light  on  the  sable  gar- 
ments of  night;  architecture  is  here,  but  it  is  the  colossal  structure  of  sun  and  system, 
of  cluster  and  universe.  Eloquence  is  here,  but  "  there  is  neither  speech  nor  language 
— its  voice  is  not  heard."  Yet  its  resistless  power  sweeps  over  us  as  we  ponder  on 
the  mighty  periods  of  revolving  worlds,  the  wonders  of  the  infinity  of  space  and  the 
hidden  mysteries  of  the  vast  expanse  of  heaven.  Let  us  pause  and  listen  to  the  deep 
and  solemn  music  of  the  spheres,  as  heard  by  the  first  watchers  of  the  sky;  let  us  read 
the  poetry  written  in  the  stars;  let  us  contemplate  the  architecture  of  the  celestial 
vault,  though  "  its  architraves,  its  archways,  seem  ghostly  from  infinitude."  Let  us 
listen  to  the  surging  eloquence  of  these  glorious  suns,  now  swiftly  rushing  through 
infinite  space: 

How  distant  some  of  these  nocturnal  suns! 
So  distant,  says  the  sage,  'twere  not  absurd 
To  doubt,  if  beams  set  out  at  nature's  birth 
Are  yet  arrived  at  this,  so  foreign,  world. 
Though  nothing  half  so  rapid  as  their  flight! 

Let  us  gaze  in  awe  and  wonder  ! 

Who  can  satiate  sight 

In  such  a  scene — in  such  an  ocean  wide 

Of  deep  astonishment?     Where  depth,  height,  breadth, 

Are  lost  in  their  extremes;  and  where  to  count 

The  thick-sown  glories  in  this  field  of  fire, 

Perhaps  a  seraph's  computation  fails. 

With  resistless  energy  the  tide  of  time  has  flowed  on,  breaking  in  noiseless  waves 
on  the  far-distant  shores  of  eternity.  Science  has  partially  lifted  the  dark  veil  which 
has  enshrouded  in  mystery  the  celestial  scenes  which  greeted  the  vision  of  genera- 
tions during  the  past  thousand  years,  and  erected  temples  devoted  to  the  study  of  the 
heavens.  Look  over  their  magnificent  machinery;  examine  the  far-reaching  eye  of 
the  telescope  as  it  reveals  the  hidden  mysteries  of  space,  and  then  go  backward  in 
imagination  to  the  plains  of  Shinar  and  stand  beside  the  shepherd  astronomer  as  he 
vainly  attempts  to  grasp  the  mysteries  of  the  structure  of  the  heavens.  The  sentinel 
upon  the  watch-tower  is  relieved  from  duty;  but  another  takes  his  place  and  the  vigil 
is  unbroken.  He  commences  his  investigations  on  the  hilltops  of  Eden;  he  studies 
the  stars  through  the  long  centuries  of  antediluvian  life.  The  Deluge  sweeps  from 
the  earth  its  inhabitants,  their  cities  and  their  monuments;  but  when  the  storm  is 
hushed  and  the  heavens  shine  forth  in  beauty  from  the  summit  of  Mount  Ararat  the 
astronomer  resumes  his  endless  vigils.  In  Babylon  he  keeps  his  watch,  and  among 
the  Egyptian  priests  he  inspires  a  thirst  for  the  sacred  mysteries  of  the  stars.  The 
plains  of  Shinar,  the  temples  of  India,  the  pyramids  of  Egypt  are  equally  his  watch- 
ing places.  When  science  fled  to  Greece,  his  home  was  in  the  school  of  the  philoso- 
phers, and  when  darkness  covered  the  earth  for  a  thousand  years,  he  pursued  his 
never-ending  tasks  amid  the  burning  deserts  of  Arabia.  When  science  dawned  on 
Europe  the  astronomer  was  there  toiling  with  Copernicus,  watching  with  Tycho,  suf- 
fering with  Galileo,  triumphing  with  Kepler. 

Six  thousand  years  have  rolled  away  since  the  grand  investigation  commenced. 
We  stand  at  the  termination  of  the  vast  period,  and  looking  back  through  the  long 
vista  of  departed  years,  mark  with  honest  pride  the  successive  triumphs  of  our  race. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  303 

Midway  between  the  past  and  future  we  witness  the  first  rude  efforts  to  explain  the 
celestial  phenomena.  May  we  not  equally  look  forward  thousands  of  years?  And, 
although  we  cannot  comprehend  what  shall  be  the  condition  of  astronomical  science 
at  the  end  of  a  period  so  remote,  yet  of  one  thing  we  are  certain,  and  that  is,  the  past, 
the  present  and  the  future  constitute  but  one  unbroken  chain  of  observations,  con- 
densing all  time  to  the  astronomer  into  one  mighty  now. 

Thus  far  our  attention  has  been  directed  to  the  examination  of  the  achievements 
of  the  human  mind  in  the  earlier  stages  of  astronomy.  Since  those  days  the  astrono- 
mer has  invented  the  telescope.  With  its  far-seeing  powers  he  has  discovered  the 
laws  which  regulate  the  celestial  movements,  and  defined  the  nature  of  the  universal  force 
which  sustains  these  distant  worlds.  Sweeping  outward  from  the  sun  he  has  reached 
Neptune,  which  guards  the  frontier  limits  of  the  solar  system;  gazing  backward  from 
this  planet,  which  is  more  than  three  billion  miles  distant  from  the  sun,  he  has  exam- 
ined the  worlds  and  systems  embraced  within  the  circumference  of  its  mighty  orbit. 
An  occasional  comet,  overleaping  this  boundary,  and  flying  swiftly  past  us,  plunges  into 
space,  to  return  after  its  long  journey  of  a  thousand  years  and  report  to  the  inhabitants 
of  earth  the  influences  which  have  swayed  its  movements  in  the  invisible  regions 
whence  it  has  winged  its  flight. 

Yet  the  whole  of  this  gigantic  scheme  is  but  a  small  portion  of  the  universe  of 
God,  one  unit  among  the  unnumbered  millions  which  fill  the  crowded  regions  of  space. 
An  infinite  void  peopled  with  suns  like  ours,  with  myriads  of  stars  sprinkled  like  golden 
dust  over  the  dark  canopy  of  night.  The  smallest  telescopic  aid  suffices  to  increase 
their  number  in  an  almost  incredible  degree,  while  with  the  full  power  of  the  grand 
instruments  now  in  use,  the  scenes  presented  to  our  gaze  are  truly  magnificent. 

What  wonder  if  the  overwrought  soul  should  reel 
With  its  own  weight  of  thought,  and  the  wild  eye 
See  fate  within  yon  depths  of  deepest  glory  lie? 

Worlds  and  systems,  clusters  and  universe,  rising  in  sublime  perspective  and  fad- 
ing away  into  the  infinity  of  space  beyond,  until  even- thought  itself  fails  in  its  efforts  to 
plunge  across  the  gulf,  which  separates  us  from  this  eternity  of  glory.  Where  are  the 
limits  of  that  boundless  ocean?  Whereunto  doth  it  lead?  In  vain  do  we  strive  to 
peer  into  these  hidden  mysteries.  Were  we  to  float  on  through  all  eternity  we  could 
not  approach  any  nearer  to  those  distant  shores.  Camille  Flammarion  has  conceived 
the  fanciful  idea  of  an  imaginary  journey  through  space.  Distant  shores  of  worlds 
likeours  revealingthemselves;  heavenssucceedingheavens;  spheres  afterspheres  poised 
like  our  own  earth  in  space.  Even  when  carried  away  with  the  rapidity  of  thought 
the  soul  would  continue  its  flight  beyond  the  most  inaccessible  limits  the  imagina- 
tion can  conceive.  Even  then  the  infinity  of  an  unexplored  expanse  would  remain 
ever  open  before  us.  The  infinity  of  space  would  oppose  itself  to  the  infinity  of  time; 
endless  rivalry  to  endure  through  endless  ages.  The  spirit,  overcome  with  fatigue, 
would  be  arrested  in  its  flight  at  the  very  entrance  of  the  portals  of  infinite  space  as 
though  it  had  not  advanced  a  single  step. 

Let  us  take  an  imaginary  journey  through  space  and,  gazing  through  a  telescope, 
travel  from  star  to  star  till  we  reach  the  milky  way,  then  pass  on  leaving  behind  us  in 
grand  perspective  a  series  of  five  hundred  suns,  ranged  one  behind  the  other  in  line, 
each  separated  from  the  other  by  a  distance  equal  to  that  which  divides  our  own  sun 
from  the  nearest  fixed  star,  each  star  a  sun  like  ours,  a  fiery  orb  aglow  with  energy, 
possibly  the  center  of  a  system  such  as  ours  and  pursuing  its  sidereal  voyage  through 
space.  Such  is  the  vast  scale  on  which  the  universe  is  built.  If,  in  examining  the 
mighty  orbits  of  the  remoter  planets,  and  in  tracing  the  interminable  career  of  some 
of  the  far-sweeping  comets,  we  feared  there  might  not  be  room  for  them,  we  are  now 
reassured.  There  is  no  interference  here;  there  are  no  perturbations  of  the  planets  of 
one  system  for  the  suns  of  another.  Each  is  isolated  and  independent,  filling  the 
region  of  space  assigned  and  moving  within  its  own  limits  in  perfect  safety. 


304  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

We  have  now  reached  the  boundaries  of  ten  millions  of  stars.  Look  to  the  right, 
there  is  no  limit;  look  to  the  left,  there  is  no  end.  Above,  below,  sun  rises  upon  sun, 
system  upon  system,  in  endless  and  immeasurable  perspective.  There  is  a  new  uni- 
verse as  magnificent  and  glorious  as  our  own,  a  new  milky  way  across  whose  vast  diam- 
eter light  takes  a  thousand  years  in  crossing.  Floating  on  the  surface  of  this  deep 
ocean,  in  this  far  distant  region,  the  telescope  has  detected  a  large  number  of  mys- 
terious looking  objects,  resembling  the  faintest  clouds  of  light. 

So  distant  are  these  objects  that  their  light  is  hundreds  of  thousands  of  years  in 
reaching  us;  so  extensive  are  they  that  the  entire  field  of  view  of  the  telescope  is 
filled  by  them  many  times.  Sirius,  the  brightest  and  probably  the  largest  of  all  the 
fixed  stars,  with  a  diameter  of  more  than  a  million  of  miles,  and  a  distance  of  only  a 
single  unit,  compared  with  the  tens  of  thousands  which  divide  us  from  some  of  the 
nebulae;  yet  this  vast  globe,  at  this  comparatively  short  distance,  is  merely  a  point 
of  light  in  the  field  of  view  of  the  telescope.  What,  then,  must  be  the  dimensions  of 
these  objects,  which  at  so  vast  a  distance  fill  the  entire  field  of  view  even  when  many 
times  repeated.  We  find  ourselves  lost  in  the  contemplation  of  these  multiplied 
infinities  amid  which  our  little  lives  are  cast.  In  the  presence  of  these  sublime  mys- 
teries the  senses  and  imagination  are  alike  enthralled,  and  the  wild  dream  of  the  Ger- 
man poet  becomes  an  inspired  reality. 

God  called  up  from  dreams  a  man  into  the  vestibule  of  Heaven,  saying:  "Come 
thou  hither;  see  the  glory  of  my  house."  And  to  the  servants  who  stood  around  His 
throne,  He  said:  "Take  him  and  undress  from  him  his  robes  of  flesh,  cleanse  his  vision, 
put  a  new  breath  into  his  nostrils,  but  touch  not  with  any  change  his  human  heart 
that  weeps  and  trembles."  This  was  done,  and,  with  a  mighty  servant  for  his  guide, 
the  man  stood  ready  for  his  infinite  voyage,  and  from  the  terraces  of  Heaven,  without 
sound  or  farewell, at  once  they  winged  their  flight  into  endless  space.  Sometimes  with 
the  solemn  flight  of  angel  wing  they  fled  through  reaches  of  darkness,  through  wilder- 
nesses of  death  that  divided  the  worlds  of  life.  Sometimes  they  swept  over  frontiers 
that  were  quickening  under  the  prophetic  motions  of  God.  Then  from  a  distance  that 
is  counted  only  in  Heaven,  light  'dawned  for  a  time  through  a  sleepy  film.  By  unut- 
terable pace  the  light  swept  to  them,  they  by  unutterable  pace  to  the  light.  In  a 
moment  the  blazing  of  suns  was  around  them,  in  a  moment  the  rushing  of  planets  was 
upon  them. 

Then  came  eternities  of  twilight  that  revealed,  yet  were  not  revealed.  On  the 
right  hand  and  on  the  left  towered  mighty  constellations,  that  by  self-repetitions  and 
answers  from  afar,  that  by  counter-positions,  built  up  triumphal  gates  whose  archi- 
traves and  archv/ays,  horizontal,  upright,  rested,  rose  at  altitudes  by  spans,  that  seemed 
ghostly  from  infinitude.  Without  measure  were  the  architraves,  past  number  the  arch- 
ways, beyond  memory  the  gates.  Within  were  stairs  which  scaled  the  eternities  below. 
Below  was  above,  above  was  below,  to  men  stripped  of  gravitating  body.  Depth  was 
swallowed  up  in  height  insurmountable;  height  was  swallowed  up  in  depth  unfath- 
omable; and  suddenly,  as  thus  they  journeyed  from  infinite  to  infinite,  a  mighty  cry 
arose  that  worlds  more  billowy,  systems  more  mysterious,  other  heights  and  other 
depths  were  coming,  were  nearing,  were  at  hand. 

Then  the  man  sighed  and  stopped,  shuddered  and  wept;  his  overburdened  heart 
uttered  itself  in  tears,  and  he  said: 

"  Angel,  I  will  go  no  farther,  for  the  spirit  of  man  acheth  with  this  infinity.  Insuf- 
ferable is  the  glory  of  God.  Let  me  lie  down  and  hide  myself  in  the  grave  from  the 
persecution  of  the  infinite,  for  end  I  see  there  is  none." 

Then  from  all  the  listening  stars  that  shone  around  issued  a  choral  voice,  saying: 
"The  man  speaks  truly.     End  is  there  none  that  ever  yet  we  heard  of." 

"  End  is  there  none?"  the  angel  solemnly  demanded.  "  Is  there,  indeed,  no  end, 
and  is  this  the  sorrow  that  kills  you?" 

But  there  was  no  answer,  that  he  might  answer  himself.  Then  the  angel  threw 
up  his  glorious  hands  to  the  heaven  of  heavens,  saying: 

"  End  is  there  none  to  the  universe  of  God;  lo!  also,  there  is  no  beginning." 


^^s^ 


1  ^^^^'Jl^m^^ 


MEMBERS  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  LADY  MANAGERS. 

1  Mrs.  Jennie  S.  Mitchell,  2.  Mrs.  Hester  A.  Hauback,  3.  Miss  Jean  W.  Faulkner, 

Kansas.  Kansas.  Kentucky. 

4.  Mrs.  A.  C.  Jackson,  5.  Miss  Katharine  L.  Minor,  6.  Mrs.  Belle  H.  Perkins, 

Kentucky.  Louisiana.  Louisiana. 

7.  Mrs.  Edwin  C.  Burleigh,  8.  Mrs.  L.  M.  N.  Stevens,  9.  Mrs.  William  Reed, 

Maine.  Maine.  Maryland. 

10.  Mrs.  Alex.  Thomson,  11.  Mrs.  Bnfos  8.  Frost,  12.  Mrs.  Jonas  H.  French, 

Maryland.  Massachusetts.  Masscu;husett$. 


WOMAN'S  LIFE  IN  ASIATIC  TURKEY.* 

By  MISS  MARY  PAGE  WRIGHT. 

Life  is  monotonous  and  sad  for  woman,  especially  because:  (a)  They  are  held 
to  be  essentially  inferior  to  man.     (d)  They  are  ignorant,  most  of  them  being  unable 

even  to  read,  in  spite  of  the  recent  and  much  lauded 
efforts  of  the  sultan  to  establish  schools  for  girls  (the 
standard  of  education  in  these  schools  may  be  inferred 
from  the  recent  act  of  the  censor  of  the  press  in  for- 
bidding the  publication  of  a  certain  text-book  on 
chemistry,  because  he  interpreted  the  symbol  of 
water,  H'^O,  to  mean  "  Hamid  II." — the  reigning  sul- 
tan— is  naught.)  (c)  Because  of  the  miseries  of 
polygamy,  the  seclusion  of  Moslem  women  in  their 
harems,  and  {e)  The  subjection  of  Armenian  wives 
to  their  mothers-in-law. 

The  Turks  are  indeed  extremely  urbane,  and  Mrs. 
Gen.  Wallace,  as  wife  of  the  American  minister  to  the 
Sublime  Porte,  would  naturally  only  see  such  agree- 
able phases  of  life  as  appear  in  her  beautiful  pictures 
•  of  the  Orient;  but  neither  she,  nor  any  other  diplo- 
matic officer's  wife,  lives  or  travels  much  in  the 
interior  of  the  land. 

To  the  missionary  long  resident  in  the  interior, 
the  prevailing  feeling  of  the  women  seems  to  be 
expressed  in  a  phrase  often  upon  their  lips,  "  Blessed 
are  you  American  women;  you  can  read,  you  have 
souls,  but  we  are  only  cattle;"  or  in  the  eager  questions  of  a  girl  who  said:  *'  Is  it 
true,  teacher,  that  American  girls  can  have  money  of  their  own?"     "  Yes."" 

"  Can  American  girls  and  women  sit  down  and  eat  at  the  same  time  with  their 
husbands,  brothers  and  fathers?  And  don't  they  have  to  stand  behind  their  chairs 
and  wait  on  them;  and  when  they  have  done,  then  they  have  a  chance  to  eat  and  not 
before?  And,  teacher,  is  it  true  that  American  girls  have  the  same  privileges  of 
appearing  on  the  streets  and  of  coming  and  going  that  boys  have?  Is  it  true  that 
American  women  are  to  have  all  that  and  Heaven  too? 

The  Turkish  music  in  the  Midway  Plaisance,  with  those  monotonous  minor  strains, 
well  expresses  the  tone  of  life  in  a  land  where  Kismet  (fate)  is  held  to  be  supreme. 

Miss  Mary  Page  Wright  was  bom  at  West  Jersey,  Stark  County,  111.,  February  17, 1818.  Her  parents  were  Rev.  Samuel 
G.  Wright,  who  was  a  home  missionary  for  fifty  years,  and  Minerva  Hart  Wright.  She  was  educated  at  Adrian  College, 
Adrian,  Mich.,  and  at  Rockford  College  (then  a  seminary),  where  she  graduated  in  1871.  In  1874  her  election  as  superintend- 
ent of  public  schools  for  Cofifey  ('ounty,  Kansas,  furnished  the  Supreme  Court  the  test  case  in  the  decision  that  sex  is  no  dis- 
qualification for  that  oflBce.  She  has  traveled  a  few  weeks  in  Europe,  and  extensively  in  the  interior  states  of  the  Union, 
and  in  Turkey.  Miss  Wright  is  a  teacher,  and  was  for  eight  years  missionary  to  Turkey  in  Asia,  under  the  direction  of  the 
American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  (Congregational).  Her  only  literary  works  are  miscellaneous  con- 
tributions and  the  "Woman's  Journal  Advance,''  "Kansas  Magazine "  and  missionary  papers.  Postoffice  address,  Rogers 
Park,  111. 

♦The  above  is  but  a  synopsis  of  the  address  delivered  by  Miss  Wright.  She  was  assisted  by  Miss  Gertrude  E.  Wiloox, 
of  Chicago,  who  api>eared  in  the  costume  of  a  rich  Armenian  bride ;  her  mouth  concealed,  as  custom  requires  of  Armenian 


MISS   MARY    P.\GE   WRIGHT- 


(20) 


ao5 


CHANGING  IDEALS  IN  SOUTHERN  WOMANHOOD. 


By  MRS.  SUE  HUFFMAN  BI^ADY. 

As  out  of  the  side  of  the  mountain  issue  the  streams,  and  out  of  the  lap  of  the 
prairie  bubble  the  springs  whose  mingled  waters  make  the  great  river  and  the  greater 

sea,  so  from  the  homes  of  a  country  comes  its  civili- 
zation; and  the  one  will  be  broad,  strong,  progressive 
and  satisfying  in  proportion  as  the  influences  flowing 
from  the  other  are  pure,  patriotic  and  humane,  born 
of  kindly  hearts  and  cultured  minds. 

In  order  to  attain  a  definite  perception  of  the 
theme  upon  which  I  address  you,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  draw  a  faithful  picture  of  the  representative  type 
of  Southern  womanhood  as  she  appears  in  the  three 
most  marked  epochs  of  her  history — during  the  period 
of  the  old  South,  during  the  transition  period  succeed- 
ing the  civil  war,  and  as  she  stands  and  acts  and  looks 
today. 

A  proper  understanding  of  the  first  of  these  divis- 
ions necessitates  a  brief  reference  to  the  status  of  civ- 
ilization in  the  Southern  States  in  ante-bellum  times. 
During  the  expansion  from  Colonial  days  to  the  period 
thirty  years  distant,  this  section  numbered  among  its 
settlers  the  strongest  strains  of  many  stocks — Saxon, 
Celt,  Teuton,  Puritan  and  Cavalier,  supplemented  and 
strengthened  by  the  blood  of  the  heroic  and  pictur- 
esque Huguenot.  The  manhood  and  womanhood 
resulting  from  such  a  combination  of  racial  ingredients  present  to  the  world  types  of 
intellectual  greatness,  moral  grandeur  and  domestic  refinement  of  which  all  America 
may  feel  justly  proud,  and  which  the  older  civilizations  must  regard  with  wonder  and 
respect.  Not  mine,  but  some  bolder,  surer  pen  may  trace  the  divergent  civilizations 
of  Plymouth  Rock  and  Jamestown,  with  the  relative  merits  and  defects  of  each,  whose 
better  elements  as  intermingled  today  shine  forth  in  the  rounded  achievements  of  the 
most  perfect  expression  of  government  the  world  has  ever  known.  Nor  shall  I,  to  the 
discredit  of  the  one,  make  unfriendly  and  exaggerated  pictures  of  the  excellencies  of 
the  other.  It  is  only  with  one  side  of  the  shield  that  it  is  my  pleasant  task  to  deal  on 
this  occasion. 

I  believe  the  highest  expression  of  the  civilization  of  the  old  South  is  typified  in 
the  leading  men  of  that  period  who  have  made  their  impress  on  the  pages  of  the 
nation's  history.  Men  such  as  they  must,  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  have  had  home 
influences  that  inspired  them  to  noble  efforts,  gave  direction  to  their  impulses,  sweet- 
ened their  toils,  sanctified  their  sacrifices  and  illumined  their  successes.     These  influ- 

MrB.  Frank  Brady  ia  a  native  of  Richmond,  Madison  County,  Ky.  She  was  born  May  12,  1859.  Her  parents  were  Philip 
A.  and  Caroline  Huffman.  She  was  educated  at  Fort  Worth  High  School,  Galveston  Female  Academy,  and  Sam  Houston  Nor. 
mal  Institute,  Huntsville,  Tex.  At  a  competitive  examination  for  the  Sam  Houston  Normal  Institute  held  in  1879  she  obtained 
the  remarkable  average  of  one  hundred  throughout.  She  graduated  from  that  institute  in  1880,  and  was  awarded  the  Pea- 
body  medal.  She  is  a  woman  of  thorough  learning  and  rare  accomplishments,  to  which  are  added  many  personal  charms. 
She  has  traveled  all  over  the  United  States  and  in  Canada.  She  married  in  1882  Mr.  Ed.  F.  Warren,  who  died  in  1889;  in  1892 
she  married  Mr.  Frank  Brady.  She  organized  and  graded  the  public  schools  of  Fort  Worth,  and  also  those  of  Decatur,  Tex., 
being  the  first  superintendent  of  those  schools,  and  the  first  lady  superintendent  in  Texas.  Mrs.  Brady  is  a  member  of  the 
Christian  Church.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Fort  Worth,  Tex. 

306 


MRS.   SUE  HUFFMAN  BRADY. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  307 

ences  were  exercised  under  the  sacred  guise  of  mother,  wife  or  daughter,  and  in  this 
triumvirate  of  holy  relationship  let  the  women  of  the  old  South  be  portrayed.  Let  her 
stand  forth  modestly,  but  seen  of  all  eyes,  as  the  rose-tree  in  the  garden  of  that  civili- 
zation which  changed  conditions  have  swept  into  the  past. 

I  am  well  aware  of  the  popular  misapprehension  that  has  existed  in  the  North  in 
regard  to  the  South,  and  in  the  South  in  regard  to  the  North;  but  I  am  equally  as  well 
aware  that  today  I  speak  to  the  best  informed,  the  most  aspiring  and  the  most  cultured 
body  of  women  in  Christendom.  Remembering  the  intelligence  which  makes  you  seek 
truth  in  every  direction;  remembering  the  breadth  and  force  of  character  which  made 
such  an  assembly  as  this  possible;  remembering  the  spirit  of  kindness  which  you  have 
generated  and  disseminated  to  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  I  ask  you  to  listen  to  a 
truthful  portrayal  of  the  characteristics  of  the  better  class  of  women  in  the  old  South. 

Remember  that  there  were  two  distinct  civilizations  at  work  in  this  Union  ;  that 
the  wheel  of  progress  was  constantly  turning  in  the  North,  fed  by  new  forces  from  the 
Old  World,  while  the  conservative  .South  proceeded  along'  slower  lines  of  develop- 
ment; remember  how  widely  separated  were  the  two  peoples — that  no  iron  bands 
linked  their  commercial  relations;  that  the  lightning  had  not  been  harnessed  into 
hourly  service;  that  the  press  of  the  country  was  the  principal  means  of  communica- 
tion, and  that  it  was  occupied  mainly  with  the  enumeration  of  exasperating  political 
differences.  Would  that  I  had  the  power  of  presenting,  as  it  should  be  presented,  the 
beautiful  and  pathetic  picture  of  the  dutiful,  painstaking  wife  and  mother,  who  was 
the  heart  and  soul  of  the  old  South-land.  Instead  of  being  a  kind  of  Oriental  queen, 
served  and  worshiped  by  her  subjects,  she  was  at  the  beck  and  call  of  everyone  about 
the  household.  She  not  only  attended  to  the  minutest  details  of  plantation  life,  but 
in  time  of  pestilence  and  suffering  she  was  the  ministering  angel.  The  limits  of  her 
charity  were  only  bounded  by  the  extent  of  her  knowledge.  That  distinguished  son 
of  the  South,  Thomas  Nelson  Page,  says:  "  She  was  mistress,  manager,  nurse,  counsel- 
lor, seamstress,  teacher,  housekeeper,  slave — all  at  once.  What  she  really  was,  was 
known  only  to  her  God.  Her  life  was  one  act  of  devotion — devotion  to  God,  devotion 
to  her  children,  devotion  to  her  servants,  to  her  friends,  to  the  poor,  to  all  humanity." 
Certainly  her  physical  endurance,  her  moral  responsibility,  her  unflagging  tact,  were 
ever  taxed  to  the  utmost.  I  feel  that  her  characteristics  have  never  been  more  beauti- 
fully painted  than  by  one  who  came  from  the  extreme  East,  and  who  spent  twelve 
years  studying  the  South,  her  conditions  and  history.  I  allude  to  A.  D.  Mayo  of  Bos- 
ton. He  says,  in  speaking  of  the  Southern  woman:  "  She  did  so  prevail  in  her  own 
sphere  of  usefulness  that  the  best  manhood  of  the  South  fell  down  and  worshiped  at 
her  shrine.  She  was  the  house-mother,  the  queen  of  society,  the  peace-maker  of  the 
neighborhood,  the  saint  of  the  Church." 

Passing  over  those  four  years  during  which,  owing  to  the  collision  of  two  separate 
and  distinct  civilizations,  the  whole  country  was  bathed  in  blood,  let  us  view  the  environ- 
ments of  the  Southern  woman  at  the  close  of  that  period,  and  see  how  she  met  and 
coped  with  the  appalling  difficulties  that  confronted  her. 

The  outside  world  has  had  no  conception  of  the  complete  wreck  of  private  for- 
tunes during  the  great  struggle.  History  of  recent  date  is  beginning  to  throw  some 
light  upon  the  almost  incredible  privations  of  multitudes  of  Southern  families,  but  its 
portrayal  must  necessarily  have  the  weakness  of  the  echo  when  compared  with  the 
actual  suffering  and  despair  of  that  day.  Strange  to  say,  the  blow  fell  heaviest  upon 
those  who  were  the  least  prepared  to  withstand  its  severity.  During  the  days  of  recon- 
struction, as  during  the  war,  the  women  carried  the  heavy  end  of  the  burden.  How 
fresh  in  the  memory  of  all  is  the  magnificent  struggle  made  by  the  women  of  New 
England,  on  the  bleak  Atlantic  coast,  in  the  two  centuries  succeeding  the  landing  of 
the  Mayflower.  Their  toils,  their  hardships,  their  trials  and  sacrifices,  were  almost 
incredible,  and  the  bravery  and  heroism  with  which  they  were  encountered  have  never 
been  surpassed  in  the  annals  of  history. 

The  difficulties  that  confronted  the  women  of  the  South  in  the  reconstruction 


308  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

period  were  equally  great.  But  how  were  they  met?  Just  as  bravely,  just  as  patiently, 
and  with  the  same  womanly  devotion  to  duty  that  has  thrown  a  halo  of  heroism  and 
sacredness  around  the  memory  of  their  Puritan  sisters. 

At  first  completely  dazed,  it  took  them  some  time  to  realize  the  terrible  situation. 
But  when  the  awakening  did  come,  with  a  marvelous  rebound  of  energy  and  ambition 
they  shouldered  the  sad  and  hopeless  burden  of  personal  bereavement,  and  entered 
bravely  the  hand-to-hand  fight  with  poverty. 

In  the  dawn  of  the  great  change — loss  of  fortunes,  loss  of  homes,  loss  of  loved 
ones — all  paled  before  the  great  problem  of  the  hour — self-support. 

This  had,  during  the  old  regime,  devolved  wholly  upon  the  male  members  of  the 
family.  But  a  new  era  was  at  hand.  The  whole  bassal  structure  of  society  was  shaken 
to  its  foundation.  Many  of  the  strongest  men  bent  before  the  storm  of  humiliation, 
suffering  and  despair  that  swept  over  the  country.  So,  to  the  exhausting  duties,  and 
crushing  sorrows  of  household  life  of  the  women  was  added  the  task  of  comforting 
and  encouraging  the  returning  soldier.  No  pen  can  ever  picture  the  utter  sacrifice  of 
self  made  by  the  women  of  this  period  in  behalf  of  father,  brother  and  son.  Often 
the  boys  were  slow  to  be  reconciled  to  the  evil  fate  that  robbed  them  of  the  accus- 
tomed luxuries  of  home,  and  of  the  old  glory  of  the  fighting  days.  The  girls  not  only 
displayed  a  wonderful  capacity  toward  adjusting  themselves  to  circumstances,  but 
exhibited  the  marvelous  power  of  wrenching  the  best  things  out  of  the  most  uncom- 
promising surroundings.  The  boys  were  conceded  all  advantages,  particularly  those 
of  education.  The  promising  son  was  kept  at  school  while  the  whole  family  practiced 
the  most  rigid  economy,  often  denying  itself  the  common  comforts  of  life.  The  girl 
who  was  fortunate  enough  to  be  sent  away  and  educated  must  not  only  come  home 
and  teach  the  younger  sisters,  but  also  save  money  to  send  the  brother  to  college. 
This,  too,  was  often  accomplished  under  the  most  trying  circumstances.  Neither  the 
chill  and  sleet  of  winter  nor  the  blazing  heat  of  a  midsummer  sun  ever  made  her  waver 
in  her  noble  undertaking. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  for  nearly  fifteen  years  the  majority  of  academical 
schools  for  girls  were  closed.  Many  of  the  colleges  lost  their  endowments  and  many 
of  them  found  their  buildings  in  ruins  and  their  teachers  scattered.  The  educational 
pedant  would  open  his  eyes  in  wonderment  at  the  circuitous  routes  and  incomprehen- 
sible ways  in  which  the  women  of  this  period  secured  advantages.  The  history  of 
the  efforts  of  some  Southern  girls  to  obtain  an  education  would  read  like  fiction. 

But  the  greatest  struggle  is  yet  to  be  mentioned — that  of  breaking  down  the  bar- 
riers that  had  so  long  barred  women  from  the  fields  of  useful  labor.  I'  believe  the 
proudest  hour  of  my  life  was  when  I  read,  upon  the  establishment  of  our  first  normal 
school,  that  girls  would  be  admitted  as  students,  that  they  were  to  be  allowed  to  fit 
themselves  for  at  least  one  useful  vocation.  But,  thanks  to  the  spirit  of  the  age,  not 
only  the  teaching  profession,  but  hundreds  of  other  occupations  are  opening  their 
portals,  bidding  them  enter,  save  themselves  from  a  life  that  is  not  only  dependent, 
but  aimless,  and  therefore  hopeless. 

The  last  thirty  years  have  been  one  continuous  school  of  toil,  economy  and  sacri- 
fice, but  it  has  sent  out  graduates  who  eat  the  white  bread  of  independence,  and  who 
carry  in  their  hands  the  lantern  of  hard-earned  experience,  lighting  the  way  to  higher, 
truer,  broader  views  of  life.  The  sorrows  of  the  woman  of  this  period  and  their 
magical  uprising  have  left  their  indelible  impress  upon  the  brow  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  The  prodigious  mental  and  moral  force  and  the  executive  ability  generated 
by  this  curriculum  of  hardship  and  responsibility,  illumine  and  strengthen  the  charac- 
ter of  the  wide-awake  womanhood  of  today. 

All  honor,  I  say,  to  the  women  of  the  transition  period.  They  have  passed  through 
the  fiery  furnace  of  trial,  have  come  out  unsullied  and  strong,  and  now,  with  wings 
unpinioned,  they  are  ready  for  the  loftiest  flights  of  the  new  American  civilization. 

To  the  people  of  the  Southern  States  the  last  thirty  years  have  been  essentially 
an  age  of  action  rather  than  of  study  and  of  thought.     No  sooner  had  they  emerged 


THE  CONGRESS  OE  WOMEN.  309 

from  the  condition  of  absolute  poverty  in  which  they  were  plunged  at  the  beginning 
of  that  era,  than  they  discovered  that  the  material  interests  of  the  country  demanded 
immediate  attention.  Waste  places  must  be  made  to  bloom  again,  railroads  had  to  be 
built,  rivers  spanned,  and  all  the  wheels  of  agricultural,  manufacturing  and  commer- 
cial development  set  in  motion.  Little  time  was  there  for  thought  of  any  art 
save  the  art  of  making  money.  How  admirably  they  have  succeeded  in  material 
development  is  patent  to  all  whose  eyes  have  rested  on  the  waving  fields,  the  com- 
fortable homes,  the  prosperous  towns  and  cities  that  dot  these  states  from  center  to 
boundary  line. 

Eollowing  in  the  wake  of  industrial  progress  came  the  great  educational  wave 
that  has  swept  over  the  entire  South.  Nothing  ever  wrought  more  marvelous  changes 
in  the  same  length  of  time  to  any  race  of  people  than  this  new  impetus  that  has  been 
given  to  the  minds  and  thoughts  of  its  youth.  While  it  has  been  the  means  of  elevat- 
ing and  rendering  more  useful  the  boys  of  the  South,  to  the  girls  it  has  been  a  precious 
beacon  light,  beckoning  them  on  to  an  entirely  new  life  filled  with  hope,  ambition  and 
consolation. 

They  are  the  children,  as  it  were,  of  two  civilizations. 

From  the  old  South  they  inherit  gentleness  of  manner,  purity  of  heart,  and  nobility 
of  soul;  from  the  transition  period  they  bring  persistence,  obstinate  and  marked  indi- 
viduality making  them  strong  and  self-reliant.  So,  from  this  blending  of  character 
colors,  the  Southern  girls,  when  brought  beneath  the  search-light  of  this  new  and 
progressive  civilization,  which  you  in  your  wisdom  and  foresight  have  been  so  long 
laboring  to  effect,  are  destined  to  give  forth  a  brilliancy  that  betrays  the  presence  of 
the  flawless  jewel. 

Yes,  the  new  woman's  day  has  dawned  in  the  South-land.  And  though  the  prod- 
uct of  the  evolution  has  not  yet  assumed  the  exact  counterpart  of  the  progressive 
woman  of  the  East,  still  it  has  bidden  every  daughter  of  the  South  throw  aside  the  veil 
of  helplessness  and  walk  forth  into  the  sunlight  of  independent  labor.  She  has 
already  had  an  opportunity  to  test  her  strength.  New  chances  are  daily  offered  to 
her;  and  in  every  state  we  find  her  ready  and  willing  to 

Seek  Dame  Fortune's  golden  smile, 

Assiduous  wait  upon  her, 
And  gather  gear  by  every  wile 

That's  justified  by. honor; 
Not  to  hide  it  in  a  hedge, 

Not  for  a  train  attendant, 
But  for  the  glorious  privilege 

Of  being  independent. 

But  what  has  brought  about  this  great  change?  The  marvelous  development  of 
the  natural  resources  of  the  country  and  the  increase  of  wealth  have  enabled  the 
South  to  turn  somewhat  from  the  practical  affairs  of  life  and  give  more  time  and 
attention  to  intellectual  culture. 

Old  institutions  have  been  revived,  new  ones  of  great  merit  have  been  established, 
and  a  complete  reformation  has  been  wrought  in  the  educational  world.  A  growing 
interest  in  solid  instruction  is  everywhere  noticeable.  In  New  Orleans,  in  the  Sophia 
Newcombe  Institute  and  in  the  Converse  College  in  North  Carolina,  we  find  as  good 
work  as  is  being  done  in  any  of  the  colleges  for  men.  The  public  high  schools  of  the 
country  are  accomplishing  wonders,  and  in  all  of  these,  the  girls  lead  in  numbers  and 
they  lead  in  rank. 

Nor  is  this!  demand  for  a  higher  and  more  thorough  education  the  only  mark  of 
progress.  A  decided  effort  toward  purifying  society  by  means  of  temperance  and 
other  organizations,  indicates  that  the  morals  of  the  country  are  not  being  overlooked. 
A  new  interest  is  taken  in  the  affairs  of  the  church,  and  in  all  the  various  charities 
which  many  women  so  willingly,  tenderly  and  gracefully  perform. 


310  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

The  charge  has  been  made  upon  all  lines  of  industry;  the  defective  stones  in  the 
walls  of  society  have  been  assailed;  and  more  beautiful  than  all  else,  women  are  stand- 
ing by  one  another,  while  the  spirit  of  kindness  beams  on  every  face  and  pervades 
every  meeting.  History  presents  no  more  striking  contrast  than  is  seen  in  the  condi- 
tions, aims  and  ambitions  distinguishing  the  women  of  the  old  South  and  those  of 
the  new.  The  former  were  educated  principally  with  an  eye  to  the  beautiful,  but  the 
intervening  change  has  forced  the  latter  to  devote  more  attention  to  the  useful.  The 
women  of  the  old  South  no  doubt  possessed,  in  a  latent  state,  the  same  energies,  but 
the  times  and  conditions  did  not  call  them  forth.  No  matter  tjow  active  their  minds, 
or  how  willing  their  hands,  they  were  not  permitted  to  enter  the  field  of  useful  labor. 
In  the  new  South  the  bars  of  all  professions  and  industries  are  thrown  down,  and 
women  roam  at  will  the  pleasant  fields  of  all  forms  of  activity. 

In  the  old  time  the  young  girl  looked  to  matrimony  as  the  only  condition  to  save 
her  from  a  life  of  dependence.  The  girl  of  today  basks  in  the  rays  of  an  age  of  relief 
from  such  helplessness,  and  while  she  considers  the  life  of  the  woman  who  is  happily 
married  a  beautiful  one,  at  the  same  time  she  realizes  that  there  is  no  wail  on  earth 
so  pitiable,  no  cry  so  hopeless,  as  that  which  arises  from  the  wives  of  unhappy  homes. 

How  I  wish  it  were  in  my  power  to  picture,  as  she  should  be  pictured,  the  ideal 
woman  of  tomorrow.  I  can  only  say  that  I  would  have  her  given  the  fullest  develop- 
ment of  which  she  is  capable.  I  would  see  her  have  the  most  complete  equipment, 
the  broadest  and  best  training  that  the  strongest  institutions  in  the  country  can  afford. 
I  would  have  her  realize  that  this  is  an  age  of  individual  achievement.  I  would  place 
in  her  hand  a  banner  bearing  the  inscription:  "Success.  Eternal  Vigilance.  Devo- 
tion to  Duty."  And  then,  not  waiting  for  others  to  command,  let  herself  give  the 
order  to  advance.  Thus  panoplied,  let  her  invade  the  realms  of  learning,  seize  its 
choicest  treasures,  destroy  the  fortifications  erected  by  wrong,  build  in  their  place 
the  stronghold  of  the  right,  and  fight  the  best  fight  of  which  she  is  capable  for  her- 
self, her  country  and  her  God, 

Let  her  be  a  woman  who  will  strjve,  who  will  persevere,  who  will  persist  and  gain 
strength  from  every  lost  endeavor.  Let  her  be  able  to  grapple  hand  to  hand  with 
destiny,  to  laugh  at  defeat,  to  be  undaunted  by  opposition  and  strong  enough  to  brave 
the  darkest  hours  of  adversity  Teach  her  to  hold  fast,  to  hold  hard,  and  to  look  upon 
poverty  and  misfortune  as  ordeals  sent  to  test  the  sublimity  of  her  soul.  Such  are 
the  examples  which  the  Nation  needs — such  the  light  that  will  electrify  her  people. 


SYNOPSIS  OF  "THE  MAKING  OF  CITIZENS".* 

By  MRS.  HARRIET  EARHART  MONROE. 

Ignorance  and  sin  are  a  menace  to  any  government,  particularly  to  a  republic. 
The  object  of  education  is  to  make  good  men  and  women.     The  studies  are  only  a  means 

to  this  end.  The  means  have  hitherto  been  made 
more  prominent  than  the  end,  and  this  the  Patriotic 
League  hopes  to  change.  There  is  for  the  individual, 
the  state,  the  republic,  a  great  benefit  within  reach, 
which  can  be  best  secured  by  the  joint  action  of 
teachers  and  pupils,  through  the  sympathetic  organi- 
zation of  the  great  school  forces  of  the  world. 
We  believe  good  influences  prevail  in  this  land,  and 
if  the  schools  take  the  morals  of  the  community  more 
in  hand,  great  good  will  result  to  the  state.  The  tem- 
perance and  reform  societies  stand  at  the  mouth  of 
the  great  stream  of  sin  bearing  countless  thousands 
into  eternity.  They  save  a  small  percentage,  but  if 
teachers  and  pupils  join  together  at  the  head  of  this 
stream  to  prevent  youth  from  getting  into  wrong 
channels,  the  percentage  of  sorrow  will  be  much 
lessened.  It  is  therefore  proposed  to  connect  the 
teachers  and  pupils  of  the  schools  of  this  country  by 
a  strong  common  tie,  and  to  organize  them  for  thor- 
ough joint  work  under  the  title  of  a  Patriotic  League. 
The  object  of  this  society  shall  be:  First.  To 
secure  a  higher  order  of  citizenship  by  more  carefully 
looking  after  the  moral  and  civil  training  of  the  young  men  in  school. 

Second.  To  provide  in  every  town  and  country  schools  for  the  organization  of  the 
pupils  over  ten  years  of  age;  for  the  purpose  of  looking  up  all  school  children  of 
school  age  out  of  school,  and  seeing  that  they  are  not  prevented  attending  school  by 
reason  of  poverty,  and,  as  far  as  possible,  securing  by  this  means  the  education  of 
every  citizen. 

Third.  To  strengthen  the  weak,  to  help  raise  the  fallen,  and  to  give  aid  and 
countenance  to  every  local  or  general  influence  which  may  tend  to  elevate  the  morals 
or  minds  of  citizens,  each  member  looking  first  to  his  own  morals,  and  then  to  those 
of  every  human  being  who  comes  near  him. 

Fourth.  To  provide  through  a  competent  organization  for  the  systematic  giving 
for  great  educational  measures,  or  in  cases  of  great  public  calamity.  If,  in  cases  like 
the  Johnstown  disaster,  or  the  famine  in  Russia,  every  teacher  gave  five  cents  and 
every  pupil  one  cent,  they  would  be  the  almoners  of  the  world,  and  the  good  of  this 

Mrs.  Harriet  Earhart  Monroe  is  a  native  of  Indiana,  Indiana  County,  Pa.  Her  parents  were  Rev.  David  Earhart 
and  Mrs.  Mary  W.  Earhart.  She  is  largely  self-educated.  Her  early  school  days  were  spent  at  Eldersridge  and  Zelianople 
Academiee,  Pennsylvania,  and  she  has  traveled  throoghoat  Europe  and  the  United  States.  She  married  in  1865 ;  was  left 
a  widow  in  1873.  Her  energies  have  been  especially  devoted  to  educational  work,  having  been  fifteen  years  the  honored 
president  of  the  "Atchison  Institute."  Among  her  literary  productions  of  note  are:  "The  Art  of  Conversation,"  "Past 
Thirty,"  and  "Heroine  of  Mining  Camp."  She  is  now  a  professional  lecturer.  In  religious  faith  a  Lutheran.  Her  postofiice 
address  is  1706  Vine  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


MRS.   HARRIET  EARHART   MONROE. 


*The  full  address,  of  which  what  here  appears  is  a  synopsis,  was  entitled : 
Pablic  Schools." 

311 


'  Best  Methods  of  Making  Citizens  in  the 


312  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

would  not  be  so  much  for  those  to  whom  the  benefaction  was  given,  as  for  the  enlarge- 
ment of  mind  and  soul  which  would  result  to  the  givers. 

Fifth.  To  Americanize  every  young  foreigner  in  this  country  by  seeing  that  he 
learns  to  read  and  write  in  the  English  language,  and  that  he  understands  common 
morality,  and  comprehends  the  sacred  and  far-reaching  influences  of  the  ballot. 

Sixth.  To  see  that  all  be  encouraged  to  strive  for  higher  education,  and  that 
each  year  at  least  one  boy  and  one  girl  from  each  district  or  ward  be  encouraged  to 
attempt  a  complete  collegiate  course,  the  general  object  being  to  tone  up  the  average 
educational  standard  of  every  community. 

Seventh.  To  introduce  manual  training  into  every  school,  and  to  give  special 
attention  and  watchful  help  in  this  line  to  the  children  of  the  foreigner,  of  the  poor, 
and  of  the  vicious. 

Eighth.  To  pledge  each  member  to  be  noble  in  his  own  life,  to  use  no  intoxicating 
liquors,  to  be  active  in  his  efforts  to  stop  others  from  using  them,  and  to  shun  all  forms 
of  gambling,  as  gambling  and  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors  are  among  the  sins  which 
most  debase  citizenship. 

With  these  common  objects  in  view,  it  is  hoped  that  the  society  will  be  made  a  bond 
of  union  between  the  fellow  of  the  university  and  the  most  indigent  pupil  of  the  pri- 
mary grades  of  the  public  schools.  It  is  believed  that  the  educators  of  all  classes,  com- 
ing together  for  the  consideration  of  the  best  means  of  accomplishing  these  results, 
will  do  more  for  the  improvement  of  the  morals  of  the  entire  country  than  any  method 
that  has  yet  been  tried.  It  is  earnestly  hoped  that  the  constitution  of  this  society  will 
be  found  broad  enough  to  satisfy  the  Jew,  the  Roman  Catholic,  and  the  Protestant, 
and  unite  them  in  a  common  purpose  of  fitting  the  youth  committed  to  their  care  for 
nobler  achievement  and  higher  destiny. 

Atlantic  City,  N.  J.,  with  about  thirty  thousand  people,  has  two  grand  educators 
— County  Supt.  S.  R.  Morse,  and  Prof.  W.  A.  Deremer,  at  the  head  of  about  fifty  teach- 
ers in  the  public  schools  of  the  city.  At  the  beginning  of  last  school  year  a  number  of 
articles  were  written  on  the  subject  of  patriotism,  for  the  county  papers,  with  particular 
reference  to  the  schools  of  the  county.  The  statement  was  repeated  in  many  forms,  that 
the  state  pays  for  the  public  schools  with  the  expectation  that  they  will  make  good 
citizens.  The  same  statement  was  reiterated  in  the  schoolroom,  until  each  pupil  was 
fully  imbued  with  the  dignity  of  the  idea  that  he  was  to  be  a  helper  in  fitting  himself 
for  intelligent  citizenship,  and  also  that  he  was  to  look  after  all  other  children  who 
ought  to  be  in  school.  To  carry  out  this  idea  the  following  principles  were  kept 
steadily  in  view. 

Principle  I.     Form  the  public  opinion  of  the  school. 

Principle  II,  The  state  is  not  able  to  provide  a  school  police,  such  as  is  found  in 
Germany,  but  we  have  in  our  midst  the  best  police  in  the  world  in  our  own  children, 
if  they  are  properly  organized.  Make  them  feel  that  they  are  their  brother's  keeper, 
an  thus  develop  a  public  spirit. 

Principle  III.  Have  the  parents  co-operate  through  their  children  at  school. 
Tell  the  parents  through  the  pupils  the  conditions,  and  ask  the  children  to  bring 
money,  or  a  pound  of  some  household  necessity. 

Principle  IV.  Secure  the  co-operation  of  organized  charities  if  they  exist,  then 
adopt  personal  visitations  to  families,  and  provide  for  careful  distribution.  Pupils 
were  requested  to  report  to  the  teacher  any  child  who  was  kept  out  of  school  from 
poverty,  or  because  he  was  obliged  to  work.  They  were  earnestly  requested  not  to 
mention  to  others  what  they  were  doing,  lest  they  start  up  an  army  of  beggars.  Pupils 
were  also  requested  to  report  any  children  of  criminals,  foreigners,  or  colored  people 
who  were  out  of  school  on  account  of  their  condition.  In  Atlantic  City,  two  hundred 
children  between  the  ages  of  seven  and  fifteen  were  found  out  of  school,  and  seventy 
destitute  families  were  discovered. 

The  teachers  then  said  to  their  pupils,  "  Please  tell  your  parents  just  what  we  are 
doing.     Explain  to  them  that  we  desire  to  Americanize  every  young  foreigner  and  to 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  313 

make  a  good  citizen  of  every  child  in  his  town;  then  ask  your  mother  to  give  us  any 
clothes  which  you  may  have  outgrown,  or  you  can  spare,  to  clothe  the  destitute.  Tell 
her  we  will  visit  every  case,  and  see  that  her  bounty  is  judiciously  used."  The  response 
to  this  was  that  more  clothing  was  furnished  than  can  be  used  in  two  years,  if  two 
hundred  destitute  children  should  be  found  each  year. 

The  next  duty  devolved  either  on  the  principal  or  on  his  most  trusted  and  worthy 
teachers.     Every  indigent  family  was  visited,  and  about  this  dialogue  occurred: 

"  Mrs.  Smith,  we  greatly  regret  that  your  son  John  is  out  of  school;  would  you 
be  willing  to  have  him  attend,  provided  we  clothe  him?  "  "  Indeed,  Madam,  I  would 
be  glad  to  have  John  in  school;  he  needs  schooling  badly  enough;  but  I  need  his 
wages,  small  as  they  are,  to  provide  food  for  my  fatherless  children."  "  If  we  pro- 
vide the  equivalent  for  John's  wages,  will  you  let  him  attend  school  four  months?" 

The  poor  woman  knows  that  if  the  state  does  not  take  care  of  John  now,  it  may 
have  to  do  so  later,  and  she  gladly  consents. 

The  result  of  this  organized  effort  was  that  seventeen  wagon-loads  of  provisions 
were  provided  for  the  seventy  destitute  families,  the  two  hundred  children  were 
clothed,  and  nearly  every  child  not  an  invalid,  between  seven  and  fifteen  years  of  age, 
was  in  school  four  months.  There  were  some  pathetic  scenes  for  our  land  of  plenty. 
More  than  one  boy  was  found  who  had  not  been  the  happy  owner  of  a  complete  suit 
at  one  time.  When  he  had  owned  a  coat,  he  had  had  no  shirt  or  vest,  and  when  in 
summer  he  had  worn  a  calico  shirt,  he  had  had  no  coat.  More  than  one  shed  happy 
tears  at  seeing  himself  or  herself  clothed  neatly  from  head  to  foot.  After  all  this 
care  to  have  every  child  in  school  of  proper  age,  you  may  be  sure  the  teachers  made 
good  use  of  those  four  months  to  instruct  in  ethics  and  civics. 

The  League  will  insist  on  the  principle  that  when  the  state  incarcerates  a  criminal 
who  might  have  been  a  good  citizen,  if  taken  young,  a  gross,  rankling  act  of  injustice 
has  been  committed. 

Patriotic  League,  Teacher's  Department— The  Pledge. 

I  hereby  promise  my  God  and  my  country  to  keep  in  mind  that  the  object  of  my  school  is  to  make 
good  men  and  women  for  society  and  the  state.     To  that  end  I  shall  do  what  I  can. 

First:  To  lead  a  noble  life  myself  and  to  secure  the  best  moral  development  of  those  committed  to 
my  care. 

Second:  To  inspire  a  deep  love  of  country  in  my  pupils,  and  to  instruct  them  in  the  principles  of 
good  citizenship  so  as  to  make  them  incorruptible  in  the  use  of  the  ballot  or  in  office. 

Third:  To  make  good  citizens  of  the  children  of  foreigners,  of  the  poor  and  of  the  vicious. 

Fourth:  To  organize  my  school  as  helpers  in  this  work,  and  with  the  aid  of  my  pupils,  see  that 
poverty  keeps  no  child  in  my  district  or  ward  out  of  school. 

Fifth:  To  carry  out  the  lines  of  work  of  the  Patriotic  League,  and  to  make  my  pupils  feel  that 
together  we  are  responsible  for  the  morals  of  our  community. 

I  invoke  the  help  of  my  Heavenly  Father  to  carry  out  this  work.     Name 

The  Patriotic  League,  Pupils'  Department — The  Pledge. 

I  hereby  promise  my  God  and  my  teacher  to  be  one  of  the  helpers  for  improving  the  citizenship 
of  this  country. 

First:  I  will  use  no  intoxicating  liquors  of  any  kind  myself,  and  I  will  discourage  others  from 
using  them  whenever  I  can.  I  will  do  what  I  can  by  my  influence  (and  my  vote  when  I  have  one)  to 
put  down  the  traffic  in  liquors. 

Second:  I  will  not  gamble  and  will  do  all  I  can  to  keep  others  from  gambling. 

Third:  I  will  act  as  a  Leaguer  to  assist  any  family  in  my  ward  or  district  that  is  in  a  suffering  con- 
dition and  to  see  that  no  child  is  out  of  school  because  of  poverty.  I  will  find  out  and  report  all  cases 
to  my  teacher  either  of  destitution, or  of  foreign  families  whose  children  are  out  of  school,  but  I  shall  be 
careful  not  to  speak  of  them  to  others. 

Fourth:  I  will  be  faithful  in  trying  to  understand  the  principles  of  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  so  as  to  fit  myself  to  be  a  good  citizen,  and  I  will  look  after  young  people  who  are  not  as  fortu- 
nately placed  as  I  am,  to  see  that  they  have  civil  and  moral  training. 

Fifth:  I  will  endeavor  to  obey  the  laws  of  the  school,  accepting  them  as  a  discipline  in  fitting  me 
to  be  a  good  citizen  of  the  Republic, 

Sixth:  1  shall  take  an  active  part  in  the  literary  work  of  this  society. 

Seventh:  I  will  pay  the  dues  and  assessments  which  my  League  shall  decide  to  be  necessary  to 
help  the  purposes  of  this  society. 

I  invoke  the  help  of  my  Heavenly  Father  to  carry  out  this  great  work. 


314  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Patriotic  League — Pupils'  Department, 

Whereas,  The  government  of  this  state  generously  provides  for  the  education  of  all  youth  within 
its  boundaries; 

Resolved,  That  we,  the  pupils  and  friends  of  education  of 


do  hereby  organize  ourselves  as  a  Patriotic  League,  subject  to  the  conditions  of  that  order,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  seeing  that  the  design  of  the  state,  namely,  the  education  and  training  for  noble  citizenship  of 
all  youth  within  our  midst,  shall  be  faithfully  carried  out. 


Pupils'   Department — Constitution. 

Article  L  Organization. — A  Pupils'  Patriotic  League  shall  consist  of  any  convenient  number  of 
pupils  not  less  than  ten. 

Article  IL  Membership. — No  pupil  is  eligible  for  membership  who  drinks  intoxicating  liquors  or 
gambles.  Any  pupil,  not  ineligible,  may  become  a  member  by  signing  the  pupil's  pledge  and  paying 
an  initiation  fee  of  not  more  than  five  cents. 

Article  III.  Officers. — The  officers  shall  consist  of  a  chancellor,  vice-chancellor,  scribe,  corre- 
sponding scribe  and  treasurer. 

The  chancellor  may  be  a  school  director,  trustee,  teacher,  or  any  friend  of  education,  but  all  other 
officers  shall  be  students. 

The  officers,  as  above,  shall  constitute  an  executive  committee  for  the  arrangement  of  busmess. 

Article  IV.  Committees. — The  department  committee  shall  be  on  civics,  attendance,  promotion  of 
temperance  and  suppression  of  gambling,  providing  for  the  poor,  and  other  benevolences,  and  college 
education.  (Discuss  benefit  of  collegiate  education,  also  ways  and  means  of  providing  for  indigent 
students  who  desire  collegiate  education,  etc.)  These  committees  shall  consist  of  not  less  than  three 
persons  nor  more  than  nine,  and  shall  be  nominated  by  the  executive  committee. 

Article  V.     Duties  of  Committees. — It  shall  be  the  duty  of  each  department  committee  to  hold  a 

Erivate  session  before  each  regular  session  of  the  league,  to  confer  upon  the  topic  of  its  department,  to 
ear  reports  of  local  and  personal  work,  and  to  decide  who  shall  represent  the  committee  and  report 
for  it  at  the  general  session.  In  case  of  failure  on  the  part  of  any  committee  to  fulfill  the  above  require- 
ments, such  committee  shall  be  discharged  and  another  committee  appointed. 

Article  VI.  Meetings. — Each  Pupils'  League  shall  convene  once  a  month  on  a  fixed  day  and 
hour  during  each  month  of  the  school  year.  For  regular  meetings  members  need  receive  no  notification, 
but  for  a  called  meeting,  the  scribe  shall  see  that  each  member  is  notified  of  the  proposed  meeting. 

Article  VII.  Badge. — The  badge  of  this  society  shall  be  a  small  shield  of  such  color  and  material 
as  may  be  agreed  upon  by  each  Local  League. 

Article  VIII.  Examinations. — Each  Pupils'  League  shall,  at  its  January  meeting,  hold  a  public 
examination  on  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  After  which  a  champion  shall  be  selected  for 
the  county  contest  as  arranged  for  by  the  by-laws  of  this  League. 

Article  IX.  Representatives. — Each  Pupils'  League  shall,  at  its  last  meeting  before  the  close  of 
the  year,  elect  a  member  to  represent  it  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Teachers'  County  League,  and 
shall  report  to  that  body  in  writing  all  that  has  been  accomplished  by  said  League. 

Article  X.  Amendments. — This  constitution  and  the  accompanying  by-laws,  may  be  amended  at 
any.  regular  meeting,  provided  notice  of  an  intention  to  amend  shall  have  been  given  at  a  previous 
meeting. 

By-Laws. 

I.  Duties  of  Officers. — The  chancellor,  or,  in  his  absence,  the  vice-chancellor,  shall  preside  at 
every  regular  meeting. 

II.  Treasurer. — The  treasurer  shall  have  charge  of  all  money  belonging  to  the  society,  and  shall 
keep  a  record  of  the  name  and  address  of  each  member  of  the  organization.  He  shall  make  disburse- 
ments on  an  order  from  the  secretary.  He  shall  also  preside  at  the  meetings  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  315 

III.  Scribe. — The  gcribe  shall  preserve  a  full  and  true  record  of  all  proceedings  of  the  society, 
notify  members  when  absent  of  any  action  taken  in  reference  to  them,  keep  a  correct  list  of  the  full 
names  and  residences  of  members,  and  also  act  as  secretary  of  the  executive  committee. 

IV. — All  officers  shall  serve  until  their  successors  have  been  elected,  and  have  entered  upon  the 
duties  of  their  offices. 

V.  Assessments.^An  assessment  of  a  local  organization  will  require  the  action  of  the  full 
executive  committee.  Assessments  can  not  be  made  above  twice  a  year.  They  must  never  be  made 
except  in  cases  of  great  public  need.     No  assessment  shall  exceed  one  penny  for  each  pupil. 

VI.  Civics. — At  the  lirst  meeting  in  December,  the  chancellor  shall  present  to  the  League  one 
hundred  printed  questions  on  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  The  first  meeting  in  January  shall 
be  a  public  one,  open  to  all  parents  and  friends,  and  a  public  examination  shall  be  held,  after  the  manner 
of  the  old-fashioned  spelling  schools,  choosing  sides,  and  the  said  one  hundred  questions  shall  be  put  by 
the  chancellor,  as  a  test  of  knowledge  of  the  Constitution. 

If  more  than  one  person  is  found  who  can  answer  satisfactorily  every  question,  the  League  shall 
proceed  to  elect  by  ballot  one  person,  to  be  known  as  "champion." 

For  the  February  meeting  shall  be  substituted  a  convention  of  the  various  champions  of  the 
county,  at  the  county  seat  (in  the  County  Court  room  if  it  can  be  procured).  Then  the  champions 
shall  answer  before  a  committee  of  three  judges  (not  citizens  of  the  county)  the  aforesaid  one  hundred 
questions.  Each  champion  who  shall  answer  every  question  satisfactorily  shall  receive  a  gold  medal 
to  be  provided  by  his  own  League.     No  person  can  be  champion  two  successive  years. 

VII.  Order  of  Business. — The  order  of  business,  for  the  first  meeting  after  the  summer  vacation, 
shall  be  as  follows:  1,  Secretary's  Report;  2,  Address — On  some  patriotic  subject, not  to  exceed  fifteen 
minutes  in  length;  3,  Music;  4,  Nomination  and  Election  of  Officers;  5,  Treasurer's  Report;  6,  Enroll- 
ment of  New  Members;  7,  Announcement  of  Department  Committees,  and  full  explanation  of  their 
duties  by  the  Chancellor;  8,  Patriotic  Quotations;  9,  Music;  10,  Adjournment. 

For  the  usual  meetings,  the  order  of  business  shall  be  as  follows:  1,  Secretary's  Report;  2,  Trea- 
surer's Report;  3,  Enrollment;  4,  Reports  of  Different  Committees  in  writing,  in  the  following  order: 
Civics,  Discussion;  Temperanceand  Gambling,  Discussion;  Benevolences,  Discussion;  College  Edu- 
cation. Discussions  are  limited  to  ten  minutes,  unless  time  is  extended  by  Chancellor.  5,  If  the  time 
permits,  any  member  may  tell  what  book  he  has  been  readmg  and  has  round  helpful  and  profitable, 
or  the  different  members  may  volunteer  patriotic  quotations;  6,  Music;  7,  Adjournment. 

"What  constitutes  a  state? 
Not  high  raised  battlements  or  labor'd  mound. 

Thick  wall,  or  moated  gate; 
Not  cities  proud  with  spires  and  turrets  crown'd; 

Not  bays  and  broad,  arm'd  ports, 
Where,  laughing  at  the  storm,  rich  navies  ride; 

Nor  starr'd  and  spangled  courts, 
Where  low-brow'd  baseness  wafts  perfume  to  pride. 

No;  men,  high  minded  men; 
Men  who  their  duties  know, 

But  know  their  rights,  and,  knowing,  dare  maintain." 

-Sir  William  Jones. 


SWISS  CUSTOMS. 

By  MISS  CECILE  GOHL. 

Miss  Cecile  Gohl  being  a  professional  lecturer,  business  reasons  forbid  the  print- 
ing of  her  address  in  full.     The  following  is  but  the  introduction,  specially  adapted  to 

the  World's  Fair,  and  a  synopsis  of  the  subject  matter. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Switzerland,  your  tiny  sister  republic,  has  long 
been  reputed  as  one  of  the  show-places  of  the  world, 
attracting  tourists  of  all  countries  to  admire  our  pro- 
fessional beauties,  the  Alps.  This  year,  however,  the 
pendulum  has  been  pleased  to  swing  the  other  way, 
and,  behold!  Chicago  has  become  the  show-place  of 
the  globe — for  just  one  season.  All  Europeans  who 
can  afford  it  are  flocking  Chicagoward,  and  all  loyal 
Americans  are  supposed  to  stay  at  home  doing  the 
honors  of  this  wonderful  country  to  the  foreigners. 

Considering  the  poor  business  outlook  for  Switz- 
erland under  these  circumstances,  she  could  easily 
have  spared  a  mountain  or  two  to  represent  her  as 
loan  exhibits  in  Chicago.  She  might  even  have  been 
coaxed  to  send  the  "  Jungfrau,"  if  America,  with  her 
superior  engineering  skill  and  powerful  machinery, 
•  had  assumed  charge  of  the  transfer  and  given  a  guar- 
antee to  return  the  exhibit  in  good  condition.  My 
country  is  very  little,  but  it  has  standing  exhibits  so 
very  large  as  to  realize  even  Chicago's  standard  of  greatness. 

Old  as  the  "Jungfrau"  is,  she  enjoys  the  reputation  of  everlasting  beauty;  and 
besides,  she  would  have  made  herself  eminently  useful  as  a  refrigerator  in  the  dog 
days  in  Jackson  Park.  You  could  not  have  set  her  up  here,  for  fear  of  dwarfing  the 
show;  you  would  have  had  to  place  her  in  the  lake. 

Suppose  Mount  Washington  or  Pike's  Peak  had  heard  of,  or  caught  a  glimpse  of, 
the  "Jungfrau"  on  her  journey,  and  had  asked  her  to  stay  on  this  side  of  the  ocean 
and  become,  at  her  option,  "Mrs.  Pike's  Peak,"  or  "  Mrs.  Mount  Washington,"  there 
would  be,  for  once,  a  prospect  of  a  well-matched,  solidly-based  international  marriage. 

SYNOPSIS. 

American  travelers  in  relation  to  the  Swiss  custom  of  tips.  Switzerland  a  crazy 
quilt.  Diversity  of  races,  languages  and  religions.  The  engine  an  enemy  to  old 
customs.  Superstition,  inherited  and  developed.  The  village  quack  and  his  working 
method.  Quack  cure  vs.  faith  cure.  Einsiedeln.  Customs  connected  with  birth, 
marriage,  death.  Easter  customs  and  sports.  Ascension  Day  and  ascent  of  mount- 
ains. Swiss  people  like  whipped  cream  and  belieVe  in  whipping  of  children.  Trav- 
eling schools.  Maiden  Sunday.  Moving  to  the  mountains  in  the  merry  month  of 
May.  Kuhreihen  and  Jodel.  The  magic  power  of  a  simple  strain.  Poetic  nature 
and  prosy  business  on  the  Alps.     The  great  Canadian  cheese  eclipsing  the  record  of 

Miss  Cecile  Gohl  is  a  native  of  Switzerland.  She  was  educated  in  Switzerland  and  spent  ten  years  as  a  teacher  in 
Sweden.  She  has  traveled  in  Germany,  England,  Sweden,  Canada  and  the  United  States.  Her  principal  literary  works 
are  contributions  to  the  Swedish  and  American  press.  Her  profession  is  that  of  teacher,  linguist,  journalist  and  lecturer. 
In  religious  faith  she  is  Unitarian.    Her  postoflace  address  is  No.  457  Twenty-first  Street,  New  York  City. 

316 


MISS  CECILE  GOHL. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 


317 


Swiss  cheese.    Wrestling  match.     The   Swiss   a  singing,  shooting,  athletic  people. 
Cultivation  of  patriotism.     Little  Helvetia  and  great  Columbia. 


HIGHER  EDUCATION  AND  THE  HOME/ 


By  MRS.  ELIZA  R.  SUNDERLAND,  Ph.D. 

There  is  a  widespread  fear  that  the  higher  education  of  women  will  in  some  way 
prove  inimical  to  domestic  life.     This  fear  has  been  voiced  to  me  recently  from  two 

very  different  sources:  First,  by  an  intelligent  Japan- 
ese gentleman,  a  member  of  the  nobility  of  Japan, 
spending  some  time  in  this  country  for  the  purpose 
of  studying  our  institutions,  with  a  view  to  their  intro- 
duction into  Japan;  second,  by  one  of  the  lady  man- 
agers for  the  Columbian  Exposition,  who  asked  the 
above  question,  accompanied  by  the  request  that  I 
answer  it  from  this  platform,  as  one  of  the  living 
questions  now  pressing  for  consideration. 

There  are  two  possible  bases  for  answering  the 
question:  one  a  historical  study  of  results,  the  other 
a  theoretical  study  of  tendencies. 

The  time  is  as  yet  too  short  for  an  adequate 
answer  to  be  possible  from  the  historical  standpoint. 
At  the  beginning  of  this  century  the  highest  educa- 
tion offered  to  the  women  of  America  was  to  be  had 
in  Dames'  Schools,  and  consisted  chiefly  in  reading, 
writing,  and  working  the  "Sampler,"  which  was  their 
only  diploma.  About  1820  Boston,  Mass.,  decided 
that  girls  might  be  admitted  to  the  boys'  lower 
schools  for  an  hour  in  the  afternoon,  after  the  boys 
were  dismissed;  a  dangerous  innovation,  as  it  proved. 
The  camel's  nose  once  within  the  tent,  it  was  only  a  question  of  time  when  the 
whole  body  would  be  within  the  sacred  inclosure. 

In  1822  or  1823  the  town  meeting  of  Northampton,  Mass.,  decided  that  the  public 
schools  should  be  opened  to  girls,  but  the  school  committee  simply  ignored  the  ordi- 
nance by  making  no  provision  for  a  larger  attendance,  and,  since  the  boys  filled  the  space 
already  provided,  the  new  law  remained  a  dead  letter  till  the  citizens  insured  its  exe- 
cution through  a  lawsuit  to  compel  the  committee  to  provide  room  sufficient  to 
accommodate  the  girls  as  well  as  boys.  Thus,  in  these  movements  in  Boston  and 
Northampton,  we  have  the  entering  wedge  to  primary  education  for  girls  in  the 
country  generally. 

The  earliest  hint  of  anything  better  than  this  primary  instruction  is  to  be  found  in 
the  once  famous  Troy  Seminary,  of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  organized,  I  believe,  somewhere  in 
the    thirties,  and  the  even  more  famous  Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary,  in  Massachusetts, 

Mrs.  Eliza  Bead  Stmderlaiid  was  bom  April  19,  1839.  Her  parents  were  Amasa  Read,  a  Quaker,  and  Jane  Henderson 
Read,  a  Scotch  Presbyterian.  She  was  educated  at  Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary,  Massachusetts,  and  at  the  University  of  Michigan, 
taking  from  the  latter  a  B.L.  and  later  Ph.D.  degree.  She  has  traveled  extensively  through  this  country  and  in  Europe.  She 
married  in  1871  Rev.  Jabez  T.  Sunderland,  a  Unitarian  minister.  She  is  at  present  Professor  of  History  and  Political 
Economy  in  the  Ann  Arbor  High  School;  addresses  each  Sunday  a  Bible-class  of  university  students,  frequently  reaching  a 
hundred  members,  and  occasionally  fills  her  husband's  pulpit,  as  well  as  other  pulpits  and  platforms.  She  is  a  mother  and 
home-maker,  teacher  and  assistant  pastor.  Mrs.  Sunderland  stands  as  a  living  proof  that  "Higher  education  does  not  unfit 
women  for  domestic  life."  She  has  three  children— two  daughters  and  a  son.  In  religious  faith  she  is  a  Unitarian.  Her 
postoffice  address  is  Ann  Arbor,  Mich. 

♦The  title  under  which  this  address  was  delivered  at  the  Congress  was,  "Does  the  Higher  Education  Tend  to  Unfit 
Women  for  Domestic  Life." 

818 


MRS.  ELIZA  R.  SUNDERLAND. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  319 

founded  in  1836.  Yet,  measured  by  the  curriculum  of  Harvard  or  Yale,  the  courses  of 
study  offered  in  these  schools  could  not  be  designated  as  "higher  education." 

Of  colleges  proper  open  to  women,  Oberlin  was  founded  in  1833,  Antioch  College 
in  1852,  Cornell  University  in  1862,  Vassar  College  in  1865,  and  Michigan  University 
opened  its  doors  to  women  in  1870.  Here  we  have  a  few  centers  for  the  really  higher 
education  of  women. 

But  how  are  the  girls  to  obtain  the  preparation  for  this  higher  education?  Public 
high  schools  were  generally  closed  to  girls  till  about  the  middle  of  this  century. 
Boston  did  not  establish  a  permanent  high  school  for  girls  until  1852,  two  hundred 
years,  almost,  after  she  had  established  a  Latin  school  for  boys,  and  more  than  two 
hundred  after  the  founding  of  Harvard  College.  In  1891,  twenty-one  years  after  the 
first  women  entered  Michigan  University,  there  were  but  445  women  enrolled  to 
1,975  men. 

The  fact  is  that  over  these  first  colleges  and  universities  opened  to  women  there 
lowered  a  dark  cloud  of  doubt  and  distrust  on  the  part  of  an  unsympathetic  public, 
which  had  already  decided  as  to  the  legitimate  sphere  of  women. 

Ail  these  facts  are  of  value  as  showing  that  the  higher  education  of  women  is  yet 
in  its  early  infancy,  and,  therefore,  can  not,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  furnish  data  for 
a  historical  estimate  of  results. 

The  other  possible  basis  for  an  answer  to  our  question  must  be  sought  in  a  study 
of  tendencies.  Is  there  anything  in  the  nature  of  the  higher  education  incompatible 
with  domestic  life? 

Domestic  life  means  home  life,  life  with  and  for  the  few.  What  are  the  requisites 
for  such  a  life?  Briefly,  "taste  and  training;"  and  since  taste  is  largely  a  matter  of 
education,  of  habit,  it  might,  perhaps,  be  as  correct  to  use  but  one  word  and  say  train- 
ing. What  training?  That  depends  upon  the  time  and  place.  In  the  time  of  our 
Revolutionary  foremothers  a  training  for  domestic  life  meant  a  practical  knowledge  of 
baking  and  brewing,  of  spinning  and  weaving,  of  laundrying  and  dyeing,  of  dress- 
making and  millinery,  besides  all  the  housewifely  arts  which  a  wide  hospitality  called 
into  constant  requisition.  An  appalling  array  of  requirements,  these — how  was  it 
possible  ever  to  master  them?  It  was  easy  enough  in  those  days,  when  every  mother 
was  a  notable  housewife  and  every  daughter  had  it  for  her  supreme  ambition  to  equal 
if  not  surpass  her  mother;  when  a  girl's  education  consisted  in  just  this,  was  begun 
almost  as  soon  as  she  could  walk,  and  lasted  right  on  till  the  wedding  day,  with  only 
the  slight  break,  quite  insignificant,  of  attending  the  Dame's  School  long  enough  to 
learn  to  read  and  write  and  work  the  samplers. 

At  the  present  time  how  stands  the  case?  Under  our  modern  principle  of  divis- 
ion of  labor  much  of  the  baking  and  all  of  the  brewing,  spinning  and  weaving;  much 
of  the  laundrying,  most  of  the  dressmaking  and  all  of  the  millinery,  have  been  rele- 
gated to  experts  outside  the  home;  and  for  the  demands  of  hospitality,  the  occasional 
reception  has  taken  the  place  of  the  old-time  informal  and  frequent  visiting;  and 
florist  And  caterer  take  the  place  of  deft  maidenly  and  matronly  fingers,  while  for  all 
other  requirements  of  the  home  hired  help  is  expected  to  bear  the  burden  of  all  prac- 
tical execution  at  least. 

Is  there  anything  left  for  the  mother  and  daughters  to  do?  Yes,  much;  for  in 
the  new  times  as  in  the  old  not  a  little  of  personal  service  must  be  given  by  the  mother 
and  daughters  of  each  .home,  if  the  home  is  to  be  more  than  a  boarding-house.  For 
them  the  price  which  must  be  paid  for  efficiency  is  personal  knowledge  of  what  con- 
stitutes good  work  and  practical  acquaintance  with  details. 

How  are  the  girls  of  the  present  day  to  get  this  knowledge  and  training?  The 
especial  pride  of  the  nineteenth  century  of  America  is  the  free  public  school,  its  pass- 
port to  social  position  and  success  in  life  is  a  diploma,  standing  for  so  much  of  book 
knowledge  appropriated  by  ihe  holder.  But  this  diploma  means — oh,  how  many  years 
of  work!  The  little  maiden  of  five  years  trudges  away  with  her  big  brother  of  seven 
to  enter  the  primary  school,  and  if  for  twelve  years  of  her  life  she  is  able  to  appear 


320  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

daily  in  classes  with  lessons  learned,  she  may  hope  for  that  crowning  glory  of  Ameri- 
can youth  of  both  sexes,  the  high  school  diploma.  "If  she  is  able  to  appear  in  classes 
daily  with  lessons  learned! "  A  large  "if,"  that;  an  "if"  which  means  weary  hours 
of  lamplight  study  to  supplement  the  too  short  daylight  hours;  an  "  if  "  which  means 
little  time  for  play,  none  for  home  work. 

And  what  is  the  relation  of  this  school-life  to  the  home-life — of  the  times  of  our 
great-great-grandmothers — we  will  say?  That  home-life  meant  for  girls  and  misses 
quiet,  seclusion,  doing  duties  and  sharing  burdens  for  others.  This  school-life  means 
a  crowd,  gregariousness,  working  for  public  applause  and  public  honors  in  the  school- 
room and  on  commencement  day.  That  home-life  meant  physical  activity,  many 
sided,  manual  training  on  many  lines,  developed  muscular  systems.  This  school-life 
means  sedentary  habits,  lack  of  muscular  vigor,  distaste  for  muscular  exertion,  inef- 
ficiency in  the  practical  affairs  of  life.  That  home-life  meant  home,  the  center  of 
thought  and  effort,  as  of  daily  life.  This  school-life  means  the  outside  world  as  the 
center  of  thought  and  effort,  home  the  eating  and  sleeping  place.  That  old  time  life 
meant  that  home  duties  took  precedence  of  all  other  demands.  In  this  new  time  life 
school  duties  and  responsibilities  stand  pre-eminent;  duties  to  the  home  and  its 
inmates,  and  even  to  personal  health,  being  ruthlessly  pushed  aside  if  they  come  in 
collision  with  school  requirements  and  class  grades. 

And  when  these  school  years  are  ended,  and  the  maiden  of  sixteen,  seventeen  or 
eighteen  turns  for  the  last  time  from  the  doors  of  the  high  school,  bearing  proudly 
her  much  coveted  diploma,  is  she  then  ready  to  take  her  place  in  the  home  and  enter 
upon  as  careful  and  thorough  training  for  domestic  life  as  the  schools  have  given  her 
in  book  lore?  Let  the  great  army  of  young  women  seeking  places  as  teachers,  clerks, 
bookkeepers,  typewriters,  dressmakers'  apprentices  and  factory  girls  answer;  and  a 
still  louder  answer,  if  we  will  listen  for  it,  may  be  heard  from  the  urgent  and  wholly 
unfilled  demand  for  intelligent  help  in  the  home. 

The  fact  seems  to  be,  and  we  may  as  well  face  it  first  as  last,  modern  school-life 
and  training  does  unfit  the  girl  for  domestic  life  first,  by  monopolizing  the  time  once 
given  to  training  for  domestic  life;  second,  by  accustoming  the  daughters  of  rich  and 
poor  alike  to  the  excitements  of  a  gregarious  public  life  through  all  their  formative 
years,  thus  rendering  distasteful  to  them,  by  its  very  strangeness,  any  work  or  pleasure 
to  be  had  in  the  privacy  of  the  home. 

But  all  this  is  primary  and  secondary  education.  The  girl  who  has  finished  these 
stands  only  on  the  threshold  of  the  higher  education.  For  the  girls  who  take  this 
there  follow  four  or  six  years  more  of  study  now  entirely  removed  from  home  influ- 
ences and  surroundings,  as  well  as  freed  from  domestic  duties  and  responsibilities. 
How  will  these  added  years  affect  the  problem  of  woman's  relation  to  domestic  life? 
Can  they  do  otherwise  than  emphasize  and  exaggerate  the  evils  already  pointed  out? 
and  must  not  the  A.  B.  or  A.  M.  or  Ph.D.,  after  her  four  or  five  or  six  years  given  in 
college  halls  to  Latin  and  Greek,  science  and  philosophy,  literature  and  mathematics, 
be  even  further  removed  still  from  both  inclination  and  training  for  the  quite  unliter- 
ary  and  the  relatively  lonely  work  of  superintending  and  serving  in  the  various  rela- 
tions of  domestic  life?  It  would  seem  to  follow  that  higher  education  for  women  must 
prove  a  public  calamity,  since  its  results  must  be  to  remove  the  picked  young  women 
of  each  community  from  domestic  life,  thus  relegating  home-making — and  homes  are 
the  recognized  corner-stones  of  society  and  the  state — to  second  or  third  rate  talent. 

But  suppose  we  close  the  college  doors  to  the  women  of  the  future.  Have  we 
then  averted  the  evils  we  fear?  We  must  not  forget  that  the  result  of  our  study  has 
been  to  show  that  the  higher  education,  at  most,  only  emphasized  evils  already  exist- 
ing; that  it  is  the  primary  and  secondary  education,  not  the  higher,  which  lies  at  the 
root  of  the  trouble,  that  the  primary  and  secondary  schools  take  not  a  select  few,  but 
the  daughters  from  all  our  homes,  rich  and  poor,  cultured  and  uncultured  homes  alike; 
take  them  during  the  most  plastic  and  formative  period  of  life,  and,  by  heavy  exactions 
on  time  and  strength,  continued  through  many  years,  prevent  the  formation  of  tastes 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  321 

and  aptitudes  essential  to  a  happy  and  successful  domestic  life.  And  are  we  prepared, 
therefore,  to  condemn  our  whole  public  school  system  of  co-education,  and  to  relegate 
our  daughters  back  again  to  the  Dames' Schools  of  the  beginning  of  the  century?  No 
one  could  be  found  foolhardy  enough  to  answer  in  the  affirmative.  Some  other  rem- 
edy than  this  must  be  found,  and  that  remedy  when  found  will  not  consist  in  revolu- 
tion, that  is,  overthrow,  destruction,  but  in  evolution,  that  is,  adaptation. 

We  shall  need  to  remind  ourselves  as  well  as  the  croakers  that  secondary  educa- 
tion for  girls  dates  back  only  to  the  middle  of  the  century,  and  that  the  higher  educa- 
tion of  woman,  as  offered  in  any  adequate  form,  can  be  measured  by  a  quarter  of  a  cent- 
ury. It  is  not  strange  that  so  potent  a  factor  introduced  into  woman's  life  should 
prove  a  disturbing  element,  and  should  require  readjustment.  The  new  thing  always, 
for  the  time  being,  takes  precedence  of  the  old,  if  it  does  not  supersede  it.  So  wonder- 
ful was  the  new  world  opened  up  to  women  through  books  and  education,  the  world 
of  history  and  literature,  science  and  art  and  philosophy,  that  the  old  world  of  domes- 
tic life  seemed  by  comparison  meager  indeed.  And  if  sharing  the  boy's  studies  had 
brought  such  enlargement  of  life,  might  not  sharing  his  occupations,  or,  at  least,  his 
life  of  public  and  organized  activity,  bring  equal  good?  It  was  in  the  nature  of  things 
that  the  experiment  must  be  tried.  We  are  living  in  the  transition  period,  and  are 
interested  observers  of  the  experiment.  What  will  be  the  outcome?  The  first  result 
could  not  have  been  other  than  an  over  emphasis  of  importance  put  upon  the  public 
life  in  store  or  office  or  teacher's  chair  (for  these  were  all  new),  and  an  under  empha- 
sis put  upon  the  old  life  of  home  service.  And  it  was  well  that  it  should  be  so. 
Domestic  work  had  fallen  under  the  ban  of  being  an  occupation  adapted  to  the  capac- 
ities of  the  uneducated  and  dependent  classes.  So  that  wife  and  daughters  might 
with  their  own  brains  and  hands  plan  and  execute  the  work  of  the  entire  household, 
from  cooking  the  food,  through  spinning,  weaving  and  making  the  clothes,  to  caring 
for  the  children  and  nursing  the  sick,  and  yet  this  wife  and  these  daughters  before  the 
law  were  supported  by  husband  and  father,  and  any  money  they  might  need  for  their 
own  personal  expenses  was  regarded  as  a  gift,  not  as  a  wage  earned.  Moreover,  as 
with  all  work  done  by  uneducated  and  dependent  classes,  the  value  put  upon  it  was 
low  if  it  had  to  be  obtained  from  strangers.  Is  it  strange  that  when  the  public  school 
had  fitted  a  girl  for  earning  an  independent  competence  she  should  have  gladly 
turned  her  back  upon  the  often  galling  dependence  of  the  home.  And  this  is  but  one 
side  of  the  movement;  the  other  side  is  that  the  home  being  thus  deprived  of  its 
accustomed  workers,  the  household  machinery  creaks,  bringing  widespread  discom- 
fort, and  the  world  is  awaking  to  the  fact  that  housework  as  well  as  other  work 
demands  brains  and  skill  and  that  these  must  be  paid  for  in  the  home  as  well  as  in  the 
shop  and  schoolroom.  ^ 

Thus  far  the  experiment  has  progressed.  The  world  has  begun  to  recognize  the 
supreme  importance  of  skilled  work  in  the  home,  while  on  the  other  hand  it  has  in 
efficient  operation  an  instrumentality  expressly  adapted  to  insure  that  skilled  work 
shall  not  be  had  there.  Such  is  the  dilemma.  Readjustment  must  be  made.  What  is 
the  outlook  for  it?  I  turn,  as  I  believe  the  world  ere  long  will  turn,  for  an  efficient 
agent  in  such  readjustment  to  the  woman  made  by  the  higher  education.  She  alone 
has  reached  the  vantage-ground  from  which  she  is  prepared  to  see  domestic  life  in 
its  true  perspective  in  relation  to  all  of  life.  She  has  learned  from  her  sociological 
studies  that  the  moral  fiber  which  makes  possible  a  free  government  must  be  devel- 
oped in  the  home;  and  from  her  scientific  researches  that  moral  and  intellectual  as 
well  as  muscular  fiber  are  dependent  upon  pure  air,  cleanly  surroundings,  healthful 
food,  adequate  and  appropriate  clothing,  regular  habits,  and  a  cheerful  environment 
of  comfort  and  hope,  all  of  which  it  is  largely  the  work  of  the  house-mother  and  her 
assistants  to  furnish.  Moreover,  these  college-bred  women  are  prepared,  by  years  of 
close  logical  thinking,  to  undertake  the  task  of  readjusting  woman's  life  to  the  life  of 
society  as  a  whole  in  the  light  of  nineteenth-century  needs  and  possibilities;  because 
they  are  able  to  recognize  society  as  an  organism  of  which  women  are  organic  parts, 

•      (21) 


322  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

and  they  well  know  that  the  good  of  no  one  organ  can  be  found  apart  from  the  good 
of  the  whole. 

What  will  be  the  steps  of  readjustment?  I  think  I  see  at  least  five.  First  of  all 
there  will  be  a  remodeling  of  primary  and  secondary  school-life.  The  school  was  and 
is  designed  as  a  means  of  education;  but  what  is  it  to  be  educated?  "To  have  passed 
successful  examinations  upon  a  certain  number  of  books,"  answers  the  average  mem- 
ber of  the  school  board  and  the  average  teacher;  "  hence  everything  must  bend  to  this 
mental  feat."  "  To  have  gained  command  of  all  one's  powers,  mental,  moral,  and 
physical,"  answers  the  woman  who  has  climbed  all  the  rounds  of  the  educational  lad- 
der and  stands  at  the  top,  "  and  to  gain  such  command  requires  brain  work  and  hand 
work,  work  for  self  and  work  for  others,  work  with  others  in  the  school  and  work 
alone  in  the  home,  theoretical  work  and  practical  work,  and  the  two  sides  of  the  coup- 
lets should  go  hand  in  hand,  to  attempt  to  separate  them  means  a  one-sided  develop- 
ment unworthy  the  name  of  education.  Hence  the  curriculum  of  the  school  must  be 
so  remodeled  as  to  leave  time  for  the  training  of  the  home  to  go  side  by  side  with  it." 

Second:  There  will  be  needed  a  remodeling  of  the  curricula  of  secondary  and 
higher  education  to  make  them  touch  more  closely  the  life  and  needs  of  men  and 
women.  Anatomy,  physiology  and  psychology,  heat  and  light,  air  and  its  movements, 
chemistry  and  germ  theories,  if  studied  first  in  the  laboratories  of  the  schools,  should 
be  tested  anew  in  the  practical  laboratory  of  the  home  and  of  society.  The  nation 
and  its  history  are  only  the  family  and  its  history  writ  large;  political  economy 
domestic  economy  magnified. 

Third:  With  the  home  and  its  needs  thus  made  the  practical  objective  point  of 
a  large  part  of  college  study,  the  home  will  rise  into  new  importance,  and  the  home 
keeper  to  a  new  place  of  honor;  since  only  the  owner  of  the  cultured  brain  can  aspire 
to  the  rank  of  a  scientific  as  well  as  practical  housekeeper,  and  such  housekeeping  will 
be  seen  to  be  as  worthy  an  object  of  ambition  as  club  work,  reporting  or  teaching. 

Fourth:  Housekeeping  alone  will  not  fill  all  the  time  or  satisfy  all  the  aspirations 
of  every  cultured  woman,  and  unless  the  home  is  to  lose  many  of  its  brightest  lights, 
it  must  be  demonstrated  that  the  brains  of  a  cultured  woman  put  into  a  household 
may  save  time  for  other  work — the  club,  the  magazine  article,  the  book  to  be  written, 
the  profession  to  be  followed  while  yet  the  home  suffers  no  loss.  But  to  make  all 
this  possible  another  step  must  be  taken  in  the  process  of  readjustment;  namely, 

Fifth:  Under  the  wise  guidance  of  the  woman  of  higher  education,  the  woman 
of  secondary  education  will  come  again  into  the  home,  not  as  a  drudge  but  as  "  help," 
and  very  efficient  help — yes,  come  out  of  not  a  few  stores  and  offices  and  even  school- 
rooms into  the  domestic  circle,  there  to  receive  full  recognition  and  adequate  compen- 
sation as  trained  workers,  they  having  had,  as  a  part  of  their  education,  the  training 
which  will  make  domestic  work  easy  and  pleasant. 

If,  then,  the  higher  education  of  woman  tends  at  all  today  to  unfit  women  for 
domestic  life,  it  seems  to  me  to  carry  with  it  the  promise  and  potency  of  a  revivified 
and  reglorified  domestic  life  in  a  not-distant  future;  a  domestic  life  which  shall  be 
recognized  as  not  a  slavery,  but  the  broadest  freedom;  not  a  drudgery,  but  the 
noblest  service,  because  the  once  household  drudge — drudge  because  dependent  and 
ignorant — is  now  the  independent,  self-poised,  scientific  mistress  of  a  position  of  rec- 
ognized importance. 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  OTHER  HALF. 

By  MISS  LUCY  WHEELOCK. 

"  Oh,  child!  oh  new-born  denizen 
Of  life's  great  city!  On  thy  head 

The  glory  of  the  morn  is  shed 

Like  a  celestial  benison — 
Here  at  the  portal  thou  dost  stand, 
And  with  thy  little  hand 

Thou  openest  the  mysterious  gate. 
Into  the  future's  undiscovered  land!  " 


f. 


MISS  LUCY  WHEELOCK. 


Every  child  born,  in  palace  or  hovel,  stands  at 
this  same  mysterious  portal.  For  every  one  the  future 
waits.  There  is  no  manger  so  lowly,  no  cradle  so 
humble  that  around  it  the  glories  of  the  waiting  world 
do  not  shine.  As  to  the  holy  Child  of  old,  so  to  every 
child  today,  the  world  comes  with  its  gifts.  The 
W -f^     ^^^^^^^^.  gentle  Mary  is  there  representing  the  family  life.     The 

^ ^^S^^^^^^^^^^S^I^  humble  shepherds  come  first,  foreshadowing  the  lot 
Mf  JfJMH^^^^^^UH^  of  man  as  destined  to  live  among  the  common  people, 
W^iwi^^^BIHHP^^'^  to  live  only  by  using  his  own  powers,  and  by  con- 
forming to  the  laws  of  life,  that  there  is  no  receiving 
without  giving.  And  yet,  the  glory  of  Heaven  had 
shone  upon  these  same  shepherds,  showing  that  the 
radiance  of  the  Divine  may  illuminate  even  the  most 
humble  life,  and  the  celestial  music  may  accompany 
the  every-day  talk.  Kingly  power  is  represented  in  the  group  around  this  early  cradle. 
The  golden  treasures  of  the  world's  wisdom  are  laid  at  the  feet  of  the  child  standing 
at  life's  portal.  Every  poet,  from  the  time  of  blind  Homer,  has  sung  his  songs  for 
him.     Every  work  written  in  any  tongue  may  be  his. 

The  canvas  of  a  Murillo  or  a  Reynolds  he  may  possess  in  the  true  sense  of  pos- 
session. "The  world  belongs  to  those  who  take  it."  The  incense  of  the  lives  of  the 
saints,  of  the  good  and  holy  men  of  all  ages  is  wafted  to  him  as  a  sacred  gift.  The 
faith  of  a  Luther,  of  a  Savonarola,  or  of  a  Joan  of  Arc  may  be  his  inheritance.  A  long 
procession  of  heroes  and  heroines,  the  great  and  mighty  of  the  earth,  may  march  across 
the  stage  of  his  life,  each  bringing  the  inspiration  of  his  or  her  deed  as  a  magic  gift  to 
allure  to  noble  livi*ig.  Such  is  the  possible  heritage  of  every  child  born.  But  alas! 
how  often  by  lack  of  right  environment,  and  by  a  false  system  of  training,  the  heir 
fails  to  take  possession  of  what  is  truly  his.  To  defraud  a  man  of  his  estate  is  a 
grievous  sin.  But  to  defraud  a  human  being  of  his  Divine  possession  of  himself  and 
of  his  powers,  of  his  joyous  inheritance  in  this  world  of  blessing,  is  an  evil  with  which 
human  law  may  not  interfere,  and  of  which  too  seldom  we,  any  of  us,  take  cognizance. 
We  have  easily  comforted  ourselves  by  assigning  too  much  importance  to  heredity  and 
too  little  to  environment.     To  take  a  child  of  the  slums  and   put  him  for  half  a  day 

Mies  Lucy  Wheelock  is  a  native  of  Vermont.  She  was  born  Febraary  1, 1859.  Her  parents  were  Edwin  Wheelock  and 
Laara  Pierce.  She  was  educated  by  her  mother  at  home  and  in  Chaunoy  Hall  School,  Boston,  Mass.  She  has  traveled  through 
her  own  country  as  far  west  as  the  Mississippi  River  and  one  summer  in  Europe.  She  is  an  enthusiastic  and  successful  worker 
in  the  kindergarten.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  educational  articles,  children's  stories,  and  lessons  and  translations  of 
German  tales.  Miss  Wheelock  is  a  Christian,  and  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church.  Her  postoffice  address  is  Chauncy 
Hall  School,  Boston,  Mass. 

323 


324  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

into  an  atmosphere  of  peace  and  good-will  and  joy,  such  as  the  kindergarten  offers,  is 
to  make  the  dinginess  and  misery  of  the  tenement  house  impossible  for  that  child 
when  growth  shall  have  come.  The  child  of  the  slums  becomes  vicious  and  wicked 
because  effected  by  the  false  maxims  of  his  environment.  "  The  world  owes  every 
man  a  living,"  is  a  motto  of  the  tramp,  the  thief,  the  pickpocket.  The  child  brought 
.up  with  no  other  influence  must  inevitably  look  upon  the  world,  not  as  his  natural  God- 
given  inheritance  to  use  and  enjoy,  but  as  an  estate  to  which  others  have  defrauded 
him  of  his  natural  rights.  He  must  gain  by  craft  and  crime  that  which  others  have 
appropriated. 

Those  whom  we  call  great  are  so  because  they  most  fully  accept  the  truth  that 
their  lives  belong  not  to  themselves,  but  to  the  race.  'The  child  standing  at  the  portal 
of  the  future,  wherever  his  feet  are  placed,  finds  himself  confronted  by  the  institu- 
tional life  of  man,  offering  varied  relationships. 

To  lead  a  human  being  to  master  himself  and  his  relationships  is  to  educate  him. 
The  kindergarten  takes  hold  of  the  family  relationship  and  idealizes  it  for  the  child. 
One  of  Froebel's  finger-plays  names  the  fingers  for  the  different  members  of  the 
family.     The  children  sing: 

"This  is  the  mother,  kind  and  dear; 
This  is  the  father,  with  hearty  cheer; 
This  is  the  brother,  strong  and  tall; 
This  is  the-sister  who  plays  with  her  doll; 
And  this  is  the  baby,  the  pet  of  all. 
Behold  the  good  family,  great  and  small." 

As  they  sing  the  different  fingers  are  raised,  and  when  the  little  one  takes  its 
place  the  idea  of  a  perfect  whole  is  gained.  The  finger  family  would  be  incomplete 
without  the  little  one.  The  hand  would  be  imperfect.  Eagh  is  needed  in  its  place  to 
make  the  whole.  The  moral  is  obvious.  Each  member  of  the  human  family  is  needed 
in  its  right  place  to  make  a  beautiful  home.  The  little  one,  pet  of  all,  must  stand  in 
its  turn  and  help  as  the  little  finger  does,  when  its  work  is  needed.  There  are  many 
other  family  songs  which  impress  the  same  lesson.  The  mothers  everywhere  testify  to 
the  influence  which  is  felt  in  the  home.  "  My  Johnny  is  a  different  boy  since  he  went 
to  the  kindergarten,"  says  the  mother.  "  He  talks  so  pretty,  now,  and  he  runs  so 
quick  to  get  the  coal." 

The  reflex  influence  of  the  plays  of  the  kindergarten  on  the  home  is  not  the  least 
important  of  its  effects.  One  mother  was  convicted  of  her  own  unworthiness,  when 
she  heard  her  Jennie  singing,  "This  is  the  mother,  kind  and  dear,"  "  I  haven't  been 
a  good  mother,"  she  confessed  with  bitter  tears;  "but  I'd  like  her  to  sing  it  truly  of 
me."  This  confession  was  made  to  the  kindergartner,  for  the  heaviest  doors  open  to, 
and  the  kindest  hearts  are  reached  by  the  kindergartner,  who  goes  into  the  poorest 
home  as  the  friend  of  the  children.  That  is  her  only  passport  to  favor  and  it  serves. 
The  charity  visit  is  rarely  productive  of  good,  but  the  visit  of  a  friend  is  always  wel- 
come. 

The  home  atmosphere  is  often  changed,  too,  by  the  pretty  colored  things  which 
are  brought  into  it.  Jennie  carries  home  the  red  and  white  mat  she  has  woven.  The 
mother  is  delighted  to  see  what  "  her  Jennie"  can  make.  She  likes  to  show  it  to  the 
neighbors  when  they  drop  in.  But  there  is  not  a  place  worthy  of  this  bright,  clean 
mat.  Perhaps  the  wall  is  washed  to  make  a  clean  background  for  it,  or  the  mantel  is 
dusted.  "  My  mother  dusted  the  mirror,"  one  child  reported,  "and  she  put  my  card 
in  the  frame."  When  the  wall  has  been  washed  and  the  mirror  dusted,  the  window 
must  be  cleaned,  so  that  the  light  may  come  in  better,  and  the  stronger  light  shows 
the  doubtful  spots  on  the  floor.  So  the  floor  is  washed,  and,  at  length,  the  dingy 
room  becomes  clean. 

The  "divine  discernment"  is  bred  within  children,  who  are  taken  from  dinginess 
and  strife  and  surrounded  for  a  portion  of  every  day  with  an  atmosphere  of  peace  and 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  325 

good  will.  The  slums  will  not  hold  them,  when  the  power  comes  to  forsake  the  life 
of  the  tenement.  The  kindergarten  to  many  children  seems  like  a  real  heaven  with 
blooming  flowers  and  sunshine  and  singing  birds.  The  warmth  and  light  and  kindli- 
ness of  the  place  first  attracts,  and  then  the  love  for  it  all  comes  "The  kindergarten 
is  the  largest  step  forward  yet  taken  in  the  race  with  poverty;"  though  the  kinder- 
garten plays,  the  fancy  is  so  filled  with  shapes  of  joy  that  the  poorest  and  hungriest 
boy  gains  the  power  to  create  his  own  environment.  In  fancy  he  roams  the  daisy 
fields,  or  the  green  forests.  Or,  perhaps,  the  heat  of  the  summer  and  the  squalor  of 
his  surroundings  are  lost,  as  he  personates  the  fish  diving  and  darting  along  the  clear, 
rippling  stream.  The  songs  and  talks  and  plays  have  made  "  his  mind  a  mansion  for 
all  lovely  forms,"  and  have  given  him  a  new  environment,  A  new  earth  has  been 
created  around  him,  and  he  looks  toward  a  new  heaven.  This  heaven  he  finds  within 
himself,  as  he  is  guided  constantly  to  happy  companionship,  not  only  with  the  forms 
and  voices  of  Nature  which  are  pictured  and  presented  to  him,  but  with  his  fellows. 
He  learns  that  there  is  a  larger  family  than  that  dwelling  within  the  attic  room, 
of  which  he  is  a  member.  In  the  kindergarten  he  is  a  part  of  an  embryo  community, 
where  all  the  duties  and  rights  of  citizenship  are  taught  by  daily  intercourse.  The  law 
of  this  community  is  the  Golden  Rule,  and  all  actions  are  measured  by  its  golden 
standard. 

But  every  community  must  have  its  industrial  life,  and  this  child  society  is  no 
exception.  By  making  work  beautiful  it  becomes  interesting  and  a  love  of  work  grows 
up  within  this  circle  of  children,  where  the  hum  of  industry  is  as  pleasant  as  the  hum 
of  the  traditional  bee.  Idleness,  which  is  the  cause  of  crimes  and  woes  manifold,  finds 
an  arch  enemy  in  the  kindergarten,  where  diligence  in  business  is  the  ruling  principle. 
The  value  of  this  training  to  work  and  to  love  work  cannot  be  ignored  by  those  who  see 
the  need  of  a  better  industrial  development  in  our  country. 

The  kindergarten,  too,  constantly  contradicts  the  old  dictum  of  Plato,  that  the 
useful  arts  are  degrading.  The  work  of  the  blacksmith,  the  cooper,  the  farmer,  the 
miller,  the  clothier  are  represented  in  the  games  of  the  children.  It  is  a  joy  to  be  a 
blacksmith  and  to  hammer  well,  because  we  can  then  set  a  shoe  for  ahorse.  Without 
the  horse  the  farmer  could  not  carry  his  grain  to  the  miller,  and  the  flour  could  not  be 
ground  and  the  children  could  not  be  fed.  So  the  beauty  and  the  honor  of  the  work 
are  made  to  depend  on  what  it  gives  to  others,  and  in  his  representative  play  the  four- 
year-old  may  gain  the  great  truth  as  a  life  possession,  which  we  name  the  interde- 
pendence of  mankind  on  the  solidarity  of  the  race. 

"  Everybody  has  to  have  everybody,"  exclaimed  the  child  on  whom  this  great 
thought  had  dawned  through  his  play.  Can  any  minister  or  teacher  phrase  it  better? 
Can  there  be  any  better  thought  for  the  child,  standing  on  the  portal  of  the  future,  to 
carry  with  him  into  the  undiscovered  land?  If  everybody  needs  everybody,  some- 
body needs  him.  If  he  accepts  this  universal  relationship,  he  has  already  become  an 
heir  to  his  true  kingdom      He  has  come  into  possession  of  his  own. 


THE  HIGHER  WOMANHOOD.* 


By  MRS.  CAROLINE  F.  CORBIN. 

The  women  of  this  generation  have  been  busy  with  the  intellectual  and  econom- 
ical development  of  the  new  era.     In  so  doing  they  have  acted  under  an  inspiration 

as  true  as  that  which  fashions  the  rocky  crust  of  the 
earth  before  it  clothes  the  crags  with  verdure  or 
brings  forth  the  flowers  which  embellish  the  plain. 
But  when  the  birth  throes  of  the  new  advent  are  over, 
the  stir  and  excitement  of  it  all  past,  and  humanity 
shall  settle  down  to  the  fully  developed  conception 
of  woman  as  no  longer  a  slave  or  an  inferior,  but  the 
equal  of  man,  a  creature  with  her  own  needs,  her  own 
prerogatives,  her  own  destiny,  not  indeed  identical 
with  man,  but  in  every  respect  of  equal  worth  and 
dignity,  then  will  it  be  seen  that  even  from  the  begin- 
ning the  emotional  and  spiritual  nature  of  woman  has 
been  God's  crowning  gift  to  the  race;  that  even  as  a 
serf  or  slave,  in  Bedouin  tent  or  Asian  harem,  fettered, 
circumscribed  and  despised,  she  was  still  the  fountain 
of  life,  the  helpmate  and  inspiration  of  man,  the  sybil, 
the  seer,  the  prophetess,  the  exponent  of  that  divine 
principle  of  love  on  which  the  progress  and  culmina- 
tion of  the  race  wholly  depended.  The  germ  of  her 
great  destiny  was  there,  biding  its  time  in  darkness 
and  obscurity.  The  magnetic  impulse  of  the  woman 
soul  was  even  then  the  promise  of  God  to  the  race,  of 
its  future  development  and  flowering,  and  that  without  it  the  career  of  man,  even  in 
the  material  and  intellectual  phases  of  life,  must  have  been  abortive,  impossilDle. 

I  look  abroad  over  the  marvelous  scenes  of  this  Exposition,  scenes  never  before 
equaled  in  fairy  tale  or  dream  of  the  Arabian  Nights,  which  Shakespeare's  fancy  but 
faintly  outlined  in  that  wondrous  scene  of  "  cloud-capped  towers  and  gorgeous  palaces 
and  solemn  temples,"  which  is  such  a  description  of  our  beloved  Exposition  and  its 
final  destiny,  as  no  other  hand  but  his  could  have  written.  I  look,  I  say,  upon  this 
wondrous  scene  of  enchantment  which  men  claim  as  their  unaided  achievement,  and  I 
ask,  is  it  in  truth  the  work  of  man  alone?  I  go  back  to  the  quiet  homes,  the  studios 
apart  from  the  noisy  scenes  of  life,  the  work  shops,  the  forges,  and  seeing  these  indom- 
itable toilers  at  work,  these  Cyclops,  these  peers  of  the  ancient  Hercules,  I  ask  whence 
came  the  inspiration  which  fires  their  imagination,  which  nourishes  their  fancy,  which 
expands  heart  and  soul  to  these  new  and  grand  conceptions  of  form  and  life  and 
achievement;  and  I  find  in  the  inner  recesses  of  each  man's  heart  the  energizing  force 

Mrs.  Caroline  Fairfield  Corbin  ie  a  native  of  Connecticut.  She  was  born  November  9, 1836.  Her  paternal  and  maternal 
ancestry  are  well  known  New  England  families.  She  was  graduated  from  the  Brooklyn  Female  Academy,  since  known  as 
Parker  Collegiate  Institute  of  Brooklyn  and  Long  Island.  She  has  traveled  extensively  in  this  country  and  Europe.  She 
married,  in  1861,  Calvin  R.  Corbin,  Esq.  She  has  had  six  children.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  reform  in 
the  relations  between  men  and  women.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  "  Rebecca,  or  Woman's  Secret,"  "  The  Marriage 
Vow,"  and  other  works.  In  religious  faith  she  is  a  Trinitarian  Christian,  and  a  member  of  the  New  England  Congregational 
Church.  In  her  early  years  Mrs.  Corbin  advocated  Woman's  Suffrage,  but  deeper  study  and  experience  convinced  her  that 
the  doctrine  implied  a  low  materialistic  idea  of  the  value  and  destiny  of  women,  and  she  has  in  recent  years  written  many 
pamphlets  in  opposition  to  the  political  rights  of  women.    Her  postoffice  address  is  597  Dearborn  Avenue,  Chicago,  111. 


MRS.  CAROLINE  F.  CORBIN. 


•The  article  as  here  given  includes  but  the  conclnding  portion  of  the  address  delivered  in  the  Woman's  Building. 

326 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  327 

of  passion  some  gentle  face  of  woman,  some  tender  ministry  of  love  which  tempers 
the  nerves  of  steel  to  greater  endurance,  and  exalts  and  warms  and  quickens  the  whole 
nature.  There  is  no  worthy  work  of  man  which  lifts  itself  to  heaven  over  the  broad 
earth  today  which  has  not  behind  it,  giving  it  life,  force  and  inspiration,  the  fecund, 
nourishing  soil  of  womanhood.  Nor,  as  the  ages  go  on,  and  woman  achieves  grand 
and  glorious  successes  in  the  outer  world,  shall  we  ever  find  that  they  can  do  this 
unaided  by  man.  In  every  woman's  work  that  is  worthy  of  exalted  fame,  will  be  found 
the  evidence  of  that  strong  support,  that  steady  guidance,  that  supreme  aspiration 
that  man  alone  can  minister. 

In  conclusion,  I  wish  to  give  you  the  strong  figure  and  example  of  what  I  have 
tried  to  say  in  this  discourse.  Go  with  me  to  the  Midway  Plaisance  and  look  at  the 
Samoan  houses,  the  village  of  the  South  Sea  Islanders,  the  huts  of  the  Esquimaux  and 
Laplander,  and  then  stand  with  me  in  the  Court  of  Honor,  amid  all  its  sublime  and 
unearthly  beauty,  its  gorgeous  flower-encircled  domes  and  its  matchless  fountains,  its 
colonnades  and  porticoes,  the  grandeur  of  its  Peristyle,  the  airy  grace  and  beauty  of 
its  architecture,  the  stately  columns,  the  majesty  of  its  Statue  of  the  Republic;  meas- 
ure, if  you  can,  standing  under  the  blue  of  the  sky,  with  the  blue  of  the  lake  spread 
out  before  you,  the  progress,  the  achievement  which  humanity  has  made  from  the 
Midway  to  where  we  stand.  I  tell  you  as  one  who  speaks  from  the  inmost  councils 
of  nature  and  God  that  one  undivided  half  of  all  this  achievement  belongs  to  woman. 
It  is  immutably,  indefaceably  here,  and  it  is  an  exhibit  of  woman's  work  beside  which 
every  other  exhibit  of  woman's  hand-craft  in  this  Exposition,  noble  and  beautiful  as 
many  of  them  are,  is  paltry  and  insignificant. 


WE.  THE  WOMEN. 


By  MISS  CARA  REESE 

We,  the  women  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form  a  more  perfect  union,  estab- 
lish justice,  insure  domestic  tranquillity,  provide  for  the  common  defense,  promote  the 

general  welfare  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to 
ourselves  and  our  posterity,  do  here  and  now,  in  the 
glory  of  this  great  Columbian  revelation  of  our 
strength,  pledge  heart,  soul  and  mind  in  consecrated 
and  contented  service  to  our  homes,  our  country  and 
our  God.  To  illustrate  the  virtues  of  her  generation, 
and  to  set  the  seal  of  indestructibility  on  the  works 
that  now  do  praise  her  throughout  the  land,  there  is 
need  that  woman  now  tarry  awhile,  and  within  the 
cloister  of  her  soul  reflect  on  that  beginning  which 
must  necessarily  find  its  birth  in  this  triumphal  close 
of  the  woman's  century.  No  woman  worthy  of  the 
name  regards  her  personal  existence  as  the  chief  fac- 
tor to  be  considered  in  all  that  tends  to  yield  to 
national  life  its  happiness  and  prosperity.  No  aggre- 
gate of  women  may  claim  the  right  of  consideration 
as  the  great  center  in  the  adjustment  of  the  affairs  of 
the  universe.  There  are  leaders,  there  are  followers. 
Those  who  follow  today  will  be  the  leaders  of  tomor- 
row. Advance  is  general,  development  sure,  whether 
gradual  or  spontaneous. 

In  the  belief  that  forces  set  in  motion  can  never 
be  recalled,  shackles  unbound  can  never  be  replaced,  and  that  what  may  apply  to  one 
aggregate  of  women  may  apply  to  all — allowance  made  for  laws,  customs  and  beliefs, 
inherited  or  acquired,  which  may  hasten  or  retard — we,  the  women  of  the  United  States, 
with  the  grip  of  the  universe  on  heart  and  hand,  pause,  in  this  the  hour  of  triumph,  and 
question  with  a  thrill  of  pain,  "What  of  the  Future?"  Years  of  effort  have  found 
culmination  in  a  proper  and  befitting  display.  Never  in  the  history  of  nations  has  there 
been  such  revelation  of  woman's  capability  and  deeds  as  in  this  gala  year.  But  com- 
mencement is  almost  over.  Work  has  passed  examination.  Carefully  prepared  speeches 
have  been  delivered.  The  world  has  seen,  heard,  and  applauded.  With  the  end  comes 
a  beginning. 

Conservative  women,  and  there  have  been  quite  a  number  who  have  distributed 
their  time  to  good  advantage  in  the  sessions  of  these  various  congresses,  discern  in 
the  new  beginning  signs  of  coming  defeat.  The  desire  for  supremacy,  the  wild  rush 
for  leadership,  the  greed  for  gain,  the  love  of  notoriety,  the  clamor  for  political  recog- 
nition, are  straws  to  them  that  point  the  way  to  loss  of  womanly  dignity  and  refine- 
ment, the  collapse  of  domestic  tranquillity,  and  the  moral  weakening  of  the  home. 

Miss  Cara  Reese  was  born,  raised,  and  is  working  out  a  successful  career  in  Pittsburgh,  Pa.  She  is  the  only  daughter  of 
Abram  and  Mary  Godwin  Reese,  both  natives  of  Pennsylvania.  Miss  Reese  has  been  educated  in  the  public  and  private 
schools  of  Pittsburgh,  and  graduated  from  the  Institute  Department  of  Bucknell  University,  Lewisburg,  Pa.  Higher  education 
was  continued  under  special  teachers,  not  forgetting  the  accomplishments  of  music  and  art.  Her  chosen  profession  is  active 
newspaper  work.  For  over  six  years  Miss  Reese  has  been  identified  with  the  interests  of  the  Pittsburgh  Commercial 
Gazette.  Miss  Reese  is  particularly  happy  in  public  addresses.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Shady  Avenue  Baptist  Church,  Pitts- 
burgh. Is  kind-hearted  and  womanly  in  disposition,  and  happy  and  contented  in  her  chosen  sphere.  Her  postolfice  address 
is  Commercial  Oazette,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

o2o 


MISS  CARA   REESE. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  329 

The  enthusiasts  "pressed  down,  shaken  together  and  running  over"  with  things 
seen  and  heard  from  their  seventh  heaven,  predict  another  end.  "  We  are  living  in 
the  dawn  of  the  millennium,"  they  say.  "  What  need  of  further  conquest."  "Behold 
the  dawn  of  a  magnificent  future,"  cries  .the  suffragist;  "save  Kansas,  and  we,  the 
women  live  to  rule,  henceforth  and  forever." 

With  some  hesitation,  a  representative  of  the  wage-earning  women  of  the  day 
ventures  to  define  a  pathway  through  the  chaos  resultant  from  the  general  upheaval 
that  is  everywhere  bringing  women  up  to  light  and  civilization,  thankful,  bewildered, 
dizzy  or  inflated  with  pride  as  the  case  may  be,  and,  but  for  a  growing  conviction  that 
a  proper  and  rational  settling  of  the  condition  of  affairs  would  be  a  long  and  tedious 
process  without  laborers  in  the  field,  both  tongue  and  pen  would  have  maintained 
silence. 

The  new  era  is  at  hand,  but  not  that  of  the  perfection  that  bringeth  into  the  king- 
dom, nor  that,  it  is  hoped,  that  means  the  reversal  of  the  positions  of  men  and  women, 
nor  that  which  may  herald  destruction  or  defeat.  But  an  era,  God  grant,  of  equal  rights, 
woman  with  woman,  the  home  with  the  world,  domestic  tranquillity  with  the  public  wel- 
fare, God  with  the  minds  he  has  created.  The  day  has  gone  by  for  the  expression  of 
that  sentiment  which  surrounds  the  business  woman  with  the  halo  of  a  glorified  inde- 
pendence, and  places  her  on  a  pedestal  in  the  market-place,  the  envy  and  admiration 
of  the  stay-at-homes,  a  spectacle  to  beget  jealousy,  covetousness,  heavy-heartedness 
and  despair  in  her  purseless  sisters,  and  in  the  end  the  lever,  perhaps,  that  overturns 
some  happy  home.  The  day  has  gone  by  for  the  expression  of  that  sentiment  that 
ignores  the  practical  side  of  the  life  of  wife  and  mother,  and  pleads  only  for  that  Divine 
calling,  which,  with  its  ceaseless  panorama  of  pots  and  pans,  cradles  and  tubs,  butch- 
ers, bakers  and  mantua-makers,  supposably  heralds  an  estate  but  little  lower  than  the 
angels. 

The  new  era  finds  women  divided  into  two  great  classes,  wage-earners  and  home- 
makers.  Upon  the  proper  adjustment  of  these  depends  future  serenity.  The  limit  of 
tension  is  now  at  hand.  Relations  have  been  strained  to  the  utmost.  Surface  indica- 
tions prove  the  wage-earning  class  the  stronger.  The  flaunted  dollar  is  proving  the 
magnet  to  draw  the  wife  from  the  husband,  the  mother  from  her  children,  and  fair 
young  girls  from  the  safe  shelter  of  the  home.  Nay,  more.  The  signs  of  the  times 
prove  that  husbands,  fathers,  sons  and  brothers  are  not  averse.  The  husband  makes 
room  for  the  desk  of  his  wife,  the  father  finds  place  for  his  daughter's  typewriter, 
brothers  skirmish  for  positions  for  their  sisters,  the  small  boy  greedily  fingers  the 
pennies  that  mother  has  earned,  and  the  home  goes  to  destruction.  What  need  of 
detail?  Thousands  of  roomers  in  the  large  cities,  cramped  housekeeping  in  apart- 
ment flats,  bear  silent  testimony.  The  dusty  parlor,  the  cluttered  kitchen,  the  half 
made  beds,  the  hurried  meals  are  familiar  objects  today  in  the  homes  where  the 
women  have  gone  over  to  the  hustling  world,  while  for  her  pains,  the  thrifty  stay-at- 
home,  who  has  planned  and  worked  and  ordered  affairs  in  true  gospel  fashion,  must 
smother  a  sigh  as  within  her  own  household  she  hears  the  commendation  bestowed 
on  the  money-making  women  on  the  other  side  of  the  wall,  and  her  home-loving 
daughter  creeps  to  her  room  disheartened  and  discouraged  at  the  thinly  veiled  hint 
of  father  or  brother — go  thou  and  do  likewise. 

The  unappreciated  home-makers  of  today,  and,  oh  men  and  brothers,  how  many 
there  are!  watch  the  career  of  the  wage-earning  woman  with  hungry  eyes.  The  wage- 
earning  woman  sighs  for  the  comforts  of  home,  but  views  home-life  with  distrust. 
Both  are  discontented,  and  in  that  discontent  lies  the  leaven  that  will  work  future 
destruction.  This  discontent,  so  universal  and  so  widely  recognized  as  the  one  evil 
that  threatens  the  success  of  the  women  of  the  future,  owes  its  strength  to  the  sharply 
defined  line  that  exists  between  the  earner  and  the  home-maker.  Not  the  dividing 
line  of  caste,  as  formerly.  Everywhere  the  working  woman  is  compelling  the  atten- 
tion and  respect  of  the  women  of  so-called  leisure.  She  finds  cordial  recognition  in 
the  homes  of  wealth.     She  is  an  honored  guest  at  public  functions.     Her  opinion  is 


^ 


330  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

asked  on  affairs  of  moment.  Her  name  graces  committees  and  boards.  She  is  sought 
after,  consulted  and  socially  accepted.  But  the  still  sharper  division,  all  the  more 
distinct  in  that  it  is  largely  imaginary,  with  pocketbook  and  independence  on  one 
hand  and  unappreciated  home  work  on  the  other. 

All  honor  to  the  woman,  who,  when  necessity  compels,  will  bravely  take  up  the 
burden  of  business.  All  honor  to  that  consecration  that  will  force  woman  from  the 
home  in  order  to  better  protect  that  home.  All  honor  to  her  who  feels  that  she  could 
not  give  a  satisfactory  account  of  her  stewardship  in  the  great  day  if  her  talent  be  not 
put  to  usury.  But  there  are  other  things  to  be  taken  into  consideration  before  such 
a  line  of  action  becomes  universal.  On  entrance  into  the  business  world  woman 
becomes  conversant  with  much  that  was  to  her  a  sealed  book  before.  Knowledge  at 
first  startling  soon  becomes  commonplace,  womanly  reserve  wears  away,  feminine 
graces  vanish,  the  cold  practical  atmosphere  in  time  dulls  the  sensitive  nature,  and 
the  woman  worker  becomes  a  money-making,  fame-seeking  machine;  an  ingrate,  often 
forgetful  of  friends  and  favors;  a  cold,  selfish,  calculating  automatum,  and  above  all  a 
chronic  discontent. 

On  two  things  the  woman-heart  thrives.  Love  and  ambition.  The  first  the  nat- 
ural woman  prefers.  The  second  is  an  educated  preference,  against  whose  craving 
the  first  becomes  flat,  stale  and  unprofitable.  The  first  means  limited  homage;  the  sec- 
ond the  plaudits  of  the  world.  Into  the  circumstances  that  have  led  up  to  the  edu- 
cated preference  it  may  be  best  not  to  inquire.  Years  of  suffering  and  sacrifice,  of 
oppression  and  suppression,  had  driven  the  woman  of  the  past  to  the  wall.y  In  her 
desperation  she  turned  and  fled  to  the  world,  her  one  eager  thought  to  secure  com- 
fort for  those  nearer  and  dearer  to  her  than  life  itself.  Now  the  aim  is  largely  selfish, 
and  as  she  views  the  passiveness  with  which  her  labors  are  accepted  by  those  who 
should  be  her  protectors,  and  notes  the  tendency  to  effeminacy  in  those  who  should 
be  the  strong  ones  of  earth,  discontent  is  keeping  pace  with  her  every  stride,  and  play- 
ing havoc  with  homes  and  happiness.  Satan  finds  mischief  for  idle  women  to  do  is 
applicable  no  longer.  The  women  are  being  educated  to  death,  organized  to  death 
and  worked  to  death,  and  the  stronger  the  pressure  in  any  one  the  greater  the  discon- 
tent and  dissatisfaction. 

To  no  class  of  women,  perhaps,  is  this  state  o^  affairs  more  apparent  than  to  those 
connected  with  the  daily  press.  Brought  into  intimate  relationship  with  all  classes 
and  conditions  of  women;  those  in  all  stations  of  business,  from  the  shop-girl  to  the 
head  and  brains  of  some  mammoth  establishment;  from  mistresses  in  homes  of  hum- 
ble degree  to  those  of  princely  scope;  and  standing  as  they  do  on  the  outside,  view- 
ing with  unbiased  mind  the  movements  in  all  departments  of  life,  noting  now  the 
advance  and  now  the  backward  step,  impartially  they  weigh  the  condition  of  affairs 
and  sum  it  all  up  in  the  words,  "social  unrest." 

Social  unrest!  Oh,  women  of  America,  aim  for  suffrage  if  that  will  bring  con- 
tentment. Pray  for  the  millennium  if  that  will  bring  a  reign  of  peace.  Educate, 
organize,  but  ever  hand  in  hand  and  heart  to  heart  for  home,  country,  and  God. 
Home  for  the  wage-earning  woman  as  well  as  for  the  wife  and  mother.  Home  for 
her  who,  out  in  the  busy  world,  is  so  fast  losing  those  graces  which,  like  fragrant 
blossoms,  should  twine  about  the  woman's  soul.  ,.  Home  for  the  young  girls  with  their 
pure  hearts  and  innocent  minds.  Join  hands.  The  business  woman  needs  the  sym- 
pathy and  counsel  of  the  home-maker,  not  her  wail  of  discontent  The  home-maker 
needs  the  broadening  glimpse  into  the  sunlight  and  shadow  of  life  which  the  business 
woman  can  give,  not  the  aggravating  taunt  of  independence  or  boast  of  fame  and  for- 
tune. Each  is  responsible  for  domestic  tranquillityj  and  domestic  tranquillity  generally 
assured,  the  public  welfare  will  take  care  of  itself.  In  this  growing  discontent  woman 
is  fast  losing  that  happy,  sunny  disposition,  once  her  greatest  charm.  The  "  sweet  " 
woman  of  today  is  the  artificial  one.  The  "  lovable  woman  "  is  the  one  with  the  stereo- 
typed smile  and  caress;  and  while  now  and  then  a  thoroughly  happy  and  contented 
woman  is  found  who  may  be  placed  in  the  category  of  "motherly,"  she  comes  like 
angel  visits,  few  and  far  between,  and  does  not  belong  to  the  younger  class. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  33X 

Seek  contentment.  Crave  not  worldly  rush.  Better  the  pinch  of  occasional  sac- 
rifice than  the  loss  of  womanly  dignity  and  reserve.  Be  natural.  Be  what  James 
Whitcomb  Riley,  the  Hoosier  poet,  in  his  "  Neighborly  Poems,"  beautifully  accords 
to  his  friend,  Erasmus  Wilson: 

Jest  natchurl,  and  the  more  hurraws 
You  git,  the  less  you  know  the  cause — 
Like  as  ef  God  Hisself  stood  by, 
Where  best  on  earth  hain't  half-knee  high, 
And  seein'  like,  an'  knowin'  He 
'S  the  Only  Great  Man  really. 
You're  jest  content  to  size  your  height 
With  any  feller-man's  in  sight. 

Courage,  women  of  America.  You  have  fought  great  battles,  you  have  won  great 
victories.  Now  look  to  the  homes  and  firesides.  The  present  is  yours,  the  future 
belongs  to  God. 


HOME  SIDE  OF  PROGRESS. 

By  MRS.  CLARA  HOLBROOK  SMITH. 

It  is  granted  that  we  have  eclipsed  all  other  national  efforts  in  the  mammoth 
placing  of  our  exhibits  side  by  side  with  those  from  the  Old  World;  I  long  to  know  if 

it  will  be  the  world's  verdict  that  America  leads  in 
all  that  is  largest  and  latest.  Some  phases  of  these 
evidences  of  progress  call  out  many  questions  as  we 
compare  our  national  life  with  the  life  of  advanced 
cultured  nations  which  have  preceded  us,  but  whose 
glory  now  has  departed.  The  statement  on  the  cover 
of  Dr.  Strong's  oft-quoted  book,  says  our  country  is 
God's  last  opportunity  for  the  human  race.  If  this  is 
true,  are  we  to  progress  far  beyond  any  of  the  nations 
that  have  preceded  us,  or  is  it  in  the  Divine  plan  for 
all  natural  life  that  it  is  "  thus  far  and  no  farther?" 

Is  the  new  Jerusalem  to  come  from  the  sky,  or  is 
it  to  be  an  earth  renovated?  Professor  Drummond 
seems  to  banish  the  sky  idea,  and  says:  "  It  means  a 
new  London,  a  new  Chicago,  a  new  Jerusalem,  all  of 
the  cities  lifted  by  spiritual  thought  and  effort  to  the 
plane  of  a  heavenly  city.  In  the  light  of  the  history 
of  past  nations,  are  we  nearing  the  age  of  ripeness 
that  precedes  decay,  or  are  we  nearing  the  renovation 
period? 
„»c  ^T.„.  „^xT.„^„^  e,„^„  In  this  White  City  have  we  delineated  the  highest 

MRS.  CLARA  HOLBROOK  SMITH.  i       i  ■  •         i  r      i  i  • 

that  has  preceded  us  m  art,  or  is  the  art  or  the  classic 
days  of  Greece  the  limit  of  human  ability  in  that  direction. 

Historical  research  proves  conclusively  we  have  not  equaled  that  period  in  liter- 
ature, and  it  leaves  us  with  the  mortifying  certainty  that  there  have  been  but  five  men 
produced  in  the  past  two  thousand  years  that  could  equal  the  twenty-eight  men  pro- 
duced in  the  two  centuries  between  500  B.C.  and  300  B.C. — only  five.  Neither  can  we 
boast  of  our  orators,  when  Rufus  Choate  asserted  that  if  Demosthenes  were  here  today 
the  only  ones  who  would  be  able  to  follow  and  comprehend  him  would  be  the  lawyers 
and  judges  of  the  supreme  bench.  In  your  thought  can  you  place  one  of  our  states- 
men by  the  side  of  Pericles?  If  we  then  are  still  on  the  lower  rounds  of  the  mental 
ladder,  is  it  not  time  the  homes  of  the  land  were  questioned  and  challenged?  No  cult- 
ure can  go  beyond  the  capacity  of  the  one  to  be  cultured.  We  are  generally  beating 
all  around  the  bush.  We  study  very  carefully  the  condition  of  the  house  in  which  the 
home  is  to  be  located.  We  talk  glibly  of  sanitation,  of  hygiene  of  foods  chemi- 
cally considered.  The  wise  home-makers  have  placed  on  exhibition  all  the  latest 
implements— the  model  nursery,  the  kindergarten,  the  kitchen-garden,  the  gymnasium, 

Clara  Holbrook  Smith  is  a  native  of  Illinois.  Her  parents  were  Col.  J.  C.  Holbrook  and  Eliza  McDill  Holbrook,  who 
was  a  daughter  of  Rev.  Dr.  D.  McDill,  minister,  editor  and  writer  of  many  books.  She  was  educated  at  Monmouth  College, 
Monmouth,  III.  She  has  traveled  in  Canada,  Mexico,  and  over  the  whole  of  the  United  States.  She  married  Henry  C.  Smith. 
Her  husband  being  an  invalid,  and  she  herself  a  sufferer,  she  was  led  to  investigate  physical  laws.  These  studies  revealed  to  her 
that  her  four  children  had  the  birthright  of  invalidism.  After  years  of  research  through  the  works  of  such  scientists  us  Dar- 
■win,  Lionel  Ribot,  Maudesley,  Galtin,  Balfour,  Brooks,  and  others,  she  recognized  the  law  that  thwarts  heredity,  and  has  spent 
much  time  in  securing  departments  in  all  institutions  of  learning  for  the  teaching  of  scientific  home  making  and  parentage. 
Mrs.  Smith  is  a  Christian  and  Congregationalist.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Lordsburg,  Cal. 

332 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  333 

and  the  methods  of  the  various  organizations  that  are  endeavoring  to  remove  evil 
from  the  pathway  of  the  child. 

All  grand,  all  helpful,  all  necessary,  but  it  often  all  looks  to  me  like  "  locking  the 
barn-door  after  the  horse  is  stolen."  Yes,  we  are  beating  around  the  bush;  but  the 
enemy  lies  coiled  in  the  very  center.  The  child  is  stung  with  evil  before  it  reaches 
the  outer  circle  where  these  implements  for  culture  of  body  and  soul  stand  ready  for 
the  using.  We  must  probe  deep,  to  the  very  heart  of  things,  and  commence  at  the 
very  foundation,  before  we  can  hope  for  any  special  advance  physically,  mentally  or 
morally,  beyond  the  present  showing  of  our  nation.  We  have  made  provision  for 
the  training  in  every  profession  save  the  profession  of  home-makers  and  parentage. 
This  is  all  left  to  chance.  The  fate  of  the  nation  is  left  to  blind  chance.  The  seed 
of  this  nation  was  sown  by  the  church.  We  had  a  right  to  expect  wonderful  things 
from  such  a  sowing,  but  the  enemy  from  the  first  has  been  sowing  tares  from  the 
poisoned  weeds  of  Europe's  humanity.  Our  country  must  now  look  very  carefully  to 
the  quality  of  her  sowing,  or  expect  to  reap  the  fate  of  the  cultured  nations  of  the 
past  ages.  The  home  was  God's  first  plant  for  a  nation.  Male  and  female  created 
He — man  in  His  own  image — and  gave  them  the  high  privilege  of  entering  into  His 
last  creative  act  with  Him.  He  gave  of  all  seeds  to  man,  and  said,  "  plant."  Man 
has  learned  to  plant  with  care,  according  to  the  last  laws  given  by  science,  to  insure 
the  largest  growth,  the  most  perfect  specimen,  the  choicest  varieties.  He  has  also 
learned  in  the  last  days  that  human  development  the  most  precious,  the  one  upon 
which  all  happiness  and  progress  depends,  is  governed  by  the  very  same  scientific 
laws.  There  is  no  progress  for  any  nation  beyond  the  home-line  of  possibility.  I 
want  to  give  you  my  thought  from  two  standpoints: 

First.     The  two  laws  governing  development. 

Second.     Outside  aid  to  development. 

I  start  from  the  very  foundation  of  the  human  race — the  fathers  and  the  mothers. 
Could  they  expect  fine  results  to  come  by  chance? 

In  the  light  of  today's  revealments  a  person  is  criminal  who  does  not  look  after 
the  purity  of  the  blood  that  he  imparts  to  another  human  being.  Every  institution  of 
learning  that  fails  to  provide  this  instruction  for  its  students,  male  and  female,  in  dif- 
ferent departments,  fails  to  provide  a  foundation  for  a  higher  mental  capacity  in  the 
coming  generations.  Higher  education  is  a  theme  much  harped  upon  at  present,  but 
every  effort,  save  in  a  few  exceptional  cases,  will  prove  futile  for  lack  of  capacities 
upon  which  to  expend  their  knowledge.  We  are  far  behind  the  oft-quoted  classic 
Greece  in  this  respect.  We  have  only  advanced  to  Solon's  time.  That  wise  old  law- 
giver exclaimed:  "We  can  not  legislate  against  luxury,  but  we  can  establish  athletic 
schools  that  will  develop  physique  and  give  a  martial  character  to  the  amusements  of 
our  young."  We  have  in  this  decade  of  years  advanced  this  far.  When  will  we  attain 
to  the  wisdom  of  Lycurgus? 

He  prohibited  parents  from  giving  theic  daughters  in  marriage  until  they  had 
attained  a  certain  degree  of  proficiency  in  certain  exercises.  He  went  furtherthanthis  in 
his  wise  recognition  of  the  future  needs  of  the  nation.  He  prohibited  marriages  among 
any  who  were  not  matured,  any  who  were  diseased,  or  who  were  deformed,  and  they 
looked  upon  the  throwing  of  a  sickly  or  deformed  new-born  babe  into  a  ravine  to 
perish  as  an  act  of  mercy.  Exercises  for  development  were  compulsory.  The  pure 
blood  thus  engendered  fed  the  nervous  tissue,  fed  the  white  and  gray  matter  of  the 
brain.  The  brain  thus  richly  nourished,  and  in  its  turn  its  muscles  exercised  by  ques- 
tioning, developed  the  twenty-eight  men  of  the  two  centuries  named  whom  we  cannot 
equal  or  surpass  today.  Lycurgus  did  well  for  what  we  are  pleased  to  term  an  igno- 
rant past,  but  his  laws  after  all  produced  but  one  Socrates. 

I  claim  that  an  intelligent  present,  through  the  use  of  two  laws,  could  soon  pro- 
duce one  who  could  answer  the  questions  of  Socrates.  We  have  grown  quite  familiar 
with  one  of  these  two  laws  through  the  pens  and  voices  of  many,  the  prenatal  law. 
Rightly  understood  and  used  it  has  the  power  to  modify  the  effect  of  poisonous  blood. 


334  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

But  the  other  lawi  so  powerful,  I  alone  am  presenting.  Probably  because  others  have 
not  dug  so  deep  and  waded  through  so  many  pages  of  scientific  volumes,  small  of 
print  and  large  of  terms.  This  law  has  the  power  to  eliminate  all  the  poisoned  matter, 
vicious  tendencies  that  come  down  from  the  ancestral  spaces. 

Frederick  the  Great  understood  human  cultivation.  The  emperor's  body-guard 
was  composed  of  colossal,  stalwart  men  that  had  been  gathered  from  their  own  and 
kidnapped  from  other  nations.  He  bid  them  seek  wives  that  could  match  them  in 
physique,  and  establish  homes  for  the  rearing  of  future  guards.  If  homes  can  be 
established  that  will  insure  splendid  physique,  why  not  homes  to  insure  splendid 
mentalities  and  splendid  morals?  With  this  thought  in  view,  I  will  give  you  the  cor- 
ner-stone on  which  every  home  must  be  built.  That  I  may  not  be  accused  of  senti- 
ment, please  note  the  fact  that  this  corner-stone  is  the  result  of  a  life-time  of  study,  of 
the  labor  of  scientific  men  investigating  natural  law.  Let  me  quote  from  one  of  them: 
"  Marriage  is  scientifically  unnatural  when  not  based  upon  a  supreme  affection." 
There  is  no  substitute  for  a  supreme  affection.  There  can  be  no  home  without  it. 
There  may  be  a  place  where  two  persons  dwell  together,  but  no  home. 

We  will  go  to  the  laboratory  of  the  "why."  We  must  have  a  scientific  analysis  or 
we  will  again  be  accused  of  sentiment.  We  have  advanced  as  far  as  the  Laws  of 
Lycurgus  in  our  consideration  of  these  truths. 

Their  following  means  perfect  health,  and  perfect  health  insures  pure  blood.  But 
the  microscope  reveals  to  us  the  fact  that  our  blood  changes  with  our  emotions.  Thus 
the  blood  that  becomes  vitalized  under  the  great  happiness  of  the  emotion  of  love, 
becomes  an  absolute  poison  under  the  emotions  of  dislike,  fear  or  hate.  This  poison 
under  the  extreme  emotion  of  fear  or  hate  is  strong  enough  to  throw  a  child  that  may 
imbibe  it  into  convulsions,  and  has  been  known  in  some  instances  to  kill  instantly. 

A  home  started  on  scientific  principles,  based  upon  a  supreme  affection,  as  shown 
by  chemical  analysis  of  the  blood  to  be  absolutely  necessary,  built  on  conditions  of 
superb  health,  as  shown  by  the  results  of  following  the  Laws  of  Lycurgus,  with  obedi- 
ence to  the  law  of  prenatal  influence,  offers  opportunity  for  the  highest  earthly  possi- 
bilities.    But  here  let  us  stop  a  moment.     This  is  the  horror  of  it  all. 

In  one  fatal  moment,  a  disobedience  to  the  initial  law  may  cancel  all  the  splendid 
preparation  that  has  been  the  work  of  years.  This  law,  the  strongest  law  of  all,  that 
has  the  power  to  counteract  all  that  comes  from  the  ancestral  spaces,  that  has  power 
to  annul  the  grand  conditions,  the  resultant  of  preparation  of  previous  years,  is  com- 
pletely ignored  in  almost  every  home.  So  strong  is  the  law,  that  a  spiritualized  con- 
dition would  overcome  even  unfavorable  tendencies,  and  make  favorable  conditions. 
It  is  a  new  supply  of  life  from  the  Creator  of  life. 

So  much  has  been  spoken  and  written  on  the  weeding  and  watering  and  removal 
of  stones  from  the  pathway  of  these  human  sprouts  after  they  have  come  to  light,  I 
will  leave  these  points  for  the  present,  also  all  comment  on  hygiene  and  sanitary  laws, 
upon  which  so  much  of  the  happiness  and  usefulness  of  the  members  depend,  and 
will  pass  on  to  the  outside  aids  to  the  home  culture.  If  we  were  governed  by  wise 
statesmen,  they  would  from  national  policy  go  as  far  as  the  government  of  ancient 
Greece. 

In  the  interest  of  good  citizenship  they  should  decide  who  should  make  a  home. 
With  our  understanding  of  the  necessary  mental  condition  to  produce  the  best  results, 
government  should  present  to  every  young  married  couple  a  house  in  which  to  com- 
mence their  home-life.  Then  their  thoughts  could  enter  upon  the  wise  administra- 
tion of  the  laws  governing  a  well-regulated  home,  and  not  be  wasted  in  a  struggle 
for  finances  with  which  to  build  a  house,  in  addition  to  the  finances  necessary  for  the 
bread  and  butter  of  their  daily  living.  Every  child  should  be  looked  upon  as  a  ward 
of  the  nation.  If  accident  or  incapacity  prevents  parents  from  furnishing  the  mental 
and  manual  training  necessary  to  develop  the  child  into  a  good  citizen,  government 
should  come  to  their  aid. 

If  from  lust,  avarice,  or  appetite  parents  are  incapable  of  performing  their  duty 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  335 

to  their  children  in  this  respect,  these  wards  of  the  nation  should  be  transplanted  to 
governmental  homes  of  training.  Vienna,  Austria,  presents  us  a  fine  object  lesson  in 
its  care  for  its  destitute  orphans.  The  mayor  of  the  city  appoints  the  child  a  father, 
if  it  is  a  boy,  among  the  good  citizens  of  good  standing,  or  a  mother  if  it  is  a  girl. 
These  little  ones  are  then  boarded  out  at  the  expense  of  the  city.  But  it  is  the  duty 
of  this  appointed  father  or  mother  to  look  after  the  child's  welfare  during  its  growing 
years,  and  see  to  its  proper  placing  in  life  when  it  is  old  enough  to  become  self-sup- 
porting. This  is  an  expense  to  the  city,  but  is  it  so  great  an  expense  as  it  will  be  if 
the  child  grows  into  a  criminal?  If  you  are  unscientific,  you  will  condemn  my  next 
statement.  The  "  Destroyer  "  of  a  home,  whether  it  is  a  home  that  now  exists  or  a 
home  that  could  have  existed,  should  be  put  to  death.  The  law  of  Leviticus,  when 
interpreted  by  science,  is  none  too  severe.  It  is  a  law  given  by  a  God  of  love  and 
God  of  mercy.  Through  the  investigations  of  the  blood  it  is  shown  that  the  Bible 
statement  of  they  twain  are  one  flesh  is  not  figuratively,  but  literally,  true.  The  law 
is  written  in  our  members.  One  Adam  and  two  or  more  Eves,  one  Eve  and  two  or 
more  Adams  should  be  put  to  death. 

The  law  of  creation  is  a  jealous  law.  Break  the  Divine  plan,  male  and  female,  by 
a  separation  of  interests,  and  the  deterioration  of  both  commences.  There  is  an  invis- 
ible current  now  unnamed  between  minds  masculine  and  feminme  that  makes  a  com- 
plete, rounded  world.  A  study  of  the  mental  action  of  each  apart  and  then  together 
makes  this  very  apparent.  Sever  the  current  by  a  manner  of  life  that  does  not  con- 
tinuously touch  the  best  in  life  of  the  other,  and  physical  force  predominates;  it  is 
then  that  deterioration  of  all  faculties  commences.  The  rounded  mental  world  cut  in 
twain  by  a  separation  of  thoughts  and  interest  shrinks  back  and  uplifts  into  the 
ungainly  capital  letters  I-I;  stiff,  angular,  unbending,  ungainly,  repulsive,  decided, 
imperative,  narrow  I,  I. 

How  much  sweeter  the  word  "we."  We  have  to  round  our  mouth  to  pronounce 
it.  Two  letters,  w-e;  two  in  one.  How  much  better  when  blended — two  persons  into 
one. 

The  patrician's  home  in  Greece  furnished  the  gifted  ones  whom  the  nation 
delighted  to  honor;  but  the  record  of  the  twenty  centuries  between,  show  the  com- 
moner as  the  leader  of  all  the  advanced  work  and  thought  of  the  world.  The  home 
of  wealth  offers  every  advantage  that  could  insure  sharpened  instruments  in  the  battle 
of  human  progress,  but  the  lack  of  necessities  which  spur  to  action,  renders  the  instru- 
ment useless.  Whatever  point  the  child  of  wealth  may  have  had  from  good  trainers, 
soon  becomes  rusted  and  dulled  in  the  luxurious  atmosphere.  The  world  had  but 
one  Marcus  Aurelius.  This  emperor,  sleeping  on  the  soldier's  hard  cot  in  the  open 
halls  of  the  palace  in  preference  to  the  enervating  influence  of  the  luxurious  palace 
chambers,  his  plain  living  and  high  thinking,  offers  an  object  lesson  that  would  be  well 
for  the  patrician  to  study.  He  used  his  position  and  wealth  as  stepping-stones  to 
higher  statesmanship  and  purer  philosophy. 

Following  the  expression  of  Plato,  he  made  his  "body  and  soul  draw  together  like 
two  horses  harnessed  to  a  carriage."  His  body,  not  tied  to  luxury,  could  match  the 
speed  of  the  noblest  impulses  of  the  soul.  If  government  could  take  the  boy  today, 
as  in  the  days  of  old,  from  the  home  of  wealth,  place  him  in  barracks  for  daily  drill 
and  upon  the  ground  with  only  the  canopy  of  heaven  over-head  at  night;  or  the  girls 
at  the  same  tender  age  of  seventeen  years,  and  place  them  with  nurses  who  would  fol- 
low the  same  vigorous  training,  then  would  our  thoughts  turn  again  to  the  patrician 
home  for  leaders  along  the  line  of  all  advance.  But  it  is  to  the  homes  of  the  middle 
class  that  the  nation  turns  on  an  expectant  look.  Here  is  where  our  thoughts  must 
center  to  estimate  progress.  It  is  while  viewing  these  homes  that  the  heart  throbs  and 
bounds  with  its  limitless  expectations. 

Here  is  where  we  can  boast.  What  other  nations  can  show  such  an  aggregation  of 
intelligent  homes  as  can  America?  And  for  them,  what  is  the  promise?  The  educa- 
tors have  commenced  to  instill  into  the  minds  of  the  students  the  relative  value  of  the 


336  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

body,  and  are  providing  to  culture  it  into  an  abundant  reservoir  of  brain  food.  There 
is  a  wise  sifting  process  among  them  that  is  separating  students  according  to  the  bent 
of  inherent  qualities,  thus  culturing  natural  tendencies.  They  are  laying  great  stress 
upon  the  development  of  faculties  by  which  we  apprehend  the  unseen.  This  invisible 
force  that  they  can  draw  to  themselves  and  harness  to  their  work  to  speed  it  forward, 
as  the  electrician  seizes  the  electricity  and  harnesses  to  his  invention,  is  made  a  plain, 
practical  fact  to  the  youth  of  today.  They  are  teaching  the  students  that  from  the 
effects  of  electricity,  from  the  effects  of  the  spirit  that  when  we  work  as  industriously 
as  Edison  to  secure  his  power,  we  can  obtain  this  power  of  the  spirit 

Dr.  Doremus,  of  the  chemical  department  of  Columbus  College,  claims  it  will  be 
but  a  question  of  time  when  we  will  be  gathering  our  food  supply  first-hand  from  the 
air  instead  of  second-hand  through  the  vegetables,  or  third-hand  through  the  animals. 
It  was  after  he  had  gathered  the  invisible  gases  from  the  air  and  demonstrated  to  the 
large  audience  their  uses.  We  saw  the  effects,  but  we  did  not  see  the  gases.  It  was 
after  he  had  made  them  visible  in  vapor,  more  visible  in  the  liquid,  and  then  so  solid 
they  could  be  pounded  with  an  iron  bar.  It  was  after  he  had  gathered  from  the  unseen 
on  a  hot  summer  evening  a  bushel  of  snow  with  which  he  pelted  his  audience.  These 
evidences  of  the  invisible  things  which  we  can  grasp  and  use  for  our  progress  are  going 
to  illuminate  the  doubtful  minds  and  show  the  reasonableness  of  our  claims  for  the 
power  of  the  Spirit  invisible  of  the  Holy  One  of  God. 

These  thoughts  are  brought  to  the  home-makers  with  a  plea  that  they  study 
natural  laws  and  follow  them.  With  a  plea  also  that  they  in  numbers  petition  the 
directors  of  our  institutions  of  learning  until  they  secure  departments  for  the  teaching 
of  these  truths  to  students.  With  a  plea  that  the  faculties  by  which  we  apprehend 
the  unseen  forces  be  constantly  cultivated  that  more  and  more  the  Spirit  may  domi- 
nate our  emotions  which  regulate  the  blood  of  our  veins.  This  paradise  of  thought 
will  be  a  home  garden  that  will  grow  a  race  like  gods.  The  Court  of  Honor,  now 
unsurpassed  in  beautiful  effects,  with  all  its  uplifting  forces,  will  be  as  the  daily  envi- 
ronment of  all  these  coming  statesmen,  poets,  classicists:  that  will  work  the  era  on  the 
new  Chicago,  the  new  London,  the  new  Jerusalem;  those  heavenly  cities  that  are  to  be 
in  the  coming  millennium.  Sin  eliminated,  flesh  renovated,  spiritualized.  Thus  saith 
science;  thus  saith  God. 


EDUCATION  OF  GIRLS  AND  WOMEN  IN  GLASGOW. 


By  MISS  JANET  A.  GALLOWAY. 

As  may  be  known  to  my  audience,  Glasgow  is  the  commercial  and  industrial  cap- 
ital of  Scotland,  as  Edinburgh  is  the  historical  and  official  capital.     In  some  respects 

there  is  a  resemblance  between  Chicago  and  Glasgow, 
though  the  latter  is  so  much  the  smaller  of  the  two  cities, 
for  it  is  a  place  of  only  about  eight  hundred  thousand 
inhabitants.  Like  Chicago,  one  source  of  Glasgow's 
strength  lies  in  its  commerce  and  manufactures,  and 
its  position  as  a  great  center  of  trade,  of  export  and 
import;  and,  like  Chicago,  it  is  also  rapidly  develop- 
ing into  a  nucleus  of  intellectual  activity  and  educa-. 
tion,  with  its  university  and  public  schools  and  free 
education.  The  University  of  Glasgow  has  been  in 
existence  for  several  centuries,  and  has  done  good 
work.  It  has  an  average  attendance  of  two  thousand 
students.  It  has  numbered  many  men  of  renown 
among  its  professors.  In  the  present  staff  the  name 
of  Lord  Kelvin,  formerly  Sir  William  Thomson,  pro- 
fessor of  natural  history,  is  of  world-wide  reputation 
for  his  discoveries  and  his  inventions,  especially  in 
connection  with  electricity  and  scientific  instruments 
for  marine  purposes;  and  those  of  Principal  John 
Caird,  and  his  brother-professor  Edward  Caird,  are 
well  known  in  the  domain  of  philosophical  thought 
and  research;  and  those  of  professors  Gardner.  Mac- 
Eweln  and  McKendrick  for  eminence  in  medical,  surgical  and  physiological  science. 
But  it  is  only  quite  recently  that  free  education  has  been  established,  and  it  is  still  but 
a  short  way  beyond  what  might  be  called  the  experimental  .stage. 

The  education  of  girls  in  Glasgow  can  be  given  on  three  different  lines — those  of 
the  board  school,  the  endowed  school  and  the  private  or  proprietary  school.  Of 
course  some  girls  are  educated  at  home  by  private  governesses,  but  the  number  of 
these  is  so  small  as  scarcely  to  require  separate  mention. 

For  board  or  public  school  purposes,  Glasgow  is  divided  into  two  districts,  one 
being  Glasgow  proper,  with  a  population  of  about  one  hundred  thousand  children 
(97,108)  of  school  age,  the  other  being  Govan,  with  about  twenty  thousand  children 
These  public  schools  work  under  the  act  of  parliament  passed  August,  1872,  by  the 
name  of  the  Scottish  Education  Act,  the  chief  object  of  which  was  to  exchange  the 
denominational  system,  which  existed  until  then,  for  a  really  national  system  of  educa- 
tion. It  established  in  every  parish  and  borough  in  Scotland  a  popularly  elected  school 
board,  the  principal  duties  devolving  on  which  are  the  provision  of  sufficient  school 
accommodations,  the  imposition  and  levying  of  tax  payable  by  householders  under 
the  name  of  school  rate,  and  the  management  of  all  schools  supported  by  that  rate 

Miss  Janet  A.  Galloway  was  born  in  Stirlingshire,  Scotland.  Her  parents  were  Mr.  Alexander  Galloway  and  Mrs.  Anne 
Bald  Galloway.  She  was  educated  partly  in  Scotland,  but  chiefly  in  England,  Brussels  and  Dresden.  She  has  traveled  over 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  France,  Belgium,  Holland,  Germany,  Austria,  Italy,  Switzerland  and  Denmark,  Sweden  and 
part  of  the  United  States  of  America,  including  the  Eastern  States,  Pennsylvania,  Illinois  and  North  Carolina.  Her  special 
work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  the  higher  education  of  women.  Her  profession  is  that  of  Honorary  (i.  e.,  unpaid)  Secretary  of 
Queen  Margaret  College  University  at  Glasgow.  In  religious  faith  Miss  Galloway  is  a  member  of  the  English  Church,  the 
Episcopalian.  Her  postoffice  address  is  Queen  Margaret  College,  Glasgow,  Scotland. 
(22)  337 


MISS  JANET  A.  GALLOWAY. 


338  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

within  the  respective  school  board  districts.  School  boards  must  also  see  that  all 
children  of  school  age  residing  within  their  districts  receive  at  least  elementary  educa- 
tion, even  if  it  be  necessary  to  use  compulsion  to  secure  their  attendance  at  school. 

The  number  of  ordinary  public  schools  under  the  Glasgow  Board  is  sixty-seven 
(67),  with  a  staff  of  780  teachers  fully  qualified  (342  masters  and  438  mistresses),  and 
595  assistants,  besides  pupil  teachers  and  monitors.  Under  the  Govan  Board  there 
are  nineteen  (19)  schools.  A  child  beginning  her  education  enters  first  the  infant 
department,  receiving  kindergarten  instruction  and  lessons  in  elementary  reading 
and  spelling,  class  singing,  arithmetic  and  drawing;  efforts  are  made  to  train  the  senses 
and  the  memory,  to  form  in  the  child  habits  of  attention,  and  to  cultivate  her  intelli- 
gence and  physical  powers,  besides  preparing  her  for  more  advanced  work.  She  then 
passes  on  through  the  six  successive  "standards"  or  grades  of  work,  which  constitute  the 
primary  school,  and  at  the  end  .of  this  course  she  is  expected  to  be  proficient  in  read- 
ing and  writing,  in  composition,  and  in  arithmetic  as  far  as  compound  proportion,  vul- 
gar and  decimal  fractions,  and  simple  interest.  In  the  upper  standards  special  sub- 
jects are  added,  such  as  geography,  history,  needlework,  drawing  and  elementary 
science.  After  the  fifth  standard  is  passed  the  choice  of  specific  subjects  is  enlarged, 
and  a  girl  can  receive  instruction  in  domestic  economy,  including  cookery;  French 
and  Latin  and  Greek  and  German;  mathematics,  physical  geography,  physiology,  etc., 
taking  such  of  them  as  her  teacher  may  consider  advisable.  Some,  but  not  all,  of  the 
schools  under  the  board  (Glasgow)  give  secondary  education,  and  at  the  end  of  a 
course  given  there,  a  pupil  may  be  examined  for  the  Leaving  Certificate,  either  in  the 
lower  or  the  higher  grade,  or  in  honors.  The  subjects  included  in  this  examination 
are  English,  with  modern  history;  geography,  French,  German,  Latin,  Greek,  mathe- 
matics and  bookkeeping  with  commercial  arithmetic,  from  which  the  pupil  can 
choose.  The  examinations  are  general  and  not  on  prescribed  books.  The  Leaving 
Certificate  has  been  hitherto  accepted  by  some  universities  (including  Oxford,  Cam- 
bridge, Edinburgh,  Glasgow  and  St.  Andrews),  and  also  by  the  general  Medical  Council 
and  some  other  bodies,  in  lieu  of  such  preliminary  examinations  as  are  held  under 
their  directions. 

Should  a  girl  attending  the  public  schools  not  be  able  to  take  the  full  course  of 
instruction  in  the  usual  classes  on  account  of  being  obliged  to  discontinue  her 
attendance  during  the  day  in  order  to  engage  in  business  pursuits,  she  can  take  even- 
ing classes  after  she  has  passed  the  sixth  standard.  These  are  held  in  twenty-four  of 
the  Glasgow  Board  schools,  and  include  ordinary  commercial  art  and  science  subjects. 
In  these  the  courses  are  arranged  to  extend  over  four  years,  but  the  scholars  may 
spread  their  classes  over  a  longer  period,  if  they  find  it  necessary  to  do  so.  The  school 
board  awards  special  certificates  to  the  students  who  complete  these  courses.  For 
evening  instruction,  as  well  as  for  the  special  subjects  taught  in  day  schools  after  the 
sixth  standard,  a  small  fee  is  payable;  but  so  very  ample  provision  of  bursaries  is  made 
by  the  Educational  Endowment  Board  that  no  child  of  average  intelligence  need 
have  any  difficulty  in  obtaining  such  a  bursary  as  will  practically  assure  for  her  a  free 
education. 

If  a  girl  requires  to  be  trained  as  a  teacher  under  the  school  board,  the  usual 
course  is  to  begin  as  a  pupil  teacher  or  monitor.  There  are  employed  in  the  schools 
of  the  Glasgow  Board  three  hundred  and  eighty-eight  pupil  teachers.  They  have  to 
be  apprenticed  as  pupil  teachers,  and  to  take  a  course  of  instruction  lasting  over  four 
years  (or  it  may  be  less,  if  they  have  taken  the  Leaving  Certificate)  in  the  Pupil 
Teachers'  Institute,  receiving  at  least  twelve  hours'  instruction  per  week  during  the 
first  three  years.  The  subjects  taught  are  most  of  those  taken  up  in  the  higher 
school  classes,  but  given  with  a  view  to  teaching  purposes;  also  instruction  in  school 
management.  At  the  same  time  they  serve  as  teachers  in  the  board  schools,  giving 
instruction  to  the  younger  children,  for,  on  an  average,  of  about  twenty-two  hours  per 
week  during  their  four  years'  apprenticeship,  receiving  payment  for  their  services  at 
the  rate  of  from  forty  to  one  hundred  dollars  for  from  the  first  to  the  fourth  year. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  339 

Yearly  examinations  are  held  during  these  four  years.  At  the  end  of  their  apprentice- 
ship they  are  examined  by  the  government  inspector  for  admission  to  the  Normal 
schools.  If  successful  in  passing,  the  candidates  receive  a  further  course  of  instruction 
in  the  schools  named,  continuing  over  two  years,  which  includes  school  management 
and  other  subjects,  and  after  their  final  examination  they  are  available  for  a  situation 
as  assistant  teachers  in  board  or  other  schools. 

Of  endowed  schools  there  were  a  considerable  number  in  Glasgow  previous  to 
1882.  But  as  these  had  chiefly  been  founded  by  private  benefactors  in  order  to  pro- 
vide for  the  education  of  poor  children,  under  various  conditions  specified  by  the 
founders,  and  as  the  institution  of  the  school  board  had  made  the  existence  of  these 
unnecessary,  an  act  of  parliament  was  passed  in  1882,  entitled  the  Educational  Endow- 
ments (Scotland)  Act,  appointing  commissioners  to  review  all  these  foundations,  and 
to  make  arrangements  for  the  alteration  or  abolition  of  many  of  the  schools,  and  the 
application  of  most  of  the  money  bequeathed  to  them  to  the  purposes  of  education  in 
the  shape  of  bursaries  and  scholarships.  One  large  bequest,  however,  remained,  that 
under  the  Hutchesons'  "  Trust,"  which  was  too  large  to  be  abolished,  and  for  it  the 
commissioners  formulated  a  new  scheme,  appointing  a  board  of  governesses,  to  be 
elected  by  various  public  bodies,  and  making  regulations  for  the  continued  existence 
of  two  schools,  one  for  boys  and  one  for  girls.  They  also  fixed  the  amount  of  the 
fees  to  be  charged,  and  the  subjects  to  be  taught,  and  made  provision  for  the  remission 
of  the  very  moderate  fees  in  the  case  of  two  hundred  "foundationers,"  and  for  the 
maintenance  and  the  clothing  of  a  few  of  them,  besides  offering  a  number  of  free 
scholarships  and  bursaries  for  secondary  and  higher  education  to  be  held  in  the  schools; 
also  for  some  bursaries  for  university  and  higher  education  in  other  institutions.  The 
staff  of  the  girls'  school  consists  of  a  head  master  and  twelve  men  and  fifteen  women 
teachers,  and  the  organization  comprises  a  preparatory  school  and  a  higher  school. 
A  girl  can  enter  the  preparatory  school  at  the  age  of  seven,  and  can  continue  her  edu- 
cation after  passing  from  it  to  the  higher  school  until  the  age  of  eighteen  or  nineteen. 
The  course  of  instruction  begins  at  the  stage  that  corresponds  with  the  school  board's 
"standard  two,"  extends  over  nine  years,  and  is  divided  into  two  parts  of  almost  equal 
duration,  the  plan  of  study  for  the  first  five  years  being  divided  with  a  view  to  laying 
a  solid  basis  for  the  higher  work  which  the  school  makes  its  special  province.  Besides 
the  usual  branches  of  an  English  education  a  special  study  is  made  of  modern  lan- 
guages, a  three  years'  course  of  oral  instruction  in  French,  and  a  two  years'  course  in 
German,  given  in  the  preparatory  school,  followed  up  by  further  continuous  study  of 
both  in  the  higher  school,  and  mathematics,  drawing  and  science  also  receive  special 
attention.  The  pupils  of  the  higher  classes  are  prepared  for  the  government  Leaving 
Certificate,  and  those  who  intend  to  adopt  teaching  as  their  profession  have,  if  they  so 
desire,  opportunities  of  becoming  acquainted  with  the  organization  of  the  whole  school, 
and  of  handling  various  classes  under  the  criticism  and  guidance  of  the  head  master. 
The  yearly  fees  range  from  twelve  dollars  and  fifty  cents  in  the  lowest  class  of  the  pre- 
paratory school  to  forty  dollars  in  the  first  or  students'  class  of  the  higher  school;  but 
after  the  bursary  system  was  established  fee-payers  in  the  higher  class  became  grad- 
ually fewer,  until  now  the  two  highest  classes  contain  none  but  scholars  and  bursars. 

Private  or  proprietary  schools  are  numerous  in  Glasgow  and  of  considerable  vari- 
ety as  to  grades  of  instruction  and  fees,  some  being  for  kindergarten  work  and  young 
children  only,  others  carrying  their  pupils  up  to  preparation  for  university  classes. 
These  are  much  more  expensive  than  the  public  schools,  and  much  smaller,  but  they 
are  preferred  by  some  parents  as  giving  more  attention  to  manners  and  individual 
training  than  it  is  possible  to  expect  in  a  large  public  school.  Some  of  them  have  a 
master  at  the  head  of  the  school,  others  a  mistress;  there  is  generally  a  staff  of  visit- 
ing teachers,  chiefly  masters,  and  a  staff  of  governesses,  who  remain  during  the  whole 
of  the  school  day.  There  is,  however,  especially  one  exception  in  Glasgow  to  this 
general  rule,  viz.,  a  girls'  school  worked  by  a  company  of  shareholders,  many  of  whom 
are  parents  of  the  pupils  being  educated  there.  This  school  is  taught  entirely  by 
ladies. 


340  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

As  regards  higher  education,  a  girl  on  leaving  school  can  continue  her  work  along 
various  lines.  For  higher  instruction  in  art  provision  is  made  in  several  institutions, 
the  principal  of  which  is  the  Government  School  of  Design.  There  she  can  either 
prepare  herself  for  work  as  an  artist,  or  learn  designing  of  patterns  for  textile  fabrics, 
or  architectural,  mechanical,  engineering  or  other  drawing,  ceramic  painting,  modeling, 
etc.  Domestic  arts  can  be  learned  in  the  School  of  Cookery,  which  includes  also  a 
school  for  laundry  and  other  household  work;  and  there  are  a  variety  of  classes  for 
dressmaking  and  millinery  on  different  systems.  The  West  of  Scotland  Technical 
College  provides  instruction  for  women  as  for  men  in  many  scientific  and  practical 
subjects. 

University  education  for  women  is  given  by  the  University  of  Glasgow  in  its  de- 
partment for  women.  Queen  Margaret  College  and  the  various  university  degrees 
are  open  to  women  as  to  men,  the  same  subjects  of  instruction  and  examination  being 
given  to  both  sexes,  and  the  same  degrees  conferred.  This,  however,  is  a  concession 
which  was  made  by  parliament  in  the  summer  of  1892.  Previous  to  that  time  no  degree 
of  any  Scottish  university  would  be  conferred  on  a  woman,  nor  could  the  universities 
provide  for  her  instruction. 

To  meet  the  desire  of  women  for  higher  education,  while  waiting  for  the  often 
asked  for,  but  not  then  granted,  opening  of  the  universities,  associations  for  the  higher 
education  of  women  were  formed  in  the  different  university  towns.  In  Glasgow  one 
was  founded  in  1877.  Before  that  date  some  of  the  professors  of  the  universities  had 
from  time  to  time  given  short  courses  of  lectures  to  women  in  public  halls,  etc.,  but 
in  that  year  a  full  organization  was  formed  and  classes  were  held  in  connection  with 
it  on  university  subjects,  taught  by  university  professors  and  graduates,  some  of  the 
courses  of  lectures  being  given  in  the  university  and  others  in  rooms  rented  for  the 
purpose  outside.  After  six  years  of  existence  this  association  was  incorporated  as 
Queen  Margaret  College,  the  name  being  taken  from  Queen  Margaret  of  Scotland,  the 
first  patroness  in  Scotland  of  literature  and  art.  A  suitable  building  with  extensive 
grounds  was  presented  to  the  college  by  Mrs.  Elder,  widow  of  John  Elder,  a  well- 
known  engineer  and  shipbuilder,  on  condition  that  Sioo,ooo  should  be  raised  as  an 
endowment.  These  buildings  have  since  been  considerably  increased  by  the  addition 
of  science  laboratories,  etc.,  and  are  situated  about  ten  minutes'  walk  from  the  uni- 
versity. And  by  donations  from  various  residenters  in  Glasgow  and  its  neighborhood, 
with  the  addition  of  a  bazaar  which  brought  in  about  $55,000,  the  cost  of  these  new 
buildings  v/as  met,  and  an  endowment  fund  of  upward  of  1^125,000  was  collected. 

From  its  incorporation  in  1883  the  college  went  on  gradually  building  up  on  uni- 
versity lines.  By  degrees  a  full  curriculum  in  arts,  including  modern  languages,  was- 
established,  with  courses  of  lectures  of  the  same  scope  and  length  (one  hundred  lect- 
ures each)  as  those  of  the  university  for  the  master  of  arts  degree;  then  several  classes 
were  instituted;  and  in  1890  a  school  of  medicine  for  women  was'added  to  the  college, 
which  is  now  complete  as  to  classes,  hospital  and  dispensary  work,  the  same  as  those 
provided  for  men  at  the  university.  The  lecturers  were  university  professors  or  gradu- 
ates, the  dean  of  the  medical  school  being  a  university  professor  (Prof.  Young,  M.D.),. 
and  the  fees  and  regulations  were  the  same  as  those  of  the  university.  When,  there- 
fore, in  1889,  the  act  of  parliament  was  passed,  called  the  Universities  (Scotland)  Act^ 
which  appointed  commissioners  to  revise  and  altar  where  necessary  the  constitution 
and  regulations  of  the  Scottish  universities,  and  when  the  ordinance  of  those  commis- 
sioners was  published,  in  1892,  which  permitted  the  universities  to  provide  for  the 
education  of  women  and  to  admit  them  to  the  degrees,  Queen  Margaret  College  was 
in  a  position  both  as  to  nature  and  completeness  of  the  courses  it  offered  to  its  stu- 
dents, and  as  to  the  state  of  the  buildings  and  endowment  fund,  to  offer  itself  to  the 
university  to  become  university  property,  to  be  taken  under  the  government  of  the 
university  and  to  be  especially  recognized  as  giving  preparation  for  the  degrees.  On 
this  offer  being  made  by  the  council  of  the  college  it  was  accepted  by  the  university^ 
which  accordingly  adopted  Queen  Margaret  College  as  its  department  for  women. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  341 

The  college  is  now  governed  entirely  by  the  university  court  and  senate,  and  all  its 
lecturers  are  appointed  by  the  court.  The  average  number  of  students  in  the  college 
is  about  two  hundred,  of  whom  about  fifty  are  in  the  medical  school.  They  receive 
full  preparation  for  the  university  degrees  in  arts,  science  and  medicine. 

The  course  of  work  for  the  master  of  arts  degtee,  after  the  preliminary  examina- 
tion (preparation  for  which  usually  occupies  one  or  two  additional  years)  has  been 
passed,  takes  three  years,  and  duration  of  study  is  the  same  for  the  degree  of  bachelor 
of  science;  the  degree  of  doctor  of  science  can  only  be  taken  five  years  after  that  of 
bachelor  of  science,  after  further  study  and  examination.  The  course  of  study  after 
the  preliminary  examination  for  bachelor  of  medicine  and  bachelor  of  surgery  is  of 
five  years'  duration,  and  the  degree  of  doctor  of  medicine  and  master  of  surgery  can 
only  be  taken  after  two  years'  further  study,  after  the  bachelor  degree  has  been 
obtained. 

The  women  students  of  the  University  of  Glasgow  do  not  study  with  the  men 
students,  having  their  classes  in  their  own  college,  but  they  are  examined  together. 

A  woman  can  thus  now  in  Glasgow  obtain  a  full  university  education,  and  has 
every  facility  for  preparing  herself  for  her  life-work,  whether  for  a  professional  career 
as  a  teacher,  a  literary  woman,  a  scientist  or  a  doctor,  or  for  home  life — to  which  she 
will  bring  the  culture  and  the  large  and  practical  views  derived  from  a  university  edu- 
cation. The  progress  made  in  Scotland  in  general,  and  in  Glasgow  in  particular,  in 
educational  matters  during  the  last  few  years  has  been  great,  and  still  goes  on.  And 
although  in  the  old  country  we  do  not  move  so  rapidly  as  in  the  new,  the  movement 
continues,  if  slowly  yet  surely — the  New  World  and  the  Old  advancing  hand  in  hand 
and  working  together  in  the  great  field  of  intellectual  progress  and  culture. 


INFLUENCE  OF  GREAT  WOMEN.* 


By  MRS.  MARY  NEWBURY  ADAMS. 

In  our  subject,  "  Influence  of  the  Great  Women  of  Yesterday  on  the  Civilization 
of  Today,"  we  admit  that  greatness  in  womanhood  is  an  ancient  quality.     We  cannot 

look  upon  the  recently  unearthed  statuary  without 
this  faith.  She  had  a  strength  that  was  big  with  the 
future  of  mankind.  She  ventured,  she  dared,  she  had 
courage  to  begin  things.  She  had  faith  in  her  work 
because  she  knew  she  worked  for  the  good  of  her  kind 
and  from  inborn  instincts. 

Let  us  know  definitely  what  we  mean  by  the  word 
great.  In  primitive  times  they  represented  greatness 
by  size.  Their  images  of  gods  and  goddesses  were 
large,  to  indicate  power  and  influence.  The  Egyptians 
in  their  art  represented  the  women  as  of  equal  size  with 
men  to  indicate  the  equality  of  influence  and  position 
in  government  and  religion,  and  when  thousands  of 
years  ago  Egyptians  wanted  to  leave  an  enduring  rec- 
ord of  their  belief  of  the  supremacy  of  man  and 
woman  over  all  material  things,  over  the  earth,  they 
built  the  statues  of  Memnon  on  the  Nile.  Human, 
beings  mountain  high,  great,  and  big.  Another 
method  to  express  greatness  and  power  was  for  God 
to  speak  from  Mt.  Zion  or  Mt.  Sinai,  a  high  place. 
Then,  greatness  was  for  a  patriarch  with  many  wives 
and  much  cattle,  a  terror  to  other  tribes,  whose  one 
supreme  will  must  be  a  law  to  the  many.  But  this  was  not  the  matriarchal  idea  of  the 
great  person.  Womanhood  called  a  mind  great  that  could  think,  one  that  could  reason, 
one  that  could  invent,  one  that  could  have  foresight,  save  the  grain  today  to  plant 
next  season,  plant  the  clover  to  keep  the  bees  and  the  cows  close  at  hand;  one  was 
great  who  built  the  hut  before  the  winter  and  storm  came,  or  who  carried  the  stone 
hatchet  in  case  the  wild  beast  is  met.  The  mind  that  could  collect  experience  and 
plan  a  better  future,  this  mind  could  command  respect  for  its  strength  in  judgment, 
and  was  called  great  by  women.  One  with  energy  and  courage  to  make  successful  an 
idea,  be  it  for  a  basket,  a  canoe,  or  a  treaty  between  enemies,  or  a  migration  to  inau- 
gurate new  habits  with  the  selected  best,  these  were  the  great  women  who  had  an  idea 
and  could  carry  it  out.  Disciples  of  Minerva  and  Juno,  people  from  Ephesus  and 
Athens,  women  from  Asia  Minor,  from  the  Isles  of  the  Sea,  from  the'  halls  where 
taught  the  white-robed  Hypatia;  when  these  spoke  of  great  women  it  was  quality  of 
mind  and  tastes  they  referred  to.     Among  the   worshipers  of  Ceres,  the  goddess  of 

Mrs.  Mary  Newbary  Adams  is  a  native  of  Pera,  Ind.  She  was  bom  October  17,  1837.  Her  parents  were  Eev.  Samuel 
Newbury  and  Mrs.  Mary  Ann  Sergeant  Newbury.  She  received  her  early  education  at  home  private  schools;  graduated  from 
Cleveland  public  schools  later,  and  from  Troy,  Tenn.,  Seminary  in  1857.  She  married  Austin  Adams,  Esq.,  who  was  after- 
ward twelve  years  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Iowa.  She  takes  great  interest  in  the  history  and  study  of  humanity,  par- 
ticularly woman's  work  in  civilization.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  numerous  essays,  lectures,  sermons,  and  news- 
paper articles.  Her  profession  is  housekeeper  and  home-keeper.  In  religious  faith  she  is  a  Cosmopolitan  Unitarian.  Mrs. 
Adams  is  a  member  of  the  National  Woman's  Suffrage  Association  and  many  archaeological  and  historical  societies.  In  per- 
sonal appearance  she  is  stately,  dignified  and  commanding.  Mrs.  Adams'  parents  and  ancestors  were  ministers,  judges,  phy- 
eicians,  and  seven  of  her  grandmothers  daughters  of  professional  men.  Her  line  of  thought  and  work  has  been  inherited^ 
and  is  not  military  nor  business.    Her  postoifice  address  is  Dubuque,  Iowa. 


MRS.   MARY  NEWBURY   ADAMS. 


*The  original  title  of  the  address  as  delivered  before  the  Congress  was,  "Influence  of  the  Great  Women  of  Yesterday 
on  the  Great  Women  of  Today." 

342 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  343 

Agriculture  and  Commerce,  greatness  was  shown  in  the  discovery  of  new  lands,  fruits 
palatable,  grains  nutritious,  and  in  the  power  of  the  will  to  direct  energy  to  useful 
ends,  to  plow  and  plant,  to  save  and  sell,  to  make  fruitful  Earth  serve  the  will  and 
wish  of  the  human  mind;  with  them  the  great  woman  was  one  who  had  found  a  new 
grain  that  could  be  utilized  for  food  of  people  that  they  might  not  be  compelled  to  be 
marauding  tribes,  stealing  cattle  from  other  tribes  for  food.  The  mothers  in  council 
learned  how  to  feed  with  grain  their  people  quietly,  peacefully,  and  gradually  to  work 
into  the  nerve  of  children  and  youth  strength  and  reason,  and  thus  check  the  raven- 
ous dispositions  and  the  roving,  stealthy  habits  that  always  go  with  those  who  herd 
cattle,  and  are  eaters  of  blood  and  sinew,  the  habits  of  patriarchs,  and  the  people  they 
herd  and  were  shepherds  of.  The  great  women,  mothers  of  commerce,  of  agriculture, 
of  trade  and  ingenious  workmanship,  compared  good  with  evil,  and  aspired  to  become 
self-directing,  co-working  with  Creation  and  its  laws.  The  same  idea  animates  the 
highest  civilization  to-day,  and  it  is  our  duty  to  find  who  the  women  were  who  helped 
to  bring  it  about. 

The  methods  for  our  enlightened  life  today  were  those  of  the  great  mothers  in 
council,  who  were  drawn  by  sympathy  to  help  one  another  in  distress,  in  sickness,  at 
harvest,  and  in  journeys  for  trade,  not  to  slay  or  steal  from  other  tribes,  but  to  learn  to 
exchange  baskets  for  pots,  minerals,  shells  and  fiber  to  make  into  raiment.  The  great 
women  of  antiquity  are  those  who  aided  the  human  mind  to  distinguish  good  from 
evil,  and  through  habits  of  industry  curb  the  powers  of  passion,  and  tame  force  and 
strength  to  serve  the  tribe  under  the  direction  of  reason.  She  was  great  who  could 
think  some  thought,  do  some  deed  to  add  to  the  experience  of  the  world,  to  aid  the 
next  generation  of  women  so  they  could  be  sure  of  a  permanent  home,  sure  of  food 
and  raiment  and  ability  to  make  something  to  sell.  The  great  souls  were  not  the 
strong  forces  that  destroyed  enemies  or  beasts,  but  the  inventive  souls,  the  intuitive 
minds  that  circumvented  evils,  that  brought  positive  good  to  a  people.  How?  Not  by 
conquering  a  neighbor  and  securing  booty  in  land  and  cattle,  but  those  who  trained 
families  to  supply  their  own  wants  by  work,  to  have  an  aim  in  life,  to  so  order  their 
ways  that  they  could  be  imitated  with  advantage  to  the  whole  tribe;  thus  mankind 
could  become  by  habit  civilized,  that  is,  to  work  together  by  free  choice,  that  the  work 
of  each  should  be  good  for  all.  It  is  women  who  have  brought  these  ideals  into 
human  life.  Women  have  not  been  visionary  but  practical,  unless  the  having  a  high 
ideal  and  working  for  a  future  better  than  the  present  can  appreciate  is  visionary. 

There  is  an  irrepressible  conflict  between  the  patriarchal  idea  of  greatness  and  the 
matriarchal.  Since  the  re-discovery  of  the  Western  continent  by  Western  Europeans 
four  hundred  years  ago,  and  the  discovery  that  the  sphere  was  balanced  by  its  own 
motion,  and  this  motion  intimately  connected  with  life  thereon,  then  began  changes 
in  governments  and  in  religions,  from  the  patriarchal  to  the  matriarchal  methods,  and 
the  laws  of  earth  and  woman  have  been  honored.  Woman  began  to  be  recognized 
as  a  sphere  in  society,  gaining  equilibrium,  too,  by  her  own  reason  and  her  motion  of 
mind,  and  that  intimately  connected  with  her  movement  of  mind  was  the  equilibrium 
of  society.  The  literature  of  Greece  was  revived  because  the  methods,  the  principles, 
the  ideals  of  goddesses,  the  matriarchal  ideals,  were  to  come  forth  in  power  to  shape 
and  direct  the  New  World  era  And  this  republic  is  the  result  of  matriarchal  not  patri- 
archal methods  of  life  and  in  ideals.  This  is  the  influence  we  inherit.  Have  we 
knowledge  to  understand  it? 

Histories  heretofore  have  been  written  by  men;  Scriptures  preserved  by  the  high 
priests,  the  Druids,  the  patriarchs;  reprinted  and  upheld  by  empires,  religious  and 
political.  The  true  history  of  human  progress  from  savagehood  to  enlightened  civil 
life  is  yet  to  be  written.  Not  till  the  spirit  of  archaeology,  philology  and  folk-lore  was 
awakened  did  we  have  the  material  facts  to  reason  from.  Now,  here,  in  the  center  of 
the  oldest  continent,  we  find  Scripture  fulfilled,  and  the  last  continent  is  found  to  be 
the  first,  and  the  rejected  stones  of  the  early  Americans  are  to  become  the  corner- 
stones of  human  history. 


344  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

The  influence  of  the  great  women  of  the  past  is  felt  today,  not  by  knowledge  of 
their  names  and  their  individual  work,  or  the  time  they  lived,  but  by  the  things  they 
started,  the  methods  of  activity  they  began;  what  they  inaugurated  by  following  their 
natural  instinct  to  change  the  present,  to  secure  the  greater  future,  which  we  enjoy 
today. 

\Ve  have  heard  only  of  the  women  of  gayety  at  the  courts;  we  need  the  lives  of 
the  great  women  who  changed  the  history  of  their  time  by  finding  new  fords,  opening 
new  fields  for  commerce. 

Matilda  of  Scottish  lineage  was  called  Maude.  She  was  the  mother  of  Henry  H. 
of  England,  and  Hume  says  her  son  was  the  greatest  prince  of  his  time  for  wisdom, 
virtue  and  ability.  She  introduced  the  culture  of  broom  corn.  She  built  the  first 
arch  bridge  in  England,  Bowbridge,  made  new  roads,  repaired  the  Roman  roads.  She 
was  prudent,  and  encouraged  those  things  which  educated  and  benefited  the  people. 
She  was  political,  and  to  her  we  trace  the  constitutional  blessing  England  enjoyed. 

The  arrangements  for  peace  and  progress,  the  law  that  the  people  could  depend 
upon,  based  on  principles  of  justice  and  reciprocation,  she  had  written  out  into  char- 
ters, and  so  established  a  precedent  for  the  rulers  that  followed.  She  made  history. 
Through  her  influence  her  son,  called  Henry  Beauclerc,  granted  the  important  char- 
ter which  was  the  model  and  precedent  of  the  great  Magna  Charta. 

English  history  is  full  of  the  greatness  o*f  the  reign  of  Edward  HI.,  yet  when 
Philippa  died  he  brought  forth  only  evil  deeds,  and  what  was  good  in  his  reign  is  owing 
almost  wholly  to  the  queen.  Through  her  the  shipbuilding  and  commerce  began,  the 
navy  was  established.  With  her  own  pin  money  she  brought  to  England  Froissart,  to 
travel  at  her  expense,  so  the  French  and  English  by  knowing  one  another  better 
might  have  less  wars,  and  that  he  might  meet  her  charming  young  relative,  Chaucer. 
With  her  own  money  she  established  the  Flemish  weavers  and  cotton  and  flax  indus- 
tries in  Norfolk,  built  houses  for  these  people  she  brought  from  her  girlhood  home. 
She  began  the  great  commerce  of  England.  It  would  take  volumes  to  tell  all  that 
Philippa  did  for  England  to  civilize  and  enlighten  it,  and  cause  it  to  revolve  about  its 
own  industrial  life,  instead  of  seeking  to  conquer  its  neighbors. 

Margaret,  born  in  1353,  in  Denmark,  daughter  of  Waldemar  HI.,  was  married  in 
1373  to  Haquin,  King  of  Norway,  in  1376  regent,  too,  of  Denmark.  The  year  Cath- 
erine of  Sienna  died,  1380,  she  became  Queen  of  Norway.  Her  son  dying,  she  was 
acknowledged  also  sovereign  of  Denmark.  At  an  assembly  of  the  three  countries  of 
Norway,  Sweden  and  Denmark  she  held  at  Calmar  in  1397  the  famous  treaty  of  peace 
between  these  contending  countries,  and  formed  the  "  Calmar  Union."  Her  nephew 
appointed  her  successor. 

The  Woman's  Peace  at  Cambrai,  which  held  the  domination  of  Venice  in  check  and 
awakened  and  helped  Western  Europe,  shows  the  moderate  policy  of  women,  their 
foresight,  judgment  and  perseverance,  higher  qualities  of  mind  than  aggressive  con- 
quering wars. 

Margaret,  daughter  of  Ernest  of  Austria,  born  in  1416,  died  in  i486;  married 
Frederick  the  Wise,  of  Saxony,  and  had  eight  children.  She  was  a  wise  counselor 
in  state  affairs.  Her  husband  accorded  her  the  right,  which  she  exercised,  of  coining 
money  and  to  assist  in  governing  the  state.  She  contributed  much  by  wise  counsel 
in  putting  an  end  to  wars.  In  1467  her  husband  died.  She  reigned  and  proved  herself 
a  mother  to  her  subjects.  She  died  in  i486,  seventy  years  old.  She  was  the  first 
sovereign  to  provide  public  rooms  where  the  poor  could  have  opportunity  to  warm 
themselves  during  severe  winters.  Learning  and  public  education  by  meetings  and 
discourse  were  inaugurated  by  her.  Poems  were  recited,  the  rude  dramas  and  public 
fairs  encouraged. 

Ann  of  Denmark,  wife  of  James  I.,  demanded  that  the  crown  be  put  on  her  head 
as  well  as  the  king's.  Her  descendants  were  the  powers  to  form  the  best  civil  life  in 
Germany  and  England,  and  Elizabeth,  the  friend  of  Des  Cartes,  furthered  the  highest 
philosophic  thought  and  practical  education. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  345 

"Mother  Anna"  of  Saxony,  born  in  1531,  daughter  of  Christian  III.  of  Denmark,  a 
protestant,  humane  and  wise  king.  She  was  educated  by  her  mother,  Dorothea,  and 
the  chaplain.  In  1548,  when  seventeen  years  old,  married  August  of  Saxony,  a  wise 
ruler.  She  had  fifteen  children.  She  devoted  herself  to  the  moral  and  mental 
improvement  of  her  people;  she  had  faith  in  them  and  patience  with  the  evil.  She  is 
called  "  the  mother  of  her  country."  She  multiplied  schools  for  the  people.  The  rich 
had  tutors  in  their  castles,  but  she  raised  the  standard  of  education,  making  it  prac- 
tical. Under  her  direction  waste  land  was  cultivated,  and  new  foods  introduced  suited 
to  the  soil.  On  one  occasion  she  headed  the  pioneers  with  a  spade,  carrying  it  in  the 
procession  in  order  to  patronize  agriculture,  which  she  did  much  to  improve.  She 
devoted  much  time  to  chemistry,  natural  philosophy,  botany,  and  studied  for  knowl- 
edge that  her  people  needed;  on  all  occasions  tried  to  make  her  knowledge  contribute 
to  the  happiness,  comfort  and  wealth  of  her  people.  She  did  much  not  only  to 
improve  lands,  but  the  houses  of  the  poor.  She  aided  her  husband  in  welcoming  and 
supporting  the  Dutch  exiles  and  the  cloth  and  cotton  weavers  who  were  driven  from 
their  homes  by  Christian  persecution  from  Holland  and  France.  She  accompanied 
her  husband  on  his  travels  to  learn  of  the  condition  of  her  people  and  other  nations. 
She  distributed  the  best  seed  to  the  people,  and  taught  them  how  to  save  and  preserve 
it.  She  induced  her  husband  to  pass  a  law  that  every  newly  married  couple  must 
plant  and  graft  two  fruit  trees  during  the  first  year  of  their  marriage.  A  wise  mother 
of  her  large  family,  and  a  loving,  devoted  wife,  "mother  of  her  country,  too,"  she  is 
an  example  of  the  matriarchal  ideal. 

These  women  did 

"  Mutually  leaven 
Strength  of  earth  with  grace  of  heaven." 

The  great  women  active  from  1450  to  1600  will  tell  you  why  the  eighteenth  cent- 
ury was  so  vital  with  progress,  knowledge,  and  demand  for  human  rights.  It  was  the 
renaissance  of  the  matriarchal  ideal — knowledge  with  opportunity  to  work  unhindered 
by  supreme  authority. 

That  the  matriarchal  spirit  arose  in  the  last  century  is  seen  by  the  awakened 
curiosity  for  knowledge:  the  Encyclopaedias  began  to  collect;  the  British  Museum  was 
established  1753,  and  interest  in  Oriental  languages  began.  Rollin's  ancient  history 
told  us  of  past  nations.  Excavations  began,  and  the  statues  of  the  great  Egyptian 
women  came  into  view,  telling  us  of  a  civilization  that  taught  Greeks,  Hebrews 
and  Romans. 

Women  have  risen  in  influence  with  the  rise  of  these  matriarchal  methods,  and 
this  wider  knowledge  of  higher  civilizations  than  Europe  had  ever  had  under  patri- 
archal rule.  A  republic  is  but  a  political  order  of  a  matriarchal  home,  as  an  empire 
is  a  patriarchal  ideal.  The  evolution  of  our  republic,  as  a  political  organization  with 
matriarchal  rather  than  patriarchal  ideals,  is  a  most  fruitful  study  of  human  activity. 
The  states  are  a  family  of  children,  each  have  rights  and  are  free  to  develop  individuality, 
but  all  must  be  true  to  the  home,  the  union  of  all,  the  central  head;  and  mark,  this  is  not 
to  obey  a  patriarchal  will,  but  to  adjust  their  way  to  order  as  in  a  home.  It  was  thus 
that  the  uniting  in  ancient  times,  of  many  with  one  purpose  created  a  greater  force 
than  even  one  mighty  man  over  many  slaves  obeying  his  will. 

This  was  the  first  great  step  in  civilization,  when  individual  passion  had  to  curb  itself 
to  obey  the  law  of  the  whole  tribe.  That  was  the  work  of  early  women  in  matriarchal 
times,  and  today  it  has  to  be  repeated  in  every  household  by  the  mother  teaching  the 
child's  will  that  it  must  obey  the  law  of  the  family,  its  rules  and  regulations.  Each 
family  repeats  the  history  of  the  world.  Thus  the  influence  and  light  from  the  great, 
courageous  mothers  of  the  past  help  women  of  today.  We  should  realize  that  we  are 
a  part  of  the  history  of  the  world.  Those  early  women  were  great  because  with  no 
example,  only  their  own  instincts — they  first  taught  and  trained  children  and  men  in 
industry,  economy  and  foresight— those  traits  which  make  us  different  from  the  brute. 


346  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Civil  life  in  a  wide  continent  has  to  adopt  the  methods  of  the  matriarchal  system, 
though  they  are  despised  by  patriarchs.  They  are  based  on  conference,  councils, 
arbitration,  and  not  commands  from  one.  A  patriarch  did  not  confer  with  his  people. 
He  ruled  and  directed  by  his  sovereign  will  and  his  wish.  He  claimed  to  be  directed 
by  his  god,  or  his  angel,  or  his  high  priest.  Women  were  directed  by  their  collected 
reason  as  to  what  was  right.  Their  instincts  were  their  authority;  so  they  established 
the  council  as  authority.  Because  they  were  not  strong  when  isolated,  they  invented 
habitations  that  protected  them  from  wild  beasts  and  from  lawless  persons  of  their  own 
and  other  tribes.  Their  method  was  the  motto  of  one  of  the  states  of  our  republic: 
"  United  we  stand,  divided  we  fall."  It  was  this  uniting  of  the  mothers  to  secure  ben- 
efit to  their  families  that  began  the  method  of  councils  and  that  introduced  treaties 
for  peace.  Women,  not  being  as  strong  in  body  as  men,  and  with  the  care  of  their 
young,  could  not  take  risks  of  starvation  or  fight  with  enemies  single-handed;  so,  from 
their  disability  in  physical  strength  and  animal  courage,  they  developed  the  defense 
that  comes  from  thought  and  invention.  For  this  reason  the  matriarchal  power  is 
older  than  the  patriarchal.  The  mothers  united  in  council  and  acted  together.  When 
they,  from  their  grain  fields,  controlled  the  food  supply  and  the  sale  of  their  baskets, 
trinkets  and  religious  vestments,  then  they  were  a  power;  for  that  one  is  master  who 
supplies  the  food  and  raiment.  Walled  cities,  large  armies  broke  the  matriarchal 
reign  and  established  empires. 

Let  us  turn  back  four  hundred  years:  Constantinople  was  taken  in  1453  by  Moham- 
medans. In  1480  Columbus  was  starting  for  Portugal.  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  were 
in  their  prime,  thirty  years  of  age.  Sir  Thomas  More,  Margaret  (daughter  of  Maxi- 
milian), and  the  great  Mary  of  Burgundy,  were  born  this  year.  Sister  Hadewych,  a  nun 
of  Brabant,  was  collecting  songs  for  the  people  in  their  own  tongue,  thus  establishing 
a  unity  of  the  Dutch  language.  Anna  Bljins,  the  first  to  write  with  grace  and  elegance 
that  language,  was  writing  for  the  good  of  people  who  could  not  read  Latin. 

From  this  time  the  matriarchal  stream  of  thought  and  ideas  have  gradually  eroded 
the  walls  and  pillars  of  patriarchal  power. 

In  1480  the  Continent  of  America  was  at  peace,  not  yet  found  by  the  covetous, 
wrangling,  fighting,  stealing,  persecuting  Europeans.  The  women  here  on  this  conti- 
nent had  their  harvest  festivals,  gathering  their  corn  and  potatoes,  weaving  baskets 
and  making  pottery,  worshiping  what  helped  them  in  life  in  their  temples  with  rev- 
erence to  sun  moon  and  stars:  their  help  and  yet  their  mystery.  They  had  learned 
that  they  were  connected  in  some  way  in  guiding  and  blessing  their  every-day  life 
with  light  and  growth.  It  was  from  their  religious  island  that  a  woman  held  high  the 
sacred  torch  of  their  worship  that  greeted  Columbus  in  that  dark  night  of  despair 
with  his  frail  boats  on  the  unknown  ocean.  The  incident  is  preserved  by  art  in  the 
woman's  seal  of  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition  It  was  the  intuitive  apprecia- 
tion and  generosity  of  women  that  gave  Columbus  the  ability  to  do  his  work.  The 
accumulated  charts  and  geographical  knowledge,  and  the  fortune  and  estate  of  his 
wife  in  Porto  Santo,  and  wisdom  of  her  mother,  were  his  opportunity  and  inspiration. 
The  granddaughter  of  the  great  Queen  Philippa  of  England  was  the  mother  and 
inspirer  of  Henry  II.  of  Portugal,  who  gave  Perestrello,  the  father  of  Columbus'  wife, 
his  knowledge  and  his  estate.  The  great  women  of  that  time  are  a  study  of  them- 
selves. I  leave  them  and  go  back  a  century  before,  to  1380,  when  closed  the  lives  of 
two  great  women  whose  history  remains  to  teach  and  inspire  us  today — Philippa  of 
Hainault  and  St.  Catherine  of  Sienna. 

Marcus  Aurelius  commends  the  precept  of  Themistocles  to  have  before  the  mind 
some  of  the  many  men  of  antiquity  who  illustrated  by  their  lives  the  greatness  possi- 
ble to  men.  It  is  equally  a  benefit  for  women.  Too  long  we  have  been  kept  on  his- 
tory written  and  illustrated  by  men's  lives;  now  we  want  to  know  the  spinners  of  the 
fiber  of  individual  character;  the  knitters  who  have  formed  the  social  life;  the  weav- 
ers who  have  held  together  by  principles  and  laws  the  passions  of  people,  so  that  the 
strength  of  each  should  be  the  salvation  of  the  whole.  The  lives  of  the  women  in 
each  age  will  reveal  the  evolution  of  the  growth  of  civil  life,  though  men's  lives  may 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  347 

illustrate  the  revolutions  against  enemies  and  usurpers."  Plutarch's  lives  of  the  great 
Greeks  were  powerful  in  inspiration  to  the  eighteenth  century.  They  were  a  renais- 
sance in  themselves.     This  century  needs  the  history  of  womanhood  in  civilization. 

The  study  of  the  womanhood  of  women  in  high  position,  in  governments,  the 
queens  and  princesses  of  Europe,  will  exert  a  beneficial  influence  on  all  women,  for 
they  will  learn  that  the  state  is  but  the  larger  household;  and  if  the  study  of  society, 
of  industries,  commerce,  religious  and  educational  methods,  or  the  study  of  govern- 
ment, is  elevating  and  ennobling  for  queens;  if  the  study  of  how  to  adjust  difficulties, 
develop  and  rule  people  is  suited  for  royal  families,  then  it  is  suited  for  all  fami- 
lies in  a  republic  where  people  are  sovereigns.  It  will  be  a  study  equally  elevating 
for  American  women  and  her  family  in  a  republic.  The  women  who,  against  the 
prejudice  of  patriarchal  ideals,  have  tried  to  bring  into  this  republic  recognition  of 
womanhood  and  matriarchal  methods,  have  been  working  on  the  Divine  plan  of  Prov- 
idence and  in  the  true  history  of  mankind. 

When  the  Spaniards  came  to  Peru,  South  America,  they  found  a  learned  woman — 
Capillano.  She  was  born  1 500-1 541.  Her  manuscripts  and  paintings  are  in  the 
Dominicans'  Library  there  now.  They  represent  ancient  Peruvian  monuments,  with 
historical  explanations.  There  are  representations  of  their  plants  and  the  curious 
dissertations  on  their  properties.  The  lives  of  such  women  are  a  part  of  the  history 
of  America;  but  more,  they  are  part  of  the  history  of  womanhood,  as  well  as  of  the 
world.  Humanity  is  not  bound  by  geographical  lines.  We  are  interested  in  what 
woman  has  wanted  to  do  and  how  she  has  done  it.  We  need  to  study  not  only  women 
like  ourselves,  but  those  placed  in  all  the  various  phases  of  life.  The  means  they 
may  have  employed  may  have  been  different  from  our  ancestors,  but  what  was  their 
womanhood?  That  we  need  to  know.  There  have  been  elect  women  in  all  days  who 
have  felt  impelled  to  do  and  dare,  and  to  bring  a  higher  state  of  affairs  on  earth — to 
work  out  their  ideals  of  what  ought  to  be  into  a  reality.  Have  they  not  always  aimed 
for  what  they  thought  was  good  for  mankind? 

Woman  has  made  her  love  "  the  ladder  for  her  faith,  and  climbs  above  on  the 
rounds  of  her  best  instincts." 

We  know  that  there  were  great  and  good  women  here  in  America  in  prehistoric 
times.  Their  works  prove  it.  The  fanatical  discoverers  were  too  barbaric  to  appreciate 
them.     They  judged  a  people  by  their  ability  to  kill  and  fight  and  to  resist  an  enemy. 

Their  temples  they  tried  to  utterly  destroy,  and  stripped  from  them  gold  and 
silver  adornments  and  sacred  offerings  and  buried  the  stones,  defacing  them.  We  lose 
the  true  record  of  the  life  lived  here;  but  the  work  of  their  hands  comes  forth  from 
their  hidden  tombs.  There  is  much  to  bear  witness  that  there  were  great  women  who 
labored  for  beauty,  for  peace,  comfort,  and  an  orderly  life.  We  want  now  a  sacred, 
safe  place  to  gather  and  preserve,  as  fast  as  found  the  record,  the  work  of  these  early 
great  women  on  this  oldest  continent.  We  must  prove  we  value  knowledge,  that  we 
want  opportunity  to  compare  what  has  been  evil  with  what  has  been  good.  Then 
women  in  the  future  can  write  a  true  history. 

What  will  the  Exposition  do  for  us?  It  will  carry  us  forward  to  new  convictions 
for  duty  and  elevate  the  rule  01  life. 

Here  we  have  met  companions  who  were  truly  such,  who  enjoy  what  we  enjoy,, 
and  are  inspiration  as  well  as  fellowship  to  us. 

Our  horizon  has  broadened,  and  the  little  we  know  is  put  into  comparison  with 
the  infinite  we  do  not  know.  This  collection  from  all  lands,  from  all  races,  with 
exhibition  of  their  endeavors  to  civilize  and  attain  enlightened  humanity,  would  be 
a  childish,  summer  play  of  the  nations  if  it  were  not  a  profound  examination  of  civil- 
ization, its  causes,  and  its  growth. 

"The  soul  of  man  is  widening  toward  the  past, 
More  largely  conscious  of  the  life  that  was." 

"  Here  is  the  pulse  of  all  mankind 
Feeding  an  embryo  future." 


THE  FINANCIAL  INDEPENDENCE  OF  WOMEN. 

By  MRS.  ELLEN  M.  HENROTIN. 

In  accepting  Mrs.  Eagle's  kind  invitation  to  address  this  Congress  I  suggested  that 
a  few  words  on  the  financial  position  of  women  might  not  be  uninteresting. 

The  entrance  of  women  into  the  labor  markets  of 
the  world  marks  a  distinctly  new  era  in  her  financial 
status,  and  the  economic  condition  of  woman  is  still 
a  sad  one.  It  is  undeniable  that  the  exhibits  at  the 
Columbian  Exposition  testify  to  the  tremendous 
advance  which  she  has  made  during  the  last  half  cent 
ury  in  the  industrial  world,  but  it  also  testifies  to  the 
fact  that  in  this  world  she  occupies  a  very  subordi- 
nate  position:  not  numerically,  but  as  a  skilled  arti- 
san. In  the  modern  world  her  position  is  relatively 
but  little  better  than  it  was  in  ancient  days,  when  she 
was  the  hewer  of  wood  and  bearer  of  water;  and  that 
she  does  not  now  hew  wood  and  carry  water  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  mechanical  appliances  perform  for 
humanity  the  tasks  in  which  primitive  woman  was 
engaged. 

Little  by  little,  woman  has  emerged  from  the  home 
and  its  industries  into  the  modern  competitive  labor 
market.  It  is  estimated  that  there  are  six  thousand 
women  in  this  country  who  act  as  postmistresses; 
treasury  department,  one  thousand  four  hundred 
women.  New  York  City  has  over  one  hundred  thou- 
sand women  who  earn  their  own  living  and  are  supporting  families.  The  average 
weekly  wages  of  working  women  in  American  cities  is  S5.24,  the  highest  being  at  San 
Francisco,  S6.91,  and  the  lowest  at  Atlanta,  Ga.,  S4.05.  Over  three  million  women  are 
earning  independent  incomes  in  the  United  States.  It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the 
number  of  women  who  have  independent  incomes  by  inheritance. 

Miss  Grace  Dodge  says  that  there  are  two  thousand  four  hundred  and  eighteen 
members  of  the  clubs  forming  the  New  York  Association.  The  average  earnings  are 
five  dollars  a  week;  thus,  members  of  the  New  York  Association  earn  ;S654,68o  a  year. 
These  figures  give  no  idea  of  women  in  the  insurance  business;  teachers,  most  of  whom 
save  something  and  make  small  investments;  librarians,  stenographers,  whose  wages 
range  from  six  dollars  to  eighteen  dollars  per  week;  but  from  the  meager  statement 
it  is  easy  to  judge  of  the  truly  enormous  sums  of  money  made  and  invested  each  year 
by  women. 

Why  in  the  nineteenth  century,  in  this  land  of  plenty,  flowing  with  milk  and  honey, 
she  and  her  little  children  should  be  pushing  into  this  struggle  for  existence,  in  which 
the  survival  of  the  fittest  seems  to  be  lost  sight  of,  for  bread  to  put  in  their  mouths,  is 
a  sociological  question  which  must  be  left  for  society,  the  church  and  the  state  to 

Mrs.  Ellen  M.  Henrotin.  was  bom  in  Portland,  Me.  Her  parents  were  Edward  Bryan  Martin,  Camden,  Me.,  and  Sarah 
Norrie  Martin,  of  that  city.  She  was  educated  in  New  Haven,  Conn.;  Shankland,  Isle  of  Wight,  England ;  two  years  in  Paris, 
and  two  years  in  Dresden.  She  has  traveled  all  over  Em-ope  and  America.  She  married  Mr.  Charles  Henrotin,  banker  and 
broker,  Chicago,  in  1869.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  women  and  social  and  economic  institutions.  Mrs. 
Henrotin  was  vice  president  and  acting  president  of  the  Woman's  Branch  of  the  World's  Congress  Auxiliary,  which  arranged 
various  congresses  during  the  Exposition  in  Chicago  in  1898.  She  filled  that  position  with  great  credit  to  herself  and  profit 
to  women  in  general.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Chicago,  111. 

348 


MRS.  ELLEN  M,  HENROTIN. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  U9 

answer.  That  she  is  in  the  labor  market  today  as  a  permanent  factor  is  apparent 
even  to  the  most  superficial  observer,  and  the  next  question  is,  How  to  improve  her 
economic  and  financial  condition  so  that  life  may  be  made  at  least  worth  the  living. 
This  may  seem  but  a  poor  ambition,  but  it  is,  after  all,  the  highest  possessed  by  the 
great  majority:  that  their  life  may  be  fairly  comfortable,  and  passed  under  such  con- 
ditions that  the  next  generation  may  be  a  little  better  and  a  little  wiser. 

There  is  no  more  patent  sign  of  the  times  than  the  fact  that  woman  is  attracting 
the  attention  of  the  financial  world,  and  that  her  large  property  interests  are  being 
recognized  as*an  integral  part  of  the  so-called  "  Woman  Question."  She  has  always 
been  recognized  as  a  worker,  but  as  a  worker  along  the  lines  in  which  her  financial 
rewards  did  not  render  her  an  object  of  special  consideration  in  the  moneyed  world. 
Now,  however,  all  this  is  changed,  the  money  or  the  savings  which  she  accumulates 
are  invested  in  moneyed  institutions,  as  building  and  loan  associations,  real  estate, 
and  mortgages  on  real  estate.     The  amount  thus  invested  is  in  the  hundred  millions. 

Mr.  Ethelbert  Stewart,  of  the  Department  of  Labor  at  Washington,  sends  me  the 
following  report: 

"  The  relative  numerical  position  of  men  and  women  as  investors  in  building  and 
loan  associations  is  as  one  to  four.  That  is  to  say,  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  build- 
ing and  loan  shares  of  stock  in  the  eastern  and  middle  western  states  are  owned  by 
women.  In  New  Jersey  every  fourth  shareholder  is  a  woman,  as  is  seen  from  the 
figures:  Total,  78,725  shareholders;  58,496  males,  19,341  females;  nine  hundred  and 
eighty-eight  corporations  and  firms:  percentages,  seventy-four  per  cent.,  twenty-five 
per  cent,  and  one  per  cent,  respectively.  The  "  present  value  "  of  the  shares  held 
by  women  in  New  Jersey  is  56,401,593.  By  present  value  is  meant  dues  paid  in, 
together  with  accrued  profits.  Of  the  borrowers,  or  those  who  are  securing  homes  for 
themselves  by  means  of  building  and  loan  associations:  In  New  York  State  32,699 
women  hold  126,874  shares  of  stock,  having  a  present  value  of  ^^5,935,554,  and  a 
maturity  value  of  approximately  twenty-five  million  dollars. 

The  total  membership  of  these  societies  in  New  York  is  composed  of  twenty-four 
per  cent,  women,  though  only  about  twenty  per  cent,  of  the  stock  is  held  by  women. 

In  the  city  of  Philadelphia  34,4000  women  hold  stock  valued  at  $10,059,861,  while 
the  stock  matured  and  withdrawn,  either  in  money  or  in  canceled  mortgages,  equals 
515,000,000  more,  within  the  past  "maturing  period"  of  eight  years. 

In  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  $22,200,000  worth  of  building  and  loan  stock  is  held 
by  92,000  women.  Of  the  ^960,000,000,  representing  the  net  assets  of  building  and 
loan  associations  in  the  United  States,  $192,000,000  worth  is  held  by  2,400,000  women. 

The  law  of  Illinois,  New  Jersey,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  probably  many 
other  states,  makes  building  and  loan  stock  taken  out  by  women,  and  when  the  dues 
upon  said  stock  is  paid  by  them,  to  be  theirs  in  every  particular,  and  not  subject  to 
attachment  or  execution  for  their  husbands'  debts. 

The  question  of  the  source  from  whence  the  dues  come  which  are  paid  on  shares 
held  by  women,  is  one  that  can  not  be  answered  in  a  very  comprehensive  way.  One 
association,  in  New  York  City,  visited  by  the  writer,  had  sixty-three  chambermaids 
among  its  membership,  each  earning  by  her  own  labor  the  money  invested. 

In  a  teachers'  building  and  loan  association  in  New  York  City  ninety  per  cent,  of 
the  members  were  women  earning  their  own  money,  and  many  of  them  having  built 
several  houses  for  rent  through  the  association.  In  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  I  asked  twenty- 
seven  women  who  came  in  to  pay  their  dues  how  they  got  the  money.  Twelve 
replied  their  husbands  gave  it  to  them. 

One  said  her  husband  supported  the  family  and  she  swept  a  large  house  for  a 
wealthy  lady  twice  each  week  and  invested  the  earnings  in  building  and  loan  stock. 
Another  baked  bread  for  three  different  families,  and  thus  earned  the  money  invested 
in  dues.  Five  others  earned  the  money  themselves  by  various  extra  domestic  jobs, 
such  as  sewing  or  washing  for  a  neighbor.  In  all,  seven  married  women  earned  their 
own  funds;  twelve  did  not.  The  remaining  eight  were  unmarried  and  worked  for 
their  living. 


350  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

I  have  attended  the  meetings  of  scores  of  building  and  loan  associations  and 
asked  the  female  members  as  they  came  in  to  pay  dues  what  their  source  of  income 
was,  and  I  believe  that  less  than  fifty  per  cent,  of  them  derive  their  mofiey  from  their 
husbands.  That  is  to  say,  one  million  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  women  are 
investing  in  building  and  loan  stock  the  money  they  earn  themselves,  and  this  self- 
earned  money,  as  distinguished  from  the  total  held  by  women  is,  at  a  low  estimate, 
^86,000,000.  Women  investors  in  building  and  loan  associations  are  usually  working 
women  or  the  wives  of  working  men.  A  great  many  clerks  and  school  teachers 
invest  in  this  manner,  as  building  associations  hold  out  the  prospect  of  obtaining  a 
home,  which  is  the  goal  of  woman's  endeavor;  for  almost  every  woman  has  some  one 
for  whom  she  desires  to  create  a  home;  if  not  her  own  children,  then  parents  or  a 
sister  or  a  brother;  in  fact,  this  is  the  strong  motive  among  working  women,  and  to 
attain  this  end  they  walk  many  a  weary  mile  and  deprive  themselves  of  many  a 
pleasure. 

Women  should  exercise  great  care  and  do  their  best  to  ascertain  from  a  reliable 
source  the  financial  status  of  the  association  in  which  they  desire  to  invest. 

The  tremendous  financial  power  which  women  might  become  in  this  country  they 
have  never  as  yet  realized.  At  my  request,  Mr.  Hepburn,  the  late  comptroller  of  the 
currency,  sent  out  to  the  national  banks  a  request  to  furnish  him  with  a  list  of  women 
holding  bank  stock,  and  the  statistics  which  he  collected  were  sent  to  me  by  Mr. 
Eckels. 

It  is  an  interesting  point  that  the  large  amount  of  stock  in  banks  owned  by  women 
does  not  come  to  them  as  a  reward  of  their  own  labor,  but  is  usually  given  by  some 
relative.  The  tendency  of  men  to  put  their  money  in  the  hands  of  women  is  becom- 
ing a  very  pronounced  one;  also  most  husbands  and  fathers  consider  bank  stock  a  safe 
investment  to  leave  to  women.  It  is  easily  managed,  the  income  is  usually  an  assured 
one,  and  in  the  present  status  of  women's  information  on  financial  matters,  it  does  not 
require  very  much  ability  to  draw  little  slips  of  paper  against  a  definite  sum;  conse- 
quently that  is  regarded  as  an  easy  way  of  disposing  of  their  future,  and  this  is  the 
point  of  view  to  be  combated.  Were  the  women  of  this  country  once  to  realize  their 
power,  the  sense  of  ethical  responsibility  born  of  power  would  rise  within  them.  They 
would  no  longer  content  themselves  with  giving  their  proxy  when  asked  for  it,  and 
never  voting  themselves  or  attending  a  stockholders'  meeting. 

There  is  also  another  side.  The  men  are  constantly.saying  they  are  overworked: 
this  is  made  the  excuse  for  the  bad  management  of  many  corporations.  There  are  a 
large  number  of  intelligent  women  in  this  country,  owning  great  financial  interests; 
these  women  would  make  excellent  directors,  they  are  conservative;  with  a  little  exer- 
tion they  could  acquire  the  requisite  knowledge  of  finance  and  then  relieve  the  men 
of  some  of  the  tremendous  burdens  from  which  they  now  suffer. 

Before  continuing  further  I  will  give  the  figures  of  the  comptroller  of  the  currency. 
It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  these  figures  represent  only  the  national  banks,  and  not 
all  of  them.     In  some  states  the  private  banks  do  not  report. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 


351 


STATEMENT  SHOWING  BY  STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  THE  NUMBER  OF  SHARES  OF  NATIONAL  BANK 
STOCK  OWNED  BY  WOMEN  APRIL  15,  1893,  AND  PAR  VALUE  OF  SAME.  ALSO  THE  NUMBER  OF 
WOMEN  EMPLOYED  IN  NATIONAL  BANKS  ON  SAME  DATE,  AND  AMOUNT  OF  SALARIES  PAID  TO 
SAME. 


Statb  and  Terbitoeies. 


Maine 

New  Hampshire. 

Vermont 

Massachusetts 

Rhode  Island 

Connecticut 

New  York 

New  Jersey 

Pennsylvania 

Delaware 

Maryland 

District  ot  Columbia 

Virginia 

West  Virginia 

North  Carolina 

South  Carolina. 

Georgia 

I^lorida 

Alabama 

Mississippi 

Louisiana 

Texas 

Arkansas 

Kentucky 

Tennessee 

Ohio 

Indiana 

Illinois 

Michigan 

Wisconsin 

Iowa 

Minnesota 

Missouri 

Kansas 

Nebraska 

Colorado 

Nevada 

California 

Oregon 

Arizona 

North  Dakota 

South  Dakota 

Idaho 

Montana 

New  Mexico 

Oklahoma 

Indian  Territory.... 

Utah 

Wyoming 

Washington 

Total 


No.  of  Shares 

Par  Vtdae  of  Sharee 

No.  of  Women 

Salaries  of  Women 

Owned  by  Women- 

Owned  by  Women. 

Employed. 

Employed. 

27,.343 

$  2,540,905 

6 

$  2,296 

13,635 

1,;350,493 

11 

4,541 

25,6:33 

1,719,666 

6 

2,550 

214,169 

21,738,195 

32 

15,394 

126,931 

6,593.770 

2 

1,000 

68,774 

4,922,786 

5 

1,526 

264,053 

18,317,471 

44 

18,952 

56,894 

3,604,290 

3 

1,106 

267,779 

17,267,184 

26 

10,723 

12,768 

755,075 

1 

360 

119,886 

3,739,205 

1 

416 

3,349 

3;M,900 

1 

60 

7,174 

717,400 

4,316 

422,366 

7,351 

549,250 

3,799 

379.910 

5,932 

589,'380 

2 

1,200 

988 

98,850 

1 

60 

31,962 

698,700 



1,560 

156,000 



4,174 

417,475 

2 

1,560 

213,261 

2,326,570 

3 

1,700 

1,477 

147,700 

1 

600 

32,331 

3,085;580 

6 

2,680 

15,404 

1,496,400 

4 

3,920 

100,547 

10,381,631 

23 

9,399 

30,255 

3,025,558 

24 

11,510 

58,927 

5,892,780 

27 

14.859 

24,a50 

2,464,091 

11 

5,780 

11,849 

108,675 

12 

5,116 

16.306 

1,620,488 

21 

9,593 

29,563 

3,032.177 

13 

5,640 

30,775 

3,110,650 

15 

9.520 

10,008 

1,061,088 

21 

8,820 

8,927 

903,318 

19 

10,090 

5,187 

•      518,700 

4 

2,520 

5,000 
12.805 

"e" 

1,310,.375 

5,280 

2,093 

224.800 

4 

2,450 

30 

3,000 

2,102 

210,200 

4 

1,930 

2.988 

302,820 

9 

4,329 

393 

39.300 

1 

600 

2,427 

242,700 

3 

2.900 

1,112 

111,200 

79 

7,900 

330 

33,000 

3,229 

322,900 

2,192 

219,200 

1 

500 

5,098 

590,213 

8 

4,376 

1,703.759 

$130,681,485 

383 

$185,797 

The  statistics  of  women  as  bank  employes  show  that  but  a  small  number  have 
entered  banking  offices,  though  women  are  admirably  fitted  for  such  employment.  The 
work  is  well  systematized;  the  hours  fixed;  there  is  no  night  work,  comparatively  speak- 
ing; and  they  are  very  expert  in  the  handling  of  money.     The  well-known  bank  exam- 


852  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

iner,  Mr.  Sturges,  has  written  a  paper  on  this  subject,  which  will  be  found  in  the  records 
of  the  Congress. 

I  have  written  to  every  woman  bank  cashier  in  this  country,  and  I  have  received 
many  interesting  letters,  among  others  one  from  Mrs.  Annie  Moores,  President  of  the 
First  National  Bank  of  Mount  Crescent,  Texas.  She  says  that  she  had  never  had  her 
attention  drawn  to  this  point  before,  but  that  she  immediately  made  it  a  subject  of 
investigation  and  was  perfectly  amazed  at  the  result.  She  happened  at  the  time  she 
received  my  letter  to  be  in  Virginia,  and  her  investigation  was  in  the  County  of  Suffolk. 
She  found  eight  stockholders  in  the  bank  of  Monsmont  were  women,  possessing  by 
inheritance  one-third  of  the  stock,  which  they  all  voted  by  proxy.  Further  investiga- 
tion has  proved  that  two-thirds  of  the  National  bank  stock  of  this  entire  county  of 
Suffolk  is  owned  by  women,  Mrs.  Simpson,  who  is  President  of  the  Simpson  Bank 
of  Columbus,  Texas,  gives  very  much  the  same  figures;  and  adds  that  woman  to  be 
capable  of  investing  funds  wisely  and  judiciously  must  be  possessed  of  three  essential 
qualifications — to  wit:  A  knowledge  of  matters  of  finance,  self-confidence,  and  firm- 
ness. 

The  keynote  of  the  relation  of  the  sexes  is  really  a  financial  one;  this  may  appear 
a  very  materialistic  view  to  take  of  the  situation,  but  the  readjustment  now  in  progress 
between  the  relative  position  of  the  sexes  is  largely  of  that  character.  Life  was  com- 
paratively a  simple  thing  when  the  law  recognized  but  one  responsible  head  to  the 
family,  of  arbitrary  power  over  its  goods  and  chattels.  The  position  of  a  married 
woman  or  an  unmarried  woman  in  the  household  was  that  of  a  dependent.  She  was 
expected  to  marry;  failing  that  the  family  had  a  right  to  her  services  without  remuner- 
ation. Under  this  primitive  system  protected  by  the  English  common  law  , the  family 
was  really  presided  over  by  the  father.  No  one  acquainted  with  the  social  life  of  this 
country  forty  years  ago  can  deny  this  fact.  The  wife,  in  many  cases  the  active  partner 
of  the  concern,  had  absolutely  no  financial  independence.  Most  of  the  young  women 
of  that  day  employed  themselves  in  household  work;  some  few  taught  school;  some 
few  went  out  as  seamstresses  and  dressmakers,  and  their  wages  were  largely  appro- 
priated by  the  younger  members  of  the  family  to  help  the  boys  through  college  or  for 
current  expenses.  Only  a  widow,  and  she  in  a  very  limited  sense,  ever  thought  of  com- 
merce, and  no  consideration  was  given  to  women  as  investors,  their  "nearest  of  kin" 
among  men  doing  the  investing  for  them.  But  within  the  last  thirty  years,  public 
opinion,  and  the  laggard  that  always  follows  it,  the  law,  have  revolutionized  the 
financial  standing  of  woman. 

The  Code  Napoleon  was  the  forerunner  of  the  financial  emancipation  of  woman, 
recognizing  as  it  did  her  financial  status  as  a  partner  in  marriage;  consequently  French 
women  are  financiers,  and  are  more  largely  engaged  in  commerce  than  the  women  of 
any  other  nation,  and  not  as  employes  but  as  employers  and  partners;  because  the 
Code  conferred  on  them,  early  in  the  development  of  the  women  question,  a  financial 
.standing;  and,  far  from  being  a  source  of  danger  to  the  family,  it  has  proved  in  France 
to  be  the  surest  foundation  on  which  the  family  can  be  established. 

The  baneful  influence  of  the  English  common  law  in  regard  to  marriage  can 
never  be  overestimated,  creating,  as  it  has,  between  husband  and  wife,  the  feeling  that 
the  finances  are  exclusively  in  the  hands  of  the  husband;  so  that  money  is  an  unfor- 
tunate subject  to  discuss  after  marriage,  and  one  to  be  scrupulously  avoided  before 
marriage.  Many  a  girl  marries  a  man  ignorant  of  his  financial  resources,  and  most 
men  in  this  country  marry  a  woman  without  any  discussion  as  to  her  financial  pros- 
pects from  her  family  or  herself.  The  constant  tendency  of  modern  legislation  is  to 
rehabilitate  the  family  as  a  partnership;  and  while  the  laws  relating  to  the  property  of 
married  women  are  modified  and  liberalized  until  her  position  is  approximately  one 
founded  on  justice,  these  laws  are  of  so  recent  enactment  that  the  feeling  of  ethical 
responsibility  as  to  the  making,  managing  and  spending  of  money  is  not  yet  developed. 
Bank  stocks  are  also  largely  in  the  hands  of  widows,  or  women  who  are  not  convers- 
ant with  the  needs  of  the  younger  generation,  and  consequently  carry  out  old-fash- 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  353 

ioned  methods  of  giving  their  proxy  to  any  one  who  desires  to  vote  it.  If  once  the 
feeling  of  moral  responsibility  toward  the  financial  interests  of  the  country  could  be 
aroused  in  women  it  would  be  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  the  country.  In  her  heart 
of  hearts  she  dearly  loves  a  plain  statement,  especially  about  financial  matters.  She 
hates  to  be  in  debt,  and  extended  lines  of  credit  present  no  charms  to  her.  She  would 
be  a  tremendous  conservative  factor  could  she  once  undertake  the  management  of  her 
own  financial  affairs. 

.  The  French  woman  of  today  is  conservative.  Her  constant  participation  in  the 
commerce  of  the  nation  is  creating  of  that  country  the  financial  stronghold  of  the 
world,  prosperous,  wealthy,  and  economical.  I  am  not  one  to  clamor  for  laws  favor- 
ing the  financial  independence  of  women,  and  which  are  virtually  aimed  at  her  further 
enslavement.  Too  much  protection  is  often  dangerous.  Her  estate  should  be  equally 
liable  with  that  of  her  husband  for  the  living  expenses  of  the  family,  but  not  for  his 
personal  debts;  where  her  money  is  being  employed  in  business  she  should  have  the 
rights  of  an  acting  partner,  and  sufficient  time  allowed  her  at  his  death  to  wind  up 
the  affairs  of  the  partnership,  or  create  a  new  partnership  if  she  so  desires.  There 
is  no  reason  why  a  woman  should  not  go  into  business  with  her  husband,  and  it  is  a 
mistaken  idea  that  business  should  not  be  discussed  at  home,  and  a  far  greater  mis- 
take for  a  woman  not  to  have  the  right  of  entrance  at  her  husband's  ofifice.  A  woman 
is  a  thousand  times  a  better  companion  who  is  informed  as  to  the  finances  of  the 
country,  who  knows  the  whys  and  wherefores  of  the  market,  and  standing  a  little  out- 
side, with  full  knowledge  of  the  inside,  make  her  an  invaluable  counselor.  There  is 
something,  too,  in  the  added  security  of  a  man  at  his  death  feeling  that  he  leaves 
behind  him  a  woman  able  to  direct  her  own  business  affairs,  and  with  the  knowledge 
requisite  to  put  to  its  best  use  either  the  large  or  small  amount  of  property  which  he 
leaves  to  his  family. 


(23) 


THE  CHOLERA  IN  HAMBURG. 


By  MISS  ANNESLEY  KENEALY. 

To  some  of  my  hearers  it  may  seem  as  if  the  subject  of  my  paper  is  rather  grue- 
some, but  upon  reflection  it  would  appear  to  be  a  matter  not  only  of  public  interest, 

but  of  national  welfare,  that  every  possible  ray  of 
light  should  be  cast  on  the  mysteries  and  develop- 
ment of  that  dreaded  cholera  which  worked  so  much 
destruction  in  Hamburg  during  the  autumn  of  1892, 
and  which  appeared  to  threaten  the  whole  continent 
of  Europe.  An  account  of  the  rise,  the  progress  and 
the  decline  of  the  epidemic  in  that  city  may  be  instruct- 
ive and  suggestive. 

Cholera  is  a  disease  of  which  little  more  is  known 
now  than  was  known  when  Eugene  Sue  described  it 
so  graphically  in  the  pages  of  "The  Wandering  Jew" 
— a  description  which  is  thrillingly  realistic  to  anyone 
who  has  stood  face  to  face  with  it.  It  arises  silently 
and  stealthil)',  doing  its  dreaded  work  surely  and 
without  pity.  Atmosphere  and  climatic  conditions 
affect  the  development  of  the  germ,  for  cholera  is 
essentially  a  germ  disease,  and  impure  water  and  bad 
sanitation  complete  the  growth.  These  conditions 
combined  in  September,  1892,  in  Hamburg,  and  adjoin- 
ing cities  were  startled  to  find  the  disease  so  close 
upon  them.  As  we  drove  through  the  streets  of  the 
city  after  a  hurried  journey  from  England  to  the  seat 
of  war,  if  one  may  so  express  it,  we  caught  glimpses  of  the  so-called  "  cholera  streets" 
where  the  disease  arose.  The  architecture  in  its  antiquity  and  picturesqueness  filled 
us  with  admiration;  the  canals  of  Stygian  blackness,  flowing  on  a  level  with  the  lower 
floors  of  the  houses,  reminded  us  of  bits  of  old  Venice,  and  wanted  only  the  gondo- 
liers to  complete  the  illusion.  But  while  one's  artistic  senses  were  satisfied,  one's  sani- 
tary knowledge  rose  in  revolt  against  the  neglect  of  all  the  laws  of  health  as  typified  in 
these  charming  "  slums."  It  would  appear  that  in  the  towns  of  Europe  it  is  almost 
impossible  for  Art  and  Hygiene  to  walk  hand  in  hand.  The  beautiful  "  White  City  " 
has  shown  us  that  they  may  do  so  in  America.  The  condemnation  of  the  "  cholera 
streets  "  is  a  gain  to  sanitation,  but  a  terrible  sacrifice  of  art  on  the  altars  of  the  pub- 
lic weal. 

The  gloomy  station  at  which  we  alighted  was  typical  of  the  deserted  condition  of 
the  city,  five  Sisters  of  Mercy  and  ourselves  being  the  only  travelers.     To  our  minds 
the  lapse  of  duty  on  the  part  of  the  railway  employes  in  forgetting  to  take  our  tickets 

Miss  Annesley  Kenealy  is  a  native  of  Sassex,  England.  Her  parents  were  the  late  Edward  Kenealy,  Q.  C,  LL.  D.,  and 
M.  P.,  andElizabeth  Kenealy.  She  waseducated by  private tutorsinLatin,  Greek, science,  mathematics,  etc., andstudiedatthe 
London  College  of  Medicine  for  women.  She  has  traveled,  studying  the  hospital  systems  in'the-  United  States,  Norway,  Holland, 
Belgium,  France,  Germany,  Italy,  Spain  and  Portugal.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  the  social  and  political 
advancement  of  women,  also  in  the  interests  of  philanthropy.  She  was  a  volunteer  nurse  during  the  cholera  epidemic  in 
Hamburg  in  1892.  She  was  appointed  by  the  Royal  Commission  of  England  a  judge  in  the  Hygienic  and  Sanitary  Section  of  the 
World's  Fair,  Chicago,  1893,  and  was  invited  to  prepare  the  official  report  of  the  Department  for  presentation  to  U.  S.  Congress. 
Her  principal  literary  works  are  contributions  to  the  "British  Medical  Journal,"  many  leading  English  periodicals,  pam- 
phlets and  books.  Her  profession  is  that  of  a  lecturer  on  health  to  national  health  societies  and  the  British  County  Councils. 
Her  postoffice  address  is  Watford,  Herts,  England. 

354 


MISS  ANNESLEY   KENE.^LY. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  355 

-was  the  strongest  possible  proof  of  public  demoralization  that  we  saw.  That  German 
officialdom  could  be  caught  napping  was  indeed  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  cholera 
epidemic.  The  city  and  its  streets  looked  as  if  under  the  shadow  of  a  great  destiny. 
Funerals  and  funeral  wreaths,  mourners  and  signs  of  mourning  met  us  at  every  corner. 
The  absence  of  women  and  children  was  very  conspicuous.  It  was  as  if  some  Pied 
Piper  had  passed  along  and  robbed  the  city  of  its  ornaments.  But  we  learned  that 
forty  thousand  of  the  residents  had  fled  on  the  first  mention  of  cholera,  a  large  pro- 
portion of  these  being  women  and  children. 

A  picturesque  procession,  known  as  the  Volunteer  Company  of  Health  of  Hohen- 
felde,  met  us  on  our  route.  It  consisted  of  some  two  dozen  men  and  boys  with  pails 
and  carboys  of  chemicals,  whose  self-imposed  duty  it  was  to  go  to  the  places  where 
the  disease  had  been,  and  thoroughly  disinfect  and  cleanse  the  rooms  and  houses.  In 
the  early  days  of  the  epidemic  undoubtedly  great  confusion  reigned;  but  military  dis- 
cipline soon  asserted  itself,  and  out  of  chaos  came  order  of  a  most  admirable  type.  I 
venture  to  think  that  few  cities  of  the  world  would  have  shown  such  resource  and 
strength  to  meet  the  invasion  of  so  formidable  a  foe  as  did  Hamburg.  The  only  weak 
point  about  the  siege  was  that  in  the  beginning  of  the  epidemic  the  authorities  refused 
to  acknowledge  that  the  enemy  was  within  their  gates.  Thus  the  germ  was  able  to 
take  possession  of  many  strongholds  which  could  have  been  rendered  impregnable  if 
proper  measures  of  safety  had  been  adopted  sufficiently  early.  When  the  fact  that 
cholera  had  taken  possession  of  the  city  could  no  longer  be  concealed,  military  cor- 
dons were  drawn  around  the  infected  quarters,  ingress  and  egress  being  limited  to 
physicians  and  attendants.  But  as  the  proportions  of  the  disease  increased,  it  vvas 
found  necessary  to  clear  the  hospitals  of  their  ordinary  patients  to  make  room  for  the 
cholera-stricken.  In  the  Eppendorf  Hospital,  where  my  sister  and  I  spent  some  three 
weeks,  there  was  found  accommodation  for  nearly  two  thousand  patients.  This  hos- 
pital, which  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  the  world,  and  which  closely 
resembles  the  Johns  Hopkins  Hospital  of  Baltimore,  reminded  us  in  its  proportions 
and  appearance  of  a  friendly  fortress  strong  to  save,  and  offering  a  safe  refuge  to  those 
taking  shelter  within  its  walls.  The  grounds  and  gardens,  full  of  beautiful  flowers  and 
shrubs,  the  beautiful  creepers  covering  the  building,  looked,  especially  at  night,  when 
lighted  up  by  electricity,  a  veritable  scene  in  fairyland.  But  this  likeness  was  limited 
to  the  externals.  In  the  wards  there  was  only  the  grim  realism  of  suffering  and 
death.  In  addition  to  the  large  wards  and  partitions,  further  accommodation  was  fur- 
nished by  hospital  tents  similar  to. those  used  in  the  Franco-Prussian  war,  which  stood 
picturesquely  dotted  about  in  a  large  waste  field  adjoining  the  grounds.  These  tents 
grew  up  almost  like  the  beanstalk  of  the  fairy  story — in  a  single  night — and  bore  testi- 
mony to  the  excellency  of  the  arrangements  made  by  those  in  authority.  Rows  of 
beds  stood  ready  for  occupancy,  electricity  lighted  up  the  interiors  as  well  as  the  out- 
side, and  the  tents  flying  the  Red  Cross,  the  emblem  of  charity  and  pity,  gave  one  the 
sense  of  being  in  the  midst  of  some  military  encampment.  From  a  theoretical  stand- 
point, treatment  in  the  open  air  under  canvas  would  seem  a  desirable  method  of  treat- 
ing cholera,  and  it  would  appear  that  thus  there  would  be  less  danger  of  the  spread  of 
the  disease;  but,  practically,  it  has  been  shown  that  in  the  cold  collapsed  condition  of 
the  patient,  the  open  air  is  too  depressing.  An  admirable  system  of  police  notifica- 
tion of  fresh  cases  was  established,  prompt  removal  being  effected  by  a  service  of  two- 
horsed  cabs,  which  were  kept  busy  night  and  day.  Each  vehicle  vvas  accompanied  by  an 
official,  whose  duty  it  was  to  take  the  name  and  address  of  the  stricken  patients  and 
furnish  this  to  the  hospital,  thus  affording  a  ready  means  of  identification  in  case  of 
death  In  the  early  days  of  the  epidemic,  patients  were  picked  up  in  the  streets, 
unconscious,  dying  and  dead,  and  were  carried  to  the  various  hospitals  without  any 
means  of  tracing  their  families  and  friends. 

The  disease  originated  in  the  shipping  quarter,  having  been  brought  to  Hamburg 
from  the  Black  Sea  by  a  vessel  which  successfully  concealed  the  fact  that  its  crew  had 
been  stricken  by  cholera  some  two  months  previously.    It  was  natural,  therefore,  that 


356  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

the  sailors  and  those  who  go  down  to  the  sea  in  ships  should  be  first  attacked.  Many- 
foreigners  fell  victims,  whose  names  never  will  be  known,  and  whose  friends  will  vainly 
wait  for  tidings  from  and  of  the  lost  ones.  Curiously  enough,  my  sister  was  recently 
asked  by  a  German  woman,  whom  she  met  in  an  English  country  town,  whether  she 
could  give  her  any  news  of  a  sister  who  had  been  lost  sight  of  during  the  Hamburg 
epidemic,  and  who,  it  was  feared,  must  have  shared  the  common  fate.  It  was  by  no 
means  unusual  for  whole  families  to  be  taken  to  the  same  hospital  and  distributed  in 
the  various  wards  according  to  sex  and  accommodation.  Spacious  and  roomy  as  these 
wards  were,  their  capacity  was  tried  to  the  utmost,  the  beds,  of  necessity,  being  so  close 
that  the  patients  might  almost  have  joined  hands  round  the  circumference  of  the  ward. 
Had  not  the  ventilating  and  sanitary  arrangements  been  almost  perfect,  a  very  serious 
condition  of  things  would  have  arisen.  The  stone  floors  admirably  lent  themselves  to 
assidious  deluging  and  mopping  with  suitable  disinfectants.  Thus  the  career  of  the 
germ  was  early  cut  off. 

The  appearance  of  the  cholera  patient  is  typical  and  unlike  that  of  one  suffering 
from  any  other  disease.     He  is  collapsed,  with  a  dusky  blackness  of  skin  in  many- 
cases,  giving  the  suggestion  that  his  body  has  been  thickly  powdered  with  coal-dust. 
The  normal  lines  are  blackened  and  deepened,  the  expression  haggard  and  wan.    List- 
lessness  and  apathy  are  expressed  in  every  attitude,  and  the  mental  condition,  unless 
the  case  be  complicated  with  delirium,  is  distinctly  one  of  lethargy.   The  rapid  emacia- 
tion of  the  body  through  the  draining  of  the  tissue  fluids  is  characteristic  only  of  chol- 
era, and  is  noticeable  in  all  severe  cases.    It  gives  an  aged,  withered  look  to  the  patient, 
and  even  the  dimpled,  rounded  limbs  of  the  young  child  will  lose  contour,  and  become 
wrinkled  and  shrunk  in  the  space  of  a  few  hours.    A  consuming  thirst  is  so  great  as  to 
almost  absorb  all  other  sensations,  and  results  in  the  enormous  consumption  of  liquids 
and  in  part  restores  the  loss  of  the  fluid  components  of  the  body  through  the  disease. 
This  thirst  is  constant  and  unrelievable,  and  was  one  of  the  difficulties  of  the  situation. 
Hard  pressed  as  we  were  to  supply  the  bare  needs  of  our  patients,  it  was  most  pathetic 
to  be  frequently  obliged  to  ignore  for  a  space  their  entreaties  for  drink  of  any  and  every 
kind,  and  to  note  the  wistful,  thirsty  eyes  of  the  occupants  as  we  passed  their  beds  to 
supply  some  one  whose  needs  were  greater.     The  tight  clutch  of  baby  hands  on  mugs 
and  glasses  told  us  how  real  was  the  desire  for  liquid.    Often  in  the  midst  of  our  duties 
we  would  hear  a  small  thud  on  the  ground,  followed  by  patter  of  little  feet  that  scarcely 
knew  how  to  walk,  setting  out  on  a  small  voyage  of  discovery  and  investigation  into 
the  contents  of  bottles  and  jugs  that  stood  in  the  wards.    It  has  been  said  that  a  large 
proportion  of  cholera  patients  die  of  fear,  but  I  believe  this  conclusion  to  have  been 
reached  from  observations  made  in  India.     Doubtless  the  nervous,  highly-strung  Hin- 
doo would  see  in  the  invasion  of  cholera  the  finger  of  fate,  against  which  he  would 
believe  medical  skill  to  be  quite  powerless,  but  the  phlegmatic  Teuton  gave  no  evi- 
dence of  a  belief  in  an  unassailable  Kismet.     It  frequently  occurred  to  us  that  the 
choleraic  condition  killed  all  natural  emotion.     Little  sisters  side  by  side  in  bed,  one 
would  die,  and  the  other  would  take  no  notice  and  feel  no  fear.   Older  children  would 
see  their  mothers  carried  dead  from  the  wards,  and  would  watch  the  procession  as  of 
something  afar  off  that  had  no  relation  to  them.   The  rapid  succession  of  patients  was 
most  bewildering — not,  unfortunately,  because  of  recovery,  but  because  of  deaths. 
Almost  before  we  had  time  to  know  the  faces  of  our  patients  they  were  removed  to  the 
mortuary,  and  others  were  ready  to  take  the  vacant  beds.     Cholera  spares  neither  sex 
nor  age.     Our  patients  ranged  from  the  baby  at  the  breast  to  those  who  had  fulfilled 
their  three-score  years  and  ten.     The  fight  was  by  no  means  always  to  the  strong,  and 
victory  not  at  all  necessarily  to  those  of  robust  nature.   Treatment  consisted  chiefly  of 
venous  injections  of  warm  salt  and  water,  combined  with  hot,  stimulating  baths  and 
packs,  but  the  general  consensus  of  medical  opinion  at  Hamburg  was  that  no  remedy 
could  in  any  sense  be  relied  on.     Our  ov»n  experience  bears  out  that  which  has  been 
aptly  said  regarding  the  disease,  that  "  if  the  patient  be  strong  enough,  or  can  in  any 
way  be  assisted  to  survive  the  attack,  it  might  be  said  he  was  cured  of  cholera,  but  it 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  357 

was  the  man  who  lived,  and  not  that  the  cholera  was  killed."  Prevention  is  the  only 
cure.  Epidemics  are  nature's  health  officers,  and  they  do  their  work  efficiently  if  they 
are  sufficientl}'  serious  to  impress  themselves  upon  the  public  mind.  Slowly  and  by 
degrees,  as  malarial  and  deadly  spots  in  India  are  drained  and  sanitated,  the  outbreaks 
of  cholera  are  fewer  and  less  serious.  Pisease  is  a  foe  that  recedes  as  the  missionaries 
of  health  advance.  Gradually,  as  more  light  is  thrown  on  the  science  of  hygiene,  the 
legions  of  microbes  ever  lurking  in  darkness  and  dirt  are  stifled  in  their  growth  and 
become  weaker  and  weaker.  The  insanitation  of  India,  the  starvation  and  misery  of 
Russia,  are  a  standing  menace  to  the  peoples  of  Europe,  and  so  long  as  these  exist, 
each  year  we  will  have  to  gird  up  our  strength  to  meet  the  foe,  and  shall  have  to 
grapple  hard  to  keep  him  to  his  own  quarters — the  quarters  of  dirt  and  uncivilization. 

In  these  days  of  express  speed  we  have  many  adv^antages.  The  railroad  and 
steamboat  bring  us  into  relation  with  the  uttermost  ends  of  the  earth  and  the  peoples 
thereof,  but  we  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  at  the  same  time  we  are  brought 
into  contact  with  the  moral  and  physical  diseases  of  all  these  different  peoples. 

The  "sins  of  Hamburg"  were  great,  and  eventually  found  her  out.  Nature  had 
dealt  very  gently  with  her  breaches  of  the  eternal  laws  of  health.  Thirteen  compara- 
tively mild  epidemics  had  failed  to  suggest  to  the  city  authorities  the  necessity  of 
putting  their  house  in  order.  The  Elbe  water  was  still  supplied  in  all  its  native  and 
imported  impurity,  and  then  came  the  fourteenth  warning,  sadder,  sharper  and  effect- 
ual, and  Hamburg  has  risen  to  the  occasion.  From  her  commercial  position  and  har- 
bor accommodations  Hamburg  is  peculiarly  open  to  the  importation  of  foreign  diseases, 
and  it  is  only  by  keeping  her  hearths  well  garnished  and  the  city  household  in  health 
that  she  can  afford  to  admit  suspicious  visitors.  It  is  a  matter  of  menace  and  regret 
that  she  did  not  enforce  compulsory  cremation  during  the  cholera  epidemic.  A  beau- 
tiful crematorium,  hitherto  practically  unused,  stood  all  through  the  epidemic  as  a 
silent  but  eloquent  monument  to  the  prejudices  of  the  people.  In  certain  conditions 
of  the  soil  a  cholera  body  is  more  dangerous  to  the  community  when  below  than  when 
above  the  ground,  and  it  is  much  to  be  feared  that  a  heavy  day  of  reckoning  must 
come  when  it  is  remembered  that  countless  thousands  of  cholera  corpses  are  giving 
their  noxious  emanations  to  the  atmosphere  of  Hamburg. 

A  physician,  recently  writing  in  a  professional  paper,  makes  use  of  the  following 
astonishing  statement  that  "cholera  gives  a  new  lease  of  life  to  the  sufferer."  This 
may  be  so  if  he  means  us  to  understand  some  transcendental  lease  in  another  sphere, 
but  if  he  alludes  to  a  lease  here  below,  I  cannot  but  think  that  the  most  of  us  should 
object  to  the  terms  of  the  agreement.  There  is  no  question  but  that,  in  the  marvelous 
cleaning  up  ot  Europe  that  has  followed  the  cholera  scare,  there  will  be  found  new 
leases  of  life  to  whole  nations  consequent  to  improved  health  conditions.  Let  me 
commend  the  system  to  Chicago.  In  my  stay  here  during  the  World's  Fair  I  have 
noted  whole  rows  of  "  cholera  streets,"  which  have  not  even  the  excuse  of  being 
artistic. 

Tracts  were  distributed  broadcast  among  the  patients  in  the  German  hospitals 
persuading  them  in  solemn  language  that  the  cholera  epidemic  was  a  merciful  dis- 
pensation on  the  part  of  a  wise  Providence,  and  that  the  gentle  chastisement  had 
been  sent  as  a  reminder  that  their  ways  of  life  were  evil.  But  not  a  word  was  said  of 
the  evil  ways  of  the  authorities  of  the  city,  who  allowed  the  water  supply  to  become 
so  polluted  that  "  death  in  the  cup"  might  be  taken  more  as  a  statement  of  fact  than 
as  a  poetical  exaggeration. 

In  conclusion  let  me  offer  a  deserved  tribute  to  the  energy,  the  self-denial  and 
•devotion  of  Hamburg  and  her  sons  and  daughters  during  the  period  of  suffering. 
Nurses,  physicians  and  attendants  worked  with  a  singleness  of  purpose  and  forgetful- 
ness  of  self.  Much  illness  arose  and  many  deaths  occurred  in  the  ranks,  but  all  stood 
by  their  guns  with  a  courage  that  was  one  of  the  most  hopeful  beacons  at  a  time  when 
encouraging  signals  were  much  needed. 

Truly  " unhappy  Hamburg"  has  been  the  scapegoat  for  sanitary  sins.     She  was 


358  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

far  in  advance  of  most  continental  cities  in  sanitation,  notwithstanding  she  was 
singled  out  and  other  much  worse  offenders  were  passed  by  unharmed.  But  the 
warning  has  been  to  all  to  gird  up  their  loins  and  prepare  their  strongholds  to  meet 
attacks  from  an  enemy  so  mighty  and  subtle  and  mysterious  that  his  coming  is  always 
stealthy,  and,  as  it  were,  in  the  dead  of  night. 


THE  GLORY  OF  WOMANHOOD. 


By  MADAME  HANNA  K.  KORANY. 

It  is  a  fact  that  a  seeker  for  truth  will  walk  by  its  direction,  guided  by  its,  rays  and 
fight,  if  need  be,  for  its  victory;  for  truth  is  like  a  noonday  sun,  shedding  his  illumin- 
ating rays  and  clearing  from  the  face  of  nature  the 
veil  of  darkness,  that  it  may  appear  to  the  naked  eye 
in   its  wealth   of    beauty   and    majestic    excellence. 
^r';  .."*^  -  .  r-  Knowledge  is  but  a  curse,  devoid  of  truth,  the  staff 

with  which  wisdom  guards  her  steps.  Humanity 
could  not  be  elevated,  except  by  following  the  dicca- 
tion  of  truth,  which  leads  man  to  be  patriotic,  philan- 
thropic; inventor  and  orator;  making  him  a  laborer  in 
the  fields  of  noblest  action. 

Rousseau,  the  famous  French  writer,  when  speak- 
ing of  woman  said,  "  Her  glory  is  in  being  unknown." 
He  betrayed  his  doubt  of  her  capabilities  and  her 
large  intelligence,  exhibiting  as  well  his  great  selfish 
ambition  in  confining  power  and  glory  to  men  alone. 
Fortunately  for  woman,  the  storm  of  mental  progress 
blew  away  this  theory;  for  many  women  stand  before 
the  world  in  triumphant  glory,  victorious  over  all 
obstacles;  striving  they  write  in  large  letters  of  light 
on  the  margin  of  truth,  *'  There  is  glory  for  woman 
that  no  shadow  can  eclipse,"  The  great-souled,  noble 
woman  has  won  and  is  crowned  with  laurel  in  spite  of 
all  the  powers  that  have  worked  to  keep  her  unknown. 
There  is  a  glory  in  store  for  every  woman,  let  her  but  labor  for  its  possession. 

But  what  is  this  glory?  What  are  the  ways  and  means  to  it,  and  how  can  she 
gain  it?  Is  it  by  taking  arms  and  waging  war  against  her  fellows,  murdering  as  many 
as  she  is  able,  and  returning  from  the  tumult  of  war  in  a  crimson  suit  colored  with  the 
blood  of  men,  or  by  exploring  unknown  regions,  searching  for  gold  and  treasures, 
returning  with  beasts.  laden  with  wealth?  Oh,  no!  for  such  deeds  and  their  glory 
belong  to  man. 

What  then?  Does  woman  gain  glory  by  sitting  on  the  throne  of  royalty  with  the 
scepter  of  power,  or  by  dwelling  in  palaces  of  luxury  where  all  that  money  could  buy 
is  to  be  found?  Never.  Many  who  sat  on  thrones  of  dominion  and  power  are  only 
famous  for  cruelty,  injustice,  and  even  degradation;  and  many  passed  their  lives  in 
bondage  to  selfishness;  departing,  leaving  none  to  sing  their  praises.  Piety  or  purity 
is  the  garb  of  woman's  glory.  Without  it,  all  her  wisdom,  knowledge,  intelligence  and 
patience  amount  to  nothing;  for  piety  alone  purifies  the  heart  and  mind,  elevates  the 
morals  and  uplifts  womanhood.     A  woman  should  be  wise  if  she   would  be  glorious. 

Mailame  Hanna  K.  Korany  is  a  native  of  Beyroiit,  Syria.  She  was  born  in  a  little  village  on  Mt.  Lebanon  in  the  year  1871. 
Her  parents  were  natives  of  Syria  and  belonged  to  good  old  families.  She  was  educated  in  the  American  seminary  for  girls 
at  Beyront,  where  she  stndied  science,  art  and  the  languages,  and  was  graduated  1885.  She  has  traveled  in  parts  of  her  own 
country,  in  Malta,  France,  England  and  America.  She  married  Amin  Efifendi  Korany  in  1887.  Her  special  work  has  been  in 
the  interest  of  her  own  country  women.  She  was  the  first.of  them  to  appear  ae  a  public  writer.  Her  principal  literary 
works  are  a  book  on  "Manners  and  Habits,"  several  essays  and  fonr  translations.  Madame  Korany  came  to  the  C'olnmbian 
Exposition  in  the  double  capacity  of  an  exhibitor  and  a  delegate  to  the  World's  Congress.  She  tliinks  of  spending  some  time 
here  tolectare  upon  the  Orient  and  its  women.  In  religious  faith  she  is  a  Christian,  and  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.     Her  postofBce  address  is  Beyrout,  Syria. 

359 


MADAME  HANNA  KORANY. 


360  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN 

Carrying  with  her  the  safeguard  of  knowledge,  she  avoids  failure  and  is  qualified  to 
fight  the  battle  of  life  and  win  the  victory.  Wisdom  is  the  crown  of  glory  and  scepter 
of  power  for  woman. 

Most  of  the  misery  and  wretchedness  of  humanity  arethebitter  fruits  of  ignorance 
and  stupidity.  It  is  impossible  for  any  woman  to  fill  her  place  as  a  mother,  wife  and 
mistress  of  home,  unless  she  is  possessed  of  sense  and  wisdom  to  meet  the  vicissitudes 
of  life.  To  improv^e  the  race,  we  want  healthy,  cultivated  women.  Really,  it  does  seem 
strange  that  an  impression  should  have  taken  hold  of  the  world,  especially  in  the  East, 
that  woman's  duties  in  life  should  require  less  education  and  preparation  than  man's. 
Yet  it  is  so.  1  used  frequently  to  hear  our  people  say,  "  Oh  it  does  not  matter  about 
the  girl,  but  I  am  anxious  about  the  boy. "  Man's  duties  in  this  world  may  be  noble 
enough;  I  would  be  the  last  to  ignore  their  grandeur.  But  woman's  office  is  a  very 
sacred  one;  for  the  world  is  what  woman  makes  it.  As  the  mother  of  men, she  stamps 
indelibly  upon  them  her  own  weakness  or  talent,  health  or  disease.  Hence,  I  believe 
that  woman  should  have  a  liberal  education  to  fit  her  for  the  responsibilities  of  wife, 
mother  and  general  educator.  Woman  should  be  thankful  and  happy  in  her  place  in 
creation.  It  is  noble  and  glorious.  She  is  the  ruling  queen  and  may  be  the  leader  in 
progress. 

It  is  her  own  fault  if  she  does  not  labor  to  be  dressed  with  purity,  crowned  with 
wisdom,  and  adorned  with  the  jewels  of  patience  and  peseverance.  I  cannot  under- 
stand why  women  should  not  be  satisfied,  why  she  seeks  to  push  man  to  do  his  work. 
It  would  never  do  to  have  them  labor  in  the  same  field  of  action.  This  is  against  the 
law  of  nature  which  provides  a  sphere  for  everything.  Equality  between  the  sexes  is 
not  in  the  equal  portion  of  the  same  work,  but  the  equality  of  their  whole  contribution 
to  the  welfare  of  the  race.  Woman  should  glory  in  womanhood,  in  being  the  mother 
of  men,  the  doctor  of  moral  and  mental  diseases,  in  offering  to  mankind  the  fruit 
of  her  labors  and  experience,  so  they  might  grow  together  strong  in  understanding, 
rounded  in  intellect,  prepared  for  pure  and  glorious  lives. 


ARE  WOMEN  CITIZENS  AND  PEOPLE? 

By  MRS.  EMILY  BURTON  KETCHAM. 

At  the  time  of  the  Republican  National  Convention,  in  June,  1892,  hundreds  of 
women,  as  well  as  men,  were  waiting  eagerly  to  see  what  issues  that  party  would  adopt 

in  their  platform  as  the  issues  for  which  they  would 
carry  on  their  campaign. 

Carefully  we  read  their  declaration  of  principles 
as  telegraph  and  press  brought  them  to  our  homes. 
With  surprise  and  joy  we  read  the  following:  "We 
demand  that  every  citizen  of  the  United  States  shall 
be  allowed  to  cast  one  free  and  unrestricted  ballot  in 
all  public  elections.  That  a  free  ballot  and  a  fair 
count  shall  be  guaranteed  to  every  citizen  and  all  of 
the  people."  That  surely  meant  women  as  well  as 
men,  for,  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
we  are  citizens,  and  certainly  we  are  people;  but  to 
make  certainty  doubly  sure,  I  wrote  to  Hon.  J.  B. 
Foraker,  chairman  of  Committee  on  Resolutions, 
quoting  the  words,  and  asking  if  by  "  every  citizen," 
and  "  all  of  the  people,"  his  committee  considered 
women  a  part  of  all  the  people,  "  whose  free  and 
honest  ballot,  the  just  and  equal  representation  as 
well  as  their  just  and  equal  protection  under  the 
laws,"  to  whom  the  Republican  party  gave  their  guar- 
anty "  to  protect  in  every  state,"  to  which  the  honor- 
able gentleman  replied,  briefly  and  frankly,  thus:  "I 
can  only  say,  speaking  for  myself,  that  I  did  not  understand  the  words  you  quoted  to 
be  intended  to  include  women,  and,  therefore,  to  amount  to  a  declaration  in  favor  of 
female  suffrage." 

Webster  defines  a  citizen  as  one  who  enjoys  the  freedom  and  priviliges  of  a  city. 
The  freeman  of  a  city  as  distinguished  from  a  foreigner,  or  one  not  entitled  to  its  fran- 
chises, a  person,  native  or  naturalized,  who  has  the  privilege  of  voting  for  public 
officers,  and  who  is  qualified  to  fill  offices  in  the  gift  of  the  people;  also,  any  native- 
born  or  naturalized  person  of  either  sex  who  is  entitled  to  full  protection  in  the  exer- 
cise and  enjoyment  of  the  so-called  private  rights,  which  latter  definition  is  in  har- 
mony with  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  decisions. 

Article  IV,  section  2,  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  says:  "The 
citizens  of  each  state  shall  be  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens 
in  the  several  states." 

Article  IX  says:  "The  enumeration  of  certain  rights  shall  not  be  considered  to 
deny  or  disparage  others  retained  by  the  people." 

Article  XIV  says:  "All  persons  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United  States,  and 
subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  state 

Mrs.  Emily  Burton  Ketcham  is  a  native  of  Grand  Kapi<ls,  Mich.  .She  wan  bom  July  It),  1*}m.  Her  parents  were  Josiah 
Barton  and  Elizabeth  Freeman  Burton.  She  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  and  St.  Mark's  College,  of  Grand  Rapids, 
Mich.,  Henrietta  Academy,  New  York,  and  Mary  B.  Allen's  school  for  girls,  at  Rochester,  N.  Y.  She  lias  travele<l  consider- 
ably in  the  United  States.  She  married  Smith  G.  Ketcham,  of  Farmingtoo,  N.  Y.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest 
of  the  jjolitical  enfranchisement  of  women  Her  principal  literary  works  are  newspaper  and  magazine  articles  and  addresses 
on  acme  phase  of  the  question  of  political  equality  for  men  and  women.  Mrs.  Ketcham  is  a  woman  of  strong  character  and 
of  marked  executive  ability,  and  is  a  zealoas,  earnest  and  successful  worker.  Her  postoffice  address  is  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

361 


MRS.  EMILY  BURTON  KETCHAM. 


362  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

wherein  they  reside.  No  state  shall  make  or  enforce  any  law  which  shall  abridge  the 
privileges  or  immunities  of  citizens  of  the  United  States." 

Article  XV  says:  "The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote  shall  not 
be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States  or  any  state  on  account  of  race,  color  or 
previous  condition  of  servitude." 

In  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  the  word  female  or  she  does  not  occui 
once.  By  man  is  meant  an  individual  of  the  human  race,  a  human  being,  a  person, 
the  human  race,  mankind,  the  totality  of  men.  And  God  said:  "Let  us  make  man  in 
our  image,  after  our  likeness,  and  let  them  have  dominion." 

Let  whom  have  dominion?     The  male  and  female  man. 

In  the  constitution  of  Michigan  the  word  she  does  not  occur,  and  the  word  female 
is  used  once  in  connection  with  special  property  rights. 

Now,  if  all  this  declaration  and  preamble  concerning  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
"  citizens,"  "  people  "  and  "  persons  "  do  not  include  women,  then  it  follows  that  any 
duties,  requirements,  obligations  or  penalties  which  the  law  lays  on  citizens,  people 
and  persons  do  not  include  women.  It  cannot  mean  women  to  be  taxed  as  a  citizen 
or  person,  but  not  represented  as  the  same.  Our  martyred  Abraham  Lincoln  said,  "  I 
believe  in  all  who  bear  the  burdens  of  the  government  sharing  in  its  privileges,  by  no 
means  excluding  the  women." 

"  We,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form  a  more  perfect  union, 
establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquillity,  promote  the  general  welfare  and  secure 
the  blessings  of  liberty,  do  ordain  and  establish  this  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 
If  by  "  we,  the  people,"  women  are  not  meant,  then,  as  a  logical  sequence,  women  are 
relieved  from  all  responsibility  and  all  allegiance  to  a  government  whose  powers  are 
not  derived  from  the  consent  of  the  governed  What  a  farce  is  a  government  with 
such  a  preamble  and  declaration  of  principles,  excluding  one-half  of  the  people  from 
the  right  of  self-protection,  excluding  one-half  of  the  people  from  the  right  of  self- 
government,  and  holding  them  amenable  to  laws  made  by  others,  taking  by  force 
their  property  to  uphold  the  government  and  maintain  the  law,  to  pay  the  salaries  of 
representatives  whom  they  did  not  elect;  to  fine,  arrest,  imprison  or  hang  them  for 
not  obeying  laws  made  without  their  consent. 

"A  government  by  the  people,  of  the  people  and  for  the  people,"  which  holds 
women  as  people  and  citizens,  to  bear  its  burdens,  to  be  punished  by  its  laws,  but 
excluded  from  its  privileges  and  immunities,  is  a  government  of  robbery  and  usur- 
pation. 

In  the  settlement  of  new  countries,  while  the  railroads  are  being  built;  while  the 
mountains  are  being  tunneled  and  the  mines  developed;  while  the  community  is 
largely  composed  of  men  and  that  vanguard  of  civilization,  the  saloon,  is  the  only  pub- 
lic school,  the  depravity  of  men  is  appalling,  the  spirit  of  recklessness  runs  riot; 
gradually  the  wives  and  mothers  come;  the  home  is  established,  the  little  church  is 
built,  the  primitive  school  springs  up  in  lonely  places,  and  slowly  and  surely  a  change 
of  thought,  habit  and  higher  aims  permeates  that  community;  but  that  half  of  the 
people  who  maintain  the  church,  who  are  self-supporting,  law-abiding  and  aspire  to 
noble  deeds,  are  excluded  from  the  citizen's  right  to  the  ballot,  that  instrument  which 
makes  and  shapes  the  conditions  and  environments  of  home. 

The  one  who  aims  to  be  self-supporting;  who  holds  inviolate  the  rights  of  his 
neighbor;  who  succors  the  friendless,  encourages  and  sustains  the  weak;  who  seeks 
to  promote  industry,  economy,  thrift;  who  cherishes  a  spirit  of  charity  and  forbear- 
ance: who  stimulates  a  desire  for  high  thinking,  pure  living  and  broad  culture;  who 
would  suppress  and  eliminate  the  depraving  influences  of  obscene  literature,  the  base 
in  art,  the  demoralization  of  gambling,  the  body  and  soul  destroying  cancer  of  prosti- 
tution, that  poisons  the  blood  and  perpetuates  its  pestilential  life  by  bringing  into 
being  helpless  children,  cursed  from  their  conception  and  birth  by  vitiated  blood  and 
inherited  tendencies  to  evil;  who  would  wipe  out  that  prolific  breeder  of  poverty, 
pauperism  and  misery — the  saloon,   with  all   its  glitter,  greed  and  groveling,  is  the 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  363 

one  with  the  spirit  to  buildup  a  community,  to  fortify  a  state,  and  insure  the  perpetU' 
ity  of  a  republic.  Such  are  the  women  of  our  country;  these  are  the  citizens  and  peo- 
ple who  "  form  a  more  perfect  union,  establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquillity, 
provide  for  the  common  defense,  promote  the  general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessing 
of  liberty  to  themselves  and  their  posterity."  These  are  the  citizens  and  people  who 
furnish  less  than  ten  per  cent,  of  all  the  criminals  in  jails  and  prisons;  who  furnish  a 
small  per  cent,  of  the  paupers  in  the  poor-houses;  who  supply  but  few  recruits  to  the 
great  army  of  tramps,  burglars  and  train  robbers;  who  supply  but  a  small  per  cent,  of 
the  patrons  of  the  saloon;  who  pay  an  equal  per  cent,  of  tax  on  every  dollar  invested; 
who  have  won  the  highest  honors  in  institutions  of  learning;  who  constitute  about 
three-fourths  of  the  graduates  of  the  high  school;  who  constitute  nine-tenths  of  the 
teachers  of  the  young;  who  do  at  least  two-thirds  of  the  church  work;  who  do  a  large 
proportion  of  the  charitable  work;  who  made  up  the  home  reserves,  to  conduct  the 
business  interests  when  the  fathers  and  brothers  had  answered  their  country's  call  to 
save  it  from  rebellion;  who  sent  train-loads  of  money,  food  and  clothing  to  the 
wounded  and  sick  on  the  battlefield  and  in  the  hospital ;  who  left  the  shelter  of  home  to 
comfort  the  dying  and  nurse  the  sick;  and  who  leave  the  old  home,  ease,  and  civiliza- 
tion to  endure  the  hardships  and  privation  of  pioneer  life;  bravely,  cheerfully  help 
husband,  father  and  brother  to  build  up  the  wilderness  with  homes  and  schools,  its 
great  grain  fields  and  young  cities  filled  with  the  whirr  and  hum  of  factory  and  shop. 
The  pioneer  mothers!  Who  shall  tell  of  their  patience,  bravery,  courage  and  helpful- 
ness, without  honor,  or  offices,  or  salaries? 

For  more  than  a  century,  in  a  land  of  boasted  freedom  and  self-protection,  the 
men,  because  of  superior  physical  strength,  have  arrogated  to  themselves  mental  and 
political  supremacy. 

For  more  than  a  century  the  women  have  accepted  and  acquiesced,  scarcely  lift- 
ing a  voice  in  protest,  and  I  grieve  to  say  that  there  are  those  who,  in  the  high  noon  light 
of  the  last  half  of  this  nineteenth  century,  feel  no  degradation,  no  humiliation;  who, 
like  the  black  men  of  slavery  days,  do  not  want  to  be  free.  Sad,  indeed,  have  been 
the  conditions  and  environments  of  an  individual  or  people  who  do  not  prize  freedom 
and  long  for  all  the  liberty  that  belongs  to  any  soul.  It  is  a  stain  on  the  fair  name  of 
republican  government,  when  part  of  that  government  have  usurped  rights  and 
abridged  the  privileges  of  the  other  part  until  those  defrauded  are  incapable  of  smart- 
ing under  a  sense  of  humiliation  at  having  set  upon  them,  in  the  words  of  the  "Grand 
Old  Man,"  "the  stamp  of  inequality,  which  is  the  brand  of  degradation." 

The  petty  thief,  the  disorderly,  the  visitor  of  houses  of  ill-fame,  the  drunkard, 
may  serve  his  time  for  having  broken  the  law,  and  leaving  the  jail  today  go  to  the 
ballot-box  tomorrow  to  vote  into  office  the  man  who,  he  knows,  will  be  lenient  to 
criminals.  The  man  who  has  committed  forgery,  or  theft,  or  criminal  assault,  may 
serve  his  time  or  be  pardoned  and  go  to  the  polls  and  vote  into  office  the  prosecuting 
attorney,  or  judge,  whom,  he  believes,  will  shield  the  guilty  and  cater  to  the  criminal 
class.  But  how  cautiously  the  way  is  hedged  about  for  the  wives  and  mothers. 
After  appealing  to  and  petitioning  legislatures,  pleading  their  cause  and  asking  for 
simple  justice  from  legislators,  humiliating  themselves  to  beg  and  plead  for  rights  of 
which  they  have  been  defrauded;  slowly  and  cautiously  the  small  measure  of  school 
suffrage  has  been  granted  in  many  states,  but  always  with  restrictions.  After  a  long 
struggle  municipal  suffrage  was  granted  to  the  women  of  Kansas;  and  let  me  here 
speak  in  honor  of  the  just  men  of  Wyoming  who  have  recognized  that  their  wives  and 
mothers  are  citizens  and  people,  fully  and  freely  with  no  discrimination. 

We  women  in  various  states  have  been  hammering  away  at  that  wellnigh  invul- 
nerable old  wall,  prejudice,  until  the  men  of  one  more  state  have  dared  to  trust  their 
wives  and  mothers  with  a  carefully-restricted  ballot.  Ignorance  in  men  is  not  a 
dangerous  qualification;  it  is  not  subversive  of  good  government  and  the  safety  of  the 
people.  Every  male,  native  or  foreign  born,  white  or  black,  ignorant  or  otherwise, 
driink  or  sober,  self-supporting  or  a  pauper,  any  male  but  a  duellist  in  Michigan,  a 


364  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

traitor  in  the  United  States,  can  be  trusted  with  that  patent  of  sovereignty,  the  ballot, 
without  fear  of  danger.  Even  the  anarchist  is  not  disfranchised.  In  Michigan,  my 
own  state,  after  years  of  bombarding  our  legislature  with  hearings,  petitions,  letters  and 
arguments,  the  women,  denying  themselves  the  pleasure  and  advantages  of  society  and 
study,  giving  time,  strength  and  money  to  secure  the  right  of  the  franchise,  which 
means  protection,  respect,  power,  that  right  from  which  no  male,  except  him  whose 
fratricidal  hand  is  lifted  to  betray  his  country,  is  excluded,  at  least  the  half  measure 
of  municipal  suffrage  has  been  conceded  by  the  legislature  of  Michigan  and  become  a 
law.  But  the  women  are  such  dangerous  creatures,  they  must  be  guarded;  and  female 
ignorance  is  most  dangerous,  so  they  are  required  to  read  the  state  constitution  in  the 
English  language.*  Was  it  that  the  women  might  be  able  to  read  the  ballots  for  the 
illiterate  male  voters  of  their  families? 

Though  this  recognition  be  but  in  half  measures,  the  women  of  Michigan  have 
risen  to  the  occasion,  and  a  carefully-outlined  plan  of  study  has  been  prepared,  and  a 
constitution  and  by-laws  to  meet  the  requirements  of  all,  that  a  uniform  system  may 
be  adopted.  Thousands  of  copies  have  been  printed,  as  also  a  circular  letter,  with 
earnest  appeal  from  the  state  president  and  careful  instruction  from  the  organizers, 
and  sent  to  every  incorporated  city  and  village  in  the  state.  Two  organizers  have 
been  sent  into  the  field,  the  expenses  to  be  paid,  largely,  by  contributions  and  pledges 
from  these  dangerous  women.  The  printed  plan  is  so  plain  that  any  ordinary  woman 
who  knows  anything  of  committee  or  club  work  can  call  a  meeting  at  her  home  and 
organize  a  Municipal  Franchise  League.  By  this  method,  every  city  and  village  is  to 
be  organized  into  a  central  committee  and  ward  leagues  to  study  municipal  govern- 
ment and  parliamentary  law.  When  in  the  near  future  full  suffrage  shall  be  extended 
to  the  women,  which,  as  our  own  Thomas  W.  Palmer  says,  "is  sure  to  be,"  they  will 
be  the  best  equipped  for  intelligent  self-government  of  any  class  that  ever  exercised 
the  right  of  franchise. 

For  the  passage  of  the  municipal  suffrage  bill,  we  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to 
Senator  Hopkins  and  Representative  Newkirk,  who  undertook,  with  manly  sincerity 
and  determination,  to  champion  our  bill,  and  they  made  it  a  stud}'  to  win.  The  pity 
of  thus  defrauding  the  women  of  political  rights  and  power,  is  not  alone  to  those 
excluded,  but  the  great  loss  of  moral  and  uplifting  conditions  from  which  the  state 
and  government  have  suffered. 

Material  prosperity  cannot  save  a  nation  whose  heart  and  life  are  eaten  out  by 
cancerous  physical  and  spiritual  conditions,  that  consume  manhood,  deprave  child- 
hood and  destroy  the  nation. 

♦Bill  referred  to,  after  being  passed  by  the  legislature  and  signed  by  the  governor,  was  finally  lost  by  a  decision  of  the 
courts. 


THE  ART  OF  LIVING. 


By  MRS.  ELLEN  M.  RICH. 

Whoever  can  produce  happiness  has  mastered  the  rudiments  of  the  art  of  living. 
To  live  rightly  is  to  make  a  constant  study  of  self.  The  acquisition  of  the  art  con- 
sists in  learning  to  adapt  inclination  and  desire  to 
natural  requirements  and  real  conditions;  to  discrim- 
inate with  reference  to  the  expenditure  of  vitality  and 
to  so  conserve  natural  forces  that,  after  the  ordinary 
routine  work  is  accomplished,  the  mind  is  still  left  buoy- 
ant and  happy.  The  real  art  of  living  is  based  upon 
the  possession  of  that  knowledge  which  enables  us  to 
hope,  not  despair;  to  rejoice,  not  mourn;  to  look  for- 
ward, not  backward. 

Mere  trifles  suffice  to  make  some  happy.  Others 
require  the  transforming  influence  that  comes  from 
daily  contact  with  sunny  natures.  The  characters  we 
develop  and  the  kinds  of  lives  we  live  depend  largely 
upon  the  choice  made  between  yielding  to  adversity 
and  seeking  to  live  above  it.  • 

Some  believe  in  fate,  around  which  are  grouped 
many  superstitions,  and  they  are  content  to  drift  with 
the  current.  Happily  for  America  and  American 
institutions,  this  subservience  to  destiny  is  not  a  dom- 
inating influence.  If  it  is  wise  to  recognize  fixed  laws 
for  the  physical  and  spiritual  being,  then  it  is  wise  to 
deliberately  study  such  laws  and  from  them  learn  the 
causes  of  individuality.  It  is  only  in  this  way  that  we  may  be  able  to  discern  our  char- 
acters, and,  from  the  study  of  them,  learn  how  to  make  the  best  of  life;  learn  to  main- 
tain an  existence  which  shall  bring  happiness  to  ourselves  and  others.  It  is  the  life  we 
really  live,  not  the  life  we  appear  to  live,  that  is  to  be  considered. 

History  is  replete  with  biography,  but  the  truth  is,  that  a  well-written  life  is  as  rare 
as  a  well-spent  life.  Everyone  is  at  liberty  to  pass  verdict  upon  a  great  man  after 
his  death.  No  sooner  does  one's  character  become  public  property  than  a  crowd  rushes 
to  catch  glimpses  of  it;  and  since  each  can  reflect  only  a  small  portion  of  it  in  his  nature, 
so  he  holds  up  to  the  world  his  little  mirror  and  exclaims,  "  Behold  the  life  of  a  great 
man."  And  perhaps  the  great  man,  could  he  return  to  life,  would  feel  like  taking  the 
life  of  his  biographer  in  retaliation  for  his  impertinence. 

In  seeking  for  the  proper  development  of  our  own  characters,  the  study  of  biog- 
raphy helps  us  very  little,  because  through  this  medium  the  real  elements  of  great 
lives  are  not  properly  presented.  The  order  of  study  and  labor  and  the  influences 
which  led  to  greatness  are  not  mentioned.     The  aim  which  the  great  man  had  in  view 

Mrs.  Ellen  M.  Rich  is  a  native  of  Newfane,  Windham  Coanty,  Vt.  She  was  born  May  6,  1843.  Her  parents  were  Dex- 
ter Moore  and  Abigail  Knowlton  Moore.  She  was  educated  at  Glenwood  Seminary,  Brattleboro,  Vt.  and  at  the  Iowa  State 
University.  At  the  Iowa  University  she  received  the  degrees  of  B.  8.,  B.  A.,  and  A.  M.,  the  last  degree  in  1863.  She  married 
September  l(t,  1868,  J.  W.  Rich,  editor  and  proprietor  of  the  Vinton  Eagle,  at  Vinton,  Iowa.  Mrs.  Rich  edited  a  household 
department  in  the  Vinton  Eagle,  and  in  the  Farmer's  Stock  Journal  of  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa,  for  many  years.  For  several  years 
she  taught  mathematics  in  the  Iowa  State  University.  In  1882  she  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Iowa  State  Board  of  Educa- 
tional Examiners,  the  first  woman  ever  appointed  on  such  a  board.  Mrs.  Rich  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Was 
for  three  years  vice  president  for  Iowa  of  the  National  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Women.  Her  postoifice  address 
is  Iowa  City,  Iowa. 

365 


MRS.  ELLEN  M.  RICH. 


366  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

is  merely  guessed  at.  The  elements  which  led  to  and  constituted  his  superiority  are 
supposed  to  be  so  many  touches  of  the  fairy's  wand,  and  we  are  left  to  the  belief  that 
there  could  be  but  one  Caesar,  one  Alexander,  one  Napoleon;  whereas,  the  world  is 
full  of  heroes  and  heroines  today,  but  the  occasion  which  places  them  on  a  pedestal 
is  wanting,  that  is  all. 

The  same  misguiding  influence  pervades  all  classic  literature.  It  matters  not 
what  myth  or  what  poem  we  read,  we  still  find  that  the  heroes  and  heroines  are 
represented  as  being  allied  to  the  gods  who  watch  over  them  and  direct  their  actions; 
and  so  we  are  led  to  think  that  a  modern  hero  must  have  a  peculiar  and  particular 
genius  for  his  god-mother.  But  is  heroism  anything  more  than  doing  the  best  under 
existing  circumstances?  Does  it  require  any  rare  gift  to  stand  firmly  by  a  task  until 
it  is  finished?  to  see  our  duty  and  adopt  the  best  means  of  doing  it?  Heroes  are 
common  mortals,  subject  to  the  laws  of  environment.  What  more  can  they  be?  Com- 
mon fishermen  became  the  disciples  of  Christ.  Joseph  was  a  carpenter.  Grant  was  a 
tanner.  Lincoln  was  a  wood-chopper.  The  Pilgrim  Fathers  were  only  simple  peasants 
who  counted  freedom  of  conscience  more  than  life,  and  who,  by  adhering  to  this 
principle,  made  the  American  Revolution  possible.  Winkelried's  patriotism  made 
Switzerland  free.  And  now,  after  the  lapse  of  four  hundred  years,  the  world  has 
placed  an  immortal  crown  upon  the  brow  of  a  Genoese  navigator,  simply  because  he 
persistently  kept  the  prows  of  his  caravels  turned  westward.  Has  not  each  year  of 
our  lives  brought  to  our  notice  examples  of  as  high  courage  and  as  determined  per- 
severance as  Columbus  displayed?  Point  to  all  the  great  men  of  history  and  then 
show  us,  if  possible,  a  greater  hero  than  the  little  Dutch  boy  who  stood  all  night 
long  with  his  tiny  hand  pressed  against  a  hole  in  the  dyke,  that  he  might  thereby  keep 
out  the  sea  and  thus  save  the  village.  It  is  only  an  occasional  hero  who  becomes 
historic,  but  there  are  brave,  noble  hearts  all  about  us,  and  our  own  hearts  beat  to 
the  rhyme  of  their  courage  and  sense  of  right.  A  few  we  immortalize,  but  the  memory 
of  the  masses  we  allow  to  die.     Much    depends  upon  the  genial  biographer. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  how  we  cherish  every  bit  of  narrative  concerning  Grace 
Darling,  Florence  Nightingale,  or  the  Maid  of  Orleans.  Single  acts  of  daring  made 
them  illustrious.  What  of  the  thousands  unsung  and  unknown,  who  have  braved 
greater  dangers  and  greater  trials  than  the  foaming  sea  and  the  bloody  field?  What 
will  we  say  of  the  mother  who,  unaided,  rears  her  children  with  the  labor  of  her 
hands,  provides  them  food  and  home  and  schooling?  Who  guides  their  steps  aright 
so  that  to  the  working  force  of  the  world  she  adds  brave,  intelligent  sons  and 
daughters?  When  we  want  a  great  theme  for  true  heroism,  commend  us  to  the 
mothers  who,  battling  against  adverse  circumstances,  nourish,  educate,  and  disci- 
pline the  youth  of  the  nation.  Do  we  recognize  these  brave  spirits  as  we  meet 
them?     Are. we  not  in  daily  contact  with  them  and  yet  pass  them  unnoticed? 

The  rhythm  of  a  beautiful  soul  may  not,  and  need  not,  always  be  crystallized  into 
forms  of  speech  in  order  to  be  recognized  and  appreciated!  This  soul-radiance  creates 
happiness  within  its  sphere  and,  though  no  words  are  embodied  in  type,  the  sphere 
widens  and  widens  nevertheless.  The  poetry  of  the  human  soul,  which  finds  expres- 
sion in  deeds  not  words,  is  the  leaven  which  lightens  and  makes  buoyant  all  humanity. 

That  the  world  is  giving  more  attention  to  conduct  as  the  expression  of  thought 
and  feeling  is  shown  by  the  novel  of  today  as  compared  with  the  novel  of  a  century 
ago.     Novels  are  now  the  records  of  real  life,  and  as  such  we  study  them. 

Do  we  not  observe  that  the  desire  to  do  some  great  thing  often  prevents  the  doing 
of  those  little  things  which,  rightly  considered,  indicate  true  greatness?  It  was  per- 
haps a  little  thing  for  Sir  Philip  Sidney  to  withdraw  the  cooling  cup  from  his  own 
parched  lips  and  give  it  to  another  dying  soldier.  But,  little  in  itself,  it  was  the  act  of 
a  true  knight,  and  it  touched  a  chord  in  the  heart  of  humanity  which  will  go  on  vibrat- 
ing forever.     That  simple  act  rendered  the  name  of  Sidney  immortal. 

There  may  be  people  toward  whom  nature  is  not  prodigal  of  brain.  At  least 
some  seem  to  find  it  impossible  to  be  both  agreeable  and  learned.     AH  scholars  are 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  367 

not  like  Sidney  and  Addison,  both  learned  and  polite.  In  fact,  some  seem  to  think 
rudeness  a  necessary  part  of  their  outfit.  But  this  austerity  may  be  organic.  They 
may  affect  to  be  very  good  companions,  when  really  their  world  is  only  large  enough 
for  one  person.  Occasionally  we  find  a  man  so  exquisitely  made  that  he  can  and  must 
live  alone.  But  the  majorities  can  not  live  in  solitude.  It  is  by  constant  contact  with 
the  world  and  its  work  that  we  are  made  happy.  When  we  live  with  people  and  under- 
stand them;  when  we  can  adapt  ourselves  to  circumstances;  when  we  can  fall  in  with 
the  spirit  of  the  times,  without  allowing  our  sympathies  to  degrade  us,  or  our  better 
natures  to  be  overcome,  then  we  place  ourselves  upon  vantage-ground  for  doing  good, 
and,  if  well  disposed,  can  accomplish  much. 

Intelligent  Americans  realize  that  the  true  test  of  civilization  is  not  in  the  extent 
of  the  public  domain,  the  area  of  the  crops,  the  returns  of  the  census,  or  the  wealth 
and  grandeur  of  cities.  It  is  rat-her  in  the  kind  of  men  and  women  that  our  systems 
of  education  and  government  produce. 

People  with  much  work  before  them  must  learn  to  discriminate  with  reference  to 
the  distribution  of  time  and  energy.  They  have  no  time  to  waste  in  discourtesies.  It 
requires  more  time  and  effort  to  undo  a  wrong  than  to  do  the  right  thing  at  first.  How 
the  feminine  soul  is  sometimes  vexed  with  taking  to  pieces  and  making  over  ill-fitting 
garments!  What  diplomacy  is  sometimes  necessary  to  correct  some  social  error.  It  is 
a  great  part  of  the  art  of  living  to  be  able  to  do  the  right  thing  at  the  right  time. 
Each  should  map  out  some  line  of  work  and  pursue  it.  If  the  choice  is  domestic  duties, 
then  let  those  duties  be  well  and  faithfully  done.  If  teaching,  then  let  us  magnify  our 
calling.  If  ministering,  let  us  wait  on  our  ministry.  Every  line  of  work  has  some 
drudgery  connected  with  it,  but  it  need  not  be  degrading.  AH  honest  and  necessary 
work  is  ennobling. 

Heretofore  women  have  not  tried  to  see  what  they  can  do  along  certain  lines  of 
work.  So,  today,  they  are  surprised  by  their  wonderful  achievements,  and  are  saying 
that  it  has  been  given  to  the  nineteenth  century  to  discover  woman!  Many  achieve- 
ments are  possible.  If  some  fail  for  lack  of  scholarship,  or  rhetoric,  or  eloquence,  they 
may  still  be  loyal,  patriotic,  and  public  spirited.  They  may  thrill  by  their  personality, 
although  they  may  not  sway  by  their  oratory. 

It  was  Sir  Philip  Sidney  who  advised  his  brother,  saying,  "  When  you  hear  of  a 
good  war  go  to  it."  There  are  good  wars  to  which  we  should  go,  though  not  with 
sanguinary  intentions.  Our  influence  and  effort  should  be  on  the  side  of  patriotism, 
of  temperance,  of  chastity,  of  equality  before  the  law,  of  Christianity.  When  we  hear 
of  a  conflict  along  these  lines  we  should  go  to  it.  But  the  most  highly-favored  per- 
sons are  not  always  the  most  successful.  Most  of  the  great  men  and  women  of  his- 
tory come  from  the  middle  classes,  and  this  fact  makes  one  believe  that  it  is  worth 
much  to  have  some  difficulty  to  struggle  against;  to  have  some  obstacle  in  life  to 
overcome;  to  have  some  hardship  to  endure.  Often  the  great  trials  of  life  are  the 
great  purifiers  of  human  nature.  Do  we  not  sometimes  covet  the  privileges  of  royalty, 
and  yet  fail  to  perceive  that  royalty  must  suffer  all  the  physical  ills  which  are  the  lot 
of  common  mortals?  Even  the  queen  mother  must  bear  the  pangs  of  maternity.  But 
greater  than  the  privilege  of  royalty  is  that  profound  blessing  which  comes  to  the 
person  born  with  a  bias  for  some  particular  pursuit  or  definite  calling,  in  which  both 
employment  and  happiness  may  be  found. 

When,  from  any  cause,  a  swarm  of  bees  has  lost  its  queen,  it  proceeds  at  once,  in 
a  most  curious  fashion,  to  provide  the  conditions  by  which  the  loss  may  be  made  good. 
It  is  purely  a  matter  of  environment  and  food,  when,  lo!  as  by  miracle,  the  common 
worker  bee  becomes  a  queen.  If  the  mere  matter  of  space  and  food  have  such  influ- 
ence on  insect  life,  changing  form  and  function,  how  much  more  may  these  influences 
change  the  life  and  character  of  human  beings!  In  our  examination  of  self  let  us 
inquire  whether  we  have  sufficient  space  for  growth  and  development.  Is  not  our 
world  too  angular  and  too  narrow?  With  greater  opportunities  would  we  not  make 
greater  advancement?    There  is  a  stimulating  power  in  mutual  sympathy,  and  when 


368  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

this  aid  comes  to  a  life  which  earnestly  desires  improvement,  it  may  make  of  that  life 
a  royal  province.  But  when  the  goal  is  finally  reached  it  must  be  by  innate  strength 
that  we  stand  or  fall.  The  power  by  which  one  conquers  will  ever  be  a  profound 
secret  to  the  world.  The  drop  which  the  Divine  Alchemist  added  to  the  blood,  in 
order  to  impart  individuality  to  each  being,  is  a  secret  known  only  to  the  Great  Life- 
giver.  It  is  this  personal  element  which  we  ought  to  prize  as  the  one  thing  that  dis- 
tinguishes each  from  every  other  being.  We  owe  a  sacred  debt  to  every  heart  which 
has  rightly  influenced  our  lives — a  debt  which  can  only  be  repaid  by  imparting  the 
vigor  of  our  genius  to  our  successors.  It  is  right  culture  which  determines  right  devel- 
opment. As  soil,  air,  water  and  sunshine  all  have  their  effect  upon  plant  growth,  so 
in  the  development  of  human  characters  there  are  certain  environments  which  must 
be  secured  and  controlled.  But  do  not  for  a  moment  suppose  that  all  desirable 
things  are  also  necessary  elements  of  culture.  Travei  does  not  change  one;  scholastic 
training  does  not  produce  contentment;  neither  is  there  bliss  in  ignorance.  The 
advantage  of  travel  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  teaches  us  in  various  ways  how  to  know  and 
estimate  ourselves — the  acme  of  all  true  knowledge.  Travel  and  study  combined 
develop  the  sense  of  beauty,  and  aid  in  the  cultivation  of  the  element  in  us  which 
may  be  called  the  sense  of  appreciating  the  beautiful.  They  show  us  in  what  manner 
we  differ  from  others,  and  that  we  are  not  alike  because  we  are  incapable  of  being  so. 

The  personality  which  leads  us  to  differ  need  not  be  deplored.  Each  one  has 
his  own  world,  which  is  to  him  his  castle.  If,  unnaturally,  the  fern  and  the  violet 
seek  to  grow  in  the  burning  sun;  if  the  rose  and , the  sunflower  choose  the  shade;  if 
the  golden-rod  and  the  lily  seek  the  arid  plain,  how  dwarfed  will  become  their  devel- 
opment! Let  us  recognize  and  accept  this  personality,  and  cultivate  it  as  a  most  pre- 
cious thing.  Let  us  recognize  the  likeness  to,  and  the  difference  from,  our  ideal  of 
perfect  humanity.  But  let  us  not  be  so  anxious  for  the  development  of  the  higher 
faculties  that  we  neglect  the  happiness  which  comes  to  all  from  pure  sense  of  enjoy- 
ment. It  is  good  for  the  most  learned  mortals  to  come  back  from  the  straining 
abstractions  of  speculative  thought  and  to  indulge  in  the  common  emotions  and  innate 
sensibilities  of  life. 

People  of  one  idea  are,  no  doubt,  very  interesting  when  expressing  themselves  con- 
cerning that  idea,  but  upon  any  other  topic  they  may  be  exceedingly  uninteresting. 
A  musician  believes  that  music  lies  at  the  base  of  everything,  and  that  all  happiness  is 
developed  through  harmony  of  sound.  The  painter  casts  his  enthusiasm  along  the 
line  of  color,  while  the  electrician  believes  that  electricity  is  the  all-in-all. 

Is  it  not  because  much  of  our  training  fails  of  effect,  because  success  surprises  us 
and  seems  like  a  venture,  that  we  need  to  broaden  our  views  of  life  in  order  to  gain 
some  standards  of  excellence,  and  obtain  correct  ideas  of  our  own  merits  and  demerits? 
Have  we  not  placed  for  ourselves  some  ideals,  and  are  we  not  unhappy  because  we 
cannot  attain  them? 

And  as  to  forms  and  faces — well,  some  of  us  must  forgive  Mother  Nature  for  her 
mistakes,  and  solace  ourselves  with  the  fact  that  no  two  faces  are  alike,  and  that,  con- 
sequently, there  can  be  no  common  standard  of  beauty.  We  are  not  dolls  and  do  not 
live  in  dolls'  houses.  If  this  were  our  condition,  there  would  arise  another  Ibsen  who 
would  so  dramatize  our  social  errors  and  our  weaknesses  that  they  would  appear 
odious. 

A  few  well-established  tenets  of  faith  each  one  must  have  for  himself,  and  when 
he  has  reasoned  them  out  and  relies  upon  them,  what  more  does  he  require?  Some 
one  has  aptly  said  that  a  few  strong  instincts  and  a  few  plain  rules  are  sufficient.  Why 
not  keep  our  intellectual  lives  clean  and  healthful,  and  allow  our  lives  to  be  easier, 
simpler,  and  happier  than  they  are?  Nature  teaches  us  many  things,  if  we  would  only 
observe  them;  for  the  simplicity  of  the  universe  is  infinite.  Let  us  consider  what  daily 
takes  place  around  us,  and  we  will  learn  that  painful  labor  is  unnecessary.  That  which 
can  be  done  readily  and  spontaneously  usually  evinces  most  strength.  There  are 
many  people  who,  moved  by  sudden  impulses,  thoughtlessly  attempt  first  one  thing 


.  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  369 

then  another,  only  to  find  themselves  exhausted  without  accomplishing  any  real  good. 
There  are  others  who,  in  the  majesty  of  well  laid  plans,  accomplish  much  without 
seeming  to  put  forth  great  effort. 

Of  course  we  love  impulsive  people,  but  impulsiveness  need  not  dethrone  reason. 
On  the  contrary,  it  may  lend  vivacity  and  piquancy  to  life,  thus  removing  the  humdrum 
of  existence.  There  are  things  which  we  can  neither  change  nor  control — things  which 
are  in  the  keeping  and  under  the  care  of  that  Soul  which  is  the  center  of  the  universe; 
which  infuses  enchantment  into  all  nature;  which  brings  prosperity,  pleasure,  and  love- 
liness into  the  life  of  all. 

When  we  seriously  aim  at  right  thinking  and  right  living,  we  always  discover  that 
there  is  a  class  of  writers  and  lecturers  whose  minds,  moving  in  the  same  plane,  aid  in 
lifting  the  masses  to  our  level,  and  we  are  thereby  blessed  with  the  sympathy  and 
co-operation  of  those  whom  we  are  wont  to  class  as  our  superiors.  It  is  this  inspiration 
that  gives  us  pleasure  and  relieves  us  of  regrets  concerning  personal  imperfections. 

Did  you  ever  think  that  if  the  morning  of  this  century  could  look  down  upon  the 
evening  of  the  same  it  would  recognize  few  characteristics  of  a  hundred  years  ago? 
Has  all  this  progress  been  material?  Have  the  liberal  arts  progressed  beyond  the 
power  of  the  common  mind  to  comprehend?  Has  there  not  also  been  a  marked 
development  in  learning? 

The  crowning  glory  of  the  ninteenth  century  will  ever  be  the  intelligence  which, 
within  the  past  fifty  years,  has  seized  upon  the  subtle  forces  of  nature  and  applied 
them  to  the  industries  of  the  world.  This  age  of  steam  and  electricity  is  the  triumph 
of  labor.  Let  this  advancement  of  labor,  this  material  prosperity,  this  triumphal 
interpretation  of  nature  constitute  a  plea  for  correct  living — a  plea  for  plain  and 
simple  modes  of  doing  the  common  and  necessary  tasks  of  life.  Let  us  abandon 
conceits,  fads  and  superstitions,  and  let  us  pursue  the  careful  and  conscientious  study 
of  nature  which  the  century  has  begun.  By  so  doing  we  may  hope  for  an  era  of  great 
happiness.  Let  us  make  our  lives  consistent  with  the  plan  of  nature,  modeled 
according  to  the  harmony  of  universal  law.  The  model  has  been  given  us — a  model 
without  a  flaw.  It  is  a  life  full  of  beauty,  of  grace,  of  tenderness.  It  is  of  this 
perfect  type  of  humanity  that  one  of  the  most  cultured  of  American  women  thus 
sings: 

"  In  the  beauty  of  the  lilies 

Christ  was  born  across  the  sea, 
With  a  glory  in  His  bosom 
•  Which  transfigures  you  and  me." 

Bishop  Wilson's  definition  of  culture  is  "  to  make  the  reason  and  the  will  of  God 
prevail."  Matthew  Arnold  says:  "  Culture  needs  faith  and  ardor  to  flourish  in."  Since 
faith  and  ardor  depend  so  much  upon  health  and  bodily  vigor,  in  order  to  obtain  the 
highest  results  in  life,  is  it  not  necessary  that  we  bestow  more  care  on  bodily  perfec- 
tion? The  true  art  of  living  is  to  aim  at  perfection;  to  seek  a  correct  and  perfect 
development  of  both  mind  and  body,  insofar  as  development  is  possible. 

The  best  things  we  possess  are  our  thoughts.  Our  best  utterances  and  our  best 
work  are  the  embodiment  and  expression  of  thought.  We  can  not  always  frame  our 
words  and  deeds  to  utter  all  we  desire  to  express.  Our  impulses  are  more  charitable 
than  they  appear.  There  is  more  love  in  our  hearts  than  is  manifest  in  our  lives. 
There  is  more  of  the  Christ  in  our  natures  than  we  are  ready  to  express.  It  is  this 
element  in  human  nature  that  renders  character  lovely.  The  more  of  this  element 
we  have,  the  more  capable  we  are  of  being  happy  and  of  shedding  all  about  us  the 
gracious  influences  of  a  happy  life. 

To  solve  the  great  question  of  Christian  charity  by  Victor  Hugo's  method  may 
require  more  courage  than  is  usually  vouchsafed.  He  says:  "  Love  thy  neighbor  by 
teaching  him  how  to  live."  Can  we  furnish  our  neighbor  with  the  example  of  "  how 
to  live?  "    Can  we  live  simply,  not  sumptuously?    Can  we  live  happily,  live  honestly? 

(24) 


370  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  . 

Can  we  daily  exercise  enough  courtesy  to  lubricate  the  wheels  of  existence  and  keep 
the  tone  of  society  sweet  and  pure?  Can  we  cultivate  self-reliance  and  couple  with  it 
good  manners?  Can  we  study  nature  and  learn  her  laws?  Can  we  respect  our  own 
individuality?  Can  we  respect  others  as  possessing  in  equal  if  not  in  higher  degree 
as  noble  qualities  as  our  own?  Can  we  cultivate  powers  of  physical  endurance?  Can 
we  control  the  emotions?  Can  we  cause  reason  to  prevail  over  the  will?  Can  we 
summon  courage  to  endure  great  trials?  Can  we  become  stout-hearted  without 
becoming  hard-hearted?  Can  we  grow  old  so  gracefully  that  our  advancing  years 
shall  be  the  full  fruition  of  a  beautiful  flower?  If  we  can  do  these  things,  we  can  fight 
a  good  warfare  and  teach  our  neighbor  "  how  to  live." 

In  striving  to  progress  we  need  not  perplex  ourselves  with  speculations  foreign 
to  us.  We  can  never  reach  a  solution  of  great  theological  problems  by  neglecting  all 
the  sweet  and  sacred  duties  of  home  and  brooding  over  the  mysteries  of  eternity. 
Such  problems  need  not  trouble  us  if  we  do  not  invite  them. 

When  we  learn  to  move  among  people,  to  live  in  their  society,  to  transact  our 
business  affairs,  to  practice  our  economies,  to  perform  our  labors,  to  carry  on  our 
social  and  commercial  interests,  and  not  only  keep  ourselves  free  from  any  stumbling, 
but  preserve  and  hold  in  view  a  high  ideal  of  human  existence,  then  we  shall  have 
learned  the  majesty  of  true  manhood  and  true  womanhood.  We  will  not  only  have 
exemplified  in  our  lives  the  real  art  of  living,  but  will  embody  in  them  some  of  that 
glory  which  transfigures  humanity. 


MEMBERS  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  LADY  MANAGERS. 


2.  Mrs.  Sarah  S.  C.  Angell, 

Michigan. 

4.  Mrs.  H.  F.  Brown, 

Minnesota. 


1,  Mrs.  Eliza  J.  Pendry  Howes, 

Michigan. 


5.  Mrs.  James  W.  Lee, 

Mississippi. 
7,  Miss  Lillian  Mason  Brown.  8.  Mrs.  Eliza  Rickards, 

Missouri.  Montana. 


3.  Mrs.  Francis  B.  Clarke, 

Minnesota, 

6.  Mrs.  John  M.  Stone, 

Mississippi. 

9.  Mrs.  Clara  L.  McAdow, 

Montana.. 


10.  Mrs.  John  S.  Briggs, 

Nebraska. 


11.  Mrs.  E.  C.  Langworthy, 

Nebraska. 


COLUMBIA'S  WOMEN. 

By  MRS.  AMANDA  KERR  LEWIS. 

[Copyrighted  1893.] 

There  are  three  little  words  which  are  often  heard, 
Yesterday,  today  and  tomorrow; 

They  fall  from  our  lips  as  mere  idle  words, 
Yet  are  fraught  with  joy  or  sorrow. 

We  grasp  not  their  import,  nor  meaning  so  grand, 
'Mid  our  hurry,  and  bustle,  and  strife, 

Yet  they  reach  far  backward,  and  forward,  too. 
And  cover  the  whole  of  our  life. 

We  speak  of  a  day  as  a  trivial  thing. 
And  squander  its  hours  away, 

Forgetting  its  passing  so  surely  records 
Time,  precious,  gone,  gone  for  aye. 

Time  infinite  differs  most  widely  from  ours, 
For  the  sacred  writers  portray 

That  "a  day  with  the  Lord's  as  a  thousand  years. 
And  a  thousand  years  as  a  day." 

From  this  view  of  a  yesterday  passed 

Let  us  gather  some  memories  sublime; 

Not  from  out  the  weird  past  of  a  thousand  years, 
But  from  four  hundred  years  of  time. 

Our  continent  then  with  its  mountains,  and  plains, 

Spread  from  eastern  to  western  sea; 
And  tossed  its  bright  leaves  o'er  its  silver  lakes, 

On  its  winds  so  wild  and  free. 

The  lords  of  the  soil  in  that  far-away  time. 

Ere  Columbus  sailed  over  the  sea. 
Were  a  savage,  crude  and  ignoble  race. 

Far-off  sons  of  the  ancient  Chinee. 

Then  from  sunny  Spain  came  Columbus  brave, 

With  a  hope  in  his  anxious  mind 
To  traverse  the  seas  and  learn  their  bounds, 

And  the  east  coast  of  India  to  find. 

Mrs.  Amanda  Kerr  Lewis  is  a  native  of  Washington  County,  Pennsylvania.  She  was  bom  Februarys,  1839.  Her  par- 
ents were  James  Mason  Kerr  and  Rebecca  Dinsmore  Kerr,  both  lovely  Christian  characters.  She  was  educated  at  Washing- 
ton Seminary  and  graduated  in  the  famoas  Calico  Class  of  18.55.  She  has  traveled  quite  extensively  throughout  the  United 
States.  She  was  married  during  the  dark  period  of  the  Civil  War  to  John  Henry  Lewis,  of  Bloomington,  111.  Her  special 
work  for  much  of  her  life  has  been  in  the  interest  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  her  missions;  but  for  ten  years,  feeling 
the  need  for  the  higher  education  for  mothers,  she  has  given  herself  to  the  study  and  teaching  of  history  and  literature 
Her  principal  literary  works  are:  "Half-Hours  with  American  Authors,"  for  the  Social  Literary  Circle  of  which  she  was  the 
fopnder.  Her  poems,  "  Columbia's  Women,"  "Ships  in  American  Bays,"  and  "The  Weavers,"  have  been  much  admired. 
She  is  now  in  the  lecture  and  "  entertainment  field,"  under  the  title  conferred  upon  her  in  her  city,  "The  Poet  Lecturer  of  the 

Rockies."  ^  . 

371 


MRS.  AMANDA   KERR   LEWIS. 


372  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Eighteen  long  years  he  had  plead  and  had  prayed 
For  aid  from  proud  Europe's  laws, 

Kings  sneered,  boys  jeered,  but  a  brave  woman  cried — 
"  My  jewels  I'll  pledge  for  your  cause." 

She  was  ready  to  give  every  necklace  and  brooch, 
From  her  arm  every  bracelet  and  chain, 

Columbia — flash  the  name  with  electric  flame 
Of  your  patron,  Isabella  of  Spain. 

'Twas  not  Asia's  shore  Columbus  trod. 
By  the  grand  Spanish  queen's  behest; 

But  he  found  here,  across  the  wide  billowy  foam, 
The  India  isles  of  the  west. 

These  children  of  nature  had  never  then  heard 

Of  a  Calvin's  peculiar  creed; 
Nor  from  a  John  Knox,  or  a  Wesley, 

Had  learned  of  a  sinner's  need. 

But  living  so  close  to  dear  nature's  heart, 
Even  midst  all  their  wild  forest  strife, 

They  reverent  looked  up  to  the  Spirit 

Of  the  sun,  which  gave  nature  her  life. 

So  here,  as  in  all  of  the  ages  past. 

When  strangers  on  newer  lands  trod. 

The  older  historical  people 

Called  them  always  the  sons  of  their  God. 

Four  hundred  years  of  time — is  it  true? 

America,  the  home  of  the  free. 
Since  your  hero,  for  whom  you  should  have  been  named, 

On  your  soil  dropped  his  reverent  knee? 

Oh  hero!  rewarded  with  chains  and  with  scorn, 
It  is  time  that  the  world  should  now  know, 

That  America,  free,  here  at  last  exalts, 
The  wise  Christofal  Columbo. 

Four  hundred  years  of  history  and  fame! 

Stained  with  blood  here  and  there;  yet  we  see 
Here  the  largest,  the  happiest,  the  grandest  land — 

Columbia.  America,  the  free! 

SECOND    PERIOD. 

One  hundred  years  more  of  the  time  passed  by, 
In  this  wonderful,  newly-found  West, 

While  England's  kings  were  sowing  some  seeds, 
Which  grew  there  without  their  behest. 

'Till  again  from  across  the  wide,  watery  deep 

Came  a  fairer  and  nobler  stock. 
To  seek  for  new  homes,  for  liberty's  sake, 

By  the  side  of  our  Plymouth  Rock. 

Of  the  Puritan  Fathers  so  often  we've  heard, 
Since  our  childhood's  sweet,  happy  dream. 

In  spite  of  their  creeds,  and  their  bigotry  dark, 
Held  up  in  such  high  esteem. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  373 

But  of  Pilgrim  Mothers — how  little  we  know! 

They  were  patient,  and  true,  and  so  brave, 
*Mid  the  direst  want,  and  hardships  of  war, 

They  walked  from  cradle  to  grave. 

For  this  century  now,  on  the  roll  of  old  Time, 

Was  a  darkened  and  bloody  page; 
For  the  pale-face  oft  fell  'neath  the  tomahawk 

Of  the  red-man's  violent  rage. 

We  censure  him  not,  for  such  cruel  greed, 

And  treachery  dark,  was  oft  made 
The  means  that  were  used  to  drive  him  far  back 

From  his  own  forest  home,  and  his  glade. 

Had  the  British  invaders  but  practiced  the  rule 

Laid  down  in  their  Gospel,  I  ween 
That  this  land  would  not  have  been  stained  with  their  blood, 

Nor  massacres  ever  been  seen. 

THIRD    PERIOD. 

The  colonies  soon  formed,  a  little  brave  group. 

All  told  there  were  only  thirteen; 
They  cast  aside  all  their  swaddling  bands. 

And  entered  a  wild,  untried  scene. 

Brave  fathers  and  sons  then  entered  that  strife, 

Caring  nothing  for  what  it  might  cost. 
Gave  their  money,  their  homes,  their  treasures — themselves 

That  their  liberties  might  not  be  lost. 

While  patriots  breathe,  and  country  remains, 

This  thought  in  our  memory  fix — 
No  grander  souls  have  ever  lived 

Than  the  women  of  '76. 

But  this  strife  passed  away,  peace  spread  her  bright  wing, 

Washington  sat  with  his  kingly  brow 
At  the  close  of  the  year  of  his  crucial  test, 

A  century  ago,  just  now. 

Fathers  and  husbands,  brothers  and  sons, 

Were  counted  as  gold  then,  we  know; 
But  what  of  the  women  who  lived  and  who  loved 

One  hundred  long  years  ago? 

The  mothers  and  wives  toiled  early  and  late. 

At  the  cradle,  the  wheel,  and  the  loom, 
But  for  books,  for  study,  for  culture  of  mind, 

In  their  lives  there  was  little  room. 

The  brothers  and  sons  must  go  off  to  school, 

Must  learn  figures  to  the  "  Rule  of  Three;' 
Enter  college — university — read  Latin  and  Greek, 

Pluck  rich  fruit  from  the  knowledge  tree. 

But  the  girls  were  too  weak,  of  too  little  account, 

Had  not  brains  then  to  learn  any  rule; 
They  could  spin,  and  could  weave,  could  nurse,  cook  and  sweep. 

But  were  too  feeble-minded  for  school. 


374  '        THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

'Twas  one  hundred  years  ago  and  three 

That  the  doors  of  the  common  schools 

Were  set,  by  some  wise  men,  just  a  little  ajar, 
To  see  if  the  girls  were  all  fools. 

They  let  them  slip  in — just  an  hour  or  two,  • 

To  fill  up  a  cold,  vacant  seat, 
When  a  boy  was  kept  out,  in  the  early  spring. 

To  help  raise  something  to  eat. 

But  by  and  by,  these  wiseacres  said: 

"Why,  the  girls  are  clever,  'tis  true, 
For  they've  held  their  place  by  the  side  of  the  boys. 

And  sometimes  have  passed  them,  too." 

For  'twas  found  in  these  years  that  woman  had  brains 

Near  akin  to  the  stronger  sex. 
So  they've  let  us  in  the  universities,  too. 

Even  stately  old  Harvard-Annex. 

John  Hopkins,  well  known  of  the  Southern  land, 

Long  held  woman  back  as  of  old. 
But  now  it  is  said  even  that  has  been  bought, 

Or  at  least  the  story  is  told 

That  a  woman  stood  late  at  her  portals  and  knocked, 

Saying,  "  Please  let  us  into  your  fold. 
And  I  will  give  you  what  you  very  much  need, 

A  hundred  thousand  of  gold." 

FOURTH  PERIOD, 

A  memory  dark,  of  a  sorrowful  time. 

Comes  rushing  along  as  the  tide. 
When  a  brother  in  blue,  and  another  in  gray. 

Fought,  struggled  and  died,  side  by  side. 

Through  that  terrible  war,  when  its  balls  and  its  shells 

Went  whizzing  all  over  the  land, 
While  the  men  kept  the  field  the  women  at  home 

Scraped  the  lint,  and  tore  hospital  band. 

Women,  noble  in  heart  and  unselfish  in  thought. 

Thinking  nothing  of  profit  or  gain. 
Went  forth  from  their  homes,  to  the  hospital  tent. 

To  care  for  the  wounded  and  slain. 

When  that  fell  pistol-shot  rang  out  on  the  night. 
And  the  nation's  brave  chief  was  laid  low. 

The  Stars  and  the  Stripes  of  America  drooped 
In  her  grief-stricken  hour  of  woe. 

When  the  future  looked  dark,  and  the  country  seemed  wrecked, 

And  the  land  was  with  terror  alive. 
Brave  men  with  sad  hearts  were  aided  and  cheered 

By  the  women  of  '65. 

The  North  and  the  South,  both  deemed  their  cause  just, 

And  together  bore  sorrow  and  pain; 
But  now  from  the  Lakes  to  the  Mexico  Gulf 

We  are  brothers  and  sisters  again. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  375 

And  the  spirit  of  '76  still  lived, 

And  rose  PhcEnix-like  from  the  fray, 
And  the  glorious  crown  of  Liberty, 

Wears  Columbia  still  today. 

FIFTH    PERIOD.  • 

And  what  of  Today,  watchman?    What  of  Today? 

Help  me  now  its  import  to  unfold; 
How  read  we  the  symbols,  the  signs  of  the  times? 

What's  Today's  record  to  be  unrolled. 

Not  the  men  alone  are  giving  their  thoughts, 

So  earnest,  so  wise,  so  great, 
Columbia's  women  keep  pace  by  their  side 

All  over  each  sun-kissed  state. 

A  national  work  of  meaning  so  grand 

Is  felt  in  our  land  today. 
The  echoing  voice  of  a  far-off  state, 

A  sound  to  be  heard  for  aye. 

A  few  little  seeds  by  some  earnest  minds 

A  few  years  ago  were  sown, 
By  "  Chautauqua's  shores,"  in  the  "  Empire  State, 

From  which  rich  harvests  have  grown. 

'Twas  a  great,  grand  thought  to  give  to  the  world. 

This  plan  by  a  few  outlined, 
To  raise  the  world  to  a  betterment, 

To  lift  up  and  ennoble  mankind. 

The  clear  Bryant  bell,  by  Chautauqua's  lake, 

Has  rung  its  sweet  peals  in  our  ears, 
Carried  music  and  joy  to  thousands  of  homes 

In  these  later  passings  of  years. 

Other  circles  for  culture  and  study  and  growth 

Are  springing  up,  side  by  side, 
In  city  and  village,  and  hamlet  and  town, 

From  Atlantic  to  the  sun-down  tide. 

They  traverse  the  fields  of  science  and  art. 

Of  language  and  poetry  rare; 
They  seek  for  the  wisdom  of  Grecian  sage, 

Read  old  Egypt's  sculptures  fair. 

The  old  circle  for  sewing,  and  the  gossipy  tea, 

On  the  roll  of  Today  have  no  part; 
When  women  convene  now,  in  language  choice 

They  converse  on  "  Ethics  "  and  "Art." 

SIXTH    PERIOD. 

Yesterday  is  gone  to  the  tomb  of  the  past, 

Today  let  us  not  trouble  borrow. 
For  here  we  find  gladness  and  peace  and  hope, 

Bui,  watchman,  what  of  Tomorrow? 


376  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Its  promise  is  bright  and  most  hopeful,  we  deem, 
For  brothers  and  sisters  together. 

Now,  side  by  side,  drink  from  wisdom's  deep  fount, 
In  cloudy  and  sunshiny  weather. 

The  parents  and  children  together  now  search 
For  the  treasures  of  all  ancient  lore; 

The  mothers  need  never  again  be  styled, 

"  The  old  servant  who  waits  on  the  door." 

Some  think  that  the  race,  in  the  coming  years, 
For  position,  for  culture,  for  health. 

Between  man  and  woman,  and  boy  and  girl. 
For  honors,  for  fame,  for  wealth. 

Will  settle  some  questions  of  present  dark  need, 
Which  hope  to  some  sad  hearts  may  carry, 

When  woman  can  live  by  her  own  honest  work 
She'll  not  be  in  haste  to  marry. 

When  she'll  give  her  hand  in  the  marriage  bond 
To  the  lawyer  she'll  ne'er  be  a  debtor; 

'Twill  be  for  pure  love,  and  not  for  a  home, 
There'll  be  fewer  ties,  but  better. 

The  tomorrow  of  woman  stands  not  alone. 
With  the  sunrise  light  in  her  face, 

But  also  for  man  waits  a  blessing  sure. 
If  he's  found  in  a  true  man's  place. 

We  are  nearing  the  end  of  another  page 
In  the  history's  roll  of  the  world, 

A  century's  close  is  a  turning  time. 
New  truths  will  then  be  unfurled. 

Since  the  Puritan  Fathers  first  came  to  these  shores, 
And  their  homes  of  liberty  sought. 

The  dawning  time  of  each  hundred  years 
Has  given  to  the  world  its  new  thought. 

Both  the  church  and  the  state,  in  the  passing  of  years. 
Have  rolled  many  clouds  far  away, 

And  the  gloom  and  the  fear  of  the  Puritan  creeds 
Are  truly  not  with  us  today. 

Our  nation  has  left  in  the  depths  of  the  past 
Its  childhood  and  infantile  sleep. 

And  with  noontide  strength  must  wrestle  now 
With  problems  both  dark  and  deep. 

Her  money,  her  trusts,  and  her  laborers'  cries. 

Her  tariffs,  her  capital  schemes. 
Are  the  subjects  demanding  the  wisest  of  laws — 

'Tis  no  time  for  mere  idle  dreams. 

Our  nation's  too  free,  if  the  truth  we'll  confess, 
'Tis  high  time  her  laws  were  made  firm 

To  keep  out  the  paupers,  and  Old  World  serfs. 
With  their  death-spreading  cholera  germ. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  377 

She  is  much  too  free,  in  her  precincts  and  polls, 

For  safety  to  Liberty's  cause, 
When  foreigners  all  are  granted  a  vote 

Before  they  know  aught  of  her  laws. 

Not  faiths,  nor  creeds,  are  our  greatest  needs, 

Which  ofttimes  engender  a  strife; 
But  the  reaching  out  of  the  helping  hand 

To  the  Jean  Valjeans  of  life. 

Earth's  pitiful,  sad  and  dejected  ones 

Call  daily  to  us  for  our  care, 
The  lowly  and  fallen  need  lifting  up, 

True  charity's  deed  is  so  rare. 

SEVENTH  PERIOD. 

Today  is  a  time  to  be  proud  of,  my  friends. 

For  'tis  filled  with  promises  rare. 
In  it  are  glimpses  of  coming  joys. 

In  them  may  we  all  have  a  share. 

Grand  women  are  found  now  in  high  honored  seats, 

In  the  home,  in  the  pulpit,  the  bar, 
In  the  doctor's  gig — what  a  magical  change 
Since  that  school-door  went  slightly  ajar? 

Columbia's  women  are  found  at  the  front, 

Where  the  youth  of  our  nation  are  taught, 
In  the  church,  on  the  press,  in  the  temperance  cause. 

Or  with  Charity's  blessings  fraught. 

As  America  honors  her  natal  time, 

Of  her  four  hundred  years  today, 
Her  women  stand  side  by  side  with  her  men 

In  her  nationalistic  display. 

As  Columbia's  women  we've  stretched  out  kindly  hands 

To  our  sisters  from  over  the  main;  » 

We  have  welcomed  them  all,  from  court  or  from  cot, 

Or  from  ancient  Palace  of  Spain. 

And  we've  room  for  still  more  on  our  prairies  so  broad, 

Come  from  South  land,  and  North  Sea  so  cold! 
From  mountain  and  plain  and  island,  to  greet 

Miss  Columbia!  four  hundred  years  old. 

Many  names  are  enrolled  this  Columbian  time 

In  our  national  record  book. 
But  three  stand  forth  with  electric  light, — 

Mesdamcs  Palmer,  Henrotin  and  Cooke. 

They  stood  at  the  helm,  amid  all  the  storms, 

'Till  "our  ship"  at  its  anchorage  lay — 
Let  Columbia's  women  give  them  homage  due 

In  this"  Woman's  Building"  today. 

And  others  stand  in  a  golden  rank; 

We  would  take  you  all  by  the  hand, 
But  to  number  in  name — 'twere  as  easy  to  count 

The  grains  of  the  sea-beach  strand. 


378  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Many  Christian  names  flash  along  into  line 

On  Columbia's  Liberty  Tree — 
A  Julia,  a  May,  Elizabeth,  too, 

Frances,  Lucy,  and  Susan  B. 

Women  always  have  wanted  the  equal  right 

To  rule  as  queens  in  the  heart; 
To  make  husbands,  children  and  friends  good  and  true, 

And  thus  act  their  noblest  part. 

Some  are  asking  you  brothers,  for  the  equal  rights 

To  be  found  in  the  ballot  box — 
Not  to  linger  in  halls,  or  about  the  polls, 

Nor  to  seek  all  the  world's  rough  knocks; 

But  the  equal  right  to  stand  in  the  line. 
As  we're  taxed  just  the  same  as  you. 

And  to  cast  our  votes,  with  a  hearty  good-will, 
For  laws  that  are  loyal  and  true. 

We  may  not  now  know  all  the  principles  deep 

In  our  nation's  political  creed. 
Yet  you  surely  will  say  we're  full  equals  today 

To  the  masses — whose  votes  you  all  need. 

We  must  dig  and  must  delve  in  the  mold  of  the  past. 
For  the  lessons  of  wisdom  made  plain, — 

How  nations  have  risen  and  prospered,  or  sunk 
Back,  back  to  oblivion  again.  . 

The  specters  of  ignorance,  prejudice,  doubt. 

Must  beat  a  quiet  retreat; 
And  the  mandates  of  selfishness,  fashion  and  pride, 

Must  be  trampled  benccrth  our  feet. 

When  woman  has  proved  to  the  lordlier  race 
She  has  broken  these  chains  of  the  past, 
•  He  will  reach  out  his  scepter,  and  graciously  say, 
'•  Here's  the  half  of  my  kingdom  at  last." 

The  tomorrow  of  woman  we  thus  clearly  define. 
We  aim  not,  dear  brothers,  above  you; 

True  woman  is  happiest  enthroned  by  your  side, 
Go  halvers!  and  see  how  we'll  love  you! 

The  true  men  and  women  must  stand  side  by  side, 
And  with  zeal  and  strength  for  the  fight 

Must  together  march  on,  and  lend  helping  hand 
For  Truth,  for  Freedom,  for  Right. 

When  woman  for  her  worth  can  thus  be  enthroned, 

And  of  Life  be  the  Polar  Star, 
Our  land  will  be  purer  and  better  than  now. 

And  man  will  be  nobler  by  far. 

Each  day  filled  with  duty  and  kindly  thought. 
Kindly  word,  kindly  deed  without  strife. 

Will  make  a  tomorrow  of  beautiful  cloth 
For  our  wonderful  web  of  life. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  379 

When  this  web  is  complete,  and  its  warp  and  its  woof 

And  its  flowers  of  beauty  been  scanned, 
Our  "Yesterdays"  gone  and  "Todays"  shall  be  lost 

In  Tomorrow's  bright  summer  land. 

Columbia's  women,  press  on  your  bright  way. 

Rise  higher  in  wisdom  and  art; 
But  scatter  about  you  wherever  you  go 

Sweet  blossoms  from  kindliest  heart. 

May  the  century  next  inscribe  on  its  roll, 

On  Time's  pillar  still  bright  and  free 
By  the  side  of  the  men,  the  glorious  work 

Of  the  women  of  '93. 


CERTAIN  METHODS  OF   STUDYING  DRAWING.* 


By  MISS  AIMEE    K.  OSBORNE   MOORE. 

It  is  for  a  talk  on  the  philographic,  or  self-correcting  method,  as  a  practical  means 
of  learning  drawing,  that  we  are  come  together.     It  is,  therefore,  needless  to  go  into 

the  question  of  the  use  of  learning  to  draw,  or  to  try 
to  decide  between  the  many  opposite  theories  on 
which  well-known  drawing  methods  are  founded,  or 
seriously  to  discuss  the  question  so  frequently  raised 
by  art  teachers  of  the  admissibility,  in  studying  draw- 
ing, of  any  outside  helps,  whatever,  such  as  are  gener- 
ally used  in  every  other  branch  of  study,  sculpture, 
music,  etc.  To  say  that  a  method  is  new,  is  seem- 
ingly to  say  at  the  same  time  that  its  promoters  have 
to  fight  against  a  great  deal  of  prejudice  (on  the  part 
^^  _^_  at  least  of  the  teachers).  In  the  present  case  the  pedi- 

#'<«Hk  gree  of  our  method  is  so  ancient,  and  the  modern 

■  ^^T-  writers  who  can  be  shown  to  be  its  sponsors  are  so 

highly  respectable,  that  it  is  not  very  difificultto  prove 
the  prejudice  against  it  chiefly  caused  by  people  not 
understanding  its  drift.  Still,  it  must  be  admitted, 
the  name  "self-correcting"  sounds  terribly  independ- 
ent, and  to  mention  anything  like  "mechanical  aids"  is 
to  call  up  a  formidable  bugbear,  for  it  is  the  fashion 
among  teachers  to  talk  a  great  deal  about  art  and  the 
ideal,  and  very  beautiful  and  enthusiastic  things  are 
said  in  this  connection,  so  much  so  that  to  speak  of 
"mere  drawing,"  as  it  was  frequently  called  during  the  recent  Congresses,  would  seem 
almost  like  taking  up  a  very  small,  unpretentious  subject. 

Among  the  world's  teachers,  assembled  lately  in  a  solemn  conclave,  you  may  have 
noticed  there  were  such  vast  differences  of  opinion  as  to  what  drawing  is,  that  it 
becomes  necessary  to  begin  by  asking  each  person  what  he  or  she  means  by  the  term 
before  discussing  ways  and  means  of  studying  the  subject.  So  doing,  you  would  receive 
more  answers,  and  more  varied  ones,  than  we  have  time  to  listen  to  now.  The  Old 
Masters  are  simpler  and  at  the  same  time  broader  in  what  they  say;  let  us  be  modest, 
and  try  to  content  ourselves  with  what  guidance  we  can  get  from  them;  first,  as  to 
what  drawing  is  or  should  be;  secondly,  as  to  what  kind  of  help  is  admissible  in  learn- 
ing to  draw;  and  let  us  get,  if  possible,  some  practical  suggestions  with  regard  to  such 
help.  If  we  seek  far  enough  we  shall  probably  find  that  the  artists  of  those  times 
agree  through  their  work,  in  countless  points,  with  scientific  and  otherwise  remarkable 
men  of  our  own  day,  that,  whether  knowingly  or  unknowingly,  they  worked  on  such  truly 
scientific  lines  as  should  cause  infinite  pain  to  those  modern  art  teachers  for  whom 
science,  when  we  approach  the  region  of  art,  is  a  word  of  ill  omen,  and  mechanical 
helps  of  any  kind  or  degree  an  insuperable  stumbling-block. 

Miss  Aimee  K.  Osborne  Moore  is  a  native  of  England.  Her  parents  were  James  Moore,  late  Deputy  Inspector-General 
of  Hospitals  in  H.  M.  Service,  and  Anna  Marion  Osborne  Moore.  She  was  educated  at  Lawrance,  Switzerland,  and  later 
studied  in  Paris  and  England.  Has  traveled  in  Europ)e,  Italy,  France  and 'America.  Miss  Moore  is  an  artist  and  teacher.  She 
is  a  member  of  the  Anglican  Episcopal  Church.    HerpostoSice  address  is  No.  41  Cathcart  Road,  London,  S.  W.  England. 


MISS  AIMEE  K.  OSBORNE  MOORE. 


Ing." 


♦The  title  under  which  this  address  was  delivered  was :  "Philographic  or  Self-Correcting  Methods  of  Studying  Draw, 

380 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  381 

"  The  science  of  drawing  or  of  outline  is  the  essence  of  painting  and  of  all  the 
fine  arts,  and  the  root  of  all  the  sciences.  He  who  can  raise  himself  to  the  point  of 
mastering  it  possesses  a  great  treasure.  Drawing  embraces  everything;  it  is  used  for 
machines,  for  plans,  for  building,  for  the  ordering  of  battles,  etc.,  so  that  in  looking 
at  all  varieties  of  human  work  you  will  find  each  to  consist  wholly  or  in  part  of 
drawing." 

Let  us  then  establish  at  once  that  by  drawing  we  mean  the  graphic  represen- 
tation on  a  plane  (flat  or  smooth  surface)  of  all  kinds  of  solid  forms,  with  the  varying 
aspects  they  present,  according  to  the  point  from  which  we  look  at  them,  their  dis- 
tance from  us  and  from  each  other,  and  their  own  actual  position,  etc.  "  All  drawing  is 
founded  on  a  right  knowledge  of  perspective,"  says  Leonardo  da  Vinci.  The  word  per- 
spective, dictionaries  tell  us,  comes  from  roots  meaning  to  see  through,  or  to  see 
thoroughly.  This  definition  can  not,  however,  be  considered  altogether  satisfactory, 
because  thorough  seeing  implies  quite  different  things  according  to  the  end  we  have 
in  view  when  looking.  A  paper-hanger  or  a  shop  assistant,  whose  eye  is  well  trained 
and  who  sees  thoroughly,  will,  when  looking  at  a  large  roll  of  paper  or  wire  or  woolen 
goods,  be  able  to  say  within  a  little  how  many  yards  go  to  make  up  the  piece,  or 
how  many  rolls  are  required  to  paper  a  room.  A  modeler,  or  a  sculptor,  who  is  going 
to  copy  in  wax  or  in  clay  a  certain  vase,  a  head  or  a  whole  figure,  must  rightly  see  and 
imitate  the  shape  and  the  literal  or  proportional  bulk  of  each  part. 

Drawing,  then,  deals  with  appearances,  and  whether  we  are  going  to  make  a  draw- 
ing of  a  single  object  or  a  landscape,  to  do  a  portrait  from  life  or  to  sketch  an  interior, 
our  first  aim  must  be  to  rightly  see,  and  our  second,  to  rightly  record  the  actual 
appearance  of  the  subject  from  our  chosen  point  of  view.  The  better  we  see  and  the 
more  accurately  we  record  it,  the  truer  will  our  drawing  be.  Leonardo  did  not  con- 
tent himself  with  telling  his  pupils  to  learn  perspective — he  gave  them  a  great  many 
practical  hints  on  the  subject,  and  the  first  thing  he  advised  them  to  study,  until  they 
understood  it  properly,  was  their  own  eye,  and  its  working. 

The  first  thing  Leonardo  da  Vinci  suggests  as  a  help  in  the  translation  of  the 
appearance  of  solid  forms  on  to  a  plane  surface  (Treatise  on  Painting)  is  the  use  of  a 
piece  of  glass  fixed  upright  at  a  convenient  distance  from  the  eye.  "  To  make  sure 
your  perspective  is  right,"  says  he,  "  fix  a  sheet  of  glass  before  your  eye,  between  it 
and  the  thing  you  intend  to  make  a  portrait  of;  fix  your  head  so  that  you  can  not  move 
it  at  all;  close  and  cover  one  eye,  and  with  pen  or  pencil  trace  on  the  glass  what  you 
see  before  you.  You  can  afterward  take  it  off  on  thin  tracing  paper;  and  transfer  it  to 
another  surface  for  painting  pay  great  attention  then  to  the  aerial  perspective."  This 
passage,  as  well  as  man/  others  in  the  remarkable  work,  goes  far  to  prove  how  well  dis- 
posed was  Leonardo,  at  least  toward  the  use  of  everything  capable  of  helping  the 
student  to  use  to  the  utmost  his  own  individual  powers  of  judgment  and  criticism. 
With  him  all  means  are  good  and  admissible  be  they  scientific,  common-sense,  or 
distinctively  mechanical  and  commonplace,  provided  they  tend  toward  the  true  seeing 
and  the  intelligent  rendering  of  those  appearances  of  forms  in  space  which  it  is  the 
sole  province  of  drawing  to  deal  with.  Starting  with  the  use  of  Leonardo's  glass  plane, 
or  rather  the  practical  realization  of  his  vague  suggestion,  we  found  that  all  the  ele- 
mentary facts  of  perspective  can  be  clearly  demonstrated,  and  more,  made  absolutely 
tangible  by  the  intelligent  use  of  the  apparatus  we  had  made,  and  which  we  call  a 
philograph,  so  that  the  beginner,  instead  of  hearing  of  mathematical  theories,  and  given 
a  number  of  tiresome  diagrams  to  work  out,  could  learn  the  groundwork  of  perspec- 
tive directly  from  nature,  and  with  proper  guidance  find  out,  so  to  say  for  himself,  the 
first  facts  of  the  science  on  which  the  whole  of  linear  perspective  is  built  up,  and  with 
this  advantage,  that  he  only  learns  theoretically  what  he  learns  practically,  and  the 
theory  after  and  in  proof  of  the  practice. 

Next  we  made  quite  clear  to  ourselves  that  a  much  more  important  point  has 
been  attained;  namely,  we  can  do  the  same  for  the  perspective  of  irregular  forms,  or 
organic  or  living  bodies  and  figures,  as  for  the  lines  and  planes  of  linear  perspective. 


382  THE  CONGRESS  OF"  WOMEN. 

However  slow  or  tiresome,  or,  to  many  minds  difficult  they  may  be,  methods  for  the 
study  of  linear  perspective  do  exist,  and  can  be  learned  by  almost  every  one  who  goes 
to  work  properly  to  learn  it;  but  with  organic  form  this  is  not  the  case.  Let  me  give 
a  practical  illustration  by  comparing  drawing  with  sculpture.  Say  a  sculptor  is  going 
to  copy  exactly  a  plaster  head.  Long  before  he  thinks  of  giving  it  a  laughing  or  a 
serene  expression,  the  delicate  modeling  of  each  feature,  or  the  smooth  or  the  hairy 
surface,  he  must  realize  and  put  down  in  the  clay  the  accurate  dimensions  of  the  whole 
mass  of  the  head,  the  proper  relative  position  and  size,  height  or  depth  of  each  part  or 
feature.  He  does  this  by  help  of  his  eye,  and  his  already  acquired  knowledge  (you 
will  say).  Yes,  but  that  is  not  all;  he  uses  a  simple  enough  help,  though  one  he  would 
be  sorry  to  be  forced  to  do  without,  at  least  until  he  has  had  a  great  deal  of  experi- 
ence. This  instrument,  called  "calipers,"  or  compass  of  thickness,  is  not  only  toler- 
ated, but  you  will  find  that  the  very  best  French  sculptors  recommend  and  insist  upon 
its  constant  use  by  students  for  the  sake  of  cultivating  their  eye  and  judgment  of 
form.  But  how  is  it  with  drawing?  How  do  we  expect  to  gain  certainty  here?  You 
make  an  accurate  drawing  of  this  head*  from  one  position,  but  if  you  move  one  inch 
to  the  right  or  to  the  left  and  look  at  it  from  that  altered  point  of  view,  your  drawing 
will  be  no  longer  accurate,  all  the  relative  spaces  and  distances  will  appear  different 
and  must  be  drawn  so.  The  sculptor  can  walk  around  what  he  does,  can  measure  it 
from  front  to  back,  from  side  to  side,  or  diagonally,  but  you  can  do  nothing  of  the 
sort,  and  according  to  what  many  people  say,  if  you  know  a  way  of  measuring  you 
ought  not  to  use  it;  you  ought  to  depend  solely  upon  your  eye,  even  though  it  means, 
as  it  so  frequently  does,  building  up  a  complete  work  on  an  incorrect  or  uncertain 
foundation. 

By  means  of  these  helps  every  ordinarily  intelligent  person  can  do  in  a  measure 
for  his  own  eye  what  photography  does  for  the  glass  eye  of  the  camera;  not,  indeed, 
produce  a  complete,  effortless  picture  of  all  he  sees,  but  accurately  record  the  facts  of 
proportion  and  form,  of  perspective  alterations,  etc.,  as  seen  by  the  eye.  Granted  that 
what  I  say  be  true,  and  we  make  it  a  first  condition  with  all  growing  students  that  they 
start  with  learning  how  and  why  the  instruments  maybe  relied  on  so  far,  it  is  easy  to 
see  that  quite  a  new  element  of  certainty  is  introduced  into  the  study  of  drawing.  We 
are  enabled  to  judge  of  the  work  of  our  own  eyes  and  of  our  neighbor's  by  applying 
the  inexorable  test  of  optical  and  geometrical  facts  to  what  hitherto  had  depended 
entirely  on  our  own  and  on  our  fellow-man's  right  seeing  and  judging. 

A  few  words  as  to  the  actual  use  of  the  philographic  helps  in  studying  according 
to  the  method.  We  act  on  the  belief  that  just  as  sounding  a  note  in  music  covertly 
repeated,  even  though  you  be  at  first  guided  to  the  true  sound  by  some  instrument,  will 
soon  lead  to  your  being  able  to  sound  it  correctly  without  helps ;  so  correctly  and  repeat- 
edly reproducing  graphically  the  appearance  of  a  given  form,  even  though  you  are 
helped  to  see  it,  is  the  shortest  and  best  way  of  learning  to  see  it  without  helps.  It  does 
not  in  any  way  encourage  carelessness  or  scamping,  but  on  the  contrary  cultivates 
to  the  full  intelligent  judgment  and  self-criticism  on  the  part  of  the  student,  based  on 
the  understanding  of  the  chief  instrument  he  must  employ,  namely,  his  own  eye,  and 
on  the  laws  according  to  which  it  works,  to  enable  him  to  see  the  difficulties  and 
to  cope  with  them,  one  by  one.  By  so  much  simplification,  and  the  practical  turning 
of  small  means  to  good  account,  to  render  it  feasible  for  all  sorts  of  people,  and  even 
solitary  students,  to  master  the  elements  of  drawing  thoroughly.  I  leave  it  to  you 
whether  this  suggested  strengthening  of  the  foundations  should  imply  any  harm  or 
any  lessening  of  beauty  and  completeness  in  the  superstructure.  Should  it  not  rather, 
as  we  strongly  incline  to  think,  have  the  contrary  effect,  by  making  it  much  harder  to 
pass  off  bad  drawing  for  good,  and  much  more  possible  to  correct  the  bad  work  and 
do  away  with  bad  workmanship. 

'Displaying  a  Marble  Bust. 


THE  ISHMAELITE  OF  OKLAHOMA. 


By  MRS.  SELWYN  DOUGLAS. 

Oklahoma  is  a  compound  Choctaw  word,  okla  or  «^/d;=^people;  homma=^x&d'. 
red  people.     It  was  suggested  by  Rev.  Allen  Wright,  governor  of  the  Choctaw  Nation, 

and  one  of  the  delegates  from  the  Choctaw  Nation  to 
Washington  City,  and  accepted  by  the  United  States 
commissioner  when  the  treaties  were  renevi^ed  at  the 
close  of  the  war  in  1866.  Oklahoma  was  originally  a 
part  of  the  Louisiana  purchase.  It  was  given  to  the 
Muskogee  and  Seminole  Indians  for  a  home  in  1835. 
Since  that  time  until  1889,  when  it  became  through 
treaties  a  part  of  the  public  domain,  a  period  of  fifty- 
four  years,  Oklahoma  has  been  the  home  of  this 
Ishmaelitish  people — a  race  resembling  in  many 
respects  the  ancient  Israelites. 

Four  hundred  years  ago  the  race  to  which  this 
Ishmaelite  of  Oklahoma  belongs  was  an  independent, 
self-governing  nation — citizens  of  a  sylvan  republic, 
with  laws  respected  throughout  their  wide  domain — 
a  nation  crude,  but  child-like  in  its  working,  but 
capable  of  high-development,  courageous,  virtuous, 
heroic  in  endurance.  A  nation,  which  had  the  most 
primitive  forms  of  religious  worship  to  be  sure;  but 
without  the  degrading  features  of  the  religion  of  old 
Greece  or  Rome,  or  of  modern  India.  A  nation 
which  had  its  rude  manufactures,  its  agricultural 
industries,  its  strenuous  occupations,  its  hardihood  of  fearless  hunting — for  these  were 
no  ease-loving,  luxurious,  tropical  dreamers,  these  North  American  Indians.  Up  to 
this  time  theft  and  dissimulation  were  little  known  among  them,  and  cold  water  was 
their  sole  drink.  "  The  introduction  of  fire  water,"  says  Mr.  Turner  in  his  "History  of 
Indian  Treaties,"  "cost  them  their  native  independence  of  character." 

This  explains  in  part  how  this  self-governing  people,  after  four  centuries,  has 
degenerated  into  a  savage,  wandering  race,  these  Ishmaelites  of  the  American  plain, 
with  their  hands  always  turned  against  their  white  neighbors.  For  the  ruin  of  his  race 
the  red  man  has  a  fearful  account  against  his  white  brother. 

Our  "  sister  in  red" — the  woman  in  this  Ishma-elitish  race — thanks  the  Great  Spirit 
for  the  gift  of  motherhood.  She  watches  eagerly  for  the  dawning  of  intelligence  in 
the  copper-colored  features  and  black  eyes  of  her  baby;  she  is  very  fond  of  him  and  he  is 
rarely  allowed  out  of  her  sight.  To  be  sure  he  is  strapped  to  a  board,  and  kept  straight. 
In  this  way  the  future  warrior  takes  his  first  lesson  in  endurance,  and  the  patience  and 
quiet  of  this  baby  in  his  confinement  is  wonderful.  His  mother  spends  little  time  in 
preparing  his  toilet,  and  if  he  cries,  what  harm?     It  only  develops  his  lungs. 

The  Indian  mother  names  her  boy  from  the  first  object  she  sees  after  his  birth; 
but  as  he  grows  up,  if  any  special  characteristic  is  developed,  he  is  named  from  that, 
and  his  baby  name  is  dropped.     Sometimes  that  "  Reaper,  whose  name  is  Death,"  cuts 

Mra.  Selwjii  Douglas  is  a  native  of  Ellicottville,  N.  Y.  Her  parents  were  Joseph  Colman  and  Julia  Blair  Colman. 
She  was  educated  at  Vassar  and  at  Ypeilanti,  Mich.  She  married  Mr.  Selwyn  Douglas.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  inter, 
est  of  education.  Her  profession  is  that  of  a  teacher  of  high  schools.  In  religious  faith  she  is  a  Presbyterian,  and  is  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Oklahoma  City,  I.  T. 

383 


MRS.  SELWYN   DOUGLAS 


384  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

down  this  Indian  boy,  and  the  mother  watches,  with  a  heart  full  of  anguish,  his  little 
limbs  stiffen  and  grow  cold  and  life  go  out.  When  the  little  body  is  put  into  a  coffin, 
she  brings  his  little  moccasins,  his  beads,  his  small  buckskin  garments,  and  puts  them 
into  the  coffin  with  him,  that  he  may  wear  them  in  the  land  where  he  is  gone.  He  is 
buried  on  the  hillside.  His  little  coffin  is  not  put  down  in  the  ground,  but  is  set  on 
the  sod,  a  wooden  frame  is  built  around  it,  and  this  is  filled  and  covered  with  the  red 
soil  of  Oklahoma: 

"  And  soon  the  grassy  coverlet  of  God 
Spreads  equal  green  above  its  ashes  pale." 

Then  the  oldest  woman  of  his  tribe  goes  to  the  top  of  the  hill,  and  with  clasped 
hands,  and  face  turned  to  the  sun,  she  prays  to  the  Great  Spirit  for  the  soul  of  this 
little  boy  till  the  last  ray  of  sunlight  has  disappeared. 

The  Indian  woman  bears  all  the  physical  burdens  of  her  race.  She  lifts  the  heavy 
loads,  she  cares  for  the  ponies  and  the  cattle,  she  loads  and  unloads  the  wagons.  She 
is  in  every  sense  the  home-maker,  for  she  fashions  the  tepee  out  of  poles  and  canvas, 
gets  up  in  the  morning  and  builds  the  fire,  and  permits  her  liege-lord  to  sleep  the 
sleep  of  the  righteous.  For  let  me  assure  you,  this  liege-lord  of  hers  is  no  believer  in 
"Woman's  Rights."  To  compensate  her  for  this  she  is  stronger  physically  than  her 
husband;  she  has  few  of  the  ills  of  her  white  sister.  The  Indian  wife  takes  charge  of 
all  the  money  that  comes  into  the  family,  and  doles  it  out  to  the  husband  in  proper 
amounts.  And  I  hope  she  makes  special  inquiries  of  how  much  he  wants,  what  he  is 
going  to  buy,  what  he  did  with  the  last  she  gave  him,  and  winds  up  with  a  lecture  on 
economy  and  hard  times.     I  say  I  hope  she  does. 

The  Indian  mother  has  entire  control  of  her  children  until  they  have  reached 
womanhood  and  manhood.  She  says  what  they  shall  and  shall  not  do,  and  if  the  father 
interferes  unwisely,  he  is  told  to  go  about  his  business  in  terms  he  usually  understands. 
The  Indian  woman  in  the  ignorance  of  guileless  and  uncultured  nature  values  the  love 
and  fidelity  of  her  husband  more  than  anything  else  in  the  world.  To  be  a  deserted 
wife  is  a  sorrow  and  disgrace  hard  to  be  borne. 

Both  men  and  women  are  fond  of  athletic  games.  The  Shawnee  ball-game  is  quite 
amusing.  The  men  are  pitted  against  the  women.  Everyone  bets  on  one  side  or  the 
other.  The  women  win  quite  as  many  games  as  the  men.  With  their  loose,  flowing 
garments,  well  developed  muscles,  and  superior  strength,  they  are  well  matched  with 
the  men.  The  Ghost  Dance  is  purely  a  religious  ceremony.  The  scene,  as  I  witnessed 
it,  was  weird  in  the  extreme.  The  place  chosen  was  a  secluded  spot,  shut  off  from 
the  surrounding  country  by  a  large  wood  of  oaks.  Three  hundred  and  fifty  or  four 
hundred  Indian  men  and  women  sat  in  a  circle  on  the  ground.  Their  dusky  forms, 
wrapped  in  their  blankets,  were  plainly  visible  in  the  waning  moonlight.  White 
Horse,  a  tall,  stately  Indian — one  of  Nature's  noblemen — dressed  in  a  blanket  and 
with  a  headdress  of  feathers  paced  around  the  outside  of  the  circle,  talking  as  he 
walked.  The  rhythm  and  cadences  of  the  Indian  tongue,  when  the  voice  is  moved  by 
the  passion  of  the  soul,  are  very  musical.  The  whole  talk  seemed  to  be  addressed  to 
their  emotional  nature  alone.  He  spoke  of  their  hopes,  griefs  and  fears.  Suddenly, 
and  without  any  signal  that  myself  or  the  interpreter  could  detect,  the  whole  circle  rose 
at  the  same  instant,  and  the  song  and  ghost  dance  began.  Each  commenced  a  slow 
and  measured  but  ungainly  step,  until  the  whole  were  circling  in  a  sort  of  magic  dance. 
The  movements  were  timed  in  some  degree  by  the  words  of  their  songs,  as  were  the 
gestures  by  the  ideas.  At  intervals  someone,  overcome  by  his  emotions,  would  break 
the  line,  and  rushing  toward  the  center,  fall  in  a  swoon.  By  midnight  at  least  fifty 
were  lying  inside  the  circle  in  this  hypnotic  sleep. 

This  dance  continues  for  days,  weeks  and  months,  and  the  overwrought  condition 
of  their  emotional  natures  furnishes  a  fitting  time  for  dangerous  conspiracies  and  out- 
breaks. 

The  religion  of  the  Indian,  like  that  of  other  primitive  races,  has  neither  temple 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  885 

nor  ritual.  He  was  originally  a  sun-worshiper;  but  now  he  mingles  with  his  religious 
ceremonies  many  of  the  rites  of  the  Christian.  He  worships  the  Great  Spirit,  and 
believes  almost  universally  in  a  future  life.  The  Indian  who  becomes  converted  to 
Christianity  is  usually  characterized  by  his  moral,  upright  life. 

Since  1889  twenty-three  million  acres  have  been  taken  from  the  Indian  reserva- 
tions and  added  to  the  public  domain.  When  Oklahoma  was  first  thrown  open  to  set- 
tlement the  great  cry,  "  Land  fiir  der  landloss  und  Heimath  fiir  det  Heimathloss,"  went 
out  through  all  our  broad  land.  The  old  chief,  Queenoshamno,  when  he  knew  that 
the  lands  where  his  warrior  father  had  lived  and  died,  where  his  sons  and  daughters 
had  grown  to  manhood  and  womanhood,  were  to  be  given  to  the  white  man,  said: 
"  Old  Queenoshamno  will  never  see  the  white  man  in  his  home,"  and  his  sightless  eyes, 
made  so  by  his  own  hands,  are  a  proof  of  his  heroism,  born  of  his  patriotism  and  des- 
peration. 

The  sun  rose  on  the  22d  day  of  April,  1889,  in  a  clear  sky.  A  sunrise  in  Okla- 
homa is  a  beautiful  sight.  The  east  gives  a  rosy  promise  of  the  morning,  justthe  first  soft 
glimmer  from  the  gates  ajar  of  that  Heavenly  chamber  whence  the  sun  will  by-and- 
by  come  rejoicing.  A  doubtful,  slowly-growing  light  spreads,  encroaching  on  the 
shadows  in  the  east.  The  sky  beds  itself  on  the  bright  green  of  the  prairie  with  a 
deep  foundation  of  rosy  red,  and  builds  upward  with  gradations  of  softest  pink  and 
gold  and  colors  no  one  can  name.  Infinite  changes  gently  succeed.  The  stars  fade 
slowly,  blinking  at  the  increasing  light  like  old  religions  dying  before  the  Gos- 
pel. Graceful,  airy  clouds  hover  around.  Shortly  they  put  on  glorious  robes,  and 
their  faces  are  bright,  as  if,  like  Moses,  in  some  lofty  place  they  had  seen  God  face  to 
face.  You  wait  but  a  moment  for  the  grand  uprise  of  the  sun.  Then  narrow  flashes 
of  brilliant,  dazzling  light  shoot  up  into  the  dusky  immensity  above  it.  Another 
moment  and  the  west  sees  it.  Another,  the  whole  heavens  feel  it,  and  the  day  is  full 
blown.  The  mist  settles  into  the  valleys,  and  you  look  into  the  face  of  the  sun  through 
a  clear  atmosphere.  The  air  is  laden  with  the  fragrance  of  a  thousand  awakening 
flowers. 

The  day  had  now  fairly  opened  on  this  seemingly  interminable  waste  of  prairie. 
The  landscape  was  wrapped  in  a  mantle  of  stillness,  undisturbed  save  by  the  morning 
anthem  of  the  mocking-bird  and  meadow  lark.  For  the  meadow  lark  of  Oklahoma, 
unlike  his  northern  brother,  is  a  singing  bird.  The  prairies  were  covered  with  green, 
for  spring  comes  early  in  this  warm  climate.  Thousands  of  flowers  raised  their  little 
heads  fearlessly.  For  a  hundred  years  they  had  grown,  budded,  blossomed  and  died, 
kissed  by  the  sun,  wet  by  the  dew,  and  swayed  by  the  balmy  breezes  of  the  south. 
The  purple  mallows,  the  rose-tinted  gentian  of  the  South,  the  white  poppy  of  the 
West,  and  the  spring  beauty  of  the  North,  are  all  here,  for  Oklahoma  combines  the 
flora  of  these  three  sections  to  make  her  own. 

The  prairie  dog  sat  contentedly  at  the  door  of  his  village,  and  the  rabbit  confi- 
dently took  his  usual  morning  stroll.  The  quail  and  plover  cared  for  their  little  ones 
in  happy  ignorance  that,  before  the  sun  set,  their  homes  would  be  crushed  under  the 
tread  of  men  and  horses,  and  their  little  broods  scattered  and  dead. 

The  hours  go  by.  The  sun  climbs  to  the  zenith.  Twelve  hundred  mounted  sol- 
diers guard  the  line  of  the  territory.  It  is  high  noon.  The  signal  for  the  start  is 
given,  and  with  one  mighty  shout  the  whole  line  breaks  into  a  wild  race  for  the  new 
lands.  Such  a  sight  was  never  seen  in  the  history  of  this  country.  There  are  thou- 
sands of  people  in  all  kinds  of  conveyances,  thousands  mounted  on  all  sorts  of  steeds, 
from  the  little  burro  of  Mexico  and  the  wiry  Texas  pony  to  the  powerful  thorough- 
bred of  Kentucky.  When  the  sun  went  down  that  night  sixty  thousand  white  men 
slept  in  the  land  of  the  uglo  homma. 

The  desire  for  a  home,  a  piece  of  God's  green  earth  that  he  can  call  his  own,  is 
the  absorbing  passion  in  the  breast  of  many  a  man  and  woman.  The  sacrifices  made  by 
many  to  obtain  homes  for  themselves  and  children  in  this  new,  strange  land  required 
the  greatest  degree  of  heroism.     But  the  farmer  of  Oklahoma  today,  as  he  looks 

(25) 


386  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

across  his  broad  acres  and  sees  his  shocks  of  golden  wheat,  his  fields  of  waving  corn, 
his  cotton  with  its  bursting  bolls;  when  he  gathers  peaches  from  his  orchard  and  grapes 
from  his  vineyard,  forgets  the  labor  and  privations  of  his  past  four  years. 

The  white  man  had  again  told  the  Ishmaelite  of  Oklahoma  to  "  move  on,"  and 
as,  like  Dickens'  little  Joe,  he  had  been  moving  on  and  moving  on  ever  since  he  was 
born,  he  obeyed. 

When  the  Almighty  pronounced  these  words:  "Cursed  be  the  ground  for  thy 
sake.  Thorns  and  thistles  shall  it  bring  forth  to  thee.  In  the  sweat  of  thy  brow  shalt 
thou  eat  thy  bread,"  he  spoke  to  the  red  man  as  well  as  to  the  white  man.  In  work, 
in  the  digging  up  the  thorns  and  the  thistles  that  the  ground  may  yield  his  daily  bread, 
for  "  difficulties  are  God's  errands,"  in  meeting  obstacles  and  overcoming  them,  has 
the  white  man  alone  grown  strong,  and  able  to  rise  as  an  individual  and  as  a  race. 

The  red  man  has  been  deprived  of  the  great  blessing  of  work.  Lands  and  money 
have  been  given  him.  His  bread  and  clothes  have  come  to  him  without  any  effort  on 
his  part.  He  has  been  left  in  idleness  and  plenty  to  follow  the  wayward  impulses  of  his 
own  crude,  savage  nature,  and  in  this  consists  his  great  degradation.  Wherever  the 
Indian  has  become  poor  and  obliged  to  work  to  gain  a  livelihood  he  has  risen  accord- 
ingly. The  time  will  come  when  the  United  States  Government  will  have  given  him 
all  his  lands  and  money,  and  the  white  man  will  have  stolen  or  cheated  him  out  of  it, 
and  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow  he  will  earn  his  daily  bread.  Then,  and  not  before,  will 
the  Indian  again  take  his  place  among  the  self-governing  nations  of  the  world. 

It  is  a  common  impression  that  the  Indians  are  a  vanishing  race,  and  that  in 
another  century  they  will  be  known  only  in  history.  Recent  statistics  show  that  there 
has  been  no  serious  diminution  in  the  number  of  Indians  on  this  continent  since  the 
discovery  of  America.  So  we  may  conclude  that  the  Indian  is  here  to  stay  for  at  least 
another  century,  a  people  destined  ere  long  to  become  citizens  of  this  country  in  a 
common,  national  home. 

How  we  may  best  give  them  a  Christian  education  then  becomes  a  problem  of 
great  importance  to  us.  I  am  told  that  in  the  Indian  schools  of  the  territory  the 
teachers  are  able  to  tell  from  the  youngest  child  whether  its  mother  has  ever  received 
any  education,  or,  as  they  express  it,  whether  "  it  has  a  school-mother." 

The  Indian  girl  who  is  educated  at  Haskell  or  Carlisle,  when  her  school  life  is 
over  returns  to  her  people,  and  in  nearly  every  instance  puts  on  her  blanket  and 
becomes  the  wife  of  a  blanket  Indian,  to  whom  she  is  usually  sold  by  her  parents  for 
a  few  ponies. 

At  the  first  glance,  with  this  fact  in  view,  the  educating  of  the  Indian  girl  is  dis- 
heartening in  the  extreme.  The  adult  Indian  habits  have  been  formed.  All  remedies 
for  them  must  be  palliative.  But  in  the  children  there  is  hope,  through  the  mother  to 
the  child,  each  generation  growing  better  and  wiser  than  the  one  preceding  it.  In 
this  line  of  endeavor  lies,  it  seem  to  me,  the  surest  solution  of  this  problem. 

Through  the  sufferings  of  the  mother  has  the  human  family  ever  received  its  bap- 
tism of  regeneration.  Through  the  suffering  of  the  Mary  Mother  a  Christ  came  to 
dying  humanity. 

The  chapter  in  our  national  history  which  tells  of  our  dealings  with  the  Indian 
tribes  from  Plymouth  to  San  Francisco,  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
will  be  one  of  the  darkest  and  most  disgraceful  in  our  annals.  No  race  will  lift  up  at 
the  Judgment  such  accusing  hands  against  this  nation  as  the  Indian.  We  have  cheated 
him  out  of  one  hunting-ground  by  compelling  him  to  accept  another,  and  have  robbed 
him  of  the  last  by  driving  him  to  frenzy,  and  then  punishing  resistance  with  confisca- 
tion. The  voices  of  their  scattered  dead  will  find  an  echo  in  the  ages  to  come,  and 
the  crime  of  the  white  man  against  his  red  brother  will  be  called  at  last  for  judgment. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  387 

"Patient  stands  the  great  Avenger: 
History's  pages  show,  forsooth, 
One  death-grapple  in  the  struggle 
Twixt  old  systems  and  the  truth; 
Truth  forever  on  the  scaffold. 
Wrong  forever  on  the  throne. 
Yet  that  scaffold  sways  the  future, 
And  behind  the  dim  unknown 
Standeth  God,  within  the  shadow, 
Keeping  watch  above  His  own." 


WHO  ARE  THE  BUILDERS? 


By  MRS.  JONNIE  ALLEN  GEORGE. 

In  trying  to  solve  the  vexed  questions  of  today  as  to  tiie  place  or  sphere  or  capa- 
bilities of  women,  we  really  deal  with  the  problems  which  will  involve  the  good  or  evil 

of  the  future  of  the  human  race.  The  interests  of  man 
and  woman  are  so  completely  united,  so  indissolubly 
one,  since  God  "  made  them  twain  one  flesh,"  that 
it  is  impossible  to  separate  them.  "  Every  nation 
belongs  as  much  to  its  women  as  to  its  men."  What- 
ever then  concerns  its  women  concerns  the  welfare  of 
the  entire  nation,  for  it  is  a  long-established  truth, 
that  nature  has  endowed  woman  with  those  attributes 
which  aid  most  in  the  highest  possible  development 
and  fullest  salvation  of  the  race. 

Woman's  work  and  woman's  worth  have  already 
been  discussed  in  this  Congress  by  some  of  the  most 
gifted  women  of  the  world. 

They  have  brought  with  them  their  new  and 
original  ideas  from  England,  Norway  and  Sweden; 
Germany,  Denmark,  Switzerland,  Bohemia,  Australia; 
and  the  North,  East,  South  and  West  of  our  own 
country.  Surely  from  these  meetings  all  political 
lines  and  national  prejudices  must  pale  into  nothing- 
ness, and  every  woman  carry  home  with  her  a  new 
strength  to  be  devoted  to  private  and  public  weal.  It 
is  not  of  the  questions  of  today,  however,  that  I  would 
speak;  I  leave  that  to  wiser  heads  and  stronger  pens.  I  only  would  tell  something  of 
the  women  who  live  '"way  down  yonder  in  Dixie  Land." 

That  land,  "  popularly  supposed  to  be  the  Nazareth  of  America  " — the  South,  with 
its  balmy  airs  and  blue  and  sunny  skies,  where  the  creamy  orange  blossoms,  stately 
magnolias,  and  clinging  jessamines  waft  their  blended  perfume  from  darkest  lagoon  to 
furthest  pine-clad  hilltops,  and  day  and  night  are  made  musical  by  the  mocking- 
bird's wild  lay. 

It  is  one  of  the  most  useful  and  grateful  tasks  of  historians  to  bring  forward  to 
the  eye  of  each  succeeding  generation  the  characters  of  those  who  have  laid  the  foun- 
dations of  society  and  state;  and  it  is  now  my  pleasure  to  tell  you  something  of  what 
the  women  of  the  South  have  done  for  the  building  of  their  country's  strength. 

The  Revolution  furnished  many  glorious  instances  of  womanhood  in  the  South, 
when  such  women  as  Lady  Washington,  Annie  Carter,  the  wife  of  Light-horse  Harry 
Lee,  and  the  mother  of  the  South's  illustrious  Robert  E.  Lee,  together  with  Mrs.  Madi- 
son, and  later  on  Mrs.  James  K.  Polk,  influenced  their  husbands  to  grand  achievements 
and   inspired   in    their    countrywomen  a   desire   for    higher    things.      Yet,    notwith- 

Mrs.  Jonnie  Allen  George  is  a  native  of  Alabama.  Her  parents  were  Rev.  M.  E.  Butt  and  Henrietta  Allen  Butt,  of  two 
of  the  oldest  and  most  influential  families  of  Georgia  and  among  the  largest  slaveholders  of  the  South,  She  was  graduated 
from  Tuskegee,  Ala.,  with  high  honors,  and  later  she  received  the  degree  of  M.  A.  from  Logan  College,  Ky.  She  has  traveled 
extensively  in  the  United  States  and  Canada.  She  married  Dr.  Albert  George,  who  lived  but  a  few  years,  leaving  Mrs.  George 
with  two  daughters.  She  is  a  devoted  mother,  giving  special  attention  to  the  training  of  her  children  in  every  department. 
Her  literary  works  are  short  stories,  which  have  appeared  in  Southern  journals,  and  sketches  of  Shakespeare's  characters.  She 
is  a  most  satisfactory  and  successfal  teacher.  In  religious  faith  she  is  a  Methodist.  Her  postoffice  address  is  Little 
EUKsk,  Ark. 

388 


■.•«A»%V 


MRS.  JONNIE  ALLEN  GEORGE. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  389 

standing  all  this,  the  social  and  political  condition  of  women,  not  only  of  the  South, 
but  of  all  the  world,  at  that  time  was  not  fully  committed  to  the  highest  development 
of  that  sentiment  which  is  woven  in  the  warp  and  woof  of  every  woman's  nature.  The 
sentiment  which  induces  her  to  wish  for  that  higher  education  and  self-culture  that 
would  enable  her  to  become  her  husband's  intellectual  companion,  his  friend  and  help- 
mate in  the  truest  sense  of  the  word,  and  to  occupy  that  place  in  the  world — not  man's 
world  but  God's  world — the  place  not  above  her  husband,  nor  below  him,  but  by  his 
side. 

Because  of  the  difficulties  of  travel,  and  imperfect  communication  with  the  out- 
side world,  she  knew  little  of  the  turmoil  and  strife  for  self-advancement  that  moved 
and  swayed  the  restless  heart  of  a  dissatisfied  world.  Content  to  dwell  at  home 
among  her  own  people,  her  mind  and  heart  were  not  busy  about  the  world's  affairs. 
She  asked  nothing  better  for  herself  than  that  she  might  become  the  wife  and  mother 
of  great  men.  And  true  to  the  traditions  of  her  grandmothers,  it  would  still  be,  perhaps, 
an  impossible  task  to  convince  a  Southern  woman  that  there  could  be  any  higher 
mission  for  her. 

With  sometimes  a  hundred  trained  slaves  to  attend  the  immediate  household, 
with  better  facilities  for  travel,  with  new  books  and  imported  musical  instruments,  and 
foreign  magazines  and  home  journals,  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  women  of  the  land 
were  fully  attuned  to  "  catch  the  living  manners  as  they  rise."  Is  it  any  wonder,  then, 
that  the  sentiment  in  favor  of  the  higher  education  of  women  first  took  root  in  the 
South  and  grew  and  blossomed  forth  into  the  building  of  the  first  college  in  the  world 
for  women  at  Macon,  Ga? 

It  was  not  until  the  tocsin  of  civil  war  had  been  sounded  that  the  womanliness  of 
the  women  of  the  South  shone  out  in  all  its  brightest  light;  and  our  men,  who  had  ever 
been  foremost  in  true  chivalry  toward  women,  learned  more  fully  the  half-accepted 
truth,  that  woman  had  not  been  created  man's  slave,  his  toy,  his  household  drudge, 
nor  yet,  for  that  higher  mission  alone,  of  being  his  gentle  nurse,  his  faithful  companion, 
his  prudent  housewife,  and  the  fond  mother  of  his  children;  but  to  be  also  "his  dis- 
interested friend,  his  equal  in  resources  of  character  and  understanding,  and  his 
superior  in  the  virtues  of  heart  and  soul. 

The  heroes  of  the  South,  who  fought  those  dreadful  battles  at  Gettysburg  and 
Manassas,  and  enriched  the  earth  with  the  crimson  stream  of  their  life's  blood  "  by 
the  Potomac,  and  the  Cumberland,  and  in  the  valley  of  the  Shenandoah,"  had  no 
cowardly  mothers  or  vain  and  heartless  wives.  Their  women  were  as  heroic  in  every 
fiber  as  themselves.  What  a  comparison  exists  between  the  heroic  women  of  the 
American  Revolution  and  the  women  of  the  Southern  confederacy;  the  story  of  the 
one  seems  in  many  instances  but  a  repetition  of  the  other,  except  that  women  of  the 
South  were  by  far  the  greatest  sufferers.  Because  of  the  peculiar  circumstances  which 
surrounded  them,  they  passed  through  "  the  more  fiery  ordeal,  the  one  most  terrible 
in  its  character,  inasmuch  as  no  triumph  awaited  their  sacrifices,  no  glad  conclusions 
wiped  out  the  bitter  memory  of  their  griefs." 

The  women  of  the  South  had  ever  been  a  peace  party  in  thems^elves.  They  loved 
the  Union  and  honored  the  Flag.  In  their  hearts  they  prayed  that  the  cords  of  love 
which  bound  the  different  sections  of  the  land  together  might  not  be  snapped  asunder; 
but  when  one  state  after  another  thought  it  best  to  withdraw  from  the  Union,  and  Old 
Virginia  finally  threw  herself  into  the  breach,  the  women  of  the  entire  land  cast  in 
their  lot  with  the  Confederacy,  and  gave  as  hearty  allegiance  to  the  new  Government 
as  had  been  so  lavishly  bestowed  upon  the  other. 

The  sudden  transition  of  the  land,  smiling  with  peace  and  plenty,  to  the  awful  tur- 
moil of  war  was  swift  and  appalling,  but  its  women  kept  pace  with  the  times.  After 
the  first  burst  of  the  storm  the  restless  misery  of  the  preceding  suspense,  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  most  faithful  efforts  of  men  and  women  alike.  "  Every  village  green 
became  a  camping  ground,  and  its  courthouse  or  public  halls  a  rendezvous  for  busy 
women."     The  Confederacy — a  new  government  which  had  sprung  into  being  in  an 


390  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

hour — had  no  means  with  which  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  war.  There  were  no  trained 
soldiers,  but  few  surgeons  and  tailors,  no  hospitals  and  trained  nurses,  no  war  ships, 
no  arms  and  ammunition,  and  no  factories  of  any  kind  in  the  land.  Where  every  able- 
bodied  white  man  so  gallantly  laid  down  his  plow  and  plane,  closed  up  his  law  ofifice, 
the  minister  left  his  pulpit  with  his  Bible  in  his  hand,  and  went  to  battle  for  the  cause 
which  he  earnestly  and  honestly  believed  to  be  right;  the  mothers,  wives,  daughters 
and  sweethearts  of  these  men  determined  that  the  army  should  not  want,  so  long  as 
they  had  hearts  to  feel,  heads  to  plan,  and  hands  to  labor.  Women,  old  and  young, 
worked  together  in  the  construction  of  soldiers'  garments.  With  a  firm  faith  that  suc- 
cess must  crown  every  such  honest  endeavor,  to  them  an  ultimate  and  complete  vic- 
tory was  a  foregone  conclusion;  and  though 

"  Never  a  morning  wore  to  evening 
But  some  heart  did  break," 

these  women  faltered  not  in  the  tasks  before  them.  They  unhesitatingly  spent  their 
days  and  nights  in  nursing  the  sick  in  camp  or  wounded  in  hospitals  established  and 
maintained  by  themselves.  They  ministered  to  the  dying  in  the  rear  of  battlefields, 
and  in  many  instances  took  in  their  own  hands  the  spade  and  shovel  in  the  midst  of 
the  night,  and  lifting  their  voices  to  Heaven,  gave  Christian  burial  to  foe  and  friend 
alike. 

Soon  there  came  a  time  when  the  supplies  in  hand  were  utterly  exhausted.  Then 
it  was  that  the  latent  business  talent  and  executive  ability  of  the  Southern  women  began 
to  appear.  They  renounced  all  desire  for  imported  luxuries,  and  pledged  themselves 
to  card,  spin  and  weave  the  clothing,  tan  the  leather  and  make  the  shoes  for  their 
families  and  for  the  army.  They  had  no  factories;  this  had  all  to  be  done  by  hand. 
They  directed  the  negroes  on  those  immense  plantations  in  the  work  of  tilling  the 
field,  planting  the  crops,  gathering  the  harvest  and  converting  it  into  food  and  cloth- 
ing for  the  country. 

They  gave  their  own  personal  property  for  the  purchase  of  arms  and  ammunition  for 
their  beloved  army;  they  melted  into  money  their  silverware  and  jewels,  in  which  many 
a  Southern  household  was  rich.  They  almost  starved  themselves  and  their  children 
at  home,  that  they  might  purchase  a  little  coffee  and  sugar  and  other  luxuries  for  the 
soldiers.  For  coffee  they  often  paid  as  high  as  five  hundred  dollars  per  pound,  and 
for  black  pepper  and  sugar  three  hundred.  They  sat  late  into  the  winter  nights  over  a 
fire  of  corn-cobs  while  they  ripped  up  their  carpets  of  softest  pile,  took  down  their 
richest  damask  draperies,  and  made  them  into  blankets;  cut  their  finest  upholstery 
into  mittens  for  the  soldiers,  and  tore  up  their  window  curtains  and  table  linen  into 
bandages,  to  be  used  in  dressing  the  wounded.  They  went  through  the  darkened  and 
silent  streets  of  captured  cities  at  midnight,  to  carry  letters  which  they  had  smuggled 
through  the  lines  from  soldiers  in  distant  camps  to  friends  at  hom.e.  They  even  faced 
the  dangers  of  death  itself  in  the  charge  of  the  bayonets,  the  tramp  of  cavalry,  and  the 
roar  of  cannons,  as  in  ''La  Bataille  des  Mouchoirs"  in  New  Orleans,  that  they  might  catch 
a  glimpse  of,  and  whisper  a  word  of  cheer  to,  loved  ones  on  their  way  to  distant  North- 
ern prisons.  In  eVery  way  these  women,  for  the  first  time  in  the  world's  history, 
"  gilded  the  terrors  of  war  with  a  heavenly  beauty." 

England  has  had  her  Florence  Nightingale;  Italy  her  countess,  who,  dressed  in 
richest  silks  and  brightest  diamonds,  visited  the  charity  hospitals  that  the  poor 
and  suffering  there  might  be  gladdened  by  the  sight  of  so  much  beauty;  Germany  had 
her  princess  who  fed  the  hungry  populace — the  Revolution  drew  from  every  colony 
brave  and  heroic  women,  such  as  Mrs.  Mott,  of  South  Carolina.  The  North  fur- 
nished many  beautiful  instances  of  individual  bravery  and  self-sacrifice  among  its 
women  during  the  war;  but  nowhere  except  in  the  South  has  the  world  ever  witnessed 
the  sublime  spectacle  of  every  woman  of  the  land  devoting  herself  entirely — her  time, 
her  strength,  her  talents — to  the  cause  that  needed  such  assistance. 

It  really  seems  invidious  to  mention  a  few  of  these  noble  women,  when  all  worked. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  391 

suffered,  endured  and  lost  alike.  It  was  the  women  of  the  South  who  made  it  possi- 
ble for  the  Confederacy  to  last  so  long.  General  Grant,  while  he  was  in  Mississippi, 
said  to  "  a  rebel  woman: "  "  The  work  of  you  women  surpasses  anything  in  history.  It 
is  astonishing.  Why,  with  my  overwhelming  numbers  of  trained  soldiers  I  could  whip 
this  handful  of  raw  recruits  in  a  little  time  if  it  were  not  for  you  Southern  women.'' 

Finally,  however,  time  and  circumstances  brought  to  an  end  this  unequal  struggle. 
The  sun  of  the  Confederacy  had  set  never  to  rise  again — set  in  a  halo  of  glory  which 
will  forever  far  outshine  the  gaudy  triumphs  of  victory.  And  the  men  and  women 
who  had  suffered  every  vicissitude  of  fortune  during  these  four  years,  though  they 
had  been  reared  as  delicately  as  European  princes,  turned  from  the  duties  and  dangers 
of  war  times  to  private  life  and  hard  labor.  Though  the  bowl  had  been  broken  at  the 
fountain,  there  was  no  time  for  vain  regrets.  In  many  instances  the  mother,  or  the 
eldest  daughter,  or  perhaps  a  maiden  sister,  because  of  the  ruthless  hand  of  war,  was 
all  that  was  left  on  distant  plantations,  or  in  splendid  but  totally  dismantled  city 
homes,  to  battle  with  the  world  and  keep  the  wolf  from  the  door.  When  these 
women,  so  tenderly  reared  and  delicately  nourished,  went  forth  as  bread-winners  from 
the  very  best  families,  daughter's  of  the  South's  proudest  aristocracy,  a  new  order  of 
things  for  the  Southern  women  was  begun.  Though  her  father,  her  brother,  her  hus- 
band and  sweetheart  were  gone,  her  plantations  devastated,  left  without  stock,  provis- 
ions or  hands,  her  city  home  in  smoldering  ruins,  the  world  has  yet  to  hear  one  word 
of  complaint  or  murmuring  from  her  lips. 

Ah!  the  influence  of  those  women  was  and  is  being  felt  by  the  younger  Southern 
women  of  today.  During  the  storm  that  followed  the  first  cloud-burst  in  the  throes  of 
silent  agony,  a  new  creature  was  born  who  came  into  the  world  possessed  of  a  price- 
less heritage.  The  mothers  of  the  Old  South  have  laid  a  foundation  upon  which  the 
Southern  woman  of  today  may  build  a  personality  for  herself  that  will  be  a  force  in 
any  undertaking.  With  no  desire  for  public  renown,  no  hungering  for  shout  and  stare 
and  clapping  of  hands,  and  empty  plaudits,  those  mothers  and  daughters  mold  society 
into  lofty  ideals  of  manhood  and  womanhood,  yet  still  clinging  with  loving  touch  to 
the  traditions  of  the  past. 

Underlying  all  her  social  conditions,  touching  life  in  all  its  relations,  she  has 
always  held  a  place  peculiarly  her  own;  but  with  a  new  need  of  self-defense  with  a 
more  keenly  awakened  desire  and  a  thousandfold  better  facilities  for  obtaining  an 
education,  with  more  of  physical  culture,  despite  the  languidness  of  our  clime,  and  a 
general  coming  out  into  the  glorious  sunshine  of  a  broader  world,  she  has  come  to 
the  front  as  never  before.    Scorning  each  carping  tongue  that  says — 

"  My  hand  a  needle  better  fits." 

She  has  grasped  the  pen,  the  painter's  brush,  the  physician's  science,  the  surgeon's 
instruments,  the  accountant's  desk,  and  a  number  of  other  things  to  be  used  as  tools 
with  which  she  has  builded  an  independence  for  herself. 

In  the  beautiful  verse  of  Margaret  J.  Preston,  whose  powers  were  never  fully 
evoked  until  the  ardent  patriotism  kindled  in  her  bosom,  by  the  afflictions  of  her 
country,  found  vent  in  truly  inspired  lines,  we  find  a  splendid  specimen  of  a  Southern 
woman's  poetical  genius.  Surely  harp  never  echoed  to  sweeter  music  than  hers,  and 
following  in  her  wake  many  Southern  women  have  cheered  and  gladdened  the  hearts 
of  thousands  of  readers  and  built  national  reputations  for  themselves.  Notably 
among  them  are  Mrs.  Nicholson,  editor  of  the  New  Orleans  "Picayune,"  the  fore- 
most women  in  letters  in  the  South,  the  gifted  "Catherine  Cole,"  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Bryan, 
of  Atlanta,  Ga.,  Miss  Virginia  Wild,  the  foremost  of  Southern  painters,  and  indeed 
one  of  the  most  gifted  in  the  world,  Miss  Julia  Tutwiler,  a  world-renowned  teacher, 
together  with  a  host  of  others,  who  have  by  their  own  fair  hands  rebuilt  and  adorned 
the  South.  And  while  they  have  builded  so  nobly  for  themselves  they  have  not  for- 
gotten others.  Soon  after  the  war  all  over  the  wrecked  and  desolated  South  the  women 
again  took  matters  into  their  own  hands,  and  began  to  agitate  the  question  of  raising 


392  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

suitable  monuments  to  commemorate  the  dust  of  our  heroes  which  they  had  gathered 
into  hallowed  spots.  The  women  in  every  city,  town  and  country  village  were  organ- 
ized, this  time  into  Confederate  Historical  Societies,  Ladies'  Memorial  Associations 
and  so  forth,  and  early  in  the  seventies  in  Richmond  and  Montgomery  and  many 
other  Southern  cities,  splendid  monuments  began  to  tower  aloft  "In  memory  of  the 
Confederate  dead."  What  the  noble  women  of  Memphis,  Tenn.,  have  done  in  this 
respect,  is  but  an  example  of  what  the  women  everywhere  have  done,  or  are  doing.  In 
that  city  within  one  inclosure  nine  hundred  and  fifty-nine  graves  have  been  inclosed 
with  a  coping,  a  neat  stone  tablet  marks  the  head  of  each  grave,  and  a  splendid  gray 
granite  shaft  rises  to  heaven  bearing  the  significant  inscription  on  its  face  "Illis  Vic- 
toriam  non  Immortalitatem,  Prater,  negaverunt,"  and  the  simple  dedication  "  To  our 
Confederate  dead."  This  granite  shaft  cost  the  sum  of  ;^90,000.  All  this  work  was 
accomplished  and  paid  for  through  the  ardent  patriotism,  business  enterprise,  and 
executive  ability  of  the  women  of  that  city.  Among  the  women  who  have  builded  the 
monument  we  cannot  refrain  from  mentioning  the  names  of  Mrs.  C.  W.  Frazer,  the 
first  president  of  the  Memphis  Memorial  Society,  and  Mrs.  Luke  E.  Wright,  the 
charming  daughter  of  Rear  Admiral  Raphael  Semmes,  and  Mrs.  Keller  Anderson. 
It  is  the  women  of  the  South  who — 

"Accepting  with  unmurmuring  lips 

War's  stern  decree,  its  grief,  its  losses, 
And  nobler  through  that  blood  eclipse 

And  stronger  for  its  burdening  crosses — 
She  folds  no  hands  in  languid  pause 

Child  of  her  father — true  to  duty, 
She  weeps  at  heart  the  dear  lost  cause! 

And  fills  the  busy  hours  with  beauty." 

At  the  same  time  she  instills  into  the  Hearts  of  her  young  sons  and  daughters  of 
today  an  honest  pride  in  the  memony  of  our  immortal  Jefferson  Davis  and  our  host  of 
fallen  braves;  she  teaches  them  to  rejoice  in  the  preservation  of,  and  to  stand  firm  for 
the  Union. 

These  same  women  who  have  already  builded  so  much  of  their  Southland's  strength 
and  fame,  today  unfurl  to  the  breezes  of  the  South  the  star  spangled  banner,  with  as 
much  pride  and  grace  as  ever  they  flung  to  the  same  winds  the  silken  folds  of  their 
own  handiwork,  the  bonny  blue  flag  of  the  confederacy. 

It  was  her  women  who  have  largely  made  it  possible  for  the  South  to  be  repre- 
sented here  today.  And  in  this  Columbian  year  while  Mrs.  Grant  and  Mrs.  Davis  are 
sharing  the  hospitality  of  the  same  roof  in  New  York,  the  Southern  woman  of  today 
extends  her  hand  in  cordial  invitation  to  her  sisters  of  every  clime  to  unite  with  her 
in  building  up 

"A  perfect  woman(hood)  nobly  planned 
To  warn,  to  comfort  and  command." 

An  altar  at  which  men  and  angels  may  love  and  worship  forever. 


UNIVERSITY  EXTENSION. 

By  REV.  AUGUSTA  J.  CHAPIN,  D.  D. 

If  we  look  for  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  this  age,  we  shall  find  them  in 
the  present  diffusion  of  knowledge  and  the  tendency  to  the  increase  of  popular  educa- 
tion.    The  spirit  of  democracy,  which  has  so  stirred 
society  during  the  last  century,  has  inspired  universal 
interest  in  this  work,  and  given  it  a  mighty  impetus. 
In  all  former  ages  thearistocracy  of  learning  was 
even  more  limited  and  select  than  that  of  rank  and 
wealth.     Knowledge  was  not  for  the  many.     It  is  true 
that  the  ancients  reached  intellectual  heights  never 
surpassed,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  wise 
and  learned  among  them  were  few  in  number,  while 
the  masses  of  the  people  remained  in  utter  ignorance. 
The  wealth  of  the  people  was  also  in  the  hands  of  a 
few.     There  was  industrial  activity,  often  of  marvel- 
ous extent,  but  it  was  carried  on  by  slaves  who  were 
powerless  under  the  control  of  their  masters.     With 
growing  freedom  there  came  a  gradual  mental  awak- 
ening; and  then  a  demand  for  instruction.     Our  com- 
mon schools  are  of  recent  origin.     They  have  every- 
where come  into  being  in  answer  to  the  demand  that 
all  the  children  should  be  taught.     Public   interest 
and  sentiment  once  awakened  have  advanced  along 
this  line,  until  the  demand  is  that  every  child  shall 
be  taught  at  the   public  expense.     The   misfortunes 
of  the  parents  no  longer  deprive  the  children  of  opportunity  for  the  acquirement  of 
knowledge,  nor  does  the  ignorance,  greed,  bigotry,  or  negligence  of  parents  deprive 
the  child  of  this  privilege  and  right  to  the  rudiments  of  education.     We  are  now  pro- 
viding for  even  the  higher  education  at  the  public  expense,  and  there  is  every  reason 
to  believe  that  the  period  of  attendance  required  will  be  increased,  until  all  doors, 
even  those  of  institutions  of  highest  training,  will  be  thrown  open  without  price. 

The  importance  of  educating  girls,  as  well  as  boys,  formerly  not  recognized  at  all, 
has  been  fully  conceded,  although  there  still  is  in  some  quarters  a  practical  hesitancy 
about  extending  all  the  privileges  of  higher  education  to  women 

In  recent  years  much  thought  and  labor  has  been  given  by  the  wisest  educators 
and  foremost  philanthropists  of  the  civilized  world  to  the  subject  of  extending  the 
highest  opportunities  to  all  people.  Among  the  plans  devised  to  reach  those  who,  for 
any  reason,  cannot  come  to  the  schools,  are  the  correspondence  methods  of  study.  Of 
the  value  of  this  correspondence  work  as  carried  on  by  one  of  our  great  universities, 
and  by  some  other  organizations,  no  one  who  has  personal  knowledge  will  speak  in 
other  than  in  terms  of  highest  praise.     Languages  are  taught  in  this  manner  no  less 

Rev.  Augusta  J.  Chapin  was  born  in  Lakeville,  N.  Y.  Her  parents  were  Americans,  her  ancestors  having  settled  in 
Springfield,  Maes.,  in  the  seventeenth  century.  She  is  a  graduate  of  the  University  of  Michigan  with  the  degree  of  Master  of 
Arts.  She  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  in  June,  1893;  has  traveled  extensively  in  the  United  States  and  British 
America,  and  has  twice  visited  Europe.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  religious,  charitable  and  educational 
enterprises.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  lectures  on  literature,  art,  and  philosophy.  Her  profession  is  that  of  minister 
of  the  Gospel,  to  which  she  was  ordained  in  1863.  In  religious  faith  she  is  a  Universalist.  Miss  Chapin  is  a  member  of  the 
Chicago  Woman's  Clnb,  the  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Woman,  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  and  many  other  organizations. 
Her  postotfice  address  is  3848  Lake  Avenue,  Chicago,  HI.  ^ 

393 


REV.  AUGUSTA  J.  CHAPIN. 


394  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

thoroughly  and  systematically  than  by  the  present  aid  of  the  instructor.  Bible  studies 
are  carried  on  in  this  manner  under  the  supervision  of  the  university.  Much  has  also 
been  done  by  the  "  society  to  encourage  study  at  home,"  which  has  its  central  office 
in  Boston.  Through  these  and  kindred  organizations,  many  who  otherwise  would 
have  made  little  or  no  progress,  have  been  assisted  in  their  studies,  encouraged  and 
guided  in  systematic  work. 

Greatest  of  all  organizations  for  this  purpose  is  that  known  as  "  University  Exten- 
sion." The  idea  is  not  altogether  a  new  one.  It  has  for  years  been  growing  in  the 
minds  of  scholars  who  have  earnestly  desired  to  bring  the  advantages  of  liberal  cul- 
ture within  the  reach  of  people  of  all  ages  and  of  both  sexes  who  cannot  go  to  the 
university.  Its  purpose  is  to  bring  the  university  to  the  people  where  they  are,  and 
while  engaged  in  their  usual  avocations,  and  thus  make  up  to  them  in  some  measure, 
at  least,  the  loss  they  have  suffered.  There  is  extant  a  letter  from  Dr.  Channing  to 
Josiah  Quincy,  in  which  he  suggests  the  organization  of  scholars  for  "the  spreading  of 
their  own  intelligence  and  shedding  a  light  around  among  the  people."  At  Oxford 
University  the  subject  was  considered  nearly  thirty  years  ago,  or  as  early  as  1835. 

In  early  life,  as  society  now  exists,  the  majority  are  cut  off  from  the  higher  educa- 
tional privileges.  Thousands  upon  thousands  feel  their  deprivation  keenly,  but  have 
had  heretofore  no  adequate  means  of  satisfying  this  intellectual  hunger  and  thirst. 
University  Extension  is  a  new  phase,  and  in  its  present  form  a  new  work.  But  the 
idea  of  University  Extension  is  as  old  as  the  idea  of  the  universal  right  of  man  to 
learning. 

Charlemagne  was  in  the  true  spirit  of  this  movement  when  he  summoned  Eng- 
land's grandest  scholar  to  Paris,  and  set  him  to  establishing  schools  for  the  people 
throughout  the  dominions  over  which  he  ruled,  and  when  he  and  his  courtiers  sat  at 
the  feet  of  this  scholar  to  be  instructed  in  philosophy,  mathematics  and  other 
branches,  he  manifested  his  eager  earnestness  in  the  intellectual  welfare  of  the  people. 
He  had  become  convinced  that  the  learning  which  made  the  church  so  powerful  would 
be  good  for  the  state,  if  possessed  by  king  and  people.  Alcuin,  working  under  the 
great  monarch  in  the  eighth  century,  was  the  real  founder  of  the  universities  of  Paris, 
Tour,  and  other  places.  Those  of  which  he  was  not  the  actual  founder  were  immensely 
benefited  by  his  preliminary  work,  if  not  directly  inspired  by  it.  By  him  and  Abe- 
lard,  who  came  two  centuries  later,  and  who  moved  his  lectureship  from  place  to 
place,  learning  was  brought  out  of  the  monasteries  and  given  in  France  to  schools 
which  were  open  to  the  people.  Much  the  same  work  was  done  in  course  of  time  for 
other  countries. 

Everything  that  tended  to  popularize  knowledge,  particularly  the  invention  of 
printing  and  the  plentiful  distribution  of  books,  helped  on  this  movement,  and  brought 
learning  more  and  more  within  reach  of  the  people.  All  the  great  universities  founded 
in  the  Middle  Ages  were  pre-eminently  for  the  people.  Students  of  all  ages  and  of 
all  classes  of  society  attended  the  lectures  in  great  numbers.  The  industrial  classes 
came  and  gave  what  time  they  could  from  their  regular  occupations.  The  very  poor 
came,  and  thought  it  no  disgrace  to  beg  the  bread  that  sustained  them  while  they 
remained  at  the  seat  of  learning.  The  rich  and  the  noble  came,  not  too  proud  to 
drink  at  the  common  fountain.  In  those  days  it  was  only  necessary  to  establish  great 
educational  centers,  and  the  people  came  in  throngs  from  all  parts  of  Europe  to  study 
and  to  listen,  many  thousands  being  at  one  great  schooi.  Students  came  to  the  Uni- 
versity of  Paris  in  such  numbers  from  all  parts  of  Europe  that  separate  colleges  were 
erected  for  the  reception  of  the  different  nationalities.  Sometimes  they  followed  a 
great  teacher  from  place  to  place,  as  when  Abelard  in  his  sorrow  and  discouragement 
fled  to  the  wilderness,  the  whole  region  around  was  covered  with  the  tents  of  the  stu- 
dents who  followed  him  to  his  retreat  to  profit  by  his  instructions. 

Many  of  the  universities  were  originally  founded  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor.  This 
was  the  origin  of  the  University  of  Naples,  established  by  Frederick  II.  in  1225.  He 
desired  that  his  subjects  might  be  instructed  at  home  in  every  branch  of  learning,  and 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  395 

not  be  compelled  in  pursuit  of  learning  to  have  recourse  to  foreign  orations  or  to 
beg  in  other  lands.  Boniface  VIII.  established  the  University  of  Rome  for  the  special 
benefit  of  poor  foreign  students,  sojourning  at  the  capital. 

In  the  course  of  centuries,  however,  social  changes,  not  necessary  to  trace  here, 
gradually  eliminated  this  principle  of  democracy,  and  the  throngs  of  students  of  all 
grades,  ages  and  nationalities  ceased  to  gather,  and  the  universities  no  longer  reached 
the  people.  The  old  conditions  have  never  been  restored.  Learning  is  again  impris- 
oned, this  time  not  in  the  monasteries,  but  in  the  universities  themselves.  There  are 
now  barriers  at  their  gates  which  exclude  all  but  a  favored  few.  To  the  masses  these 
barriers  are  impassable.  One  of  these  barriers  is  the  long  and  exhaustive  preparation 
that  must  be  made,  and  which  only  the  few  can  undertake.  Another  barrier  is  that 
of  age,  only  the  young  being  now  thought  eligible  as  students.  The  continuity  of 
work  required  is  another  barrier,  for  only  the  few  can  give  sucji  attendance;  while  still 
another  insuperable  obstacle  is  the  lack  of  money  to  defray  the  large  expense  that 
residence  at  the  university  in  our  time  involves.  These  are  among  the  chief  causes 
which  have  so  diminished  the  number  of  students,  and  which  have  practically  excluded 
the  masses  from  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  under  any  competent  guidance. 

History  is  repeating  itself.  The  popular  need  which  anciently  demanded  that 
learning  be  brought  out  of  the  cloister,  now  requires  that  it  be  brought  out  of  the 
university.  The  people  can  no  longer  go  in  crowds  to  the  universities;  therefore,  we 
must  bring  the  university  instruction  to  the  people. 

Out  of  this  need,  which  has  now  for  many  reasons  become  imperative,  has  grown 
the  work  which  we  call  University  Extension.  It  is  nothing  less  than  a  revolution 
which  will  be  as  fruitful  in  intellectual  results,  as  religious  and  political  revolutions 
have  been  in  their  respective  fields.  We  have  today  religious  and  political  freedom, 
but  both  are  practically  useless  without  the  trained  and  enlightened  intellect.  Uni- 
versity Extension,  the  emancipation  of. the  popular  mind,  becomes  therefore  the  com- 
plement of  the  liberties  already  won.  The  universities  are  now  called  to  minister,  as 
in  early  times,  not  to  a  class,  but  to  all  the  people.  And  since  the  people,  on  account 
of  the  social  and  economic  conditions  of  the  times,  can  no  longer  go  to  the  university, 
we  must  take  the  university  to  the  people.  That  the  people  are  intellectually  hungry 
is  manifest  from  the  great  number  of  study  classes  and  clubs,  for  the  most  part  under 
inefficient  leadership,  which  have  in  recent  years  sprung  into  existence  everywhere. 
And  that  the  people  are  ready  for  the  University  Extension  movement  is  abundantly 
shown  by  the  large  number  who  hasten  to  avail  themselves  of  its  aid. 

The  first  lectures  were  given  by  professors  of  Cambridge  University,  England,  in 
1873,  in  response  to  the  request  of  a  company  of  women,  that  they  might  have  the  privi- 
lege of  listening  to  lectures  by  the  university  instructors.  Other  courses  followed, 
and  the  work  has  increased  in  extent  and  popularity  up  to  the  present  time.  Oxford 
University  entered  upon  the  active  work  in  1878.  The  annual  reports  show  a  steady 
growth  of  interest  and  attendance.  There  are  now  more  than  one  hundred  and 
fifty  lecture  centers,  at  each  of  which  several  courses  of  lectures  are  annually  delivered. 
These  courses  are  upon  any  and  every  subject  upon  which  the  university  gives  instruc- 
tion. The  topic  is  in  all  cases  determined  by  vote  of  the  class  desiring  to  attend  and 
study.  At  first  courses  in  history  and  literature  were  most  popular,  but  recently  the 
choice  of  subjects  has  taken  a  very  wide  range.  At  a  recent  summer  school  of  Uni- 
versity Extension  students  at  Oxford,  there  were  classes  in  the  Constitutional  History 
of  England,  in  practical  chemistry  and  geology,  in  geographical  mapping,  in  Homer's 
Odyssey,  in  Herodotus,  in  Dante,  in  Gothic  architecture  with  illustrative  excursions, 
in  instrumental  astronomy,  and  many  other  subjects.  A  center  composed  of  working 
men  in  one  of  the  manufacturing  districts  has  been  engaged  in  the  study  of  the 
classical  novel.  They  were  studying  George  Eliot's  "  Romola  "  when  the  report  was 
made.  A  course  of  six  lectures  on  the  Bible  was  given  at  Newcastle-upon-Tyne  to 
immense  audiences  of  iron  workers.  Courses  upon  electricity,  agriculture,  mining, 
social  science  and  art,  are  also  among  the  subjects  commonly  chosen. 


396  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

The  representative  of  the  American  Society,  sent  recently  to  study  the  develop- 
ment of  the  University  Extension  in  England,  reports  that  the  work  done  in  some  of 
the  established  centers  is  such  that  the  extension  students  are  admitted  to  the  univer- 
sities as  second-year  students,  showing  that  it  is  possible  by  this  method  to  reach  the 
same  results  as  are  attained  by  residence  at  the  universities.  He  also  reports  interest 
among  English  farmers,  who  are  availing  themselves  of  courses  of  lectures  upon  topics 
pertaining  to  their  occupation.  The  principle  upon  which  the  centers  have  been 
organized  has  been  strictly  democratic,  persons  of  various  ages,  stations  and  degrees 
of  culture,  of  both  sexes,  being  frequently  associated  in  the  same  classes.  As  an 
example  of  this,  a  lecturer  reports  that  in  a  certain  course  the  best  examination  was 
passed  by  a  coal  miner,  and  the  second  best  by  the  daughter  of  a  wealthy  banker.  The 
working  men  and  miners  have  taken  up  the  work  in  large  numbers,  and  the  results  are 
already  discernible  in  the  general  improvement  of  the  condition  of  many.  The 
dramshop  gets  less  attention,  while  books  and  magazines  appear  in  homes  where  they 
were  before  unknown.  The  women  of  England  have  from  the  first  taken  the  deepest 
interest  in  this  movement,  and  women  of  birth  and  education  have  been  among  the 
first  to  avail  themselves  of  the  advantages  offered  thereby.  Women  became  every- 
where, not  only  the  eager  recipients  of  the  instruction  offered,  but  active  in  the 
organization  of  centers.  University  Extension  work  has  also  been  inaugurated  and 
organized  in  Canada,  Austria,  Denmark  and  other  countries. 

In  America  the  organization  is  quite  recent.  Four  or  five  years  ago  it  was  prac- 
tically unknown.  The  work  once  inaugurated,  however,  our  colleges  and  universities 
have  promptly  taken  it  up,  and  it  has  already  assumed  large  proportions.  Such  is  the 
favor  with  which  the  plan  is  received  by  the  people,  that  to  explain  clearly  the  aims 
and  methods  of  University  Extension  is  almost  certain  to  organize  a  center. 

The  Philadelphia  Society  was  formed  in  June,  1890.  In  December  of  the  same 
year  the  American  Society  was  established.  In  July  following,  the  "Journal  of  Uni- 
versity Extension"  was  issued.  National  conferences  have  been  held  each  succeeding 
year,  with  delegates  present  from  the  leading  universities  of  England  and  Canada.  As 
a  result  of  all  these  activities,  taken  in  connection  with  the  enthusiastic  work  of  many 
established  centers,  the  whole  country  is  becoming  awakened  to  the  keenest  interest 
in  all  that  concerns  the  movement.  Our  leading  universities  and  colleges  have  fully 
launched  themselves  into  the  work.  The  Johns  Hopkins  and  Michigan  universities, 
Bryn  Mawr,  Cornell,  most  of  the  state  universities,  all  the  magnificent  educational 
institutions  that  center  about  Chicago,  are  committed  to  this  greatest  educational 
movement  our  world  has  ever  seen.  It  is  already  apparent  that  the  eager  acceptance 
of  this  aid  to  systematize  study  will  tax  the  universities  to  the  utmost,  and  the  question 
is  asked:  "What  will  they  do  with  the  material  that  University  Extension  is  bringing 
to  their  very  doors?"  The  University  of  Chicago  has  already  answered  the  question 
by  making  University  Extension  one  of  its  regular  departments,  with  officers,  professors 
and  lecturers  set  apart  for  this  special  work.  Other  great  universities  must  soon  move 
in  this  direction,  for  the  already  overworked  professors  cannot  leave  their  class-rooms 
to  lecture  outside  to  any  great  extent. 

The  plan  adopted  in  our  country  has  contemplated  in  all  cases  courses  of  six  lect- 
ures each,  which  may  be  supplemented  by  other  courses  on  the  same  subject,  if  desired. 
All  the  advantages  offered  are  optional  with  the  student.  He  may  simply  attend  the 
lectures,  and  he  may  in  addition  attend  the  classes  held, before  or  after  lectures,  when 
he  may  question  the  professors  on  points  not  understood.  He  may  read  recommended 
articles  or  books;  he  may  pursue  independent  investigation  on  the  subject,  and  prepare 
papers  to  be  examined  by  the  professor  in  charge.  If  he  does  all  this  work,  and  does 
it  satisfactorily  to  the  committee  on  examination,  he  receives  a  certificate  or  credit  for 
the  amount  of  work  accomplished,  which  will  be  accepted  if  presented  to  the  univer- 
sity or  college  to  which  that  center  belongs. 

University  Extension  is  not  intended  to  take  the  place  of  college  training.  It  must 
always  lack  much  that  the  university  can  supply;  but  it  is  intended  that  the  work  under- 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  397 

taken  shall  be,  as  far  as  it  goes,  strictly  first-class,  and  the  student  who  cannot  go  to 
the  university  will  be  aided  at  home  to  the  utmost  of  his  desire  or  capacity  to  receive. 

The  privilege  and  possibilities  of  University  Extension  must  appeal  to  American 
women  even  more  strongly  than  to  those  of  England.  In  view  of  all  the  opportunities 
which  are  here  open  to  women,  and  in  view  of  the  constantly  increasing  responsibili- 
ties which  rest  upon  them,  the  need  of  the  most  liberal  training  is  imperative.  Here 
is  an  opportunity  to  make  up  deficiencies  and  to  pursue  studies  in  any  direction,  with- 
out interfering  with  the  duties  of  home  or  society.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  majority 
of  the  Extension  students  in  our  country  are  women.  Thus  far,  however,  few  women 
have  offered  themselves  as  instructors  or  lecturers  in  this  inviting  field.  College  women 
should  be  especially  interested  and  active.  They  can  make  themselves  especially  use- 
ful in  establishing  centers  and  in  promoting  the  work  in  their  immediate  neighborhoods. 
Many  of  them  are  especially  qualified  to  lecture  upon  their  favorite  studies.  There  is 
to  be  in  the  immediate  future  an  immense  demand  for  the  best  lecturers.  The  pro- 
fessors in  the  colleges  already  have  their  hands  more  than  full.  They  cannot  go  out 
to  any  great  extent  without  neglecting  work  in  the  university  itself.  If  competent 
women  offer  their  services  they  will  be  gladly  accepted. 

University  Extension  should  commend  itself  to  liberally  educated  women  because 
of  its  value  to  the  people  in  general,  and  because  of  its  adaptation  to  the  present  needs 
of  women. 

It  is  not  yet  twenty-five  years  since  the  first  great  university  opened  its  doors  to 
women  students,  and  it  is  much  less  time  since  anything  like  adequate  advantages  have 
been  at  the  command  of  women  who  seek  thorough  training.  Women  now  in  mature 
life,  surrounded  by  many  cares,  have  not  forgotten  how  sadly  they  realized  that  their 
school-days  were  over  when  they  had  advanced  just  far  enough  to  know  that  they  had 
made  a  beginning.  They  vividly  remember  how,  as  they  saw  their  brothers  prepare 
for  college,  they  silently  brushed  away  the  unseen  tears  and  bravely  turned  to  face  a 
life  of  intellectual  privation.  These  women  have  not  lost  their  intellectual  hunger, 
though  many  of  them  do  wear  gray  hairs.  They  are  turning  with  avidity  to  gather  the 
intellectual  food  now  so  freely  offered.  Educated  women  who  appreciate  their  own 
happier  lot  will  be  earnest  and  quick  in  their  endeavor  to  bring  whatever  is  best  within 
reach  of  these  defrauded  sisters. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  at  this  time  to  make  practical  suggestions.  These  will  readily 
occur  to  all  who  give  thought  to  this  important  subject.  But  I  cannot  refrain  from 
expressing  the  earnest  hope  that  college  bred  women  everywhere  may  put  themselves 
in  line  with  this  great  work  for  the  elevation  of  humanity — a  work  worthy  of  the  best 
efforts  of  heart  and  hand  and  brain. 


WONDERS  OF  NATURE  AND  ART  IN  SPAIN. 

By  SENORITA  CATALINA  DE  ALCALA. 

In  comparison  to  the  amount  that  has  been  spoken  and  written  concerning  the 
attractions  of  other  countries,  almost  nothing  has  been  said  about  the  beauties  and 
grandeur  of  the  old  Castilian  Empire. 

While  crossing  the  Atlantic  for  the.United  States,  one  of  the  lady  passengers  stated 
that  she  had  been  over  the  ocean  six  times  to  view  the  wonders  of  the  Old  World. 

"  Now  I  am  through,"  she  said;  "  There  is  nothing  left  worth  looking  at." 

When  asked  if  she  had  visited  Spain,  she  replied:  "Mercy,  no;  do  you  think  I 
would  venture  into  that  barbarous  land  to  have  my  heart  pierced  with  a  stiletto  or 
my  jugular  vein  severed  by  a  robber's  steel?"  "Banditti  are  the  only  curiosities  I 
ever  heard  of  in  that  country." 

I  am  sorry  to  say  that  as  a  people  we  have  been  too  sullenly  proud  and  carelessly 
indolent  to  rise  up  in  dignity  and  earnestness  and  correct  such  false  impression  The 
political  and  religious  cloud  which  has  enveloped  us  for  centuries  has  obscured  the  vision 
of  the  poet,  novelist,  and  even  historian.  The  physical  aspect  of  Spain  has  been  com- 
pared to  a  truncated  pyramid,  the  summit  of  which  is  formed  by  the  plateau  of  Castle 
and  La  Manche,  furrowed  by  chains  of  Sierras  towering  from  six  to  twelve  thousand  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  Mediterranean  base  of  the  pyramid  is  a  paradise — a 
land  of  exquisite  fruitfulness,  through  olive  groves  to  the  orange-embowered  hamlets 
of  Catalonia  on  to  the  garden  of  Valencia,  where  African  vegetation  abounds.  At 
Elche  stately  palms  in  tens  of  thousands  group  themselves  in  true  oriental  style 
around  low  Moorish  homes.  Valencia  is  a  Sicilian  landscape.  Andalusia  with  its 
cacti,  bananas,  cotton,  sugar  cane,  its  tropical  atmosphere,  pure  and  brilliant,  is  truly 
African.  The  mountain  chains  begin  with  the  lofty  Pyrenees,  whose  snow-capped 
peaks  meet  the  eye  on  entering  Spain  from  the  north.  It  is  the  most  regular  mount- 
ain chain  in  the  world,  giving  off  its  principal  valleys  at  right  angles. 

The  scenery  on  the  Spanish  slope  far  surpasses  that  of  the  French  side.  The 
innumerable  mountain  torrents  form  lofty  cascades  more  magnificent  than  any  other 
waterfalls  in  Europe.  On  a  single  high  station  in  the  Central  Pyrenees  grows  the 
diascorea,  the  only  European  species  of  the  yam.  A  distinct  specimen  of  the  ibex  is 
found  here  and  also  the  water-mole  known  in  no  other  streams  except  the  rivers  of 
Southern  Russia.  The  blind  insects  which  abound  in  the  caverns  are  another  wonder 
of  the  Pyrenees.  Kings,  races,  governments,  have  come  and  gone;  wars  have  fiercely 
raged  on  either  side  and  enemies  sworn  vengeance  through  thy  passes.  But  thou,  O 
Pyrenees,  stand  forever  firm,  immovable,  unbroken  by  the  hand  of  time! 

The  Iberian  chain  twines  through  the  heart  of  the  country  eastward  and  south- 
ward to  the  Sierra  Morena,  and  is  filled  with  enormous  masses  of  fossil  bones;  it  forms 

Senorita  Catalina  de  Alcala  is  a  pure  Castilian,  the  daughter  of  the  late  Duke  Louis  de  Alcala,  who  fell  upon  the  field  of 
battle— a  Carlist.  Her  mother,  Marie  de  Molina,  is  a  direct  descendant  of  the  early  Castilian  queen  of  the  same  name.  The 
name  De  Alcala  ia  a  familiar  one  in  Madrid.  The  family,  consisting  of  one  young  son  and  danght?r,  were  exiled  upon  the 
accession  of  Alphonzo  XII.  to  the  throne,  and  their  estate  declared  confiscate.  Their  guardian,  a  grandee  and  an  exile,  wan- 
dered with  his  young  charges  through  many  lands.  He  gave  the  strictest  attention  to  their  education,  particularly  in  the 
languages.  Catalina  de  Alcala  is  master  of  five  living  languages ;  is  a  good  Latin  and  Greek  scholar,  besides  having  a  fair 
knowledge  of  Russian,  Flemish  and  Italian.  Her  brother  was  assassinated  in  the  streets  of  Madrid,  where  he  had  gone  to 
make  a  personal  appeal  at  the  foot  of  the  throne  for  the  return  of  his  estates.  Senorita  de  Alcala  was  for  some  time  linguist 
in  the  palace  of  the  Emperor  of  Germany.  She  was  in  the  royal  family  of  Hawaii  when  the  news  of  the  revolution  reached 
them.  She  accompanied  the  family  of  Don  Fernando— Minister  to  the  United  States— to  Washington,  and  acted  as  secretary 
during  the  Pan-American  Congress.  Her  knowledge  of  languages  and  diplomatic  details  rendered  her  services  invaluable. 
Only  thirty  years  of  age,  this  young  woman  has  traveled  twice  around  the  world,  and  has  seen  every  phase  of  life,  from  the 
Imperial  Courts  to  the  humblest  home.    She  is  at  present  Professor  in  the  Minnesota  State  University. 

398 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  399 

the  starting  point  of  the  Tagus  on  one  side,  and  the  Gabriel  Guadalajara  and  Xucar 
on  the  other. 

The  Carpetanian  group  runs  northeast  and  southwest  with  the  Escurial  and  La 
Granja  clinging  to  its  granite  declivities.  The  Sierra  Morena  is  a  plateau  on  one  side 
and  a  mountain  on  the  other,  clothed  in  rosemary,  thyme,  cystus,  lentise,  arbutus,  date, 
palms,  aloes  and  vines.  It  is  a  sight  to  see  the  lentil  and  morning-glory  with  other 
wild  flowers  growing  side  by  side  out  of  the  crevices  in  the  bare  rocks,  with  scarcely 
any  leaves,  but  perfect  in  blossom  and  fruit.  The  peasant  children,  with  their  brown 
faces  and  bright  garbs,  make  a  pretty  picture  in  their  bare  heads  and  feet  leaping 
from  cliff  to  cliff  like  the  gazelle,  caroling  their  native  airs  and  gathering  the  nutri- 
tious legume  to  be  shipped  to  all  parts  of  the  world  with  the  large  yellow  garbanzo, 
which  grows  only  on  Spanish  soil.  If  a  traveler  approaches  and  addresses  them,  they 
will  detect  at  once  if  he  is  a  foreigner,  and  come  forward  offering  handfuls  of  wild 
flowers,  and  saying,  with  their  expressive  glances,  "  We  pity  you  because  you  are  a 
stranger  and  far  from  home,"  the  worst  of  all  calamities,  in  the  minds  of  these  little  ones. 

No  matter  what  is  offered  them  in  return  for  their  courtesy  and  favor  they  will 
never  accept,  and  feel  wounded  because  you  have  mistaken  their  motive.  This  is  one 
of  the  curios  of  Spain;  you  can  turn  around  without  crossing  the  hand  with  silver. 

The  whole  surface  of  Spain  is  noted  for  its  striking  contrasts;  mountains  rising  in 
grandeur  above  the  snow  line,  sheltering  rich  and  magnificent  valleys  at  their  base, 
defying  the  sun  of  summer,  by  not  yielding  one  drop  from  their  icy  peaks  to  water 
the  enchanting  land  below.  Naked  walls  of  white  limestone  tower  above  dark  woods 
of  cork,  oak  and  olive.  Extensive  tracts  of  undulating  forest-clad  hills  lie  between 
apparently  boundless  plains  or  tracts  of  level  table  lands,  some  almost  uninhabitable, 
and  others  intersected  with  canals  and  richly  cultivated,  like  the  Rekuena  of  Valencia. 

The  climate  is  as  great  a  wonder  as  the  geography.  Four  zones  are  recognized. 
In  the  north  and  northwest  maritime  provinces,  the  temperature  is  mild  and  equable. 
Monthly  roses  bloom  in  the  garden  at  Christmas.  The  table  lands  and  the  larger  part 
of  the  Ebro  basin  form  the  zone  of  the  greatest  extremes.  Even  in  summer  the  nights 
are  decidedly  cool,  and  on  the  high  levels  hoar  frost  is  frequent.  In  spring  cold 
mists  envelop  the  land  for  days,  while  in  summer  the  sky  may  be  perfectly  clear  for 
weeks.  The  air  is  dry  and  constantly  in  motion.  At  Madrid  skating  is  the  pastime  in 
December  and  January.  The  third  zone  includes  the  Mediterranean  provinces.  The 
extremes  of  temperature  are  not  so  marked,  although  the  summers  are  very  warm  and 
the  winters  decidedly  cold. 

The  fourth  or  African  zone,  as  it  is  called,  embraces  the  whole  of  Andalusia  as 
far  as  the  Sierra  Morena,  the  southern  half  of  Murcia  and  the  province  of  Alicante. 
The  winter  is  the  season  of  the  brightest  vegetation.  As  a  consequence  of  such  a 
varied  climate  the  vegetation  is  peculiar.  No  other  country  in  Europe  of  equal  extent 
has  so  great  a  wealth  of  species.  The  number  is  over  five  thousand.  Important  med- 
ical and  dye  plants  grow  wild  on  all  the  mountains  and  in  the  night  season  load  the 
air  with  aroma. 

Spain  surpasses  all  other  countries  in  Europe  in  the  production  of  kitchen  vege- 
tables and  pod  fruits;  its  sherry  wine  is  famous  throughout  the  world.  Who  has  not 
heard  ot  the  great  olive  forests  which  embrace  hundreds  of  square  miles  furnishing  an 
annual  production  of  millions  of  gallons  of  oil.  Oranges,  almonds,  figs,  pomegranates, 
carobs,  bananas,  cherimogas  and  apples  are  abundant  and  excel  in  flavor  the  fruits  of 
all  other  countries.  It  is  also  the  land  of  the  mulberry  and  hence  of  the  silk  worm. 
The  annual  production  of  raw  silk  in  Catalonia,  Valencia  and  Murcia  is  four  million, 
two  hundred  thousand  pounds 

The  fauna  of  Spain  also  corresponds  to  the  climate.  Even  wild  animals  abound, 
bears,  wolves,  hares  and  rabbits.  The  horses  of  Spain  have  been  famous  in  all  ages. 
The  Romans  used  to  say  they  were  engenders  of  the  wind.  They  are  supposed  to  be 
of  Arabian  origin,  as  the  Arabs,  when  in  possession  of  the  peninsula,  stocked  it  with 
their  finest  breeds.     Especially  in  Andalusia  are  they  noted  for  swiftness  and  beauty. 

One  of  Spain's  greatest  resources  lies  in  its  immense  flocks  and  herds.    They  are 


400  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

distributed  in  bands  of  tens  of  thousands  under  shepherds  and  dogs  running  through 
millions  of  acres  that  are  abandoned  to  their  use.  It  is  also  a  fact  that  Spain  contains 
the  one  specimen  of  the  Barbary  ape  still  found  wild  in  Europe,  and  the  four  hundred 
species  of  butterflies  found  in  the  province  of  Madrid  alone  are  like  the  gayety  and 
grace  displayed  in  the  Spanish  ballroom.  Spain  has  ever  been  a  camping  ground  for 
innumerable  tribes  of  feathered  songsters.  The  peninsula  lies  directly  in  their  route 
to  and  from  frigid  and  temperate  Europe  to  tropical  Africa.  While  some  adorn  the 
foliage  with  their  brilliant  plumage,  others  delight  the  ear  with  enchanting  melodies. 

Spain  leads  all  other  European  countries  in  the  variety  and  amount  of  its  minerals. 
In  the  production  of  silver,  copper,  mercury  and  lead  even  Austria  and  Hungary  are 
excelled.  The  Greek  and  Latin  authors  who  have  described  the  Spanish  peninsula, 
state  the  quantity  of  gold  and  silver  found  there  was  very  great,  and  that  hence  the 
district  became  an  important  center  of  commercial  activity  of  the  Phoenicians  and 
Carthaginians. 

Marble  of  many  colors  and  great  beauty,  iron,  silver,  copper,  loadstone,  gold, 
pearls  and  rubies  make  of  Spain,  what  it  always  has  been,  an  inexhaustible  storehouse 
of  wealth. 

As  the  brilliant  panorama  of  nature's  wonders  recedes  from  view  we  find  ourselves 
in  royal  Madrid  amid  towering  domes  and  stately  palaces.  The  Castilian  capitol  is 
truly  an  eden  of  architectural  beauty  and  splendor,  and  forms  the  center  of  an  art  cir- 
cle unsurpassed  in  any  other  land.  The  royal  palace  is  acknowledged  to  be  the  finest 
structure  of  art  in  all  Europe.  It  is  a  hollow  square,  four  hundred  and  seventy  feet 
on  the  outside  and  one  "hundred  and  forty  feet  within.  A  colonnade  and  a  gallery  runs 
entirely  around  the  inside  of  the  square,  and  without  are  windows,  cornices  and  col- 
umns, adorned  with  heavy  ornaments,  except  in  the  balustrade  which  crowns  the  whole 
and  hides  the  leaden  roof  from  view.  It  is  constructed  of  a  kind  of  granite  which  has 
the  appearance  of  white  marble;  the  only  wood  used  in  it  is  the  frame  of  the  roof,  doors 
and  windows.  The  foundation  stands  entirely  upon  a  system  of  subterranean  arches. 
A  magnificent  staircase  of  marble,  on  which  the  architect,  sculptor  and  painter  have 
exhausted  their  arts,  leads  to  the  second  floor,  which  is  likewise  supported  by  arches. 

Here  is  a  second  colonnade  and  a  gallery  which  looks  upon  the  court  and  is  paved 
with  marble.  This  gallery  opens  upon  the  apartments  of  the  diffent  members  of  the 
royal  family,  the  chapel  and  audience  chamber.  On  the  ceilings  are  the  work  of  such 
men  as  Mengs,  Bayeux,  Velasquez  and  Graedona,  while  the  walls  are  adorned  with  the 
best  productions  of  Rubens,  Titian,  Murillo,  Velasquez  and  Spagnoletto.  The  picture 
gallery  is  a  marvel  of  art,  and  contains  the  paintings  of  both  ancient  and  modern  mas- 
ters, Claude,  Van  Dyke,  Guido,  Murillo,  Poussin  Raphael,  Rubens,  Teniers  Titian, 
Tintoretto,  Velasquez,  Paul  Veronese  and  Wonvermans.  It  is  only  here  that  one  can 
study  our  Velasquez  to  advantage. 

The  small  oratory  of  the  king  is  the  most  beautiful  apartment  of  the  palace.  It 
is  adorned  with  the  richest  and  most  finely  variegated  marbles  found  in  the  peninsula. 
The  furniture,  tapestry,  mirrors  and  clocks  are  of  the  highest  style  of  magnificence. 
The  garden  of  the  retiro  is  of  great  extent,  with  its  Chinese  temple,  fountains,  artificial 
lake,  gilded  barge  and  royal  menagerie.  The  most  prominent  object  is  the  bronze 
statue  of  Philip  IV.  Though  the  figures  are  four  times  as  large  as  life,  and  the  enor- 
mous mass  weighing  nine  tons  is  supported  on  the  horse's  two  hind  legs,  yet  there  is 
such  harmony  in  all  the  parts  as  to  prevent  its  appearing  cumbrous  or  unwieldly. 

The  Fountain  of  the  Swan  is  another  fine  piece  nestled  among  the  spreading  trees. 
The  center  is  formed  of  cherubs  riding  on  the  back  of  a  snow-white  swan  and  holding 
in  their  hands  a  torch,  through  which  the  water  flows.  In  the  garden  of  the  Casino 
stands  the  bronze  statute  of  Phillip  III.,  weighing  twelve  thousand  pounds. 

The  Museum  of  Statuary  and  Painting  is  a  wonder  of  elegance  and  ability  in  art 
and  design,  a  monument  of  Spain's  days  of  prosperity,  the  beginning  of  its  construc- 
tion dating  back  to  the  time  of  Charles  III.  Here  all  the  different  schools  of  art  are 
represented,  and,  notwithstanding  the  wholesale  plunder  made  upon  it  by  other 
nations,  it  still  remains  the  finest  of  its  kind  in  the  world. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  401 

The  Spanish  school  is  noted  for  its  perfection  of  perspective  and  design  and  its 
vivid  and  natural  coloring.  Our  Morales  followed  Raphael,  and  his  inimitable  paint- 
ings of  Christ  have  gained  for  him  the  surname  of  Divine.  Juan  de  Juanes  is  the 
father  of  the  Valencian  school,  which  Spagnoletto  afterward  brought  to  the  highest 
state  of  perfection.  Spagnoletto  excelled  in  Bible  scenes,  especially  those  pictures 
which  represent  sorrow  and  suffering.  Velasquez  was  his  cotemporary  and  possessed 
something  of  his  style.     In  portrait  painting  he  surpassed  even  Titian  and  VanDyke. 

Who  that  loves  art  does  not  know  the  sublime  Murillo?  He  studied  in  Madrid 
and  never  traveled  out  of  Spain.  He  brought  the  Spanish  school  to  the  height  of  its 
glory.  Though  Raphael  is  considered  the  most  perfect  of  all  artists,  to  Murillo  must 
be  granted  the  honor  of  the  highest  excellence  in  representing  nature;  not  as  it  ought 
to  be,  but  as  it  is.  Indeed,  the  whole  city  of  Madrid  is  a  wonderful  work  of  art.  It 
is  laid  out  from  a  magnificent  design.  The  "  Puerta  del  Sol "  is  the  heart  of  Madrid, 
the  middle  of  the  spider  web  from  which  radiate  all  the  principal  streets. 

We  now  turn  from  Madrid  thirty  miles  away  to  the  southeastern  declivity  of  the 
Guadarrama  chain,  and  there,  midway  up  the  barren  mountain-side,  stands  the  Monas- 
tery of  St.  Lawrence,  or  the  "  Escurial,"  the  wonder  of  wonders,  the  eighth  wonder  of 
the  world.  It  was  built  by  Phillip  II.  in  memory  of  St.  Lawrence,  upon  whose  day  he 
won  the  Battle  of  Saint  Quentin.  No  structure  in  the  world,  except  the  pyramids  of 
Egypt,  gives  so  high  an  idea  of  human  power.  It  cost  originally  ^50,000,000  and  was 
twenty-four  years  in  building.  It  has  two  thousand  rooms  and  five  thousand  windows. 
This  is  the  home  of  the  famous  pantheon,  built  in  the  ground  directly  under  the  altar 
of  the  church,  where  lie  in  state  the  Kings  and  Queens  since  Charles  V.  To  give  any 
kind  of  a  description  of  the  Escurial  would  require  more  time  than  you  would  be 
willing  to  grant  me. 

I  will  pass  it  over  by  repeating  to  you  what  Harrison  says  of  this  stupendous 
combination  of  wonderful  magnificence:  "A  mausoleum,  a  monastery,  a  palace,  a 
church,  a  museum,  a  marvelous  reliquary  where  the  limbs  and  bones  of  hundreds  of 
saints  were  devoutly  accumulated;  a  city  of  corridors,  doors,  windows  and  apartments; 
a  great  library,  a  gigantic  picture  gallery,  a  network  of  tanks  and  towers,  a  confession 
stool  for  princely  humiliation,  a  village  of  monks;  a  town  clinging  to  the  sides  of  the 
mountain  wilderness,  a  swarming  cloister,  an  austere  hermitage,  a  fortress!" 

Delicate  marbles  of  many  hues,  damasks  and  velvets  of  Granada,  bronze  and  iron 
of  Toledo,  exquisite  work  in  steel,  gold  and  precious  stones  from  Milan,  gorgeous 
tapestries  from  Flanders,  rare  embroideries  from  the  thronging  monasteries  of  Spain, 
cedar,  ebony,  marvelously-tinted  woods  from  beyond  the  seas — all  that  money,  con- 
summate taste  and  boundless  dominion  could  summon — hung  or  glistened  or  blazed 
with  magical  brilliancy  within  these  walls.  It  is  filled  with  inestimable  treasures, 
gems,  oriental  manuscripts,  shrines,  painting  and  sculptures. 

The  leaning  tower  of  Saragossa  is  another  wonder.  Its  antiquity  enhances  its 
interest,  having  done  duty  as  a  clock  tower  for  the  church  of  San  Felipe  for  many 
centuries.  It  leans  ten  feet  from  the  perpendicular,  and  is  a  solid  structure  of  dia- 
pered stone,  handsomely  filigreed.  I  have  but  touched  at  the  center  of  the  circle  of 
art  in  Spain.  As  it  widens  it  also  deepens,  until  we  are  lost  more  and  more  in  amaze- 
ment at  the  countless  treasures  contained  in  the  long-despised  Iberian  peninsula. 

The  Cathedral  of  Toledo,  the  galleries  of  Seville,  the  arches  and  gardens  of  Cor- 
dova, the  Alhambra  of  Granada,  the  port  of  Malga,  the  many  palaces  of  great  note, 
all  embody  grandeur  and  interest  beyond  the  conception  of  any  one  mind. 
Oh  Sunny  Spain,  my  native  land! 

My  feet  have  trod  the  wide  world  o'er. 
But  nothing  can  I  find  so  grand 

As  thy  rich  hills  from  shore  to  shore. 
Thy  azure  skies  and  crystal  streams, 

Thy  lovely  valleys  by  the  sea. 
Thy  stately  palms  and  verdufe  green, 
The  dearest  of  a!l  earth  to  me. 

f26) 


NEED  OF  A  GREAT  COLLEGE  IN  THE  SOUTH.* 


By  MISS  CLARA  CONWAY. 

The  women  of  the  Jamestown  Colony  and  the  women  of  Plymouth  Colony 
were    in    large    part    children   of    the   same   race-ancestors.      We   are   sisters.      My 

Celtic  blood  has  assimilated  the  elements  that  make 
our  kinship  doubly  sure  and  doubly  strong,  and  it 
is  with  no  alien  tongue  or  manner  that  I  come  to 
plead  my  people's  cause  on  the  eve  of  the  anniversary 
of  the  Nation's  birthday  morn,  and  on  the  spot  made 
sacred  by  the  conseciation  of  American  womanhood 
to  the  cause  of  universal  righteousness. 

The  awakening  to  sin  and  sorrow  is  as  wan  and 
haggard  in  the  golden  morning  of  today  as  in  the  dim 
daybreak  of  history.  The  great  currents  of  human 
passion  ebb  and  flow  to  the  same  pulsations,  and  in 
the  flux  of  human  destiny  we  are  brought  to  a  reali- 
zation of  the  fact  that  we  are  closer  to  our  women- 
ancestors  in  feeling,  in  sympathy,  in  sisterhood  than 
in  the  bonds  of  historic  kinship.  Life  had  its  zest  for 
them  as  for  us,  and  the  circling  hours  brought  them 
honor  or  dishonor,  even  as  they  bring  us  joy  or  sor- 
row. Childish  impulsiveness,  self-indulgent  paganism, 
the  restlessness  of  anew  growth,  were  as  strongly  typ- 
ical of  their  life  as  are  the  heart-strains  of  the  Colum- 
bian hearth-stones  in  the  morning  and  evening  of  this 
full  day.  Thebondoflove  and  duty  is  eternal.  The  call 
to  righteousness,  feeble  as  ababy's  cry  in  Teutonic  days,  is  today  a  martial  tone,  resound- 
ing along  the  line  of  the  ages  and  awakening  the  world's  hosts  of  women  to  liberty 
and  action.  It  would  be  sad,  indeed,  to  think  that  the  rude,  unlettered  woman,  even 
in  her  crudest  thinking,  had  no  glimpse  into  a  richer,  fuller  life.  It  is  more  comfort- 
able to  hope  that  the  woman  of  today  is  a  realized  ideal,  beautiful  and  perfect  in  her 
way,  but  not  final.  She  shares  the  incompleteness  of  human  life.  The  true  reality  is  in 
the  mind  of  God,  awaiting  its  slow  evolution  through  the  processes  of  time  and  destiny. 
Between  the  silence  and  the  stir  the  woman  of  today  stands  with  a  consciousness  of 
power,  emphasized  by  this  Columbian  year  as  never  before.  The  two  worlds  of  the 
past  and  future  stand  on  each  side,  one  illumined  by  the  other.  Turning  away  from 
the  silence,  she  hears  the  stir  of  action.  Under  the  windows  of  her  world  she  sees  the 
tumult  of  strife,  and,  looking  out  into  the  far-off  boundless  vista,  she  realizes  that  the 
future  has  new  interpretations  and  illuminations  read  in  the  light  of  the  past.  Her 
life  opens  on  both  sides,  and  she  stands,  as  Phillips  Brooks  would  say,  between  a  world 
of   beautiful   ideals  and  the  hard  world  of  matter.     Quick-leaping  intuition,  poetic 

MiBs  Clara  Conway  is  a  native  of  New  Orleans,  La.  She  was  born  August  14,  1844.  Her  parents  were  Margaret  Riordan 
Conway  and  Thomas  Conway.  She  was  educated  at  St.  Agnes  Academy,  Memphis,  apparently,  but  mainly  by  her  own  study 
at  home.  She  has  traveled  extensively  in  the  United  States  and  in  Europe.  .  Her  special  work  is  preparing  girls  for  colleges 
principally  Vassar  and  Wellesley.  Miss  Conway  is  founder  and  organizer  of  the  Clara  Conway  Institute,  Memphis,  Tenn., 
whose  enrollment  in  sixteen  years  has  been  about  thirty-five  hundred.  It  is  now  believed  by  many  that  Miss  Conway,  as  a 
leader,  will  succeed  in  having  established  a  university  for  women  in  the  South.  Miss  Conway  advocates  strongly  prohibition 
and  equality.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Memphis,  Tenn. 


MISS  CLARA   CONWAY. 


*  What  appears  is  but  the  closing  portion  of  an  address  entitled  in  full,  "The  Need  of  a  Great  College  in  the  South  for 
American  Girls." 

402 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  403 

thought,  faith  and  love  combine  to  stir  up  activity,  and  she  answers:  "  Behold,  I  am 
here  to  serve!  "  It  is  this  woman  to  whom  I  speak  today,  asking  that  American 
women  recognize  a  common  motherhood  and  a  common  sisterhood,  that  what  is  claimed 
as  justice  for  one  may  be  justice  for  all;  that  in  the  distribution  of  love,  and  the  gifts 
of  love,  the  Southern  girl  has  equal  recognition  with  her  sister.  She  is  of  large  brain, 
of  pure  soul,  of  clean  hands  and  of  your  own  blood;  flesh  of  your  flesh  and  bone  of  your 
bone.  Trebly  bereft  by  the  desolations  of  war,  she  has  yet  actively  and  consci- 
ously recognized  the  force  of  tioblesse  oblige.  Leisure  and  wealth  gave  to  her  grand- 
mother an  exquisite  culture.  Planter  princes  lavished  fortunes  upon  the  women 
who  were  to  be  the  dispensers  of  royal  hospitality  that  "  neither  condescended  nor 
cringed." 

The  heritage  of  their  daughters  has  been- poverty,  but  not  humiliation,  nor  even 
defeat,  except  the  defeat  of  which  success  is  born.  From  the  ashes  of  the  wreck  they 
came  into  their  kingdom  of  strength  and  holiness.  All  over  that  beautiful  land  they 
are  nurse,  teacher,  home-tender,  mother — sweet,  wise  and  gracious.  They  are  strong, 
self-reliant,  independent.  They  ask  nothing  for  themselves,  and  if  I  ask  in  their 
behalf,  it  is  of  those  upon  whom  they  have  the  claim  of  sisterhood.  Schools  are  on 
the  hillsides  and  on  the  plains,  good  as  the  best  of  their  kind,  for  white  and  colored 
alike.  Do  not  heed  him  or  her  who  tells  you  that  we  do  not  provide  for  the  educa- 
tion of  our  colored  people.  The  fund  is  a  common  one,  and  provision  is  made  in  the 
public  school  for  every  boy  and  girl,  white  or  black.  The  burden  is  heavy,  but  the 
people  have  borne  it  without  a  murmur.  Along  the  line  of  primary,  secondary,  high 
school  and  academic  instruction,  all  is  well  and  growing  daily  better,  but  we  have  no 
Smith,  no  Yassar,  no  Wellesley,  no  Holyoke,  no  Bryn  Mawr.  This  means  that  private 
endowment  does  not  reach  us.  Our  own  people  are  not  rich  in  material  things,  and 
others  are  unmindful  or  forgetful.  This  is  the  claim  I  present  today,  not  as  a  demand, 
but  with  a  strong,  earnest  appeal  to  the  spirit  of  a  large-hearted  sisterhood,  which  has 
planted  the  College  Beautiful  on  so  many  Northern  hillsides.  Our  girls  must  go  far 
from  home  for  a  broad  and  generous  college  culture,  or  they  must  do  without. 
Unfortunately,  by  far  the  larger  majority  cannot  leave  home  by  reason  of  limitations 
that  are  apparent,  and  yet  these  noble-minded  girls  are  the  ones  to  whom  this  train- 
ing is  an  absolute  essential.  This  is  not  in  accordance  with  the  American  spirit.  Our 
Mother  Columbia  does  not  mean  to  say  to  her  large  family  of  beautiful  daughters: 
"  One-half  may  have  all  the  joys  and  blessings  of  the  higher  education;  the  other  half 
must  take  the  lower,  or  nothing." 

It  requires  no  prophetic  vision  to  see  the  meaning  of  this  waste  to  the  higher 
American  life  of  the  future;  not  to  read  the  story  of  limitation  to  the  universal  cause 
of  womanhood,  if  we  are  not  at  once  active  in  removing  hindrances.  There  are  more 
pathetic  tragedies  than  those  of  Teutonic  battlefields,  and  first  among  them,  surely, 
is  the  disappointment  of  young  hopes.  "  Today  the  morning  is  noisy  with  birds," 
tomorrow  they  may  be  old  and  silent.  Let  us  look  for  effective  rather  than  final 
causes;  and  in  seeking  to  find  God  everywhere,  let  us  not  be  afraid  to  acknowledge  the 
value  of  national  agencies,  or  to  set  forces  to  work  that  will  help  God  redeem  the 
world.  Let  one  of  these  be  a  college  at  the  South  for  our  girls,  so  magnificently 
endowed  with  such  bountiful  provision  for  student  aid  that  no  good  girl  in  search  of 
an  education  will  be  turned  away.  It  should  combine  all  the  requirements  of  the  best 
discipline  and  instruction.  Its  foundation  should  be  laid  in  the  thorough  training  of 
English  according  to  the  most  approved  methods.  There  should  be  a  department  of 
domestic  economy,  so  well  equipped  that  every  graduate  of  the  college  might  be  pre- 
pared, not  only  for  housekeeping,  but  for  home-keeping.  Thus  shall  we  express  our 
faith,  not  only  in  an  overruling  Providence,  but,  as  Charles  Kingsley  says,  in  an  under- 
ruling,  around-ruling,  and  an  in-ruling  Providence,  from  whose  inspiration  comes  all  true 
thought,  all  true  feeling.  Every  hope  is  the  beginning  of  its  own  fulfillment,  saysourdear 
Emerson;  and  as  we  walk  out  into  the  grounds  today,  let  the  out-door  air  sweep  in  the 
vision  I  have  sketched.     Columbia,  thou  hast  battlements  of  mountain  treasure,  caves 


404  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

of  gold  and  silver,  fields  and  pastures  wide  and  warm,  silent  cities  where  two  armies 
sleep,  and,  more  than  all,  hosts  of  imperial  living  men  and  women,  sons  and  daughters 
of  the  King.  Above  the  tumult  of  the  tempest,  the  storm  of  battle,  the  noisy  clamor 
of  creeds,  we  hear  them  today  pleading,  not  so  much  "  to  tunnel  the  mountain  or  ride 
the  sea,"  but  to  fill  this  fair  earth  with  benedictions. 

The  Neibelungen  hoard,  the  source  of  Teutonic  woes,  lies  drowned  in  the  deep 
Rhine  until  the  Judgment  Day.  It  was  a  curse.  Our  gold,  obedient  to  the  heavenly 
vision,  builds  a  world  of  grand  proportion,  filled  with  richer  music  than  that  of  cathe- 
dral psalm.  So,  as  we  listen,  the  electric  flash  reveals  a  vision,  and  we  look  out  to  see 
outlined  against  the  Exposition  sky  the  gracious  figure  of  Columbia,  equally  enthroned 
on  her  right  her  eldest  daughter  Jamestown,  robed  in  pensive  gray,  the  light  of  hope 
on  her  brow,  the  sweet  serenity  of  faith  in  her  eye.  On  the  left  the  second  sister, 
Plymouth,  robed  in  tender  blue,  high-born  resolve  on  her  fine  face  and  in  her  eye 
the  courage  that  meets  death  with  a  smile  for  love  or  duty's  sake.  Blue  and  gray! 
forever  one  as  in  the  sunset  sky.  The  voice  we  hear  is  strong  and  tender.  What  does 
she  say,  this  fair  Columbian  maiden  to  her  New  England  sister?     Listen  ! 

"  Unfashioned  was  the  earth, 
The  stars  unset, 
Ungiven  was  the  air, 
The  sea  not  yet, 
When  in  God's  purposes 
One  small  decree 
Fastened  eternally 
My  soul  to  thee." 


MISS  ALICE  A.   MITCHELL. 


"THE  NEW  LIBERTY  BELL."* 

By  MISS  ALICE  A.  MITCHELL 

It  rings!  the  mighty  bell  of  God; 

It  thrills  the  hearts  beneath  the  sod, 
And  spirits  of  our  Patriot  Sires 
Kindle  again  the  sacred  fires. 
Hallelujah!! 


It  rings!  and  from  its  tongue  of  truth, 
Bursts  the  victorious  shout  of  youth; 
The  martyr's  smile,  the  warrior's  cheer 
The  star  of  women's  frozen  tear: 
Hallelujah!! 

It  rings!  and  angels  from  the  heights     . 
Salute  the  flag  of  Human  Rights ; 
As  upward  soars  that  radiant  wing 
Seraphs  and  men  unite  and  sing. 
Hallelujah!! 

It  rings!  and  with  its  tongue  of  flame 
It  writes  upon  the  sky  a  name, 
The  name  of  freedom! — kneel  O  Earth, 
God  struck  the  hour  that  gave  it  birth. 

Hallelujah!!  Hallelujah!!! 


Miss  Alice  A.  Mitchell  was  born  in  Monmoath,  Warren  Coanty,  111.,  and  is  a  sister  of  the  late  Lieut.-Commander  Archie 
N.  Mitchell,  U.  S.  Navy.  Her  parents  were  John  Hull  Mitchell,  a  lawyer,  and  Sasan  Alice  Smith  Mitchell.  She  was  edu- 
cated in  New  York,  Chicago,  and  at  Monmouth  College,  111.  She  has  traveled  extensively  in  her  own  country,  has  a  wide 
acquaintance  among  people  in  the  social,  literary  and  musical  world.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  litera- 
ture, music  and  humanity.  Miss  Mitchell  was  the  first  woman  in  the  United  States  to  lift  a  baton  as  director,  when  her  suc- 
cess was  instantaneous.  Those  who  saw  her  lead  at  the  Suffrage  Congress  will  recognize  that  she  possesses  that  strange 
"mystery  of  commanding,"  which  is  a  gift  from  Heaven.    Her  principal  literary  work  is  "  Poems  of  Patriotism." 

*This  song  was  composed  in  honor  of  "The  New  Liberty  Bell."  It  was  first  sung  by  Miss  Mitchell  at  the  Congresses  in 
the  Woman's  Building,  and  afterward  at  the  first  ringing  of  the  bell  at  the  West-front  of  the  Administration  Building- 
Columbian  EziKJsition. 


405 


MEXICO. 


By  MISS  VIRGINIA  VILLAFUERTE. 

Ladies,  I  wish  to  manifest  to  you  the  honor  I  feel  at  your  request  to  have  me 
address  you.     I  am  authorized  by  no  ofificial  authority  to  do  so. 

First:  If  I  am  a  Mexican,  I  have  not  the  orders 
from  Mexico  to  address  you  in  the  name  of  my  coun- 
try. 

Secondly:  Because  this  day,  named  "  Mexican 
Day,"  is  not  the  Day  of  the  Independence  of  Mexico, 
but  has  been  assigned  Mexican  Day  by  the  order  of 
the  general  manager  of  this  Fair  and  the  United 
States  when  they  assigned  a  day  to  each  nation. 

The  15th  of  September,  1810,  is  the  day  in 
every  part  of  my  country  we  honor  as  the  day  of 
Liberty.  A  great  and  noble  man  by  the  name  of 
Miguel  Hidalgoy  Costilla  gave  us  liberty.  This  hero 
was  to  Mexico  the  father  of  that  country  as  your 
George  Washington  was  of  yours.  In  Mexico  on  the 
15th  and  i6th  of  September  all  hearts  honor  him  in 
city  and  country  alike.  In  walls  and  fields,  on  our 
plains  and  mountain-tops,  re-echoes  "  El  guto!" — the 
cry  of  liberty. 

May  I  say  a  few  words  of  my  country,  its  cus- 
toms and  its  public  education  for  womanhood.  In 
the  words  of  Mrs.  Carmen  Romero  Rubio  Diaz,  our 
president's  noble  wife,  whose  mental  qualities  are 
known  to  both  republics  as  the  leader  in  ours,  of  education  for  woman,  the  "Angel  of 
the  Home  "  should  be  placed  upon  the  very  pinnacle  of  educational  facilities,  every 
opportunity  given  to  her  flights  of  fancy  and  imagination  until  she  really  occupies  the 
position  she  should  do;  and  the  time  will  come  when  the  Mexican  woman  shall  occupy 
throughout  the  world  in  art  and  literature  as  noble  a  one  as  she  does  today,  as  the 
"Angel  of  the  Home"  in  Mexico 

In  the  City  of  Mexico  today  schools  for  women  exist,  whose  laurel  crowned  gradu- 
ates go  forth  annually  to  elevate  and  civilize  the  nation  in  all  its  parts,  and  I  can  but 
admire  the  nobility  and  long  suffering  of  American  men  who  so  gallantly  overlook 
the  failings  of  their  sister  women,  place  them  in  offices  of  all  kinds,  overlooking  their 
faults,  and  setting  so  noble  an  example  to  our  Mexican  Cabelleros. 

In  the  Capitol  we  have  a  woman's  home,  the  name  of  which  is  "The  Protector." 
This  home  was  founded  by  Mrs.  Diaz  (the  president's  wife)  and  is  maintained  by  her. 
It  is  for  the  protection  of  the  daughters  of  the  working  class.  They  have  their  daily 
food,  clothing  and  education  while  the  parents  are  at  work.  This,  which  at  first  sight 
might  be  looked  upon  with  indifference,  to  those  who  have  not  money  has  been  a  bless- 
ing, and  to  the  founder  a  lasting  benediction,  which  comes  each  day  from  those  who 
bless  her  for  those  favors  her  hands   bestow  so  bountifully  on  them.     If  you  have  in 

Senorita  Virginia  Villafaerte  is  a  native  of  Toluca,  State  of  Mexico,  Mexico.  She  was  born  January  6,  1871.  Her  par- 
ents  were  Jesus  J.  Villafuerte,  of  Victoria,  Garmica.  She  was  educated  in  the  private  college  of  Mrs.  Guadalupe  Gonsaller 
del  Pino  in  elocution,  and  has  traveled  over  part  of  Mexico  and  in  the  United  States.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  painting 
and  embroidery.  Her  profession  is  that  of  a  teacher  in  primary  classes.  Senorita  Villafaerte  is  of  the  Catholic  faith.  Her 
postoffice  address  is  No.  24  Calle  del  Aguila,  Mexico  City. 

406 


MISS  VIRGINIA  VILLAFUERTE. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  407 

this  country  such  a  hope  in  each  of  your  very  large  cities,  I  am  pleased  to  know  of  it,  for 
in  all  densely  populated  places  are  the  fingers  of  charities  most  wanted. 

In  giving  you  my  thanks  for  your  kind  invitation  this  day,  I  will  promise  to  speak 
to  my  patriotic  sisters  of  the  American  women,  of  their  life  and  their  enjoyment  of  all 
freedom  and  liberty  of  their  work  and  how  they  are  respected  for  it,  each  holding  in 
society  the  place  sought,  in  accordance  with  her  capacity. 


THE  VIRGINIA  WOMAN  OF  TODAY. 


MRS.    MARY   STUART  SMITH. 


By  MRS.  MARY  STUART  SMITH. 

Whatever  virtues  or  faults  the  daughters  of  Virginia  now  possess  they  are  exceed- 
ingly apt  to  be  inherited  qualities,  for  from   infancy  the  little  girl's  imagination  is 

filled  with  the  fair  images  of  the  women  whom  her 
mamma  and  grandmamma  admiredin  their  childhood, 
and  as  she  grows  older  her  highest  delight  is  to  have 
pictured  for  her  the  life  in  which  these  lovely,  revered 
beings  moved.  As  she  hears  their  virtues  extolled, 
her  eye  kindles  and  her  bosom  dilates  with  the  desire 
to  be  just  such  an  one  as  they  were,  and  to  equal  them 
would  be  to  attain  to  the  acme  of  her  ambition. 

When  the  darkness  that  enshrouded  with  gloom 
the  Jamestown  settlement,  is  illumined  by  the 
radiance  of  such  womanly  virtue  and  self-sacrifice  as 
shines  forth  in  the  girlish  form  of  Pocahontas,  when 
later  the  old  Virginians  had  before  their  eyes  such 
■  models  of  womanhood  as  Mary  and  Martha  Washing- 
ton, Dolly  Madison  and  Mrs.  Jefferson,  can  they  be 
blamed  for  both  admiring  them  and  seeking  to 
emulate  their  example? 

It  is  believed  that  at  the  period  when  these 
ladies  flourished,  Virginia  was  full  of  women  of  the 
same  type,  who,  in  the  quietness  of  private  life,  prac- 
ticed the  same  virtues  as  did  they  with  equal  stead- 
fastness and  simplicity,  although 'not  brought  before 
the  public  gaze  by  the  accident  of  occupying  a  conspicuous  station. 

We  think  that  it  can  also  be  proved  that  the  Virginia  women  of  today  are  not 
degenerate,  but  have  stood  well  that  hardest  of  tests — adversity.  The  gentlewoman 
who  has  known  better  days  yet  lives,  not  to  bewail  the  past,  but  to  make  the  best  of 
the  present,  is  happily  a  genus  of  which  the  Old  Dominion  is  full.  The  exceeding 
rarity  of  moping,  complaining  women,  or  supinely  indolent  ones  within  her  borders, 
has  been  and  is  the  theme  of  praise  upon  the  tongues  of  all  observers.  Cheerfulness 
and  industry  are  the  spirits  that  have  exorcised  the  demons  of  misery  and  unrest,  that 
naturally  swooped  down  upon  Virginia's  home  circles  after  the  war  was  over,  and 
would  have  preyed  upon  them  disastrously,  but  for  the  sturdy  exercise  of  these  two 
Christian  attributes. 

Twenty-eight  years  have  passed  since  those  dark  days,  and  it  would  be  hard  to 
name  any  branch  of  human  industry  in  which  Virginia  women  have  not  been  found 
toiling.  They  are  represented  in  the  Woman's  Exchanges  of  every  city  where  they 
exist;  we  have  teachers,  clerks,  artists,  authors,  editors,  type-writers,  elocutionists, 
postmistresses,  book  agents  and  what  not?     Leesburgh,  in  the  northern  part  of  Vir- 

Mrs.  Mary  Stuart  Smith  was  born  at  the  University  of  Virginia,  February  10, 1834.  Her  parents  were  Gessner  Harrison. 
M.  D.,  Professor  of  Ancient  Languages  at  the  University  of  Virginia,  and  Eliza  Lewis  Carter  Tucker.  She  was  educated  at 
home  by  her  father  and  tutors,  but  was  sent  to  Philadelphia  to  study  music.  Her  travels  have  been  in  our  own  country  and 
Germany  and  England.  She  married  Francis  N.  Smith,  of  Virginia,  now  Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy  in  the  University 
of  Virginia.  Her  literary  works  are  scattered  through  many  periodicals,  and  besides  numerous  translations  she  has 
published,  "  Heirs  of  the  Kingdom,"  "  Lang  Syne,  or  the  Words  of  Mt.  Vernon,"  "  The  Art  of  Housekeeping"  and  "  Virginia 
Cookery  Book."  She  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South,  president  of  several  missionary  societies,  and 
is  at  present  regent  of  the  Albemarle  Chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution.  Her  permanent  postoifice  address 
is  University  of  Virginia,  Charlottesville,  Va. 

408 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  409 

ginia,  is  famed  for  its  embroidery.  We  hope  it  will  not  be  deemed  unbecoming  to 
advert  to  the  fact  that  wherever  a  Virginia  woman  is  at  work,  her  personality  is 
marked.  There  is  an  indefinable  charm  about  her  gentle  voice,  cordial  manners  and 
frankness  that  is  better  felt  than  described.  Untrue  she  is  to  her  rearing,  if  the  love- 
light  is  not  in  her  eye,  and  if  "the  law  of  kindness  is  not  the  law  of  her  lips." 

Virginia  hospitality  has  become  proverbial,  and  it  goes  without  saying,  that  this 
quality,  in  its  practical  bearings,  emanates  mainly  from  the  housekeeping  branch  of  the 
family.  The  increased  burden  entailed  upon  a  family  by  the  presence  of  guests  must 
be  borne  by  the  female  members,  and,  therefore,  where  strangers  are  cordially  wel- 
comed to  a  seat  at  the  family  board,  depend  upon  it,  it  is  the  mistress  who  deserves 
the  praise.  Her  large  heart  and  loving  sympathy  with  her  fellow-creatures  makes 
every  burden  borne  on  their  behalf  seem  light,  and  sweetens  even  domestic  drudgery. 
Thank  God  Virginia  women  still  delight  to  honor  the  precept:  "  Be  not  forgetful  to 
entertain  strangers,"  although  this  can  not  be  done  nowadays  without  personal  exer- 
tion. All  New  York  recently  laughed  over  the  characteristic  simplicity  of  a  typical 
old  Virginian,  whom  at  the  great  naval  review  chance  threw  near  enough  to  Sir  John 
Hopkins,  commander  of  the  British  fleet,  to  admit  of  speech.  Impressed  by  the 
admiral's  appearance,  and  full  of  the  enthusiasm  of  the  hour,  he  rushed  up  to  him, 
saying:  "Sir,  are  you  a  foreigner?"  "I  am  an  Englishman,"  was  the  cold  reply. 
"Well,"  exclaimed  the  stranger,  "I  live  in  Fauquier  County,  Virginia,  and  if  you  ever 
come  there,  come  to  my  house  and  I  shall  be  delighted  to  see  you."    . 

We  may  be  sure  that  would-be  entertainer  of  the  Nation's  guest  had  a  helpmate 
at  home  upon  whom  he  could  rely,  should  the  stranger  appear  at  her  husband's 
behest,  to  be  ready  to  greet  him  with  smiling  face  and  open  for  him  the  best  guest- 
chamber,  with  its  high  post  bedstead,  dimity  curtains,  and  lavender-scented  linen. 

Conservatism  everybody  admits  to  be  an  attribute  peculiarly  cherished  in  Vir- 
ginia, yet  more  if  possible  by  the  women  than  by  the  men.  The  reason  for  any  change 
must  be  well  proved  before  being  adopted  by  a  Virginian  of  either  sex.  Local  attach- 
ments are  very  strong  in  them,  and  doubtless  this  is  one  of  the  elements  that  enters  into 
the  glowing  patriotism  that  is  apt  to  inspire  the  breast  of  everyone  reared  within  that 
widely  diversified  but  homogeneous  district,  ycleped  Virginia.  And  yet,  what  bundles 
of  contradiction  we  are.  The  same  being  at  whose  knee  her  sons  drink  in  large 
draughts  the  love  of  country  has  been  bred  in  the  belief  that  it  is  a  shame  for  a 
woman  to  intermeddle  with  politics,  and  to  feel  as  if  it  were  presumptuous  in  her  to 
talk  of  public  affairs.  The  domestic  circle  has  ever  been  believed  in  Virginia  to  be 
pre-eminently  woman's  province.  In  the  jealousy  with  which  the  people  there  guard 
its  privacy  and  sacredness  they  prove  their  English  lineage. 

The  sanctity  of  the  marriage  relation  is  regarded  with  a  primeval  simplicity.  It 
is  a  land  of  happy  marriages,  large  families,  and  loving  bands  of  brothers  and  sisters. 
Women  smile  when  they  are  asked  if  they  favor  women's  rights,  so  live  they  to  bless 
and  be  blessed  in  the  sunshine  of  domestic  happiness,  that  if  there  be  a  yoke  upon 
them  they  are  perfectly  unconscious  of  its  existence;  or,  can  it  be  that  the  yoke  is 
so  softly  lined  with  the  velvet  of  courtesy  and  mutual  respect,  devotion  and  self- 
sacrifice,  that  its  pressure  can  never  gall.  Let  Virginia  women  long  rest  in  their 
happy  contentment,  blind  to  any  wrongs  to  be  righted  in  the  nature  of  their  own  lot. 

To  the  generation  now  extant  has  not  fallen  the  stimulus  of  the  heroic  epoch  that 
just  preceded  this.  Upon  them  has  blown  the  cold,  biting  winds  of  poverty,  a 
reduction  in  circumstances  and  narrowing  of  the  horizon  that  is  all  the  harder  to 
struggle  against  because  its  trials  are  of  a  petty,  every-day  sort,  and  if  overcome  and 
transmuted  into  blessings,  the  victory  is  of  that  quiet,  unobtrusive  kind,  which  elicits 
no  praise  and  awakens  no  enthusiasm. 

Here  again  we  notice  an  apparent  inconsistency.  These  same  conservative,  con- 
tented, and  domestic  women  are  indomitable  in  their  enterprise.  They  imbibe,  by 
intuition,  it  seems,  the  ideas  of  the  age  in  which  they  live,  and  ten  to  one  they  are  in 
the  van  of  every  movement  for  the  advancement  of  their  sex,  holding  back,  though 
at  all  times  they  seem  yet  in  the  car  of  progress,  driven  by  the  spirit  of  the  period. 


410  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

For  instance,  at  the  very  same  time  that  Miss  Elizabeth  Blackwell  was  patiently  and 
persistently  pressing  her  claim  to  be  allowed  to  pursue  the  study  of  medicine  in  one 
of  Philadelphia's  famous  medical  schools,  meeting  with  ridicule  and  violent  opposition, 
in  a  lonely  farmhouse  in  Virginia  a  young  girl  was  seized  with  the  same  unquench- 
able thirst  after  a  knowledge  of  medical  science,  and  triumphing  over  similar  prejudices 
and  opposition,  became  a  thoroughly  educated  physician,  for  she  did  not  fail  to 
attend  the  first  medical  school  that  opened  its  doors  to  women.  She  traveled  widely, 
especially  in  the  East,  returned  home  to  act  the  part  of  an  angel  of  mercy  during  the 
war,  founded  a  hospital  in  the  town  nearest  her  own  home,  and  died  full  of  honors 
while  yet  young.  She  did  not  depart,  though,  until  she  had  demonstrated  to  the  satis- 
faction of  all  cognizant  of  her  career,  that  what  had  been  deemed  a  young  girl's  freak 
had  been  rather  a  call  from  on  high  to  enter  a  peculiar  field  of  usefulness  and  benefi- 
cence. Oriana  Moon's  name  should  be  honored  as  one  of  the  pioneers  who  opened 
to  woman  the  career  of  medical  practitioner,  which  has  given  the  missionary  in  the 
East  a  lever  of  immense  power  for  effecting  the  conversion  of  women,  and  through 
them,  the  rising  generation  of  Asia's  myriads.  Inspired  by  her  example,  two  of  her 
sisters  became  students  of  Oriental  languages,  and  ardent,  successful  missionaries  to 
China. 

The  standard  of  excellence  in  the  study  of  English  literature  at  one  of  Virginia's 
best-known  schools  for  young  women — HoUins'  Institute — is  well  illustrated  by  the 
fact  that  for  eight  consecutive  years,  under  the  training  of  Prof.  Wm.  Tayloe  Thom, 
the  prize  offered  to  American  schools  of  either  sex  by  the  New  Shakespeare  Society  of 
England,  was  won  by  members  of  his  senior  class  in  literature.  This  prize  was  given 
for  proficiency  in  a  competitive  examination  prepared  by  the  Shakespeare  scholar,  Mr. 
H.  H.  Furness,  and  adjudged  in  England.  The  answers  were  printed  and  sent  to 
England,  and  upon  one  occasion  complimented  in  an  autograph  letter  received  by  one 
of  the  successful  competitors  from  no  less  a  person  than  the  then  poet  laureate,  Lord 
Tennyson. 

In  education  Virginia  women  are  determined  not  to  be  behind  their  fellows. 
They  have  many  flourishing  seminaries  which  are  thronged  with  pupils  from  their  own 
and  other  states. 

In  the  one  town  of  Staunton,  with  about  ten  thousand  inhabitants,  there  are  six  well 
equipped  academies  for  girls,  with  an  attendance  of  about  a  thousand  pupils,  repre- 
senting many  states.  Even  at  our  national  capital  no  seminary  for  young  ladies 
maintains  a  higher  standard  than  Norwood,  presided  over  by  honored  Virginians. 
Recently  in  Lynchburgh,  the  enthusiastic  president  of  Randolph  Macon  College,  at 
Ashland,  determined  to  found  an  institution  for  the  higher  education  of  women;  and 
such  was  the  response  obtained  from  the  people,  impoverished  as  they  are,  that  in  the 
short  space  of  eight  weeks  he  obtained  ^200,000,  a  sufficient  sum  to  warrant  him  in 
pushing  forward  the  work.  And  now,  after  the  interval  of  one  brief  year,  the  build- 
ings have  been  reared  on  the  most  approved  plans  and  next  September  will  go  into 
operation — not  a  boarding  school,  but  a  veritable  college  for  women. 

The  primary  branches  of  education  are  not  neglected  in  Virginia,  and  are  largely 
committed  to  the  hands  of  women.  The  new  mode  of  learning  to  read  by  sight  rather 
than  sound,  through  power  of  observation  rather  than  memory,  has  been  quietly  and 
unobtrusively  practiced  in  Virginia  for  the  past  fifty  years.  The  writer  was  thus 
taught  in  her  mother's  nursery  at  home. 

It  would  seem,  then,  that  Virginia  women  are  prone  to  do,  rather  than  boast  of 
their  doings,  and  quietly  pursuing  the  even  tenor  of  their  way,  are  largely  oblivious  of 
comments  made  flattering  or  otherwise.  The  awakening,  during  the  last  two  decades, 
both  as  to  literature  and  art,  in  this  state  has  been  amazing.  Woman  workers  in  both 
these  delightful  branches  of  human  industry  may  be  reckoned  by  the  legion,  and 
worth  is  by  no  means  confined  to  those  whose  names  are  already  public  property.  A 
pleasant  little  incident  indicates  the  possibilities  of  female  achievement  in  the  latter 
direction,  viz.,  that  of  art.  Mr.  Ginter,  one  of  Richmond's  wealthiest  citizens,  sent  an 
order  to  New  York  for  two  handsome  water-color  drawings,  to  ornament  a  particular 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  411 

style  of  room,  and  the  art  dealer  sent  him  two  that  were  executed  by  a  Miss  Williams 
of  Mr.  Ginter's  own  city.  But,  you  observe,  the  New  York  seal  was  required  to  be 
set  upon  Southern  vvork  before  its  value  was  acknowledged  at  home.  The  failure  to 
recognize  and  cherish  the  genius  of  her  own  artists  and  literary  workers  is  one  of  the 
few  blots  on  Virginia's  escutcheon.  May  it  be  the  happy  portion  of  the  present  gen- 
eration to  wipe  out  this  reproach. 

The  fact  that  there  has  been  literally  no  market  at  home  for  literary  production 
has  widely  scattered  the  forces,  and  sent  to  the  ends  of  creation  that  which  would 
have  been  so  much  more  gladly  dispensed  at  home.  The  number  of  Virginia  women 
who  are  contributors  to  literature  in  some  form  or  other  is  far  larger  than  is  generally 
known,  and  the  generosity  with  which  their  labor  has  been  encouraged  and  recom- 
pensed by  Northern  and  Western  editors  is  noteworthy,  and  deserves  the  warmest  grat- 
itude. If  Virginia  women  are  not  broad-minded  and  do  not  include  in  feelings  of 
friendly  affinity  their  sisters  of  all  states,  it  is  a  strange  thing;  for,  verily,  they  have 
ties  of  kinship  to  bind  them  with  every  state  and  territory  from  the  borders  of  Mexico 
to  those  of  British  Columbia,  and  from  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific. 

The  Virginian  is  almost  as  ubiquitous  as  the  Jew  throughout  all  parts  of  the  United 
States,  and  while  he  seems  everywhere  at  home  and  a  favorite,  he  rather  resembles  the 
Chinese  in  the  fondness  with  which  he  reverts  to  his  native  place,  keeping  it  before  him 
as  a  load-star  of  hope.  "  I  shall  go  back  and  settle  at  home  when  success  is  won,  for 
my  body  must  rest  nowhere  but  in  old  Virginia." 

When  the  question  of  representation  at  this  great  World's  Fair  came  up,  the  heart 
of  our  people  beat  in  sympathy.  But  the  means  required  were  not  at  hand.  Our  leg- 
islature concluded  that,  being  in  debt,  they  could  vote  but  an  inadequate  appropria- 
tion for  the  fit  appearance  of  such  a  venerable  state.  But  a  board  was  appointed,  and 
when  with  general  approval  they  selected  an  exact  copy  of  Mount  Vernon,  the  home 
of  Washington,  as  a  receptacle  for  our  exhibit,  the  fountain  of  feeling  was  stirred,  and 
many  a  poor  and  hard-worked  woman  resolved  that  she  would  make  pilgrimage  to 
this  sacred  spot,  and  from  it  as  a  starting-point  participate  in  the  delight  of  social  inter- 
course with  her  fellows  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  be  thrilled  with  patriotism  at  such 
a  sublime  display  of  the  wealth,  glory  and  greatness  to  which  that  republic  has  attained, 
of  which  our  own  Washington  was  the  first  President,  and  love  for  whose  memory 
does  more  than  any  other  one  circumstance  to  weld  our  commonwealths,  together  as 
a  united  people. 

Individual  exertion  was  needed  to  equip  even  so  plain  a  state  building  as  we 
have,  and  the  lady  who  was  appointed  to  do  the  honors  of  Mount  Vernon  was  one, 
whom  we  all  agreed,  filled  every  condition  of  the  representation;  we  were  all  will- 
ing, nay  proud,  to  have  Mrs.  Beale  personate  the  Virginia  matron.  Her  name 
must  go  down  to  posterity  as  that  of  one  who  did  more  than  any  other  of  her 
sex  in  Virginia  to  enable  Virginia  to  take  her  place  in  Chicago,  side  by  side  with 
her  sister  states.  She  was  untiring  in  her  labors,  working  from  a  lofty,  patriotic 
standpoint,  and  wherever  she  appeared  interest  was  awakened,  co-operation  secured, 
and  lovely  and  efficient  coadjutors  stood  by  her  side.  Mrs.  Paul,  one  of  our  national 
lady  managers,  has  also  achieved  a  task  for  which  is  due  her  the  thanks  of  all  Virgin- 
ians, viz.,  the  collecting  and  having  catalogued  a  list  of  Virginia  authors  and  their 
works.  Such  a  work  will  in  itself  be  a  monument  to  the  intelligence  and  efficiency 
of  a  Virginia  woman. 

Sisters  of  other  states!  Few  experiences  has  the  writer  found  more  thrilling  than 
the  opportunity  afforded  at  this  grand  Congress  to  converse  with  women  of  other 
lands  and  different  training.  But  more  especially  sweet  is  it  to  hold  loving  commun- 
ion with  the  residents  of  other  states.  If  this  Exposition  has  no  other  effect,  it  will 
wonderfully  promote  friendliness  between  the  different  sections  of  our  country,  and 
doing  this,  its  results  can  be  none  other  than  blessed. 

Let  the  last  word  now  spoken  concerning  Virginia  women  be  a  greeting  on  their 
part  of  warm  good-will  to  those  who  preside  over  these  Congresses,  and  to  the  genial, 
liberal  women  assembled  here  from  all  parts  of  the  world. 


SYNOPSIS  OF  "PEACE." 


MRS.   MARY   ELIZABETH  LEASE. 


By  MRS.  MARY  ELIZABETH  LEASE. 

In  the  shadowy  morning  of  the  world's  childhood,  when  man  dwelt  in  caves  clad 
in  skins  of  animals,  and  feasted  upon  blood-reeking  flesh,  might  made  right,  brute 

force  prevailed,  and  he  whose  sinewy  arm  could  best 
direct  the  murderous  aim  of  spear  or  arrow,  he  who 
from  the  chase  bore  the  greatest  number  of  bleeding 
trophies  as  evidence  of  his  barbarous  prowess  was 
acclaimed  a  mighty  warrior.  And  as  the  world  grew 
the  struggle  for  supremacy  was  transferred  from  butch- 
ery of  beasts  to  the  butchery  of  men.  And  he  who 
participated  in  the  bloodiest  wars,  who  bore  the  brunt 
of  battle  while  slaughtering  his  fellow-men,  he  whose 
soldier's  wreath  was  deepest  dyed  and  darkest  stained 
with  human  blood,  had  attained  the  standard  of  human 
greatness  and  was  made  ruler  or  crowned  king  by  an 
applauding  people. 

Under  the  benign  influence"  of  the  teachings.of 
the  Nazarene,  the  "  Man  of  Peace,"  the  standard  of 
the  world's  greatness  no  longer  accords  to  blood- 
stained men  the  greatest  laurels,  but  to  him  who  seeks 
to  uplift  and  rescue  suffering  humanity,  to  him  who 
practices  as  well  as  preaches  that  new  command,  the 
life  and  soul  of  every  religion,  "  Love  ye  one  another," 
the  benediction  falls. 

Two  great  forces  have  for  centuries  contested  for 
supremacy;  Caesarism,  the  doctrine  of  hate,  and  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  doc- 
trine of  love.  We  have  professed  Christianity,  filled  God's  blue  sky  full  of  church 
spires  and  preached  the  doctrine  of  love  while  practicing  the  doctrine  of  hate.  Te 
Deums  are  chanted  in  our  churches  and  thanks  returned  to  a  God  of  peace  for  bat- 
tles won  and  murderous  men  triumphant.  The  horrible  inconsistency  between  relig- 
ious belief  and  action  is  dawning  upon  the  hearts  of  the  race,  and  they  declare  that 
the  real  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost  is  to  strike  at  God  through  His  image,  man;  that 
we  have  been  living  a  gigantic  lie,  and  that  unless  we  practice  what  we  profess  to 
believe  we  had  best  stop  building  churches  and  supporting  ministers,  and  take  down 
our  signs  of  Christianity  and  go  out  of  the  business.  An  honest  Pagan  is  exemplary 
compared  with  a  lying,  hypocritical  Christian. 

The  hatred  implanted  in  the  minds  of  unborn  children  by  the  mothers  of  the 
North  and  South  thirty  years  ago  is  today  struggling  to  give  expression  in  force. 
The  world  is  ready  for  another  baptism  of  blood.  The  "  dragon's  teeth  "  sown  in  that 
fratricidal  war  are  springing  up  "armed  men."  A  dark  cloud,  surcharged  with  the 
electricity  of  the  coming  storm,  is  suspended  above  the  nation.  The  rumblings  of 
discontent  and  mutterings  of  war  are  heard  coming  up  from  every  side.  The  women 
of  this  nation  can  alone  avert  the  conflict.     Let  them  come  into  their  kingdom,  claim 

Mrs.  Mary  Elizabeth  Lease  is  a  native  of  Pennsylvania.  She  was  born  September  11, 1853.  Her  parents  were  Joseph  P. 
Clyens  and  Mary  Elizabeth  Murray  Clyens.  She  was  educated  in  the  Allegany  (convent^  School,  N.  Y.,  and  in  the  Young 
Ladies'  Seminary,  Ceres,  N.  Y.,  and  has  traveled  in  Great  Britain,  in  the  United  States  and  in  Canada.  She  married  Charles 
L.  Lease  June  30, 1873.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  women  and  the  laboring  classes.  Her  principal  literary 
works  are  essays  and  lectures  on  economic  subjects,  and  a  volume  of  poems  not  yet  published.  Her  profession  is  that  of 
attorney  at  law.    In  religious  faith  she  is  a  Christian,  or  Campbellite.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Wichita,  Kan. 

412 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  413 

their  own,  assert  their  power  and  bid  the  murderous  passions  of  men  cease,  as  Christ 
stilled  the  stormy  waves  of  Galilee.     Peace!  be  still. 

The  mothers  of  this  nation,  the  mothers  of  the  world,  shall  no  longer  rear  their 
sons  to  be  slain,  or  give  their  loved  ones  to  be  butchered.  If  men  can  not  get  along 
without  the  shedding  of  blood  and  putting  the  knife  to  the  throat  of  brother,  let  them 
no  longer  set  themselves  up  as  guides  and  rulers,  but  confess  their  self-evident  ineffi- 
ciency and  turn  the  management  of  affairs  over  to  the  mothers,  who  will  temper  their 
justice  with  love  and  enthrone  mercy  on  the  highways.  Then  shall  that  peace  that 
surpasseth  human  understanding,  the  peace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  abide  among 
men  and  redeem  the  world.  Theirs  the  mission  to  bring  about  that  time  when  the 
Golden  Rule  shall  be  incarnated  in  human  affairs  and  govern  the  world;  theirs  the 
mission  to  usher  in  that  time  of  which  Isaiah  sang  and  the  prophets  have  so  long 
foretold — that  time,  the  hope  of  which  has  lingered  in  the  hearts  of  men,  and  mingled 
with  their  hopes  and  yearnings,  since  the  "morning  stars  first  sang  together  when  the 
earth  was  young." 

"  Oh  Christ!     Thou  friend  of  men, 
When  thou  shalt  come  again 

In  truth's  new  birth. 
May  all  the  fruits  of  peace 
Be  found  in  rich  increase 
Upon  the  earth." 

We  are  nearing  the  dawn  of  the  Sabbatical  period — the  dawn  of  the  glorious 
twentieth  century — of  which  that  inspired  champion  of  human  rights,  Victor  Hugo, 
makes  prophecy. 

"In  the  twentieth  century  war  will  be  dead,  famine  will  be  dead,  royalty  will  be 
dead,  but  the  people  will  live."  A  fuller  and  holier  comprehension  of  the  Lord's 
prayer  is  filling  the  hearts  of  the  people.  "  Our  Father,  Thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as 
it  is  in  Heaven,"  will  usher  in  that  era  when  "the  swords  shall  be  beat  into  plow- 
shares, the  spears  into  pruning  hooks;  when  nations  shall  not  go  to  war  against 
nations,  neither  shall  they  learn  war  any  more." 


yCSTHETIC  CULTURE. 


MRS.  PRISCILLA  BAIRD. 


By  MRS.  PRISCILLA  BAIRD. 

The  progressive  spirit  of  the  age  is  certainly  emphasized  by  the  increasing  and 
almost  imperious  demand  for  higher  culture  of  the  race.     The  rights  of  the  individual 

and  the  claim  of  society  are,  that  the  greatest  attain- 
ments within  the  possibilities  of  the  human  soul  shall 
be  realized  fully  and  speedily.  The  highest  possible 
culture  can  be  compassed  by  nothing  less  than  the 
most  comprehensive,  yet  truly  scientific,  view  of  life 
as  to  its  subjective  and  objective  capabilities.  The 
human  organism  is  a  miniature  representation  of  the 
economy  of  the  material  universe.  Diversity  in 
unity,  and  harmony  evolved  from  conflict.  The 
glory  of  our  world  is  the  beautiful  blending  into 
harmonious  co-operative  forces  that  seem  diverse  and 
at  times  warlike.  Nature  without  her  sublime  kaleido- 
scope would  be  disrobed  of  her  matchless  and  End- 
less charms,  snowy  peaks  and  flowery  vales,  sunshine 
and  shadow,  moaning  ocean  and  rippling  rivulet, 
monarch  oak  and  tender  floweret,  the  raging  storm  and 
the  whispering  breeze — all  enter  into  the  full  com- 
pleteness of  this  abode  of  man,  this  theater  of  life's 
progressive  drama.  Even  so  is  life  itself.  Life  is  not 
an  automatic  monatone,  it  is  the  triple  voicing  of 
three  in  one  organism,  an  organic  union  of  mind, 
soul  and  body.  These  distinct  yet  not  separate 
factors  of  a  unit  combine  to  make  the  complete  whole.  There  is  no  higher  culture 
where  aims  and  methods  are  lower  than  the  capabilites  and  susceptibilities  of  the  sub- 
ject. That  is  not  true  culture  that  exalts  one  factor  of  man's  complex  nature  to  the 
abasement  of  another  factor,  the  exaltation  of  the  intellectual  at  the  expense  of  the 
ethical,  or  the  display  of  superficial  accomplishments  at  the  sacrifice  of  the  intellectual, 
or  the  excess  of  external  blandishments  to  the  neglect  of  the  aesthetic  spirit,  tends 
to  the  unsymmetrical  and  the  gross.  Education,  the  handmaid  of  Christianity,  must 
gird  up  her  loins,  and  arrayed  in  her  beautiful  garments  penetrate  the  regions  beyond 
the  traditional  education  that  limps  upon  the  crutches  of  conventional  and  arbitrary 
technique  of  the  schools.  The  emancipated  spirit  of  the  age  cries  out  for  compre- 
hensiveness of  scope,  and  harmony  of  methods  with  man's  vast  powers  and  God-like 
gifts;  not  only  is  enlargement  of  mental  capabilities  demanded,  but  a  corresponding 
development  of  all  the  powers  of  a  triune-nature. 

The  ethical  element  of  our  nature  is  as  much  a  constitutional  force  as  the  intel- 
lectual, and  functionally  it  ranks  higher,  its  office  is  more  influential  in  character,  mak- 
ing its  contributions  to  progress  more  munificent.  Theories  that  ignore  the  wise  and 
beneficent  laws  of  our  natures  are  downright  cruelties.  That  is  a  malculture  that  sacri- 
fices the  beauty,  strength  and  grace  of  the  human  form  divine  to  the  exactions  of  intel- 

Mrs.  Priscilla  Baird  -was  born  in  Shelby  Connty,  Kentucky.  Her"  parents  were  Virginians,  Samuel  E.  Davis  and 
Harriet  Milton  Bell  Davis.  She  -was  educated  by  private  tutors  and  at  Mrs.  Julia  A.  Tivis'  school  "  Science  HiU,"  in  Shelby- 
ville,  Ky.  Mrs.  Baird  first  married  Jesse  K.  Baird,  of  Louisville,  Ky.  Her  second  husband  is  Mr.  H.  T.  Baird,  of  Louisiana, 
Mo.  For  thirty  years  she  has  been  interested  in  higher  education,  having  been  connected  with  various  schools  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  and  with  public  high  schools.  In  religious  faith  she  is  a  Christian,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church.  Her 
ancestors  were  with  Roger  Williams.    Her  postotfice  address  is  Clinton,  Mo. 

414 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  415 

lectual  ambition.  The  body  is  the  temple  and  agent  of  the  mind;  without  it  the  soul 
has  no  earthly  mission.  But  the  more  than  incidental  factor  of  higher  culture  is  the 
aesthetic;  it  is  by  this  that  refinement  distinguishes  itself  from  the  crudities  of  uncult- 
ivated nature,  even  as  the  loveliness  and  fragrance  of  the  rose  asserts  its  difference  to 
the  wild  brier  bloom;  it  is  this  that  hangs  the  diamond-bestudded  drapery  about 
the  portals  and  columns  and  corridors  of  the  temple  of  humanity.  If  there  were  no 
love  in  man  for  the  beautiful  in  nature  and  in  human  life,  the  uplifting  of  humanity 
above  its  conditions  of  savagery  were  a  hopeless  prospect.  What  makes  life  more  than 
a  struggle  for  existence?  What  dignifies  labor  above  the  demands  of  animal  nature? 
What  inspires  human  enterprise  to  more  than  a  conflict  with  hunger  and  cold?  Is  it  not 
a  response  of  the  spirit  of  man  to  the  language  of  the  beautiful  ?  What  has  made  homes 
more  than  the  hovel,  the  wigwam  and  the  hut?  Have  we  not  in  ornate  architecture, 
in  decorated  drawing-rooms,  in  cultured  music  and  bower-bedecked  lawns  a  symbol  of 
the  Divine  impress  upon  the  soul?  Does  not  all  nature  voice  God's  love  of  the  beau- 
tiful? We  shadow  the  Divine  image  in  man  when  his  aesthetic  culture  is  neglected.  It 
is,  indeed,  next  to  impossible  to  intelligently  think  of  a  pure  life  and  high  social  con- 
ditions where  there  is  no  development  of  the  latent  aestheticism  of  the  soul.  If  man's 
material  surroundings  awakened  in  him  no  thought  but  that  of  sensual  gratifications, 
and  inspired  no  effort  but  for  aggrandizement,  what  were  he  but  a  savage  did  he  see 
no  beauty  in  the  sparkling  worlds  above?  If  to  him  there  were  no  music  of  the  spheres, 
no  mountain  grandeur,  no  awe  in  the  fathomless  deep,  whence  could  come  aspirations 
for  soul-uplifting,  and  what  could  inspire  heroic  contests  for  the  freedom  of  thought 
from  the  bondage  of  animalism?  In  every  human  soul  there  are  germs  of  the  beauti- 
ful; they  may  be  hidden  and  suppressed  by  unpropitious  conditions.  The  Divine  mis- 
sion of  culture  is  to  evolve  from  lowest  to  highest  forms  all  that  is  excellent. 

Forms  nearly  angelic  have  been  evolved  from  crude  and  rude  originals.  Sym- 
phonies as  sweet  as  Apollo's  lute  have  been  tempted  from  rustic  lips.  The  spirit  and 
genius  of  a  Mendelssohn  or  a  Wagner  may  linger  pent  up  in  some  breast  waiting  the 
touch  of  generous  circumstances,  that  it  may  break  forth  in  harmonies  divine.  Some- 
where in  obscurity  lives  today  one  "who  sees  in  stately  trees,  in  frowning  cliffs,  in  rolling 
clouds  and  in  majestic  rivers  the  symbols  of  that  personal  greatness,  purity  and  lofti- 
ness of  thought,  splendor  of  diction,  that  is  to  enthuse  multitudes,  enchain  senates  and 
indelibly  write  his  name  upon  his  country's  heart.  If  the  aesthetic  is  a  real  force,  can 
it  be  intelligently  denied  that  the  ethical  element  of  our  nature  is  quickened  and  refined 
by  aesthetic  culture?  May  I  not  the  better  express  my  thought  by  re-shaping  my  ques- 
tion? Can  there  be,  is  there  any  true  culture  where  the  aesthetic  is  ignored,  or  even 
neglected?  He  who  sees  no  beauty  in  an  autumnal  sky  as  the  luminous  king  slips 
behind  the  gilded  curtains  of  the  Occident,  no  charms  in  the  morning  beauty  of  the 
diamond-decked  grass  and  flower,  is  he  who  sees  no  beauty  in  virtue,  no  charm  in 
pure  love,  no  merit  in  right, and  no  loveliness  in  sympathy;  such  a  one, be  he  an  astute 
logician  or  an  accomplished  linguist,  an  expert  mathematician,  a  skillful  chemist,  a 
learned  jurist,  a  Napoleon  of  finance,  or  a  prince  of  politicians,  yet  void  of  sympathy 
with  life  as  it  is,  has  not  met  the  demands  of  his  nature.  For  true  culture  is  the  modi- 
fication of  intellect  under  the  force  of  ethical  principles,  developed  and  refined  by  cult- 
ured love  of  the  beautiful  in  nature  and  in  life.  My  plea  is  for  the  rounded,  symmet- 
rical development  of  humankind  into  the  highest  forms  of  culture,  that  man  may  be  a 
full  expression  of  power  and  beauty. 


WOMAN  IN  SACRED  SONG. 


By  MRS.  EVA  MUNSON  SMITH. 

Without  doubt  Eve  sang  in  that  garden  of  gardens,  at  first  for  very  joy,  to  express 
her  love  and  gratitude  to  the  Creator  for  the  boon  of  life.     Some  of  the  most  gifted 

and  imaginative  of  our  woman  poets  have  put  songs 
in  her  mouth  depicting  her  sorrow  after  the  edict  of 
banishment  had  been  pronounced.  "  Must  I  leave 
thee,  paradise?"  is  the  saddest  of  songs,  bringing  out 
in  the  harmonic  minor  passages  which  form  the  most 
mournful  of  all  intervals,  the  deep  pathos  and  bitter 
anguish  experienced  by  our  first  parents. 

I  am  not  before  you  today  to  affirm  that  the  gift 
of  song  is  particularly  feminine,  but  simply  to  do  jus- 
tice to  woman,  in  setting  forth,  to  some  extent,  the 
part  she  has  taken  in  sacred  song. 

There  is  no  sex  in  the  gift  of  song  writing;  for 
years  I  doubt  not  that  many  of  us  here  today  sung 
"  Nearer  my  God  to  Thee,"  and  "Just  as  I  Am  With- 
out One  Plea,"  before  we  knew  that  Sarah  Flower 
Adams,  in  1841,  and  Charlotte  Elliott,  in  1833,  were, 
respectively,  the  authors. 

Let  us  go  backr  to  the  earliest  sacred  songs  on 
record  by  women.  About  three  or  four  thousand 
years  B.  C.  we  have  the  triumphal  song  of  Miriam  as 
she  marched  forth,  accompanied  by  her  maidens,  with 
timbrel  and  dance  after  the  safe  passage  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  through  the  Red  Sea,  chanting:  "Sing  ye  to  the  Lord!  for  He  hath 
triumphed  gloriously;  the  horse  and  his  rider  hath  he  thrown  into  the  sea!" 

Then  there  is  the  song  of  Deborah  and  Barak,  which  seem  somewhat  in  responsive 
measure.  Intense  joy  or  sorrow  calls  for  a  song.  No  cause,  or  reform,  or  form  of 
oppression  takes  deep  hold  upon  the  heart  of  a  community  until  the  service  of  song 
is  enlisted.  Hence,  in  Russia,  as  in  other  lands  that  have  been  prosperous  at  times 
and  oppressed  at  others,  we  find  both  the  joyful  and  the  sad;  but  the  minor  strains  of 
sadness  prevail  in  the  so-called  sacred  or  religious  songs  of  that  country.  The  Gregor- 
ian chant  was  the  simplest,  as  it  was  the  most  primitive,  and  was  weird  and  mournful. 
Prominent  among  the  names  of  the  song  writers  among  women  of  that  country  is 
Anna  Brenin,  born  in  1774,  who,  under  great  difficulties,  wrote  much  that  was  meritor- 
ious, and  so  won  the  heart  of  the  Empress  Elizabeth  that  she  had  a  pension  bestowed 
upon  her.  Very  few  of  their  hymns  have  been  translated  into  English,  though  a  con- 
siderable number  are  found  translated  into  the  French.  The  Countess  Tolstoi  is  one 
of  the  leading  composers  of  Russia  today. 

Among  the   hymnologists  pre-eminent  among  women   during  the  years  of   1700 

Mrs.  Eva  Munson  Smith  was  born  in  Monkton,  Vt.,  in  1843.  Her  parents  were  of  stanch  New  England  stock,  and  her 
father  was  one  of  the  most  eminent  educators  and  patriots  of  his  day.  She  was  educated  at  Mary  Sharp  College,  Winchester, 
Tenn.,  and  at  Rockford  College,  111.  From  the  latter  she  was  graduated  in  1864.  She  has  traveled  extensively  in  the  United 
States  and  has  seen  life  in  many  phases.  She  married  Mr.  George  Clinton  Smith  in  1869,  in  Nebraska.  They  have  resided  in 
Illinois  for  twenty  years.  Mrs.  Smith  is  a  temperance  worker  and  philanthropist.  At  present  she  is  president  of  the  Suffrage 
Association  of  Springfield.  For  five  consecutive  years  she  was  president  of  the  North  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union. 
Her  principal  literary  works  aie  "  Woman  in  Sacred  Song,"  "  The  Field  is  the  World,"  and  a  great  number  of  sketches.  Mrs. 
Smith  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.    Her  postoffice  address  is  511  North  Grand  Avenue,  Springfield,  111. 

416 


MRS.  EVA  MUNSON  SMITH. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  417 

maybe  mentioned  Lady  Selina,  Countess  of  Huntingdon,  1707,  who  wrote,  "When 
Thou,  my  righteous  Judge,  shall  come,"  and  "  Fading,  Still  Fading,  the  Last  Beam 
is  Shining;"  also  Madame  Guyon,  who  wrote  while  in  prison, 

"A  little  bird  am  I, 
Shut  from  the  fields  of  air.' 

Of  her  numerous  hymns,  the  best  known  in  the  churches  of  the  present  day  are: — "If 
life  in  sorrow  must  be  spent;  "  "  Oh  Thou,  by  long  experience  tried;  "  and  "  Oh  Lord, 
how  full  of  sweet  content  !  " 

But  it  was  Anne  Steele  (born  in  England  in  1716,  and  died  in  1778)  who  is  the 
author  of  more  hymns  than  ariy  other  woman  of  her  time,  which  have  been  generally 
accepted  and  are  still  sung  by  the  churches  of  all  denominations,  one  hundred  and 
forty-four  of  which  were  printed  just  after  her  death,  the  profits  of  sales  going  to  aid 
benevolent  objects,  and  gradually  finding  their  way  into  all  hymn-books  in  all  Chris- 
tian climes. 

Mrs.  Anna  Letitia  Barbauld,  whose  name  until  recently  was  simply  given  as 
Barbauld  by  compilers,  was  of  the  same  nationality  as  Miss  Steele,  and  was  con- 
temporaneous with  her.  All  of  us  have  sung  hundreds  of  times  her  "  Come,  said 
Jesus'  sacred  voice;  "  "When  as  returns  this  solemn  day;"  "  Again  the  Lord  of  life 
and  light  awakes  the  kindling  ray;"  "How  blest  the  sacred  tie  that  binds!"  "  Praise 
to  God!  immortal  praise!" 

But  it  is  when  we  have  reached  the  year  1800  that  a  perfect  flood  of  sacred  song 
bursts  forth. 

In  1850  Caroline  Southey,  wife  of  the  poet,  wrote  "Calvary,"  and  near  that  date 
the  well-known,  "  Oh,  fear  not  thou  to  die;"  and  the  celebrated,  "  Launch  thy  boat, 
mariner." 

Of  Mrs.  Heman's  sacred  songs,  so  full  of  tenderness,  pathos,  beauty,  and  at  the 
same  time  vigor  and  intensity,  more  is  known. 

When  her  name  is  mentioned,  that  of  Mrs.  Sigourney  is  at  once  suggested.  The 
former,  born  in  England  in  1793,  dying  in  1835;  the  latter,  born  in  Norwich,  Conn., 
in  1 791,  dying  in  her  later  home,  Hartford,  Conn.,  in  1865,  were,  as  is  seen,  contempo- 
raneous; and  though  they  never  met,  as  far  as  known,  or  became  acquainted  each 
with  the  literary  works  of  the  other,  there  is  thought  to  be  a  similarity  in  their  pro- 
ductions. 

Mrs.  Sigourney's  hymns,  "The  Lord  is  on  His  Holy  Throne;  He  sits  in  kingly 
state;"  "Go  to  thy  rest,  fair  child;"  "Onward,  onward,  men  of  Heaven!"  "When 
adverse  winds  and  waves  arise;"  and  especially  the  very  familiar  and  greatly- 
beloved  hymn,  "Lab'rers  of  Christ,  arise!"  will  endure  as  long  as  the  world  has  need 
of  such  songs. 

Of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning  what  need  be  said?  She  whom  even  the 
most  eminent  among  the  brotherhood  of  poets  acknowledge  as  their  peer.  Vigorous 
and  strong  in  her  utterances,  she  is  yet  tender  and  appealing.  Her  "  Cry  of  the  chil- 
dren "  is  known  and  quoted  the  world  over  wherever  wrong  and  oppression  exist 
toward  any  of  earth's  little  ones.     All  of  her  poems  seem  sacred. 

In  her  poem  entitled  "Work"  occurs  the  oft-repeated  words — 

"God  did  anoint  thee  with  His  odorous  oil, 
To  wrestle,  not  to  reign." 
and — 

"The  last  flower  with  a  brimming  cup  may  stand 
And  share  its  dewdrops  with  another  near." 

Her  "De  Profundis"  and  "He  Giveth  His  Beloved  Sleep"  are  known  everywhere. 
How  many  of  us,  while  singing: — 

"  'Tis  religion  that  can  give 

Sweetest  pleasure  while  we  live;" 

(27) 


418  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

ever  thought  of  the  words  being  by  a  woman — Mary  Masters?  I  am  glad  to  know  a 
woman  wrote  it,  and  hundreds  of  others  we  sang  so  long  with  the  supposition  that 
they  emanated  from^  the  heart  and  brain  of  the  brotherhood.  Not  that  they  are  any 
better  for  belonging  to  the  sisterhood  of  authors,  but  because  I  believe  in  "  Honor  to 
whom  honor  is  due." 

If  women  have  written  hymns  so  good  and  acceptable  that  all  Christendom  is  sing- 
ing them,  let  them  have  the  credit. 

"  Work  for  the  night  is  coming,"  was  written  by  Annie  L.  Walker,  of  Canada? 
For  years  after  its  first  appearance  in  i860,  it  was  over  the  signature,  Rev.  Sidney 
Dyer;  and  in  some  of  our  standard  and  comparatively  recent  revisions  and  late  com- 
pilations his  name  is  still  appended  to  it.  But  gradually  the  name  of  the  true  author 
is  given  with  the  song.  Dr.  Dyer  did  write  a  song  of  that  name,  but  he  does  not  claim 
this  one  that  we  all  sing. 

Even  in  a  hasty,  running  review  like  this,  in  which  only  a  comparative  few  can 
be  mentioned,  it  would  not  do  to  omit  the  names  of  Mrs.  Prentiss,  author  of  "  More 
love  to  Thee,  O  Christ;"  Harriet  B.  Buell,  in"  I'm  the  child  of  a  King;"  Mrs.  Dana,  in 
"  Flee  as  a  bird  to  your  mountain;"  "  Pass  under  the  rod,"  and  that  famous  old  tem- 
perance song — 

"  Sparkling  and  bright, 
In  its  liquid  light;" 

Mrs.  Mackay's  "  Asleep  in  Jesus;"  Mrs.  Dr.  Herrick  Johnson's  "  The  whole  wide  world 
for  Jesus." 

"The  Ninety  and  Nine,"  by  Mrs.  Clephane,  has  been  pronounced  by  some  of  our 
devout  men  and  evangelists  "  the  sacred  song  of  the  century,"  despite  some  lame  or 
imperfect  feet  which  unfits  it  somewhat  for  congregational  singing,  but  does  well  for 
solo  use.  It  is  the  sentiment  so  beautifully  and  touchingly  expressed  that  goes  home 
to  the  sinner's  heart  and  wins  him  or  her  to  Christ. 

Let  us  beware  of  prescribing  too  narrow  limits  to  what  may  be  considered  hymns 
of  a  high  order. 

Do  not  those  who  accomplish  the  most  good  deserve  to  be  ranked  very  high? 
Are  not  the  grandest  of  all  those  who  set  forth  the  doctrines  of  grace,  the  compassion 
of  Jehovah,  the  condescension  of  Christ,  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit?  The  "  Ninety 
and  Nine,"  and  "  Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee,"  may  be  called  the  great  world  hymns, 
alike  acceptable,  as  they  are,  to  Gentile  and  Jew,  Catholic  and  Protestant,  the  world  over. 

Mrs,  Joseph  F.  Knapp,  of  Brooklyn,  a  lady  of  wealth,  culture  and  position,  and 
her  sainted  mother,  Mrs.  Phoebe  Palmer,  of  "  holiness"  fame,  gone  years  ago  to  her 
reward,  have  done  much  to  enrich  sacred  song.  Mrs.  Knapp  composes  from  very  love 
of  it — an  inspiration  that  moves  her  to  give  expression  to  the  well  of  joy  and  grati- 
tude that  continually  springs  up  within  her  consecrated  being.  Some  of  her  best 
music  is  the  setting  she  has  given  to  the  hymns  of  the  blind  hymnologist,  Fanny 
Crosby  (Mrs.  Van  Alstyne),  of  New  York. 

And  this  brings  us  to  this  wonderful  blind  singer.  It  used  to  be  said,  a  woman  may 
be  found  now  and  then  who  has  written  one  or  two  acceptable  hymns,  but  it  requires 
a  man  to  write  many  that  are  meritorious.  Fanny  Crosby,  seven  years  ago,  was 
reported  by  Dr.  Herbert  P.  Main  as  having  written  nineteen  hundred  for  Bigelow  & 
Bain's  publications  alone.  She  had  also  written  for  many  other  firms,  and  has  been 
writing  continuously  ever  since.  She  is  certainly  entitled  to  the  crown,  as  the  most 
prolific  hymnologist  of  the  day,  regardless  of  sex,  so  far  as  diligent  inquiry  and 
research  can  determine,  she  having  written,  without  doubt,  over  three  thousand  that 
have  been  accepted. 

To  mention  all  the  musical  productions  of  the  lamented  Frances  Ridley  Haver- 
gal,  of  England,  would  require  several  pages,  and  the  incidents  connected  with  them 
an  entire  day.  Though  she  may  not  have  written  any  greater  number  of  hymns  that 
are  sung  everywhere  than  has  Fanny  Crosby,  she  has  composed  much  music  of  a  high 
order;  for  instance,  her  setting  of  "Tramp,  tramp,  tramp,  on  the  downward  way," 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  419 

"  Resting,"  and  her  verse,  so  comforting  to  mourning  hearts,  or  those  going  through 
the  furnace  of  any  affliction,  fill  numerous  volumes;  to  say  nothing  of  her  booklets, 
and  poems  in  illuminated  and  illustrated  souvenir  style.  Among  her  best  known  and 
cherished  songs,  sung  everywhere,  are:  "  I  gave  My  life  for  Thee;"  "  Take  my  life,  and 
let  it  be  consecrated.  Lord,  to  Thee;"  "Tell  it  out  among  the  heathen  that  the  Lord 
is  King! " 

Among  the  song  collections  for  use  in  temperance  meetings,  and  they  are  numerous, 
with  two-thirds  of  the  contents  by  women,  Anna  Gordon's  "  White  Ribbon  Hymnal," 
and  "  Marching  Songs  for  Young  Crusaders,"  deserve  mention,  as  does  "  White  Ribbon 
Vibrations,"  by  Mrs.  Flora  H.  Cassell,  of  Nebraska. 

Frances  E.  Willard,  chieftain  of  the  temperance  hosts,  and  Mary  B.  Willard,  her 
sister-in-law,  though  making  no  pretentions  as  poets,  have  written  some  rare  verse 
that  will  live. 

The  cluster  of  Easter  and  Resurrection  carols,  by  Mary  Lowe  Dickinson,  cannot 
be  excelled.  One  might  dare  challenge  the  world  to  produce  a  better  set  than  those  by 
this  graceful  and  forceful,  consecrated  daughter  of  the  King.  There  is  a  ripple  of 
love  and  devotion  in  them  throughout. 

It  was  in  1841  that  the  Electress  of  Brandenburg  wrote,  "Jesus  Lives,"  which  was 
translated  from  the  German  into  English  by  Frances  Elizabeth  Cox,  the  author  of  "  In 
some  way  or  other  the  Lord  will  provide." 

Jane  Taylor's  "  Far  from  mortal  cares  retreating;"  "  Come  to  the  hour  of  prayer;" 
Ellen  M.  Gates'  "  I  will  sing  for  Jesus,"  set  to  music  and  first  sung  by  Philip  Phillips; 
"  The  Home  of  the  Soul;"  "  Your  Mission  "  (the  great  favorite  of  President  Lincoln;" 
"  If  we  knew;"  "Beautiful  Hands;"  "The  Prodigal's  Return;"  Anna  L.Warner's  "In 
heavenly  love  abiding,"  are  among  those  that  cannot  be  passed  by. 

Clara  H.  Scott  is  the  only  woman  in  the  world,  so  far  as  known,  to  compile  and 
publish  an  anthem  book.  Her  "  Royal  Anthem  Book,"  of  some  three  hundred  pages, 
has  met  with  great  favor  among  church  choirs,  and  her  "Oh,  when  shall  I  be  free?" 
and  "  Te  Deums,"  are  sung  all  over  the  United  States. 

May  Riley  Smith's  "  Tired  Mothers"  and  "If"  have  brought  comfort  to  many. 
Who  does  not  know  them,  and  that  they  belong  to  her,  though  often  seen  anonymously 
in  the  papers?  Her  "Sometimes"  was  once  credited  to  Helen  Hunt,  whose  verse  all 
admit  to  be  of  a  very  high  order.  When  asked  if  she  was  the  author,  she  replied  in 
the  affirmative.  "  One  day,"  she  went  on  to  say,  "  I  was  on  the  cars,  going  from  Chi- 
cago to  Springfield"  (which  latter  was  then  her  home),  "and  I  noticed  a  lady  and 
gentleman  in  front  of  me,  the  former  of  whom  held  in  her  hand  the  portrait  of  a  lovely 
child.  As  she  talked  of  the  original,  gone  to  her  heavenly  home,  tears  fell  fast,  and 
ofttimes  she  kissed  the  picture  of  the  beautiful  child.  I  grew  sober,  and  then  sad. 
Taking  a  pencil  and  crumpled  bit  of  paper  from  my  pocket,  I  composed  that  poem." 
Or,  rather,  it  seemed  to  compose  itself;  she  simply  wrote  it  down  as  it  rapidly  came 
to  her. 

Just  a  few  lines  of  one  of  her  gems: 

"If  we  knew  the  baby  fingers. 

Pressed  against  the  window  pane, 
Would  be  cold  and  stiff  tomorrow. 

Never  trouble  us  again: 
Would  the  bright  eyes  of  our  darling 

Catch  the  frown  upon  our  brow? 
Would  the  print  of  rosy  fingers 

Vex  us  then,  as  they  do  now?" 

Next  to  Fanny  Crosby,  perhaps  Miss  M.  E.  Servoss,  of  Chicago,  has  furnished  as 
many  acceptable  hymns  as  any  one  woman  in  this  country.  They  are  found  in  thirty- 
nine  or  forty  different  collections,  accompanied  by  the  name,  M.  E.  Servoss,  and  for 
years  the  author  was  supposed  to  be  a  man.     She  interprets  a  high  plane  of  religious 


420  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

emotion,  associating  it  with  a  sentiment  and  imagery  which  Christian  hearts  will  ever 
love  and  cherish,  and  in  which  they  will  find  refuge  and  comfort.  Such  hymns  strike 
light  across  the  consciousness  of  Christians  everywhere. 

Other  names  not  yet  mentioned,  associated  with  other  lines  of  thought  and  action, 
who  have  written  creditable  sacred  verse,  are:  Julia  C.  Dorr,  Margaret  J.  Preston,  Mar- 
garet E.  Sangster,  the  latter  of  whom  we  associate  with  journalism,  as  we  also  do  Alice 
M.  Guernsey,  Laura  M.  Rittenhouse,  Mary  H.  Krout,  author  of  "  Little  Brown  Hands;" 
Hester  M.  Pool,  Mrs.  Nicholson,  so  long  editor  of  the  New  Orleans  Picayune ;  Marie 
L.  Eve,  of  Georgia;  Lide  Merriwether,  of  Tennessee;  Emily  Huntington  Miller,  Dinah 
Muloch  Craig,  who  wrote,  "Where  is  the  unknown  country  to  which  my  soul  must 
go?"  Adelaide  Proctor,  in  "The  Lost  Chord,"  "Will  He  Come?"  who  also  wrote  the 
words  of  "Cleansing  Fires,"  which  Virginia  Gabriel  set  so  charmingly  to  music; 
Annie  Wittenmeyer  in,  "I  have  entered  the  valley  of  blessing  so  sweet;  "  Ellen 
Oliver  in,  "The  Prayer  of  the  Wanderer,"  and  Lucy  Larcom,  whose  productions  are 
noted  for  their  brightness  and  sunshine,  and  who  not  long  since  passed  from  earth  to 
Heaven,  taking  some  of  earth's  brightness  with  her.  It  is  always  a  genuine  pleasure 
to  quote  any  of  her  lines;  for  instance,  the  simple  couplet: 

"Thank  God  for  the  work  He  lets  us  do! 
I  am  glad  that  I  live  in  the  world  with  you." 

Lucy  Larcom  was  in  love  with  toil,  and  sung  it  as  a  lover  sings  to  hJ3  adored  one. 
And  the  triplet,  claiming  all  the  children  as  her  very  own: 

"  Too  many  for  one  house  you  see, 
And  so  I  have  to  let  them  be 
In  care  of  other  mothers." 

She  had  the  true  mother  instinct. 

Mary  Clemmer  Ames-Hudson  was  one  whom  we  associate  with  journalism  who 
has  written  choice  verse. 

What  shall  be  said  of  Jean  Ingelow,  with  her  matchless  "  Songs  of  Seven  "  and 
myriad  other  gems;  of  Charlotte  Bronte  and  others  who  deserve  mention  in  this  con- 
nection?    What  need  be  said?     They  are  known  and  their  works  speak  for  them. 

Of  the  deaf  mute  sisterhood  whose  names  are  among  those  taking  the  lead,  may 
be  mentioned  Angle  Fuller  Fischer  and  Laura  Redden  Searing  {nom.de  plume,  "How- 
ard Glyndon").  The  latter's  "Sweet  bells  jangled  out  of  tune"  is  extensively  known 
and  largely  quoted,  while  Mrs.  Fischer's  volume  of  poems  entitled,  "The  Venture," 
was  extolled  by  Whittier  and  other  people  of  eminence. 

Ella  Wheeler  Wilcox  has  written  on  a  multiplicity  of  topics.  Her  patriotic  verse 
and  that  on  temperance  may  be  classed  as  sacred,  and  her  poem  entitled  "The 
Engine,"  is  among  the  most  forcible  of  all  her  word-paintings,  and  ranks  with  the  best 
of  that  style  among  men. 

All  are  familiar  with  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Aker's  "Rock  Me  to  Sleep,  Mother,"  and 
many  know  the  sweet  sacred  songs  of  Susan  P.  Bartlett,  Susie  V.  Aldrich,  and  many 
of  whom  time  and  space  forbid  mention  in  a  limited  paper. 

WOMAN    AS    A    COMPOSER. 

Does  anyone  assert  we  have  no  high  order  of  music  or  song  composers  among 
women?  What  can  be  finer  than  Mrs.  Gen.  W.  S.  Hancock's  "  Magnificat,"  and  her 
"TeDeums?"  Her  "  Song  Service  Book,"  for  the  Episcopal  Church,  has  won  high 
encomiums.  The  "Ave  Maria,"  in  six  flats,  of  Helen  Douglas,  now  wife  of  Lieut. 
John  F.  French,  of  the  Regular  Army,  is  unique,  decidedly  original  and  very  difficult, 
being  most  pleasing  to  the  higher  grade  of  cultured  singers.  The  instrumental  "  St. 
Agnes  Eve" — a  song  without  words,  by  Madam  Careno — is  exquisite,  and  is  placed 
among  the  classical  music  of  the  century.  Mme.  Clara  Schumann  took  up  the 
thread  of  harmony  divine  dropped  by  her  lamented  husband,  and  is  still  carrying  it 
on  with  marvelous  success. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  421 

Despite  all  discouragement,  woman  as  a  composer  is  getting  to  be  a  known  quan- 
tity. Mme.  Marie  Bird  de  Marion  is  a  publisher  of  music  in  Chicago,  and  among 
her  own  meritorious  compositions  is  a  lullaby  recently  issued,  which  is  meeting  much 
praise. 

All  nationalities  have  had  their  singers.  Nilsson  and  Jenny  Lind  were  the  pride 
of  the  Swedish  people.  Of  the  latter  an  eminent  divine  of  New  York  said  recently  in 
a  sermon:  "  I  once  paid  six  dollars  to  hear  Jenny  Lind  warble.  I  have  never  paid  a 
cent  to  hear  anyone  groan."  As  lyric  artists  women  have  commanded  the  largest 
pay  ever  accorded  the  sex  for  anything.  Thousands  of  dollars  for  a  single  even- 
ing's performance  has  been  given  Nilsson,  Patti,  and  others.  #  *  # 
Even  the  African  race  has  had  its  "Black  Swans;"  and  of  our  own  American  song- 
sters the  names  of  Emma  Abbott,  Clara  Louise  Kellogg,  Emma  Thursby,  Minnie 
Hauk,  Jessie  Bartlett  Davis,  our  own  Illinois  contralto,  but  begin  the  list  of  those 
who  have  attained  distinction.  Among  those  who  have  already  shown  what  women 
can  do  in  composition  are:  Liza  Schumann,  of  London,  who  writes  for  the  piano  and 
voice,  and  sings  beautifully  herself;  Miss  EUicott,  daughter  of  the  bishop  of  Glou- 
cester, in  England,  who  has  written  some  fine  cantatas;  Miss  Smith,  the  protege  of 
the  Empress  Eugenie;  Maud  Valeri  Whilt,  who  composes  religious  works;  Augusta 
Holmes,  an  Irish  girl  living  in  Paris,  who  composes  ballads  and  symphonic  poems 
with  great  success;  the  Countess  Tolstoi,  of  Russia,  who  has  written  some  excellent 
songs;  Mrs.  H.  H.  A.  Beach,  of  Boston,  who  writes  great  dramatic  arias  for  the  voice 
and  orchestra;  Mme.  Bandman,  of  Vienna,  whose  church  music  is  very  popular;  Miss 
Helen  Hood,  of  Boston,  who  wrote  those  beautiful  songs,  "  Disappointment"  and  "The 
Violet;"  Miss  Margaret  Ruthven  Lang,  of  Boston,  whose  compositions  are  quite  pre- 
tentious; Miss  Clara  Kathleen  Rogers,  of  Boston,  who  wrote  "The  Clover  Blossom," 
besides  many  other  songs  and  sonatas  for  piano  and  violin;  Mile.  Chaminade,  Miss 
Gertrude  Griswold,  Helen  Hopekirk,  and  Eleanor  Smith."  To  these  let  us  add  the 
names  of  Caroline  Richings  Bernard,  the  celebrated  singer  and  composer  of  many 
gems,  prominent  among  which  is  "Oh  Word  of  God  Incarnate;"  Isadore  De  Laro, 
who  is  the  author  of  "The  Garden  of  Sleep" — a  rare  bit  of  melody;  Mrs.  E.  R.  John- 
son, Mrs.  Le  Moncrieff  and  Edith  Cooke.  As  regards  the  lyric  songsters,  their  voices 
live  after  them  in  memory  only.  They  instinctively  feel  the  incentive  to  work  now; 
to  be  heard  and  known  now.     The  future  is  not  theirs. 

Composers  and  poets  are  content  to  wait.  They  are  not  in  such  haste  for  recogni- 
tion. Their  works  do  follow  them.  Their  tuneful  children  will  speak  for  them,  if 
worthy  of  perpetuation,  long  after  they  are  gone  from  earth. 

We  have  omitted  to  mention  the  name  of  Lady  Carew,  wife  of  Sir  Henry  Carew, 
whose  setting  to  music  of  "The  Bridge,"  by  Longfellow,  is  regarded  as  the  most  fit- 
ting melody  of  the  eight  or  ten  by  other  composers.  She  also  wrote  much  sacred 
verse,  in  addition  to  her  musical  compositions,  "  Revenge  of  Injuries  "  being  one  of 
the  best  known. 

Miss  Anna  Sneed  (now  Mrs.  Cairn),  of  St.  Louis,  has  the  honor  of  being  regarded 
the  most  successful  person  in  placing  appropriate  music  to  Tennyson's  "Break,  Break 
O  Sea!"  The  very  sobbing  of  the  winds  and  beating  of  the  waves  upon  the  beach 
can  be  heard.  Mrs.  Julia  B.  Metcalf,  of  Nebraska  City,  evinces  decided  musical 
taste  and  talent  as  a  composer,  her  melody  and  accompaniment  to  Poe's  "Annabel 
Lee"  being  especially  fine  and  original. 

Missionaries  in  heathen  lands  sent  sweet,  tender  hymns,  written  by  converts  to 
Christ.  What  can  be  dearer  to  the  Christian  heart  than  "In  the  secret  of  His  pres- 
ence, how  my  soul  delights  to  hide;"  "Who  will  go  for  us?"  and  "  Harken!  hear 
an  Indian  sister's  plea,"  when  it  is  known  they  are  by  Ellen  L.  Goreh,  a  Brahman  of 
the  highest  caste,  whose  people  were  not  accessible  to  missionary  teaching  until 
woman  crossed  the  blue  main  as  a  teacher  and  messenger?  This  heathen  convert  is 
the  adopted  daughter  of  Rev.  W.  T.  Strers. 

Mrs.  Voke  has  written  more  hymns  bearing  upon  foreign  missionary  work  than 


422  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

any  other  person  of  either  sex,  so  far  as  known,  that  have  had  an  acceptance  with  all 
denominations.  "  Soon  may  the  last  glad  song  arise!  Hasten,  O  Lord,  that  happy 
day!"  "  Behold  th'  accepted  time  draws  near;"  "Sovereign  of  worlds,  display  Thy 
power;"  "Ye  Messengers  of  Christ!  "  are  familiar  to  all. 

Whenever  the  name  of  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  is  mentioned  one  is  reminded  of 
"  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin."  Why  may  we  not  also  associate  her  name  with  that  appealing 
hymn:  "Knocking!  Knocking!  who  is  there?"  and  some  of  her  other  sacred  verse? 
When  the  name  of  Mary  T.  Lathrop  is  heard  we  at  once  remember  that  she  is  one  of 
the  most  able  and  effective  lecturers  on  the  temperance  platform,  which  today  means 
prohibition.  In  future  years  her  name  will  also  be  more  familiarly  associated  with  her 
sacred  verse;  for  she  is  a  true  poet.  Never  was  more  touching  or  perfectly  metrical 
dirge  than  her's  on  the  death  of  John  B.  Gough.  But  she  surpasses  that,  if  possible, 
in  some  regards,  in  her  poem,  "What  Means  this  Stone  ?  "  inspired  by  and  for  the  cere- 
monies of  laying  the  corner-stone  of  the  Temperance  Temple  in  Chicago,  in  Novem- 
ber, 1890. 

The  songs  of  Christian  women  are  immortal,  because  they  speak  the.  language  of 
the  heart  in  its  love  for  their  Saviour,  which  changes  not,  and  is  the  same  in  all  ages. 
These  heart  songs  teach  a  language  unsurpassed  by  all  the  Greek  and  Roman  litera- 
ture, or  the  classics,  of  this  or  any  other  period  of  time. 


STUDY  OF  GREEK  ART.* 

By  SARAH  AMELIA  SCULL. 

In  the  western  part  of  Greece  rises  the  once  sacred  "  Hill  of  Cronus,"  At  its 
base  lies  the  Valley  of    Olympia,   for  centuries  the  center  of  the  worship  of  Zeus 

and  Hera.  In  1874  the  German  government  obtained 
a  contract  for  excavating  the  monuments  of  this 
renowned  worship,  and  though  these  excavations  were 
conducted  at  vast  expenditure,  and  with  the  express 
understanding  that  only  casts  of  the  treasures 
uncovered  should  be  taken  to  Germany,  for  five  years 
the  noble  work  went  on,  and  the  ruins  of  Olympia 
were  given  to  the  world.  • 

Recently  the  French  government  successfully 
competed  with  Americans  for  the  privilege  of  exca- 
vating Delphi. 

Greece  has  passed  stringent  laws  against  the 
removal  of  the  least  fragment  of  any  classic  antiquity. 
What  are  these  treasures  that  were  buried  in  fair 
Hellas?  What  value  have  they  in  this  age  of  financial 
estimates  and  enterprises?  Treasures!  Only  bits  of 
inscriptions,  ruins  of  buildings,  fragments  of  statues 
or  of  reliefs.  Values!  They  are  such  as  are  not 
recorded  in  business  marts,  for  these  ruins  and  mutil- 
ated monuments  mark  epochs  and  phases  in  the  his- 
tory of  that  country  that  has  enriched  the  world.  To 
determine  these  values,  symposia  of  truth-seekers 
and  beauty-lovers  hold  perpetual  session. 

The  order  of  classical  investigation  follows  the  development  of  Greek  thought, 
art  and  worship.  The  world  opened  by  Homer  is  ever  sought'  by  entranced  pilgrims, 
and  from  its  battlefields  they  find  paths  leading  Olympusward. 

We  go  to  Hesiod  to  learn  of  that  mighty  conflict  of  beliefs  known  as  the  "Titanic 
Wars."  Cronus,  the  conscrver  of  and  the  maintainer  of  old  conditions,  is  overthrown 
by  Zeus,  the  champion  of  change  and  progress.  From  Hesiod  we  have  the  noble 
legend  of  the  "  Partition  of  the  Universe;"  Zeus,  the  Lord  of  Light,  Life  and  Develop- 
ment, assuming  supremacy  over  gods  and  men;  Hera,  sharing  his  supremacy,  but 
having  special  protection  over  lawful  marriage  and  legitimate  birth;  Hestia,  goddess 
of  purity  and  spiritual  influence;  Posideon,  having  dominion  over  the  sea;  Demeter, 
holding  a  vice-regency  over  fields  of  grain,  and  Hades,  ruling  in  the  world  of  shades. 
We  cannot  afford  to  ignore  these  noble  myths,  or  beliefs,  as  we  should  call  them; 
for  through  the  expansion  of  the  conception  of  the  character  and  offices  of  Greek 
gods  and  goddesses,  through  their  manifestations  in  the  sphere  of  human  action, 
mythology  not  only  established  ideals  for  human  imitation,  but  it  determined  the 

Sarah  Amelia  Scull  was  bom  in  Bushnell's  Baein,  N.  Y.,  in  1833.  Her  parents  were  Paul  E.  Scnll  and  Rhoda  Tyler 
SculL  She  was  educated  at  the  Academy  of  Smethport,  Pa.,  and  Genesee  Wesleyan  Seminary,  Lima,  N.  Y.  Has  traTeled  in 
Greece,  Italy,  France  and  England.  Miss  Scnll  is  a  student  of  Greek  Mj-thology  and  Greek  Art.  Her  principal  literary  works 
are  "Greek  Mythology  Systematized,"  and  "Photographs  Illustrating  Greek  Mj-thology  and  Art."  Her  profession,  educator 
of  young  women.    She  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Washington,  D.  C. 

*  This  paper  was  illustrated  by  original  photographs,  and  the  nambers  used  throoghout  are  the  numbers  in  the  catal> 
ogue  of  the  collection. 

423 


SARAH   AMELIA   SCLLL. 


424  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

forms  of  art  that  clustered  about  the  centers  of  worship.  Since  temples  and  their 
structures,  temple  statues  and  their  votive  offerings  demanded  the  supreme  creations 
of  the  art  of  Greece,  that  art  should  be  studied  in  the  illumination  of  the  inspiring 
mythology. 

ARCHAIC    PERIOD    OF    GREEK    ART,  7OO-5OO  B.  C. 

By  the  time  of  the  Persian  Wars,  500  B.  C,  many  states  had  been  formed,  but  we 
need  have  in  mind  only  Phocis,  the  early  home  of  the  Dorians,  and  Attica,  the  center 
of  the  later  lonians.  The  Dorians  were  an  intellectual  people,  heroic  in  conquest  and 
heroic  in  self-restraint,  so  that  their  motto  "  Measure  is  best,"  fitly  formulated  the 
spirit  of  the  race. 

GREEK    ARCHITECTURE. 

Through  the  Dorians,  Greek  architectural  genius  began  its  manifestations,  and  by 
the  time  of  the  Persian  wars  they  had  given  to  Greece  the  "  Peripteral  Temple."  In 
other  countries  columns  had  been  employed  in  building,  but  such  adjustment  of  cella- 
walls,  columns  and  entablatures  as  resulted  in  the  "Peripteral  Temple"  is  just  as  truly 
an  original  creation  of  the  Greek  brain  as  were  their  philosophic  systems  or  their 
dramas. 

The  lonians  of  Attica  were  impulsive,  restive  under  restraint,  susceptible  to  exter- 
nal conditions  and  influences,  and  through  these  very  characteristics  furnishing  ground 
for  a  spontaneity  and  elasticity  in  art  forms,  that  in  time  promoted  compromises  with 
higher  graces  of  form  that  would  not  have  been  possible  to  the  Dorians. 

GREEK    SCULPTURE. 

It  was  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  sculpture  when  the  Greeks  established  theirs 
upon  a  wood  model,  as  against  the  stone  and  metal  work  of  Egypt  and  Assyria.  Ma- 
terial that  could  be  easily  manipulated  could  easily  be  made  to  embogly  and  express 
the  sculptor's  conception,  and  thus  make  it  possible  for  each  subject  to  have  a  person- 
ality, an  individuality  that  placed  it  far  above  the  tiresome  sameness  in  the  figures  of 
an  Egyptian  or  an  Assyrian  procession. 

On  following  the  development  of  Greek  sculpture,  we  find  that  attempts  at  inde- 
pendent work  commenced  in  many  centers,  both  in  Greece  and  in  her  island  colonies, 
and  work  was  continued  in  these  centers  with  different  degrees  of  progress  and  excel- 
lence. 

In  general,  the  early  statues  were  of  deities,  and  such  reverence  did  they  inspire 
that  it  was  deemed  sacrilege  to  make  the  slightest  change  in  the  sacred  forms;  as  a 
consequence  of  this  "hieratic  influence,"  images  of  deities  retained  their  archaic  style 
long  after  considerable  progress  had  been  made  in  general  sculpture. 

Even  in  the  early  period  that  we  are  considering,  influences  were  at  work  which 
tended  toward  the  development  of  what  we  call  "original  Greek  sculpture."  Looking 
at  the  early  statues  other  than  those  of  deities,  though  they  were  almost  comical  in 
their  crudeness,  yet  they  evince  on  the  part  of  the  sculptor  honesty  in  search  of 
nature's  forms,  and  a  fixed  purpose  to  portray  only  what  he  saw,  knew  or  believed. 
Truth-seeking  and  sincerity  in  interpretation  marked  the  spirit  of  these  early  artists, 
and  their  reward  was  sure. 

TRANSITION    PERIOD    OF    GREEK    ART.       5OO-460    B.  C. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Persian  wars,  the  chief  religious  centers  were  Delphi, 
where  the  Dorians  had  established  the  worship  of  Apollo  and  Artemis;  Olympia, 
where  Pan,  Hellenic  Zeus,  was  honored  in  the  Olympian  games;  Athens,  where  was 
established  a  splendid  worship  of  Pallas  Athena.  In  all  these  places  the  general 
elements  were  the  same.  Through  the  erection  of  temples  and  other  sacred  struct- 
ures, themselves  adorned  with  statues,  also  through  the  accumulation  of  votive  works 
of  art,  they  became  treasuries  of  the  finest  productions  of  the  advancing  art.    Further, 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  425 

the  athletic  games,  which  invariably  accompanied  the  national  festivals,  promoted 
physical  strength  and  beauty,  and  thus  became  a  potent  factor  in  the  new  sculpture. 

We  are  familiar  with  the  story  of  the  Persian  wars.  We  know  of  the  gathering  of 
spoils  from  the  Barbarians,  which  spoils  permitted  and  enabled  victorious  Greece  to 
lay  the  foundations  of  the  fair  culture  of  Europe.  At  the  close  there  was  a  quicken- 
ing of  activities  in  every  department  of  art.  Sculpture  felt  the  new  impulse,  and 
manifested  new  powers  of  achievement. 

In  Bceotia  there  was  an  independent  development  of  naturalness  in  the  male  form. 
(See  Col.  Nos.  7377,  7379,  7400.)  In  Magna  Graicia,  Pythagoras  of  Rhegium  recog- 
nized the  result  of  the  athletic  games,  and  gave  to  the  forms  of  his  athletes  a  rare 
combination  of  strength,  symmetry  and  rhythm,  and  more  than  this,  they  seemed  to 
will,  to  act,  to  contend.  Dr.  Waldstern  thinks  that  many  statues  that  have  been  called 
Apollo  statues  represent  athletes,  notably  Nos.  7380  and  7381. 

Peloponnesan  sculpture  was  under  Dorian  restraint,  but  it  presented  varying 
phases  in  Corinth,  Sparta,  Argos,  Megara  and  Epidaurus.     See  Nos.  7427  to  7441. 

In  Attica  sculpture  was  hastening  on  toward  perfection.  See  Nos.  7461-62, 
7467,  7501,  2,  3,  7533,  4,  7S4I-2  and  7559. 

First  Epoch,  46o-4(X)  B.  C. 

ARGOLIS. 

On  Dorian  Argos  Polycletus  wrought  such  masterpieces  that  his  "  Canon  "  gave 
to  sculpture  its  "  law  of  proportion  "  for  the  human  figure.  So  sublime  was  his  temple 
statue  of  Hera,  the  revered  goddess  of  Argos,  that  the  world  never  produced  but  one 
artist  that  could  surpass  it.  It  has  been  thought  that  some  of  the  noblest  features  of 
the  works  of  Polycletus  are  preserved  in  Nos.  7433-4,  7358-9. 

ATTICA. 

The  period  of  the  highest  art  in  Attica  is  the  period  of  her  supremacy  in  wealth, 
in  political  influence,  in  philosophy,  in  literature  and  in  worship.  In  this  golden  time 
she  placed  upon  the  Athenian  Acropolis  the  jewels  of  her  supremacy  in  art.  In  this 
marvelous  art  was  displayed  a  unique  eclecticism  in  selection  of  materials  and  in 
choice  of  relative  locations,  and  in  it  was  manifested  an  hitherto  unknown  genius  for 
harmonizing  excellences  and  perfections,  so  it  gave  to  the  world's  admiration  the 
Attic  Doric  and  the  Attic  Ionic  architectures.  In  this  golden  time  the  sculpture  was 
worthy  of  its  noble  placing,  for  the  artists  had  held  to  their  high  purpose  of  rendering 
only  what  they  saw,  what  they  knew  and  what  they  believed,  and  their  reward  had 
come.  Again  we  must  note  the  potent  spell  that  the  art  of  mythology  had  on  the 
Acropolis,  which  had  been  created  in  honor  of  the  tutelar  goddess,  Pallas  Athena. 
Entering  the  leveled  top  of  the  Acropolis  through  the  magnificent  Propylea,  one  saw 
on  the  north  the  Erechtheum,  enshrining  the  most  sacred  object  in  all  Attica,  the 
olive  wood  statue  of  Athena  Polias,  believed  to  have  fallen  from  Heaven.  See  No. 
7481.  To  the  southwest  towered  the  bronze  statue  of  Athena  Proma,  the  Athenian 
goddess  of  war.  Here  and  there  were  shrines  and  votive  offerings  to  the  deities  asso- 
ciated with  Athena.  But  there  arose  the  Parthenon,  a  temple  erected  to  Athena  Par- 
thenon. It  can  not  be  described;  it  can  not  be  pictured;  it  can  not  be  seen  by  the 
eye  alone.  One  should  seek  it  and  lift  the  eyes  toward  it  only  after  much  prepara- 
tion. The  sculpture  of  the  Parthenon  was  worthy  of  the  temple — one  can  say  no  more. 
The  frieze  that  represented  the  Panathenaic  procession  was  one  of  the  marvels  of  all 
sculpture.  One  never  ceases  to  be  touched  by  the  solemn  sweetness  of  the  maidens 
that  take  part  in  the  ceremony,  or  to  be  thrilled  at  the  spirit  and  movement  of  the 
mounted  horsemen,  or  to  be  stilled  into  awe  in  the  presence  of  the  seated  deities  that 
are  at  rest  in  the  eternal  verities,  the  eternal  blessedness.     Nos.  7577,  7577b,  7506,  7513. 

The  sculpture  in  the  west  pediment  commemorates  the  contest  between  Athena 
and  Posideon  for  tutelar  possession  of  Attica.     Of  Posideon  only  a  mutilated  chest 


426  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

remains,  but  one  can  believe  that  such  a  god  could  make  the  earth  tremble.     No. 
7507. 

In  the  east  pediment  was  represented  the  highest  of  themes — Zeus  presenting  to 
the  Olympian  deities  his  daughter,  Pallas  Athena,  as  the  goddess  of  all  that  was 
exalted.  The  scope  of  the  treatment  of  that  theme  has  never  been  measured.  It  may 
be  that  to  have  adequate  conception,  one  must  have  followed  the  shining  history  of 
the  message  of  the  celestial  messenger,  Iris;  and  if  it  be  Demeter  and  Persephone  to 
whom  she  heralds  the  new  day  of  light  and  splendor  that  "  Helios  ushered  in  "  to 
know  the  full  purport  of  her  announcement,  one  must  have  followed  Demeter  from 
the  fields  of  grain  to  the  "  stone  of  sorrows,"  where  she  sat  mourning  the  loss  of  her 
daughter,  Persephone,  must  have  rejoiced  in  the  reunion  of  mother  and  child  in  the 
Elysian  Fields — then  one  could  believe  that  the  message  of  Iris  would  close  this  sym- 
phony of  life  and  death  with  a  pean  of  resurrection  to  a  life  and  union  immortal. 
No.  7576. 

So  must  we  compass  the  cycle  of  the  worship  associated  with  the  dominant  orfe, 
if  we  would  measurably  conceive  how  much  of  the  majesty  of  Zeus  was  represented 
in  the  new-born  goddess  Athena,  as  she  shone  in  full  splendor  in  the  presence  of  the 
Olympian  deities.  At  that  time  of  lofty  ideals,  art  was  bestowing  her  rewards.  There 
were  sculptors  who  had  striven  to  embody  their  highest  conceptions,  so  when  the 
master  of  masters,  Phidias,  began  his  work  he  was  not  alone  in  worthiness  to  place  in 
temples  statues  that  seemed  instinct  with  a  Divine  presence.  They  were  found  to  be 
worthy  to  be  co-laborers  with  Phidias.  Nos.  7510,  7515,  7516,  7517  and  7518.  See 
also  7580. 

It  can  not  be  determined  who  made  the  two  central  statues  of  the  west  pediment 
of  the  Parthenon — Zeus  and  Athena — but  it  is  known  that  the  temple  statue  of  Athena 
Parthenqs  was  made  by  Phidias.  It  is  also  known  that  sublime  as  was  the  statue,  it 
was  transcended  by  the  colossal  statue  made  by  Phidias  for  the  temple  at  Olympia — 
the  world  renowned  Jupiter  Olympus,  No.  7347.  What  was  Phidias'  conception  of 
Zeus?  Such  conception  as  was  vouchsafed  to  any  soul  that,  spurning  all  things  that 
are  earthly,  walking  in  the  light  of  what  he  believes  to  be  the  highest  truth,  seeks  Him 
whom  he  believes  to  be  the  highest  god.  When  asked  how  it  was  possible  for  him  to 
produce  that  mighty  work,  Phidias  replied  that  Homer  had  for  him  his  ideal.  I  shall 
never  believe  that  Homer's  conception  of  Zeus  approached  in  moral  purity  and  power 
that  which   Phidias'  lofty  character  enabled  him  to  conceive. 

In  seeking  the  ways  of  the  highest  truth,  Phidias  found  possibilities  that  enriched 
the  domain  of  art  forever.  His  standards  were  truths  that  are  universal,  immortal, 
divine;  hence  the  benediction  on  his  work  was  celestial  beauty,  moral  grandeur,  divine 
majesty.  Not  a  fragment  of  his  almost  divine  statue  has  ever  been  found.  The  burial 
place  of  this  immortal  artist  is  unknown,  but  he  has  found  God,  for  he  sought  only 
truth,  and  all  truth  leads  Godward. 

Second  Epoch.  B.  C.  370-330. 
highest  period  of  art  continued.    attica. 

Changes  had  come  to  Attica.  Beliefs  had  changed.  The  deities  were  now  thought 
of  as  drawing  near  to  men  in  pity  and  in  sympathy.  But  ungrateful  men,  absorbed  in 
pursuits  of  wealth  or  of  pleasure,  had  lost  the  old  fear  and  reverence  for  the  gods. 
Beliefs  having  changed,  ideals  changed,  art  changed.  It  was  a  time  of  beauty,  but  of 
a  beauty  that  lay  in  the  way  of  pleasant  going.  The  beliefs  were  not  those  of  Phidias. 
The  art  was  the  art  of  Scopas  and  Praxiteles.  We  rejoice  that  this  time  of  beauty 
came,  for  beauty  in  art,  as  in  all  things,  "has  its  own  excuse  for  being"  and  has  its 
own  reward.     Nos.  7547  to  7550. 

In  this  imperfect  outlining  of  the  development  of  Greek  art,  we  have  endeavored 
to  note  the  race  influences  that  have  helped  to  determine  art  creations.  We  have  been 
obliged  to  dwell  too  lightly  upon  the  historic   events  that  necessarily  modified  all 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  427 

national  interests,  but  we  have  purposed  bringing  into  clear  light  the  intricate,  almost 
vital  relations  between  the  mythology  and  the  art  of  ancient  Hellas. 

CLASSIC   ART   AND   AMERICAN    ART. 

Today  there  is  before  the  American  people  a  question  of  national  interest.  In 
the  new  American  art  that  is  becoming  definite  and  promising,  shall  we  make  promi- 
nent the  study  of  classic  art?     We  answer  "  Yes,  "  a  thousand  times  "  Yes." 

Because  this  age  is  one  of  financial  estimates  and  enterprises,  so  much  the  more 
is  there  imperative  need  that  we  cultivate  in  every  direction,  and  by  every  method, 
power  to  apprehend  and  appreciate  the  precious  values  of  spirit,  truth-seeking  and 
beauty-loving. 

Because  Greek  art,  more  than  any  other  art  on  earth,  holds  today  and  will  hold 
forever  these  values,  we  need  the  standards  of  those  who  wrought  it,  those  standards 
of  truths  that  were  universal,  unchanging,  beauty-giving  and  immortal.  We  need  the 
noble  methods  by  which  Greek  sculptors  gave  mind  the  mastery  over  matter,  and 
religion  the  mastery  over  the  mind.  In  our  outlining  of  Greek  art,  we  found  that  the 
chief  art  centers  were  the  centers  of  worship,  also  that  the  very  character  of  the  art 
was  determined  by  the  character  and  associated  legends  of  the  principal  deities; 
therefore,  as  preparatory  to,  and  as  accompaniment  of,  a  fine  apprehension  of  classic 
art,  we  plead  for  the  study  of  classic  mythology. 

THE    STUDY   OF    GREEK  MYTHOLOGY. 

The  classic  legends  lie  at  the  basis  of  much  of  the  finest  culture,  but  they  may  be 
taught  to  children,  to  little  children,  as  a  mother  said,  as  soon  as  you  can  get  a  child 
to  listen.  Let  them  be  taught  in  the  homes,  in  the  primary  classes  at  school.  Do 
you  fear  to  teach  myths?  The  children  will  "know  intuitively  that  the  legends  are 
but  curious  husks  that  enwrap  kernels  of  facts.  They  will  not  confuse  fiction  and 
truth.  In  soul  matters  with  very  young  children,  ideals  readily  become  reals,  and 
they  will  soon  learn  that  while  there  is  truth  in  all  the  myths,  there  is  never  myth  in 
truth.  There  will  be  in  their  minds  ready  recognition  that  only  in  the  paths  of 
truth-seeking  the  rainbow  of  beauty  arches  heavenward,  so  those  mothers  and  teachers 
who  give  to  children  the  myths  and  legends  largely  enrich  their  inheritances.  Chil- 
dren should  early  enter  upon  their  inheritance  in  art.  Show  them  first  the  perfect 
creations  of  human  genius,  and  thus  they  will  learn  to  shrink  from  the  crude  and  to 
admire  only  the  lovely. 

We  plead  for  the  study  of  classic  mythology,  not  only  in  public  schools  and  insti- 
tutions of  higher  learning,  but  in  all  schools  of  art.  Let  all  students,  whether  of 
sculpture  or  of  painting,  learn  the  fascinating  stories  of  the  characters  which  they 
reproduce,  also  the  history  of  those  worships  which  gave  the  ideals  that  called  out 
such  noble  art  efforts  and  success.  Let  art  teachers  of  today,  as  did  those  of  classic 
times,  kindle  in  their  students  ambition  and  enthusiasm  for  more  and  more  noble 
embodiments  of  more  and  more  lofty  ideals.  Then  while  homes  and  art  galleries 
may  be  filled  with  the  beauty  that  delights  but  entices  not,  then  will  have  come  a 
greater  good,  for  everywhere  the  art  standards  will  become  mind  over  matter,  religion 
over  mind,  and  God  over  all.  Then  will  the  beauty  of  the  Lord  our  God  be  upon  the 
spirit  of  teacher  and  student,  and  upon  the  work  of  their  hands. 


LIFE  OF  ARTISTS. 

By  MISS  KATHERINE  M.  COHEN. 

Having  been  an  art  student  for  some  years,  and  with  the  sincere  hope  of  continu- 
ing- to  be  one  all  my  life,  perhaps  a  few  words  about  them  and  the  life  they  lead  may 

be  of  interest  to  you. 

We  know  they  are  generally  considered  as  "  Bohe- 
mian,"and  their  changeableness  and  apparent  evasion 
of  what  are  called  "  the  real  responsibilities  of  life" 
must  certainly  be  very  trying  to  orthodox  minds  who 
are  bewildered  at  the  sixteen  different  moods  they 
may  be  found  in  in  the  course  of  the  day;  but  if  you 
will  think  for  a  moment  of  the  pictures  you  admire 
most,  you  will  find  that  they  are  those  which  show  the 
most  thorough  sympathy  between  the  artist  and  the 
work  he  is  doing.  A  work  of  art  is  best  defined  as 
"  a  corner  of  creation  as  seen  through  a  temperament," 
and  it  will  readily  be  seen  that  the  more  sensitive  and 
easily  impressed  the  temperament,  the  finer  the  work 
it  will  be  able  to  do.  In  Paris,  to  be  an  art  student 
is  to  have  but  one  aim  and  one  purpose — to  do  good 
work  and  use  your  time  to  the  best  advantage;  to 
have  even  your  washerwoman  and  concierge  or  door- 
keeper take  the  profoundest  interest  in  the  fate  of 
your  salon  picture  or  statue;  to  have  no  hesitation  in 
MISS  KATHERINE  M.  COHEN.  wcaring   your  clothes  of  the  year  before  last  until 

there  is  not  a  shred  of  them  left,  so  that  you  may  have 
money  to  pay  your  model  for  posing  or  buy  old  brasses  and  draperies  for  "still  life" 
studies;  to  go  to  concerts  where  you  are  inspired  by  the  finest  of  music,  in  seats  which 
would  here  be  known  as  the  "  peanut  gallery"  and  which  cost  a  mere  song,  and  yet 
to  be  judged  and  received  among  people  according  to  the  value  of  the  work  you  are 
doing,  even  if  your  shoe-buttons  are  pinned  on  (as  I  have  known  them  to  be).  Each 
artist  in  Paris  has,  as  a  rule,  a  day  to  receive  his  or  her  friends,  but,  except  in  rare  cases, 
this  is  done  in  the  most  informal  manner;  your  acquaintances  dropping  in  after  their 
day's  work  and  taking  their  cup  of  Russian  tea  with  a  real  satisfaction  often  left'out  of 
more  elaborate  entertainments.  I  have  been  at  feasts  where  ice-cream  was  partaken  of 
in  modeling  tools,  in  lieu  of  spoons,  the  members  of  which  feasts  are  now  making  a 
name  and  fame  for  themselves  in  the  world.  You  may  have  to  walk  long  distances  to 
save  expense  and  live  by  the  light  of  one  candle,  but  you  will  be  pretty  sure  to  have  a 
piano  upon  which  you  and  your  musical  friends  will  have  weekly  feasts,  and  to  which 
you  will  often  find  a  flute,  guitar,  violin  or  beautiful  voice  added,  and  where  future 
prima-donnas  and  soloists  will  give  you  of  their  best  in  the  grateful  certainty  of  having 
their  efforts  understood  and  appreciated. 

Miss  Katherine  M.  Cohen  was  born  March  18, 1859,  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  of  English  ancestry.  Henry  Cohen  of  London 
and  Matilda  Samuel  Cohen  of  Liverpool,  were  her  parents.  She  was  educated  by  Ann  Dickson  of  Scotland,  at  Chestnut 
Street  Seminary;  her  art  education  was  received  at  "  Pennsylvania  Academy  of  Fine  Arts,"  Philadelphia,  and  "New  York  Art 
Students  League,"  and  in  Paris.  She  has  traveled  through  Europe.  Her  special  work  includes  sculpture  and  painting  in 
water-colors,  her  principal  productions  being  bas-relief  portraits,  water-color  busts,  landscapes  and  figures.  By  profession 
she  is  an  artist,  and  her  productions  have  been  exhibited  at  art  displays  in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  the  studios  and  salons  of 
Paris,  in  the  "  Fine  Arts  Building"  of  Chicago,  and  at  the  World's  Fair.  In  religious  faith  Miss  Cohen  is  a  Jewess.  Her 
postoffice  address  is  No.  2103  Chestnut  Street.  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

428 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  429 

You  will  rise  at  half-past  six  on  Monday  morning,  and  breakfast  at  seven,  so  that 
you  may  be  at  the  great  school  belonging  to  Julian  or  Colarossi  or  Delacluse  before 
eight,  and  so  get  your  choice  of  a  seat  for  the  week,  late  comers  having  to  take  what 
is  left.  At  twelve,  having  worked  four  hours  from  the  living  model,  you  will  go  to  a 
queer  little  restaurant,  the  outside  of  which  gives  you  a  shudder,  but  which  serves  you 
a  fairly  good  meal,  and  where  you  meet  the  other  students.  You  will  spend  the  after- 
noon either  in  painting  or  modeling  in  your  own  studio  or  in  going  to  the  Louvre  or 
Luxembourg  galleries;  or,  if  it  is  spring,  at  the  salons,  and  you  can  either  take  your 
work  to  a  great  artist  and  get  his  criticism  upon  it,  or,  if  it  is  sculpture,  he  will  come 
to  your  little  studio,  and  glorify  it  with  his  presence,  and  say  enough  in  ten  minutes 
to  make  you  wish  you  had  ten  pairs  of  hands  and  five  heads,  as  one  set  is  not  nearly 
enough  for  you.  In  the  summer  you  will  go  with  other  students  into  Brittany  or  Hol- 
land, or  where  you  will,  and  study  outdoors — by  the  sea  or  in  the  country — and  have 
wonderful  adventures.  You  will  return  to  the  city  in  the  fall,  full  of  new  enthusiasm,  and 
feeling  more  than  ever  the  value  of  continual  study  from  the  fine  living  models,  who 
pose  so  much  better  than  the  peasants  and  country  people,  who  do  not  see  why  you 
can  not  take  their  pictures  in  three  seconds,  as  if  you  were  a  Kodac.  Let  us  go  into 
some  of  the  studios  of  last  winter  and  see  some  of  their  workings.  You  are  all  familiar 
with  the  MacMonnies  Fountain  in  front  of  the  Administration  Building,*  and  as  I  had 
the  pleasure  of  watching  its  progress  during  several  stages  of  the  work,  a  few  words 
in  regard  to  it  may  not  be  amiss. 

The  sculptor,  though  still  a  young  man,  has  worked  very  hard  for  years.  When 
he  received  the  commission  of  this  fountain,  he  expressed  his  first  idea  with  regard  to 
its  general  arrangement  by  making  a  tiny  sketch  model  in  clay.  This  was  followed 
by  clay  figures  made  carefully  from  life,  and  sometimes  under  difficulties;  for  instance, 
the  model  who  was  posing  swayed  constantly  out  of  the  proper  position,  being  too 
indolent  or  careless  to  remain  in  it.  The  sculptor  calmly  went  to  work  and  made  a 
wonderful  trapeze  arrangement  of  ropes,  so  that  arms  and  legs  were  held  in  position, 
and  where  that  was  not  sufficient,  added  a  sharp  point  or  two  near  the  knee  and  elbow, 
to  give  a  warning  prick,  and  remind  the  sitter  of  his  or  her  duty  to  keep  still. 

You  doubtless  all  know  that  the  fine  decorations  on  the  north  end  of  the  interior 
of  this  Woman's  Building  that  we  are  in  was  made  by  Mrs.  MacMonnies,  the  wife  of 
the  sculptor.  I  also  saw  this  when  its  author  was  working  upon  it  from  a  scaffold  so 
high  over  my  head  that  I  did  not  at  first  know  she  was  in  the  great  studio. 

Their  studios  are  a  constant  resort  of  artists  and  students  of  all  sorts,  as  they  are 
young  and  sympathetic  and  remember  their  own  student  days  and  the  immense  bene- 
fit that  such  meeting-grounds  are  to  artistic  natures.  A  little  way  off  is  a  street  called 
"the  street  of  the  mill  of  butter,"  and  through  a  little  iron  grating  we  enter  a  court  and 
ring  a  bell.  The  answer  to  it  is  a  door  opening  and  a  figure  appearing  with  hands 
covered  with  clay.  It  is  that  of  Douglas  Tilden,  the  deaf  and  dumb  sculptor  from  Cal- 
ifornia, an  excellent  artist  as  you  may  easily  see  by  his  works:  "The  Base-Ball  Man  " 
and  "Indian  Bear  Hunt "  in  the  Fine  Arts  Building.  We  conversed  with  him  in  writ- 
ing and  we  look  with  interest  on  his  statue  at  which  he  is  now  working.  It  is  called 
"A  Wounded  Foot-Ball  Player,"  and  is  a  group  of  three  figures  full  of  life  and  expres- 
sion. His  little  den  upstairs,  furnished  as  a  sitting-room,  is  strewn  with  manuscript, 
and  we  learned  that  it  is  a  magazine  story.  Another  sculptor  that  I  met  in  Paris  is 
Miss  Matthews,  who  has  only  one  arm,  and  yet,  who  has  managed  to  do  better  work 
than  some  of  the  fraternity  who  have  all  their  members.  I  think  such  instances  should 
convince  all  Philistines  that  artists,  if  they  be  truly  such,  may  be  bereft  of  almost  any- 
thing except  their  heads  and  yet  succeed  in  their  work,  for  the  spirit  of  a  true  artist 
can  never  be  wholly  suppressed. 

For  many  years,  the  only  way  by  which  artists  met  each  other  was  at  their  own  stu- 
dios, but  now  there  are  two  clubs  of  American  students,  one  for  men  and  one  for  women, 
the  latter  growing  out  of  the  work  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Newell  who  established  it.     It  has 


♦Columbian  Exposition. 


430  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

been  greatly  helped  by  Mrs.  Whitelaw  Reid,  who  is  still  continuing  her  interest  in  it. 
There  is  a  reading-room  and  a  piano,  French  classes  and  afternoon  tea,  a  good  light 
and  fire,  all  immensely  appreciated  by  many  students  who  cheerfully  do  without 
such  luxuries  in  their  own  rooms  that  they  may  have  money  to  pay  for  their  instruc- 
tion. 

The  men's  club  gives  a  reception  to  its  membersand  their  lady  friends  once  a  month, 
and  the  walls  are  hung  with  their  latest  and  best  studies  and  ^ketches.  There  is  music, 
and  often  dancing,  and  once  there  was  a  most  interesting  fancy  dress  ball,  where  the 
costumes  were  very  artistic  and  where  a  picture  frame  was  filled  in  turn  by  different 
sets  of  characters,  making  them  long  to  produce  them  instantly  in  color.  All  through 
the  spring,  the  one  idea  of  the  many  thousand  art  students  of  Paris  is  the  "  Salon  " 
— what  they  shall  send  and  whether  it  will  be  accepted.  The  excitement  begins 
toward  the  end  of  March,  when  all  the  painting  in  oil,  water-color,  enamels,  porcelains 
and  miniatures  must  be  sent  in  to  the  great  palace  in  the  Champs  d'  Elysee,  each  artist 
being  allowed  to  send  two  works  only.  The  sculptors  are  allowed  until  April  3,  as 
their  work  takes  longer  than  the  painting.  From  that  time  your  soul  knows  no  peace 
until  one  of  the  two  things  happen — either  you  receive  an  envelope  containing  a 
slip  of  green  paper  which  causes  your  heart  to  stand  still  and  your  spirit  to  descend 
into  your  boots,  or  else  you  hear  nothing  at  all  for  weeks,  and  are  in  a  condition  of 
nervous  excitement,  and  at  last,  perhaps  two  days  before  the  varnishing  day.  May  i, 
there  comes  a  knock  at  your  studio  door  and  an  angel,  in  the  form  of  a  boy  in  uniform, 
appears  with  a  square  white  envelope  and  a  white  slip  of  paper,  saying  that  you  are 
accepted,  upon  which  you  tip  the  boy  magnificently  to  the  amount  of  three  cents  (a 
larger  tip  would  cause  him  to  tell  everyone  that  you  had  suddenly  lost  your  senses), 
and  can  settle  to  nothing  for  the  rest  of  the  day  because  you  are  too  happy  and  you 
know  that  the  friends  at  home  will  be  so  proud  and  glad  to  hear  of  it. 

On  varnishingday  you  have  the  privilege,  as  an  exhibitor,  of  taking  in  two  friends 
— one  before  12  o'clock,  the  other  after.  The  average  attendance,  if  the  day  is  fine,  is 
about  forty  thousand. 

You  see  all  the  great  artists  and  the  originals  of  the  portraits  on  the  walls,  very 
often  walking  about  together;  the  costumes  are  often  very  beautiful,  and  the  artist 
who  has  painted  a  fine  picture  is  the  hero  6f  the  hour. 

When  we  arrive  at  the  point  that  American  art  is  better  than  anything  we  can  get 
in  Europe,  then  we  shall  stay  at  home  to  study,  just  as  the  French  have  done.  They 
used  to  think  that  an  artist's  education  could  only  be  completed  in  Rome.  When 
their  own  great  masters  arose  they  were  only  too  glad  to  stay  at  home  and  study  with 
them.  We  can  all  of  us  help  the  quick  realization  of  this,  if  we  encourage  our  boys 
and  girls  to  cultivate  their  artistic  tastes  instead  of  scofifing  at  them  as  impractical  and 
never  likely  to  make  them  rich. 

It  is  time  that  the  rich  man  should  cease  to  look  upon  the  artist  as  a  "  poor  devil" 
who  can  not  earn  an  honest  living,  and  bewail  the  fact,  as  I  heard  a  man  bewail  it, 
that  when  he  wanted  a  fine  picture  of  his  pet  cow,  that  "  the  picture  cost  as  much  as  the 
cow."  It  is  well  to  think  of  the  answer  of  Meissonier,  the  great  French  painter,  in 
answer  to  a  rich  man  who  said:  "But  you  want  a  large  sum  for  the  little  album 
sketch,  and  it  only  took  you  five  minutes."  "  True,"  said  Meissonier,  "  but  it  took  me 
forty  years  to  learn  how  to  do  it  in  five  minutes." 

An  artist's  chief  grief  is  that  life  is  too  short  for  him  to  accomplish  what  he  wants 
to  do  even  in  his  own  special  line  of  work,  and  this  is  equally  true  of  woman,  for  talent 
knows  no  sex.  There  is  another  important  consideration,  and  that  is  the  lack  here  of 
studios  with  living  rooms  attached,  at  moderate  rents.  An  artist  comes  back  here 
from  Paris  with  very  little  ready  money,  for  he  has  his  way  still  to  make.  He  has  had 
there  a  studio  with  a  fine  light  and  all  necessary  fittings,  which  he  has  been  able  to 
hire  for  three  months  at  a  time,  at  a  very  moderate  rent,  say  fifty  dollars  for  the  three 
months;  for  six  months,  then,  at  an  expense  of  one  hundred  dollars,  he  has  kept  his 
studio  in  town,  with  his  sleeping  and  living  room  adjoining,  as  he  wanted  to  work  out- 
doors in  the  country  the  other  six  months. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  431 

What  does  he  find  when  he  comes  here,  say  in  New  York  or  Boston,  or  Philadel- 
phia or  San  Francisco,  or  Chicago?  He  must  take  his  studio  by  the  year,  and  it  costs 
a  small  fortune  at  that,  and  there  are  scarcely  any  living  rooms,  except  in  a  very  few 
instances. 

We  hope  that  some  one  will  recognize  this  need  of  the  coming  artists,  and  put  up 
studio  buildings  with  small  apartments  or  living  rooms  attached,  and  let  them  at  a 
moderate  rent. 


IS  WOMAN  THE  WEAKER  VESSEL? 


By  MRS.  SARAH  EDDY  PALMER. 

Now,  in  this  ripeness  of  time,  it  is  interesting  to  listen  to  sounds  that  have  ceased 
and  lend  an  ear  to  voices  that  are  but  echoes,  and  to  the  tread  of  centuries  of  passing 

feet,  and  wonder,  as  the  steady  march  merges  into  the 
hurry  and  fever  of  today — when  will  have  done  this 
strain  upon  the  wheels  of  time  with  groan  and  threat 
of  doom. 

As  will  be  the  end,  so  was  the  beginning,  with 
woman;  since  Eve  took  her  place  as  wife  and  mother 
she  has  found  her  mission  to  help,  her  necessity  to 
suffer.  In  her  beauty  lies  great  power,  and  in  her 
weakness,  strength.  Did  the  first  woman,  fresh  from 
the  hands  of  her  Maker — who  stood  upon  the  thresh- 
old of  time  bewildered  and  in  awe — see  with  prophecy 
beyond  the  gauzy  portieres  of  daybreak?  Did  she 
see  the  stretch  of  years  before  her  in  awful  grandeur 
when  the  pulse  of  creation  would  be  beating  in  fever 
and  pain?  Did  she  hear  in  the  stillness  of  morning 
the  tramp  of  hosts  over  the  plain?  Did  she  hear  the 
wailing  of  women,  or  "the  sea  moan  for  its  slain?" 

Perhaps  she  saw  in  the  distance  wise  men  from 
the  east,  who  came,  led  by  a  star,  to  the  manger 
where  Mary  and  the  Babe  had  lain.  God  in  His 
wisdom  and  mercy  may  even  have  let  her  see  the 
glorious  plan  of  redemption  and  blessed  immortality. 
In  that  day  dawn  of  time,  when  the  spheres  were  tuned  to  sweet  sounds  and  the 
morning  stars  sang  together.  Eve  raised  her  voice  in  thanksgiving  and  praise  for  the 
great  gift  of  motherhood.  Her  first  tears  were  shed  at  the  bier  of  her  first-born. 
That  funeral  train  has  kept  unbroken  its  weary  march,  a  black  band  winding  down  the 
centuries  whose  road  is  paved  with  broken  hearts,  and  fording  rivers  of  tears.  You 
can  look  from  any  window  and  there  the  procession  is,  moving  with  nodding  plumes 
and  trappings  of  woe,  bound  for  Oak  Lawn  or  for  Calvary.  Miriam,  the  priestess, 
both  wept  with  her  oppressed  people  and  sang  with  timbrel  of  Jehovah's  triumph;  and, 
rejoicing,  led  them  to  freedom. 

Esther,  with  the  courage  of  blind  faith  and  strong  of  purpose,  entered  and  stood 
unbidden  in  the  presence  of  her  dread  King.  His  heart  warmed  to  her  courage,  grace 
and  beauty,  and  a  people  were  saved. 

In  the  year  600,  before  the  Christian  era,  Whan-onng,  the  goddess  of  compas- 
sion, who  is  universally  pictured  by  the  sacred  arts — Japonica — as  sitting  by  the  sacred 
River  of  Life  absorbed  in  contemplation,  represents  the  feminine  attributes  of  Deity.  I 
will  not  pause  to  give  her  sad,  sweet  story,  as  gleaned  from  their  religious  traditions, 
save  that  she  came  from  the  bosom  of  God  to  be  an  earth-born  maiden  of  Japan,  a 
princess  of  their  royal  house.     She  was  good  and  sweet,  compassionate  and  beautiful, 

Mrs.  Sarah  Eddy  Palmer  is  a  native  of  New  York.  Her  parents  were  the  late  Dr.  John  and  Mary  Rociter  Eddy.  She 
was  granddaughter  of  the  eminent  Judge  Charles  Dixon  Wylee,  oi  Rome,  Oneida  County,  New  York.  She  married  Maj, 
Josiah  L.  Palmer,  and  they  came  to  make  their  home  in  Arkaneas  in  1861,  where  Major  Palmer  was  for  years  actively 
connected  with  temperance  and  humane  work,  in  which  she  sympathized.  Mrs.  Palmer  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Charch.    Her  poetoffice  address  is  No.  1515  Bock  Street,  Little  Rock,  x\rk. 

432 


MRS.  SARAH   EDDY   PALMER. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  433 

and  sowed  the  seed  of  many  good  works  by  the  shining  light  of  her  example,  never 
breaking  a  law  of  earth  until  it  conflicted  with  a  law  of  Heaven;  then  accepting  her 
punishment,  she  welcomed  her  early  death,  and  went  to  the  abode  of  lost  spirits. 
Borne  up  by  her  beauty  of  soul  and  noble  resolves,  unmindful  of  her  own  sufferings, 
she  cheered  and  soothed  the  wretched  creatures  about  her  with  such  tenderpitifulness 
that  the  arch  fiend  banished  her  from  his  realm,  justly  complaining  that  were  she  per- 
mitted to  remain  hell  itself  would  become  a  heaven.  Thus  thrust  forth  she  returned 
to  the  source  of  all  compassion. 

The  Kajica,  or  sacred  writings  of  Japan,  after  being  destroyed  in  a  disastrous  con- 
flagration in  712  B,  C,  were  restored  to  them  verbatim  by  a  peasant  woman,  who  pro- 
claimed to  the  priest  that  she  remembered  all  things  that  ever  she  heard. 

Tradition,  or  history,  if  you  prefer,  tells  of  two  daughters  of  Logair,  a  king  of  Ire- 
land. These  ladies  are  chronicled  as  *'  fair  to  look  upon."  While  on  the  way  to  their 
bath  they  saw  St.  Patrick  sitting  on  a  wall.  He  expounded  to  them  his  mission  with  its 
Divine  wonders.  They  eagerly  accepted  the  great  truths,  put  white  caps  upon  their 
heads,  proclaimed  themselves  dead  to  the  world  and  brides  of  Christ,  thus  founding 
the  Holy  Order  of  Sisterhood  in  Ireland. 

There  is  living  today  in  England  an  old  woman,  whose  years  exceed  three-score 
and  ten.  She  is  small  of  stature,  and  her  face  bears  furrows  of  care;  her  eyes  dimmed 
and  cheeks  seamed  with  widow's  tears;  her  heart  lacerated  with  wounds  that  time 
can  not  heal.  This  dear,  little  old  lady  is  prudent  to  a  degree,  can  make  a  pudding,  is 
a  judge  of  kine,  has  the  nicest  butter  on  the  market,  and  stands  firmly  for  the  best 
price.  Her  vegetable  garden  shows  the  finest  fruits,  which  are  gathered  and  marketed 
with  admirable  frugality.  She  has  as  many  children  as  the  traditional  old  lady  who 
lived  in  her  shoe.  She  is  grandmother — three  deep.  She  is  kind  to  the  poor,  gracious 
to  those  about  her;  a  loving  mother,  faithful  in  small  duties  and  humble  before  God. 
She  paints  good  pictures,  writes  good  books  and  sings  sweetly.  Her  virtues  and 
example  will  stand  like  the  pyramids.  She  wears  a  royal  diadem  upon  her  brow,  and 
as  Queen  of  England  and  Empress  of  India  she  commands  the  proud  homage  of  the 
world.     The  period  of  her  years  will  be  known  as  the  Victorian  Age. 

Woman  has  always  had  her  defenders  and  oppressors.  The  divine  attributes  of 
womanhood,  like  the  divinity  that  is  said  to  hedge  around  a  king,  have  been  through 
all  time  her  shield  and  buckler.  I  read  somewhere  of  a  young  and  beautiful  virgin 
being  thrown  into  an  arena  of  wild  beasts  for  the  entertainment  of  some  Nero,  when 
the  brutes  slunk  away  abashed. 

Most  of  you  remember  in  our  nation's  civil  strife  when  "  the  dusk  seemed  wait- 
ing for  the  night"  and  all  nature  was  "tuned  in  a  minor  key,"  'twas  woman  all  over 
the  broad  land  who  seamed  the  stripes  and  studded  the  stars  of  our  nation's  flag;  she 
gave  her  jewels  like  that  other  queen,  wives  yielded  husbands  and  fathers,  and  when 
she  placed  her  beloved  son  upon  the  altar  of  sacrifice  no  angel  stayed  the  sword. 
Maidens  sent  their  best  beloved  to  die  for  a  cause  they  held  most  holy.  Were  our  brave 
men  the  only  heroes  of  that  bloody  time? 

You  may  remember  the  picture  of  the  Arkansas  traveler,  with  the  cabin  that 
couldn't  be  repaired  in  the  rain  and  didn't  need  it  when  the  day  was  dry.  In  the  door- 
way stood  that  disheveled  woman  with  a  snuff  stick  in  her  mouth  and  her  unwashed 
skillet  in  her  hand.  She  is  not  there  today,  she  roused  herself  at  her  country's  call 
and  sent  her  indolent  husband  and  sluggish  boys  to  the  front,  and  she  helped  to  change 
the  tune. 

But  last  month  the  women  of  Siam,  arousing  to  the  conditions  that  would  probably 
involve  their  beloved  country  in  war  with  France  anticipated  necessity,  and  with  spon- 
taneous action  raised  an  immense  sum  of  money  to  be  ready  when  the  need  came. 

All  men  are  not  great  men,  nor  is  it  given  to  all  women  to  do  great  things,  but 
feeble  hands  have  done  their  mighty  work,  little  hands  have  swayed  a  scepter. 

There  are  thousands  of  nameless  women  in  our  land  who  know  nothing  of  women's 
movements — women  in  rural  homes  beyond  the  sound  of  the  rushing  engine  or  the 

(28) 


434  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

search-lights  of  electricity,  who  spin  the  threads  and  weave  the  web  that  shapes 
tomorrow.  These  humble  toilers  whose  names  are  not  blazoned,  "  whose  faces  are 
covered  with  care  like  a  tattered  veil "  are,  while  they  toil  all  the  day,  living  lives  of 
simple  Christian  faith,  mother  love  untiring  and  abiding;  the  poor  loving  souls  are 
buildmg  better  than  they  know,  and  when  the  tired  hands  lie  at  rest  their  children 
will  emulate  their  virtues  and  rise  up  and  call  them  blessed. 

Woman  sees  her  opportunity  and  comes,  true  Amazons,  to  the  call  of  duty.  John 
L.  Woolley  says,  "  Woman  is  coming  right  regally  to  the  fore;  step  aside,  crawl  under 
something,  climb  a  tree,  you  puny  men,  the  women  are  coming."  They  are  here,  Mr. 
Woolley!  From  the  East  and  the  West  the  women  come  at  duty's  call,  from  the  North 
come  earnest  champions  for  the  right,  and  from  the  fair  South  we  hear  the  stir  of 
eagle's  wings.  Organization  is  the  feature  of  the  age  and  the  imperious  future 
beckons  us  on. 

Having  turned  my  feeble  rush-light  back  into  the  almost  forgotten  yesterday, 
with  a  glance  at  holy  writ,  mythology  and  tradition,  down  to  this  almost  apex  of  the 
twentieth  century,  my  tongue  must  yield  to  better  wit,  my  pen  to  greater  power,  if  it 
must  be  proven  that  woman  is  the  weaker  vessel. 


MEMBERS  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  LADY  MANAGERS. 


1.  Miss  Eliza  M.  Russell, 

Nevada. 
4.  Mrs.  Daniel  Hall, 

New  Hampshire, 
7.  Mrs,  George  Wilson  Kiaaer, 

North,  Carolina. 
10.  Mrs.  W.  B.  McConnell, 

North  Dakota. 


2.  Mrs.  M.  D.  Foley, 

Nevada. 
5.  MissMaryE.  Basse! le, 

New  Jersey. 
8.  Mrs.  Charles  Price, 

North  Carolina. 
11.  Mrs.  Mary  P.  Hart. 

Ohio, 


3.  Mrs.  Mira  B.  F.  Ladd, 

New  Hampshire,. 
6.  Mrs.  Ralph  Trautmann, 

New  York. 
9.  Mrs.  S.  W.  McLaughlin, 

•  North  Dahota*^ 
12.  Mrs.  Walter  Hartpence, 

Ohio. 


WOMAN  IN  JOURNALISM. 


By  MRS.  MARY  TEMPLE  BAYARD. 

That  it  should  have  been  left  for  me  to  discuss  women  in  journalism,  after  all  the 
weeks  of  speech-making  from  this  platform,  is  surprising;  and  that  I  should  so  readily 

have  committed  myself  to  the  subject  has  since  been 
to  me  a  matter  of  regret.  I  don't  like  the  petticoat  or 
trouser  differentiation  which  my  subject  seems  to 
imply.  Women  in  journalism  today  in  no  way  differ 
from  men  in  journalism.  Sex  is  neither  a  disqualifi- 
cation nor  a  recommendation.  Much  discussion  of 
women  in  any  particular  line  of  usefulness,  in  these 
free  and  equal  days,  when  they  can  hem  ruffles  or 
engineer  locomotives  equally  without  comment,  is  too 
much  like  discussing  them  as  a  species  instead  of  a 
sex.  There  is  no  sex  in  brains,  all  difference  in 
weight  of  the  brains  of  the  sexes  to  the  contrary  not- 
withstanding, and  brains  and  journalism  are  synony- 
mous terms.  Neither  is  there  a  royal  road  especially 
prepared  or  made  smooth  for  either  sex.  A  fair  field 
and  no  favor  must  sufifice  for  women  in  journalism. 
There  is  no  claim  to  be  set  forward  on  the  basis  of  sex. 
Women  who  have  succeeded  in  journalism  have  suc- 
ceeded as  journalists  and  not  as  women,  and  this 
along  the  same  lines  on  which  men  have  succeeded. 
We  learn  early  in  the  work  to  expect  nothing  by 
virtue  of  the  accident  of  our  personality.  Because 
we  are  women  we  must  not  imagine  we  therefore  have  a  right  to  an  engagement 
simply  for  the  asking.  Especially  would  this  deprive  us  of  a  niche  in  journalism.  We 
must  not  presume  upon  an  editor's  chivalry  and  courtesy  to  judge  our  work  more 
leniently  than  he  would  were  it  the  work  of  a  man.  I  regret  to  say  these  are  weaknesses 
often  charged  to  beginners,  but  which  all  who  get  on  in  journalism  sooner  or  later  out- 
grow. We  must  be  proud  that  our  work  is  received  upon  its  merits  alone,  since  any 
other  plan  would  lower  the  standard  of  our  efficiency,  impair  our  earning  capacity  and 
spoil  us  both  as  women  and  as  journalists.  Women  who  come  into  journalism  expect- 
ing to  be  excused  any  fault  by  reason  of  their  sex  lower  by  extent  of  that  excuse  the 
reputation  and  worth  of  women  in  the  profession.  We  learn  to  trample  under  foot 
that  most  dishonoring  conception  of  our  work  as  mere  woman's  work,  and  to  know 
that  such  kindness  on  the  part  of  editors  as  the  indulgence  of  these  weaknesses  would 
in  the  end  prove  most  unkind.  However,  if  there  ever  was  a  time  when  women  in 
journalism  were  so  favored  to  their  undoing,  that  day  has  gone  by.  Editors  may  be 
compared   to  builders;  they  build  daily  and  their  contract  with  the  public   is  to   build 

Mrs.  Mary  Temple  Bayard  is  a  native  of  Waynesburg,  Greene  c<>anty.  Pa.,  and  is  the  daughter  of  General  and  Mrs.  J. 
F.  Temple.  She  was  educated  at  Waynesbnrg  College.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  she  married  William  J.  Bayard,  but,  left  a  wid<;w 
at  twenty-four,  returned  to  the  same  school  and  finished  her  education  with  her  son,  her  last  session  in  college  being  his  first. 
She  has  traveled  extensively  both  in  her  own  country  and  Europe.  Her  literary  work  has  been  for  magazines  in  the  interest 
of  Woman's  Social  reform  and  philanthropic  movements.  Her  reputation  as  a  writer  was  made  under  the  nom  de  plume  of 
"Meg."  The  first  line  written  for  publication  was  accepted,  and  after  publishing  her  letters  for  one  month  the  Pittsburg 
Dispatch  advertised  for  "  Meg  "  to  make  her  real  name  known,  and  the  result  was  a  permanent  engagement.  She  is  at  pres- 
ent on  the  staff  of  the  Philadelphia  Times.  She  is  a  Camberland  Presbyterian.  Her  permanent  postoffice  address  is 
No.  8  Sherman  Avenae,  Alleghany,  Pa. 

435 


MRS.  MARY  TEMPLE   BAYARD. 


436  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

only  of  the  best  material.  They  care  not  so  much  which  sex  furnishes  the  timber,  so 
it  is  of  the  best.  If  women  supply  material  as  good  and  suitable  as  that  furnished 
by  men  they  stand  the  same  chance  of  making  a  sale  as  men  do,  and  will  receive  the 
same  price  for  it.  Journalism  is  at  least  the  profession  where  the  sexes  receive  the 
same  remuneration  for  the  same  work  equally  well  done.  Surely  the  whole  duty  to 
our  sex  has  been  discharged  when  this  is  true.  We  cannot  expect  editors,  out  of  chiv- 
alry, or  because  their  mothers  were  women,  and  we  are  women,  to  build  their  papers 
out  of  inferior  timber  simply  because  we  furnish  it.  If  we  are  so  immature  as  to 
expect  such  indulgence,  we  are  doomed  to  disappointment. 

It  is  the  common  experience  of  women  in  journalism  that  there  is  less  sentiment 
about  a  newspaper  ofifice  than  anywhere  else  of  which  they  have  personal  knowledge. 
It  is  not  putting  it  too  strongly  to  say  that  though  a  contributor  or  reporter  were  upon 
the  verge  of  starvation,  such  confession  would  hinder  rather  than  help  her  to  space  or 
assignment.  The  editor  would  at  once  suspect  money  to  be  her  inspiration  and  of  her 
having  nothing  to  say  that  would  either  entertain  or  benefit  the  reading  public.  Writ- 
ing only  for  the  money  there  is  in  it  is  one  of  the  unpardonable  sins  in  journalism. 

I  have  heard  women  in  journalism  refer  to  the  stern  reprimands,  often  unjust,  with 
much  the  same  pride  men  sometimes  refer  to  jacketings  received  during  apprentice 
days,  and,  like  the  men,  attribute  their  ultimate  success  to  such  stern  discipline,  on 
the  assumption  that  sparing  the  ijietaphorical  rod  would  have  the  same  effect  upon 
the  woman  as  upon  the  child. 

But  once  a  woman  always  a  woman,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  doubt  whether  any  of  us 
ever  overcome  the  natural  weakness,  if  weakness  it  be,  of  love  of  the  approving  pat, 
I  can  even  see  how  mistaken  kindness  and  undue  consideration  might  encourage  the 
timid  woman  to  do  her  best,  when  being  "treated  exactly  like  a  man,"  which  would 
be  license  to  swear  at  her,  might  frighten  her  out  of  the  wits  she  would  stand  most  in 
need  of. 

The  story  is  told  of  one  of  our  pioneer  women  in  journalism  that  she  was  first 
refused  a  place  on  the  staff  because  it  would  not  do  to  swear  at  her.  "  What!"  said 
the  editor,  "petticoats  on  this  staff?  Never  while  I  am  in  control.  Why,  you  could 
not  swear  at  a  woman!"  That,  in  his  opinion,  settled  the  matter.  Anyone  that  could 
not  be  sworn  at  when  they  deserved  it  had  no  business  around  a  newspaper  ofifice. 
This  same  editor  subsequently  found  out  there  were  other  ways  to  admonish  women 
and  develop  genius  besides  swearing  at  them,  for  he  lived  to  have  several  women  on 
his  staff. 

It  may  be  that  the  sharp  edge  of  the  employer's  reproof  does  keep  the  apprentice 
up  to  the  work,  but  there  are  reproofs  and  reproofs,  and  while  an  editor  need  not  over- 
praise or  give  space  to  woman's  work  simply  because  it  is  the  work  of  a  woman,  neither 
need  he  condemn  it  with  words  that  cause  her  to  have  a  "good  cry"  over  the  brutality 
of  men  in  general  and  her  editor  in  particular.  Tears  are  not  a  factor  in  journalism. 
While  we  may  believe  it  possible  to  cry  and  cry  and  be  a  journalist  still,  yet  let  us 
rejoice  that  tears  have  so  nearly  gone  out  of  fashion.  It  is  noticeable  that  even  hero- 
ines in  novels  do  not  cry  as  much  as  they  used  to,  and  perhaps  the  reason  for  this  may 
be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  heroine  in  present  day  fiction,  like  the  heroine  in  real 
life,  is  so  commonly  a  bread-winner. 

The  great  rough  work-a-day  world  is  a  place  to  dry  up  the  tear  glands,  and  that 
part  of  the  world  occupied  by  journalism  may  be  as  rough  as  any  other.  Especially 
will  it  be  rough  for  the  conventional  woman.  It  is  said  among  editors  that  the  giant 
foe  with  which  women  have  to  contend  in  journalistic  work  is  their  own  convention- 
ality, and  we  find  this  quite  true. 

Particularly  is  it  true  of  that  conventionality  which  causes  us  to  rebel  against  dis- 
agreeable assignments  for  no  better  reason  than  because  we  are  women,  or,  to  make 
our  case  stronger,  because  we  are  ladies;  that  such  and  such  a  duty  is  not  the  thing  to 
ask  of  a  "lady" — sending  her  to  the  police  court,  or  about  late  at  night,  for  instance, 
or  that  she  must  not  be  told  of  it  if  she  has  done  her  work  unsatisfactorily.     It  is  not 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  437 

likely  she  would  be  sent  out  late  or  to  the  police  court  if  there  were  a  man  available 
who  could  be  relied  upon  to  do  the  work  equally  well,  therefore  the  assignment  is  in 
the  nature  of  a  compliment.  But  for  whatever  motive  sent  she  should  go,  and  the  old 
adage  about  women  carrying  chips  on  their  shoulders  is  applicable  here. 

It  would  be  a  good  deal  more  humiliating  to  the  aspiring  woman  to  be  kept  in 
the  office  cutting  out  fashion  pictures  for  the  woman's  page  than  to  be  given  a  man's 
assignment.  Human  prejudice  nowhere  counts  for  more  than  in  journalism,  and 
there  are  editors  still  to  be  found,  who,  other  things  being  equal,  will  give  a  journal- 
istic commission  to  a  man  rather  than  to  a  woman.  That  good  friend  to  all  deserving 
woman,  Mr.  W.  T.  Stead,  of  the  "  Review  of  Reviews,"  is  the  only  editor  I  have  ever 
heard  plead  guilty  to  the  opposite  prejudice.  He  declares  it  his  policy  to  never 
employ  a  man  when  he  can  employ  a  woman  to  do  the  work  as  well. 

The  most  successful  writer  is  the  one  who  is  never  caught  napping  concerning  any 
topic  of  immediate  public  interest.  As  women  in  journalism  we  must  not  be  behind 
the  times  in  current  matters  of  art,  religion  and  politics  unless  we  would  be  ranked 
veritable  stupids,  and  though  we  have  all  the  great  authors  and  poets  at  our  pen's 
end,  such  culture  will  not  insure  success  in  journalism.  Likewise  the  natural  gifts  of 
sympathy,  tact  and  originality  of  expression,  while  they  all  tend  to  stamp  the  writer 
with  characteristics  peculiarly  her  own  and  add  to  the  charm  of  her  work,  yet  natural 
gifts  alone  will  not  make  a  good  journalist. 

Knowledge  precise  and  sound  may  be  said  to  be  the  grand  fundamental  principle 
of  journalistic  work.  First  to  know  something  to  write,  and  then  to  know  how  to  write 
it,  is  the  never-failing  advice  from  editors.  We  are  enjoined  to  be  original,  and  this 
according  to  Carlyle  meant  simply  to  be  sincere. 

The  most  cruel,  as  it  seemed  to  me  then  in  my  "  salad  days,"  the  most  senseless 
advice  I  ever  received  from  an  editor  was  this:  "After  you  have  finished  your  copy 
take  a  blue  pencil  and  go  over  it  from  beginning  to  end,  killing  off  every  adverb  and 
adjective  and  quotation  there  is  in  it.  Read  it  over  twice  without  them  and  you  will 
probably  never  put  them  in  again." 

I  wondered  then  why  he  should  have  recommended  a  blue  pencil  in  preference  to 
any  other  for  the  killing  off  process.  Alas!  I  have  since  learned  that  of  all  weapons 
used  in  journalistic  warfare,  the  blue  pencil  is  the  most  deadly.  And  I  have  learned 
the  method  in  the  madness  of  killing  off  adjectives  and  adverbs  was  to  break  up  all 
tendency  to  the  "  composition  style  of  writing,  which  we  unconsciously  bring. from 
school  with  us  and  which  is  such  "  bad  form"  in  journalism. 

But  after  all  cut-and-dried  rules  and  regulations  have  been  observed,  still  will  the 
manuscript  sometimes  be  returned,  as  often  without  thanks  as  with,  or,  worse  yet, 
basketed.  But  this  need  discourage  no  one.  It  may  mean  anything  rather  than  that 
the  writer  can  not  write.  It  may  only  mean  that  the  subject  was  a  week  too  late  or 
too  early  for  the  paper  to  which  it  was  sent.  It  may  be  just  in  time  for  some  other 
paper.  What  one  editor  refuses  another  will  accept.  This  return  of  manuscript  as 
unavailable  is  one  of  the  trials  of  women  in  journalism,  and  if  the  truth  be  told,  only 
one  of  many. 

But  in  the  end,  those  who  have  weathered  the  discouragements  readily  declare 
the  game  to  be  well  worth  the  candle.  The  newspaper  is  the  educator  of  the  pub- 
lic, and  men  and  women  who  write  in  newspapers  have  the  best  ooportunities  for  cre- 
ating public  opinion.  Earnest  workers  among  women  journalists  realize  they  are 
always  on  trial  before  the  public,  and  that  they  have  the  honor  of  their  sex,  which 
means  the  regulation  of  one-half  the  human  race,  more  in  their  keeping  than  any 
other  women  of  equal  numbers.  They  have  asked  the  public  to  take  them  at  their 
own  higher  appraisement,  and  to  judge  of  their  work  as  work,  and  not  merely  as  the 
work  of  women.  They  know  their  colleagues  of  the  other  sex  watch  them  with  an 
attention  naturally  critical,  but  not  always  sympathetic;  therefore,  for  the  sake  of  all 
they  hold  dear,  they  are  endeavoring  to  give  the  enemy  no  occasion  to  blaspheme  by 
pointing  to  either  their  work  or  their  behavior  as  conclusive  reasons  why  there  should 
be  no  women  in  journalism. 


HARMONIOUS  CULTURE. 


By  MISS  IDA  K.  HINDS. 

I  hold  that  woman,  including  man,  is  the  supreme  being  on  this  earth.  For  a  long 
time  the  human  race  was  spoken  of  only  as  man.     Woman  was  not  considered;  later, 

as  man,  sometimes  including  woman;  and  still  later, 
women  were  usually  included  as  an  important  part  of 
the  human  race;  but  now,  when  the  wave  of  woman's 
advancement  has  grown  large  enough  to  wear  a  white 
^  cap  of  its  own,  I  think  we  can,  in  many  cases,  say 

woman,  particularly  when  we  refer  to  the  higher 
development  of  the  race.  I  believe,  then,  that  the 
human  race,  the  last  and  best  creation  of  God,  is  the 
supreme  race,  and  should  at  least  be  composed  of  the 
most  perfect  physical  beings;  but  it  is  not.  A  race 
made  in  the  likeness  of  God,  capable  of  being  "  gods 
in  the  germ,"  and  yet  in  many  cases  sinking  so  low  that 
we  insult  the  animal  kingdom  by  calling  them  brutes. 
Furthermore,  we  have  not  only  this  physical  nature  to 
perfect,  but  we  have  in  our  being  two  other  distinct 
and  higher  parts.  Browning  says,  "  What  is,  what 
knows,  what  does,  three  souls,  one  man."  I  say  one 
soul,  one  mind,  one  body,  and  when  each  of  these 
parts  are  developed  to  their  full  capacity,  we  have  a 
highly  developed  and  perfected  man  or  woman.  The 
person  whom  I  consider  has  the  most  perfect  culture 
can  use  to  advantage  the  greatest  number  of  faculties; 
that  is,  the  education  which  makes  a  man  or  woman  better  and  more  useful  to  him- 
self and  to  the  world. 

The  first  part  of  our  being  that  is  manifested,  is  the  physical  or  animal.  The 
young  child  moves  and  cries,  it  is  a  young  animal;  then  the  soul  nature  begins  to 
show  itself,  expressed  through  the  body,  and  the  child  laughs,  smiles,  puts  out  its 
hands,  puckers  up  its  lip  in  fear;  the  cry  is  changed  to  Ah-g-goo,  and  last  the  mind 
awakes,  the  child  thinks,  speaks,  and  from  that  time  the  mind  is  taken  in  charge,  and 
the  child's  education  begins,  but  this  education  is  usually  directed  to  the  one  part  of 
the  being,  the  mind,  to  the  neglect  of  the  other  parts,  and  these  other  parts  have  been 
so  long  neglected,  that  all  those  who  are  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the  human  race 
are  becoming  alarmed  at  this  degradation  and  deformity  of  the  physical,  and  are  real- 
izing that  the  accumulation  of  a  lot  of  facts  in  the  mind,  witlvno  knowledge  of  how 
to  use  them,  is  not  education. 

I  also  hold  that  a  man  or  woman,  taking  his  or  her  own  being  and  working  out 
each  part  to  its  full  perfection,  or  taking  the  pliable  material  of  childhood  and  mold- 
ing this  material  into  a  perfect  being — perfect  body,  perfect  mind  and  perfect  soul — 
is  a  greater  artist,  and  has  done  a  greater  artistic  work,  and  should  have  as  immor- 
tal fame  as  one  who  chisels  from  marble  the  most   beautiful  form,  or  paints  on 

Miss  Ida  K.  Hinds  is  a  native  of  New  York  City.  Her  early  school-life  was  spent  in  Brooklyn.  She  was  graduated 
from  Pacher  Collegiate  Institute,  and  has  traveled  all  over  the  United  States  and  Canada.  Her  profession,  reading,  lectur- 
ing and  teaching,  all  piertaining  to  harmonious  culture,  particularly  voice  and  physical  culture.  Miss  Hinds  has  given 
lectures  in  courses,  "  Harmonious  Culture,"  "  Trinity  of  Color  "  and  "  The  Art  of  Decorating."  She  is  preparing  a  course 
of  readings  from  Lew  Wallace,  "  The  Prince  of  India."    Her  postoffice  address  is  No.  55  Franklin  St.,  New  York  City. 

438 


MISS  IDA   K.    HINDS. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  439 

canvas  the  most  beautiful  conception  of  an  inspired,  artistic  imagination.  I  have 
been  led  to  consider  this  subject,  because,  while  traveling  through  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  country,  I  have  not  only  been  pained  by  the  undeveloped  and 
deformed  boys  and  girls,  but  I  have  heard  the  cry  everywhere  for  more  physi- 
cal strength  to  do  the  work  that  has  to  be  done.  The  pressure  in  all  directions 
is  a  hundred-fold  greater  than  it  was  fifty  years  ago.  but  the  strength  to  meet  it  is  not 
as  great.  So  I  am  striving  to  awaken  an  interest  in  this  work — the  salvation  of  bodies 
— and,  through  the  bodies,  of  the  soul.  We  know  that  those  things  that  degrade  the 
body — intemperance,  immorality,  etc.,  likewise  degrade  the  soul,  and,  as  truly  those 
things  that  elevate,  strengthen  and  purify  the  body,  must  have  a  like  influence  on  the 
soul.  By  the  soul  I  do  not  mean  the  spiritual  part  of  the  being,  but  that  part  that  we 
elevate  and  build  in  this  world — the  seat  of  order,  affection,  character  and  all  the  vir- 
tues, the  part  into  which  was  breathed  the  breath  of  life,  and  out  of  which  must  grow 
the  immortal;  but  the  seed  here  planted,  unless  nourished  by  sunshine  and  proper 
food,  can  not  grow,  and  must  perish.  As  the  body  is  the  soil  in  which  the  brain  and 
soul  live,  and  which  could  exist  without  either,  but  neither  of  these  can  exist  with- 
out the  body.  Therefore  I  say  the  body  should  receive  the  first  attention.  It  is 
the  foundation  on  which  we  must  build.  What  would  you  think  of  an  architect  who 
built  a  beautiful  palace,  and  before  he  had  finished  the  interior  decorations  he  found 
it  was  settling,  because  he  had  paid  no  attention  to  the  foundation,  and  when  it  should 
have  stood  completed  in  its  beauty  it  was  only  a  heap  of  ruins? 

When  the  cathedrals  of  Europe  were  built  the  greatest  artists  and  architects  in 
the  world  were  sought,  first  to  design  and  build  them  strong  enough  to  last  through 
the  ages,  and  then  to  decorate  them;  and  when  they  were  then  built  as  strong  and  as 
beautiful  as  human  skill  could  make  them,  they  were  consecrated.  They  did  not 
consecrate  a  heap  of  stones.  So  should  we  build,  and  decorate  with  soul  and  mind, 
our  temple. 

A  friend  of  mine  who  was  getting  up  a  class  in  painting  in  one  of  the  New  Eng- 
land villages,  visited  almost  every  house,  and  she  told  me  she  had  not  visited  a  house 
where  the  woman  or  her  daughters  were  not  "ailing."  Think  of  that  in  New  Eng- 
land, where  there  is  the  purest  water,  and  where  the  people  should  be  as  healthy  and 
rugged  as  the  peasants  of  Europe.  I  visited  a  friend,  a  handsome  and  well-developed 
woman,  and  was  introduced  to  her  two  daughters — girls  twelve  and  fourteen  years  old — 
and  when  they  came  into  the  room  I  should  not  have  been  any  more  shocked  if  they 
had  come  in  dressed  in  rags  and  dirty;  they  would  not  have  shown  any  more  neglect. 
They  were  thin,  sallow,  round-shouldered,  had  bad  teeth  and  weak  eyes,  and  were 
very  nervous.  When  I  saw  the  way  they  lived  I  did  not  wonder,  for  no  attention  was 
paid  to  diet,  exercise  or  rest.  I  believe  the  time  will  come,  as  it  has  in  some  of  our 
cities,  when  any  mother  will  be  as  much  ashamed  to  present  such  children  as  she  now 
is  to  present  them  in  rags.  If  the  same  time  and  care  could  be  given  to  the  bodies 
as  is  given  to  the  clothing  of  the  bodies,  I  think  the  result  would  be  more  satisfactory. 
It  is  just  as  easy  to  predict  what  will  be  the  future  of  hundreds  of  half-starved,  deli- 
cate children  in  well-to-do  families  as  it  would  be  to  predict  what  must  be  the  future 
of  a  crop  of  wheat  sown  in  the  sand  along  our  ocean  or  lake  shore;  and  if  you  saw  a 
man  sowing  a  crop  there  you  would  think  he  was  crazy  or  a  fool  if  he  expected  it  to 
grow  and  mature  there,  or  be  worth  gathering  if  it  did  come  up.  Almost  every  one 
would  be  able  to  tell  him  the  reason  why.  You  understand  these  things  in  regard  to 
the  vegetable  or  animal  kingdom,  but  fail  to  understand  them  in  the  human  being, 
and  there  is  no  excuse  for  such  ignorance  and  indifference  in  these  days  of  cheap 
books  and  intelligent  magazine  articles. 

What  would  you  think  of  a  guardian  who  had  the  keeping  of  the  fortune  of  a 
child,  the  money  to  be  handed  over  when  the  child  is  of  age,  but  who  spends  the 
money  for  himself,  and  thus  defrauds  the  child?  You  would  call  him  a  criminal,  and 
punish  him  by  law;  but  I  say  his  neglect  is  not  as  criminal  as  the  neglect  that 
defrauds  the  child  of  health,  and  starts  him  off  in  life  with  no  moral  or  physical  capi- 


440  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

tal.  The  first  loss  can  be  made  up,  but  the  last,  never!  Boys  and  girls  are  put  into  an 
open  boat  and  pushed  out  to  sea;  their  chart,  a  basket  full  of  facts  that  they  have 
never  assorted  or  applied;  their  arms  too  weak  to  use  the  oars,  and  if  their  boat  is  not 
swamped,  they  will  drift  on  to  an  unknown  shore,  and  must  make  their  way  as  best 
they  can.  But  give  a  boy  a  pair  of  strong  arms,  and  the  simplest  chart  of  the  waters 
he  has  to  navigate,  and  he  will  make  his  way  to  some  objective  point  and  make  a  suc- 
cess of  his  life.  In  reading  the  lives  of  our  great  self-made  men,  merchants,  minis- 
ters, professional  men,  I  find  this  statement  in  every  case:  they  had  only  a  common- 
school  education,  but  a  vigorous,  healthy  constitution  and  uprightness  of  character; 
and  usually  this  added:  they  had  good  mothers;  and  I  would  say  to  ^11  mothers  who 
regret  their  inability  to  send  their  sons  to  college,  give  the  boys  a  healthy,  vigorous 
body  and  good  moral  training  and  their  chances  of  success  in  life  will  be  greater  than 
with  a  college  education,  lacking  these.  Goethe's  mother  said  she  knew  her  son 
would  be  a  great  man,  because  she  gave  him  so  much  of  her  young  life,  which  she  fol- 
lowed up  with  careful  training,  and  her  predictions  were  fulfilled.  Her  son  was  one  of 
the  greatest  men  of  Germany.  With  all  our  improvements  in  science,  in  agriculture, 
and  in  many  arts,  we  have  left  the  human  race  to  nature.  But  all  persons  who  think 
know  that  we  can  leave  nothing  to  nature,  when  we  desire  improvement.  She  shows 
us  many  examples  of  what  can  be  done,  but  does  not  do  the  work  for  us.  Everything 
that  has  life,  or  mind,  or  soul,  left  to  nature,  runs  to  weeds.  We  must  work  out  our 
salvation,  physically,  mentally  and  morally.  If  you  walk  up  the  boulevards  and 
through  the  parks  of  this  city,  you  will  see  beautiful  velvety  lawns  and  bright  flowers, 
and  a  street  beyond  you  will  see  vacant  lots  filled  with  weeds;  one  is  nature  cultivated, 
the  other  nature  uncultivated.  Way  up  in  New  England  you  will  find  in  the  gardens, 
in  autumn,  a  little,  yellow  blossom,  prized  because  it  is  a  late  bloomer,  and  bright  when 
everything  else  is  going  to  decay;  and  last  winter  in  New  York  I  saw  this  same  little 
chrysanthemum,  developed  into  a  hundred  varieties  of  color  and  form,  marvelously 
beautiful;  one  was  nature  cultivated,  and  the  other  nature  uncultivated. 

Last  year  we  had  a  dog  show  in  New  York,  and  there  were  dogs  there  valued  at 
;$iO,ooo,  each  one  having  an  attendant  who  understood  dog  culture;  they  were  not  left 
to  nature;  if  they  had  been  they  would  not  have  been  worth  ten  thousand  cents.  When 
you  look  around  you  and  see  the  possibilities  of  development  in  the  animal  and  veg- 
etable kingdom,  do  you  ever  think  of  the  wonderful  possibilities  of  human  develop- 
ment? I  believe  artists  only  have  conceived  this  possibility  of  the  body.  Some  few 
persons  have  attained  to  this  possibility  in  mind  and  soul,  but  how  very  few  have 
reached  the  harmonious  development  of  the  whole  being,  and  these  few  have  been 
our  greatest  men  and  women.  But  painters  and  poets  and  novelists  have  been  trying 
to  do  for  us  physically  what  others  have  been  trying  to  do  for  us  spiritually,  revealing 
to  us  the  beauties  of  perfection,  until  we  all  aspire  to  it,  but  are  only  now  beginning  to 
find  out  the  way.  We  now  have  systems  of  exercise  that  will  develop  a  healthy  and 
graceful  body.  We  are  beginning  to  understand  that  to  produce  a  healthy  body  we 
must  give  it  fresh  air,  exercise,  wholesome  and  well  cooked  food,  and  I  particularly 
emphasize  the  last,  for  it  is  one  of  the  rare  things  in  life.  I  would  like  to  work  and 
travel  hand  in  hand  with  the  cooking  teacher,  and  I  think  if  I  could,  and  form  a  sort 
of  crusade,  there  would  be  fewer  doctors,  fewer  prisons,  and  fewer  missionaries 
needed. 

There  seems  to  be  a  general  idea  that  city  children  are  more  feeble  than  country 
children,  but  I  have  not  found  this  to  be  true  among  the  same  class  of  people.  The 
idea  that  the  children  of  society  ladies  are  neglected  is  incorrect;  there  is  no  class  of 
children  so  well  brought  up  physically;  their  diet,  rest  and  exercise  are  prescribed, 
and  they  follow  a  perfect  system  of  development,  and  are  as  thoroughbred  as  the 
horses  in  their  father's  stable.  The  girls  will  be  brought  out  into  society,  and  their 
mothers  would  be  ashamed  to  introduce  sallow,  misshapen  young  ladies,  and  therefore 
everything  is  done  to  make  them  as  perfect,  physically,  as  possible.  The  boys  of  many 
of  the  leading  families  will  have  the  responsibility  of  large  fortunes  and  large  business 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  "  441 

on  their  hands  when  they  become  of  age,  and  so  they  must  be  trained  and  educated  to 
bear  these  responsibilities.  When  I  walked  up  Fifth  avenue  last  Easter,  after  church, 
and  met  the  crowd  of  fashionable  people  coming  from  their  churches,  I  thought  I  had 
never  seen  so  many  bright,  healthy  looking,  handsome  women  and  girls  as  I  saw  in 
half-an-hour  there,  showing  what  can  be  done  by  proper  culture,  even  amid  all  the 
unhealthy  influences  of  city  life;  and,  if  such  is  the  case,  what  might  the  boys  and 
girls  on  the  farms  and  in  country  homes  do  for  themselves?  While  we  are  educating 
the  physical,  we  must  not  forget  the  moral. 

We  have  been  told  that  the  greatest  virtues  of  the  soul  are  hope,  faith  and  char- 
ity. These  are  the  higher  virtues,  but  there  are  lower  or  more  homely  virtues,  we  may 
say,  and  we  must  commence  with  these,  and  the  greatest  of  these,  I  think,  are  order 
and  cleanliness.  All  reformers,  all  workers  for  the  uplifting  of  the  lower  classes,  have 
found  this  the  first  lesson  to  be  taught.  Ruskin  says  that  "  the  essence  of  all  vulgarity 
lies  in  the  want  of  sensation;"  and  when  we  commence  to  cultivate  the  senses,  refine- 
ment begins,  and  refinement  is  one  of  the  attributes  of  soul  culture,  and  out  of  soul 
culture  and  soul  refinement  grows  spiritual  culture  and  the  Christian  graces.  So  I  say 
that  order  and  neatness  should  be  taught  to  every  child.  It  should  be  a  part  of  their 
school  education,  as,  in  many  cases,  it  is  not  taught  at  home.  I  think  it  is  even  more 
necessary  to  teach  it  to  the  boys  than  to  the  girls,  for,  if  boys  were  taught  to  keep  their 
persons  and  surroundings  clean,  we  should  not  have  so  much  filth  in  public  places, 
waiting-rooms,  railroad  cars,  etc.  If  boys  were  taught  to  take  a  pail  of  water  to  their 
rooms  and  bathe  themselves  before  going  to  bed,  after  working  all  day  in  the  field  or 
other  dirty  work,  they  would  learn  to  look  upon  their  bodies  as  something  to  be  kept 
clean  and  pure;  they  would  soon  desire  to  have  their  surroundings  cleaner;  this  would 
again  have  its  influence  upon  them,  and  they  would  grow  morally  better  and  healthier, 
for,  as  I  have  said  before,  what  elevates  the  body  must  elevate  the  soul.  You  know 
and  I  know  of  boys  who  have  been  ruined  because  the  family  have  thought  that  any- 
thing and  any  place  was  good  enough  for  the  boys,  until  they  thus  grew  away  from 
refinement  of  the  family  circle,  where  they  felt  awkward  and  out  of  place,  and  sought 
more  congenial  companionship.  Did  you  ever  sit  down  to  a  breakfast-table  where  the 
linen  was  spotless,  the  coffee  fragrant,  the  dishes  nicely  arranged,  and  other  things  in 
keeping?  If  you  have,  it  has  been  in  a  refined  family,  for  where  artistic  virtue  has 
been  cultivated  you  may  be  sure  that  others  have  been,  for  they  are  seldom  found 
singly,  and,  moreover,  I  think  we  can  usually  tell,  when  we  see  the  head  of  a  house, 
even  for  a  few  minutes,  what  kind  of  a  housekeeper  she  is,  and  what  kind  of  a  table 
she  sets. 

No  one  who  has  cultivated  the  virtues  of  cleanliness,  the  senses  to  admire  music 
and  other  arts,  the  mind  to  refined  and  beautiful  thoughts,  would  ever  put  before  her- 
self, or  anyone  else,  a  disorderly  table  and  ill-cooked  food.  In  a  very  weak,  and  I 
think  incorrect,  article,  which  appeared  in  one  of  our  leading  magazines,  the  writer  said : 
"We  can  get  along  without  learned  women,  but  we  can  not  get  along  without  wives  and 
mothers."  Now,  I  want  to  know  if  there  is  any  vocation  that  calls  for  more  learning 
than  that  of  wives  and  mothers,  particularly  mothers  What  we  want  is  more  learned 
women  among  the  mothers;  for  much  of  the  neglect  of  which  I  have  spoken  is 
due  to  ignorance,  and  ignorance  on  most  vital  subjects.  What  we  want  are  clubs,  as 
widespread  as  the  Chautauqua  reading-clubs,  devoted  to  subjects  of  physical  and 
moral  interest.  There  are  some  such  clubs,  called  the  "Young  Mother's  Clubs."  I 
hope  they  may  become  numerous,  more  numerous  than  the  ladies'  whist  clubs.  There 
has  been  a  great  deal  said  about  higher  education  unfitting  a  woman  for  her  home 
duties.  This  is  a  mistake,  for  I  tell  you  it  is  a  positive  fact  that  the  best  hou.sekeep- 
ers  and  the  best  cooks  are  educated  women;  the  poorest  cooks  and  poorest  house- 
keepers I  have  met  have  been  women  that  knew  nothing  else;  brought  nothing  from 
outside;  and,  having  nothing  else  to  do,  it  was  a  marvel  that  they  did  not  learn  how  to 
do  the  one  thing  well.  There  is  no  broader  sphere  or  higher  sphere  than  woman's 
sphere,  for  its  center  is  the  hearthstone,  its  circumference  eternity;  but  in  some  cases 


442  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

it  IS  a  very  empty  sphere.  There  is  much  to  do  to  fill  this  vastness,  and  women  are 
beginning  to  realize  how  much  they  are  the  great  soul-educators,  and  that  is  what  they 
are  doing  with  their  flower  missions,  their  fruit  missions,  working  girls'  clubs,  open- 
air  funds,  and  all  those  things  that  are  educating  and  refining  the  senses,  and  through 
them  the  soul,  trying  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  people  to  see  some  of  the  beauties  of  the 
world.  What  could  you  tell  a  child  of  the  beauties  of  Paradise  who  has  never  seen  a 
flower?  But  take  the  children  from  the  slums  of  our  cities  out  into  a  daisy  field,  and 
they  will  think  they  are  surely  in  Heaven. 

I  have  no  sympathy  with  those  who  sing,  "  Earth  is  a  desert  drear.  Heaven  is  my 
home."  Earth  is  not  a  desert  drear,  unless  you  have  pitched  your  tents  in  vacant  lots ;  and 
if  you  have,  plant  some  flowers  around  it;  cultivate  your  surroundings,  and  when  flowers 
bloom  take  them  to  those  who  have  no  flowers  and  teach  them  to  cultivate  them,  and  thus 
bring  some  beauty  into  their  lives.  If  you  live  in  a  desert  drear  all  your  lives,  do  not 
imagine  you  will  blossom  out  in  the  gardens  of  Paradise  and  feel  at  home  there.  Your 
soul  would  be  so  dried  up  that  it  would  take  all  eternity  to  get  it  into  condition  to 
enjoy,  or  appreciate,  even  the  beauties  of  Paradise.  When  you  have  cultivated  your 
soul-nature  so  that  it  can  look  out  and  enjoy  the  beauties  around  us,  and  realize  the 
possibilities  of  an  earthly  paradise,  and  also  realize  how  much  there  is  to  do  to  help 
others  toward  this  earthly  perfection,  then  there  will  not  be  much  time  for  complain- 
ing, nor  will  any  dare  to  be  idle.  Woman  must  be  the  torch-bearer,  and  there  are 
many  dark  places  to  be  lighted,  and  I  hope  many  that  hear  me  will  take  up  the  work 
with  new  zeal,  and  that  there  may  be  more  and  more  who  will  take  up  this  work  for 
the  salvation  of  bodies  and  the  elevating,  purifying,  and  beautifying  of  the  human 
race. 


V0 


THE  NEXT  STEP  IN  THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  DEAF. 

By  MISS  MARY  S.  GARRETT. 

In  past  ages  the  deaf  were  the  victims  of  deliberate  as  well  as  ignorant  cruelty. 
In  the  present  age  they  are  no  longer  deliberately  drowned,  as  in  ancient  Rome,  nor 

exposed  to  die,  as  under  the  laws  of  Lycurgus,  but 
they  are  still  largely  sufferers  from  a  modified  form 
of  the  ignorance  which  formerly  ranked  them  witli 
imbeciles,  and  now  fails  to  realize  that  they  are  able 
to  learn,  be  or  do  anything  and  everything  the  hear- 
ing can,  if  they  are  given  precisely  the  same  advan- 
tages and  opportunities. 

When  a  hearing  baby  is  learningto  talk  the  mother 
does  not  use  motions  to  it,  because  it  has  not  yet  com- 
menced to  understand  the  language;  but  she  repeats 
over  and  over  again  to  it  the  pet  names  she  calls  it,  tells 
it  again  and  again  to  say  "  papa  "  and  "  mamma,"  etc., 
until  it  learns  to  understand  and  then  copy  her  words. 
She  is  keen  to  discover,  encourage  and  correct  its 
first  attempts  at  articulation. 

It  has  been  provedby  experience  that  if  the  atten- 
tion of  the  deaf  child  be  directed  to  the  mouth  with 
the  same  persistency,  and   it  be  talked  to  just  the 
same  by  every  one  who  is  with  it,  that  it  will  learn  the 
._  speech  and  language  through  the  eye  which  the  hear- 

ing child  learns  through  the  ear.     Like  the  hearing 
MISS  MARY  s.  GARRETT.  ^,j^jj j^  -^  j^^g  ^^  hcrcdltary  tendency  to  talk,  and  only 

needs  the  same  opportunity  to  learn.  No  more  motions  should  be  used  with  it  than 
with  a  hearing  child;  its  attention  should  always  be  guided  to  the  mouth  of  the 
speaker  and  concentrated  there.  Little  by  little  it  will  begin  to  attach  meaning  to 
the  words  and  sentences  it  "  sees,"  just  as  the  hearing  child,  little  by  little,  begins  to 
attach  meaning  to  the  words  and  sentences  that  it  hears.  People  almost  universally, 
when  they  wish  to  take  an  infant  from  its  mother,  hold  out  their  arms  and  say  "  come," 
watching  the  little  one  for  an  indication  in  its  face  that  it  desires  to  be  taken,  or  to 
see  if  it  will  hold  out  its  arms  to  come.  Thus  the  little  child  learns  the  meaning  of 
the  word  "  come,"  but  as  it  grows  older  the  parents  or  others  simply  call  it  to  come, 
without  holding  out  the  arms,  dropping  the  motion  as  soon  as  the  child  understands 
the  meaning  of  the  word.  No  more  motions  should  be  used  with  a  deaf  child  than 
this,  which  amounts  simply  to  employing  the  action  representing  the  word.  The 
words  should  be  indefinitely  repeated,  that  the  child  may  become  familiar  with  the 
looks  of  the  mouth,  while  the  representation  of  a  word  by  action  or  motion  should 
be  dropped  as  soon  as  possible,  and  should  never  be  used  without  at  the  same  time 
showing  the  child  the  word  represented.  The  names  of  objects  may  be  taught  with 
the  objects,  which  is  really  the  way  hearing  children  learn  them  in  their  homes.     We 

Miss  Mar>'  8.  (Jarrett  is  a  native  of  Philadelphia,  Pn.  She  was  born  Jane  20,  18.S9.  Her  imrentH  were  Henrj-  Garrett  and 
Carolina  Rush  Garrett.  She  was  edncated  in  Philadelphia,  and  has  traveled  considerably  in  Earope  and  the  United  States. 
Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  restorinj?  the  deaf  to  society  by  teaching  them  articnlate  speech  and  speech  read, 
ing  through  the  eye.  Her  literary  papers  are  "  Directions  to  Parents  of  Deaf  Children  for  their  Treatment  from  Infancy  in 
order  that  they  may  Learn  Speech  and  Lip  Reading ; "  "  What  Yon  can  Do  to  Help  Children  to  Speak  and  Read  the  Lipa,'' 
and  other  writings  on  kindred  topics.  In  religioas  faith  she  is  a  liberal  Quaker.  Her  postoffice  address  is  Belmont  and 
Honnment  Avenues,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

443 


444  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

must  always  remember  that  when  a  hearing  child  is  learning  to  talk,  its  hearing  gives 
it  the  advantage  of  every  word  spoken  in  its  presence,  while  the  deaf  child  has  only 
the  advantage  of  seeing  the  mouth  of  the  person  it  happens  to  be  looking  at,  or  who  is 
talking  with  it,  and  this  difference  must  be  made  up  to  the  deaf  child  by  a  greater 
amount  of  repetition  of  the  words  we  are  teaching  it. 

Everyone  with  whom  a  deaf  child  comes  in  contact  should  talk  to  it  and  encour- 
age it  and  aid  it  to  articulate.  A  deaf  baby  begins  to  say  "  ma,  ma,  ma,"  just  as  hearing 
babies  do,  but  as  a  rule  it  is  not  encouraged;  if  it  were,  and  the  child  perfectly  guided 
to  further  articulation,  it  would  talk.  The  ordinary  practice,  however,  when  an  infant 
is  discovered  to  be  deaf,  is  to  make  no  further  effort  to  teach  it  to  talk  or  read  the 
lips,  but  to  immediately  begin  to  use  motions  with  it.  Just  here  begins  the  cruel  sys- 
tem of  training  the  deaf  differently  from  the  hearing,  and  thus  making  them  feel  from 
the  very  outset  of  life  that  they  are  peculiarly  unlike  those  around  them.  The  truth 
is,  that  it  is  this  faulty  system  of  training  that  makes  them  different  by  depriving  them 
of  the  free  and  constant  communication  with  other  minds  which  the  hearing  have. 
No  wonder  they  have  come  to  have  the  reputation  of  being  naturally  jealous,  suspicious 
and  unhappy — an  unjust  reputation. 

There  is  also  a  popular  delusion  that  the  vocal  chords  of  deaf  children  are  defect- 
ive; the  fact  is,  that  such  cases  are  the  exception,  and  that  the  vocal  chords  of  deaf 
children  generally  are  normal.  The  articulation  of  certain  consonant  sounds  depends 
on  certain  positions  of  the  lips,  tongue  and  teeth  and  palate.  The  quality  of  vowel 
sounds  depends  on  certain  positions  of  the  tongue.  Any  deaf  child  who  can  cry  and 
scream,  and  who  has  tongue,  teeth,  lips  and  palate,  has  the  necessary  vocal  organs. 

I  know  of  three  mothers  who  were  fortunate  enough  to  realize  what  they  could 
accomplish  for  their  deaf  infants,  and  who,  following  the  stated  plan,  have  taught 
them  to  read  the  lips  so  well,  and  also  to  talk,  that  now  that  these  children  are  grown 
up,  no  one  would  take  them  to  be  stone  deaf.  They  are  all  women;  two  of  them  have 
married  hearing  men,  and  the  third  is  a  bright,  happy  girl  of  twenty-one,  who  is  study- 
ing art  in  Chicago,  on  exactly  the  same  footing  with  the  hearing,  having  previously 
graduated  at  the  High  School  in  Chicago. 

Although  the  deaf  have  been  taught  to  talk  in  the  schools  of  Germany  for  more 
than  a  century,  and  in  the  schools  of  Italy,  Holland  and  Switzerland  for  more  than  a 
generation,  and  England,  France  and  America  are  slowly  adopting  the  oral  method 
in  the  schools,  the  pupil  can  never  make  up  the  loss  of  the  years  before  the  school 
age,  any  more  than  hearing  children  could  if  they  were  deprived  of  all  knowledge  of 
speech  and  language  until  they  are  sent  to  school. 

-  The  next  step  in  the  education  of  the  deaf,  then,  is  to  give  every  deaf  child  the 
same  opportunities  for  learning  speech  and  language  at  the  natural  age  as  the  success- 
ful mothers  already  referred  to  gave  their  children.  Not  only  the  mothers,  but  the 
public,  have  a  share  in  this  work;  as  every  one  who  has  anything  to  do  with  the  chil- 
dren should  adopt  the  same  policy  with  all  the  deaf.  Until  society  learns  that,  by  thus 
doing  its  whole  duty  to  the  deaf,  they  will  become  like  normal  people,  we  shall  need 
efficiently  and  intelligently  conducted  "  homes  "  for  the  training  in  speech  of  deaf 
children.  At  present  there  are  only  two  or  three  private  homes  and  home  schools 
where  the  work  is  being  done,  and  Pennsylvania  leads  the  world  in  a  government 
appropriation  to  this  end.  From  June  i,  1893,  it  gives  state  aid  to  the  "  Home  for 
Training  in  Speech  of  Deaf  Children  before  School  Age,"  established  at  Belmont  and 
Monument  Avenues,  Philadelphia,  by  my  sister.  Miss  Emma  Garrett,  on  February  i, 
1892,  and  maintained  from  that  time  to  June  i,  1893,  by  funds  raised  privately  by  our- 
selves. 

Children  are  admitted  between  the  ages  of  two  and  eight,  and  are  given  a  six- 
years'  course  from  time  of  entrance,  uninterrupted  by  vacations,  although  parents  are 
allowed  to  visit  them  when  they  please.  The  reason  for  giving  them  no  vacation  is 
that  when  hearing  children  are  learning  to  talk  there  is  no  interruption  to  the  process, 
and  there  should  be  none  in  the  cases  of  deaf  children.     During  the  courses  they  are 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  445 

taught  the  speech  and  language  which  will  fit  them  in  most  cases  to  attend  schools 
for  the  hearing,  and  in  all  cases  bring  them  into  communication  with  others  more 
freely  than  is  possible  in  any  other  way.  The  home  is  on  the  cottage  plan,  and  the 
children  live  a  perfectly  natural  home  life  in  every  respect.  It  is  amazing  to  notice 
how  soon  they  realize  that  they  are  being  made  like  other  people,  and  their  faces  grow 
happier  and  brighter  all  the  while  as  they  advance.  Similar  homes  should  be  estab- 
lished everywhere  where  there  are  deaf  children  who  need  them. 

N.  B. — I  have  quoted  in  above  address  somewhat  from  my  paper, "  Directions  to  Parents  of  Deaf 
Children  for  their  Treatment  from  Infancy,  in  Order  that  They  may  Learn  Speech  and  Lip-Reading," 
read  before  the  Medical  Society  of  France  in  1886,  and  published  in  the  "  Medical  and  Surgical 
Reporter  "  of  June  12.  1886. 


HIGHER  LESSONS  OF  THE  WORLD'S  FAIR. 


By  MRS.  LUCINDA  H.  STONE. 

"Because  the  soul  is  progressive,"  says  Emerson,  "it  never  quite  repeats  itself, 
but  in  every  act  attempts  the  production  of  a  fairer  whole." 

We  have  here  the. very  essence  of  Darwinian 
evolution,  and  yet  these  words  are  older  by  far  than 
Darwin's  enunciation  of  his  discoveries,  through 
which  he  dethroned  the  old  gods  of  the  six  days' 
creation  out  of  nothing.  We  have  within  the  enclos- 
ure of  Jackson  park,  the  results  of  discoveries  in 
science,  made  mostly  since  Darwin's  time  even,  as 
much  greater  than  the  discoveries  of  Columbus  which 
has  created  this  wonderful  fair,  as  the  thoughts  of 
men  are  wider  than  the  field  which  those  walls  encom- 
pass. The  unlimited  possibilities  of  man,  then,  and 
the  wonderful  rapidity  of  his  successive  discoveries 
of  these  possibilities,  is  the  first  great  lesson  I  read 
on  entering  its  gates.  Above  them  one  might  like  to 
find  an  inscription  befitting  our  times,  similar  to  those 
apophthegms  formerly  inscribed  above  the  doors  of 
entrance  to  the  old  astrological  towers  of  the  days  of 
Columbus. 

Over  one  such  tower,  erected  by  Catherine  de' 
Medici  in  the  old  city  of  Blois,  in  France,  there  still 
remains  the  inscription  "Sacred  to  Urania,"  or  wis- 
dom which  Urania  (or  the  stars)  could  communicate. 
In  a  communication  here  made,  as  this  queen  interpreted  it,  the  stars  counseled  the 
massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  with  all  its  horrors.  Above  our  gates,  marking  the 
difference  between  that  age  and  this,  we  would  inscribe  today:  "Sacred  to  the 
highest  truth,  that  man,  by  his  own  God-aided  search,  has  discovered  and  made  con- 
secrate to  the  higher,  broader  education  of  every  man  and  woman  who  may  enter 
therein."  This,  I  believe  is  the  divine  purpose,  of  this  world's  university,  opened  in 
this  year  1893,  and  such  in  effect,  I  believe,  it  will  prove.  Significant  and  prophetic 
of  this  is  the  inscription  over  the  peristyle,  leading  into  the  court  from  which  all  this 
architectural  grandeur  and  beauty  seem  to  radiate,  as  from  the  heart  of  the  whole 
park:  "  And  ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free." 

Freedom  through  truth  is,  then,  the  purpose,  the  pulse,  the  heart-beat  of  this 
World's  Fair.  When  I,  for  the  first  time,  looked  up,  and  almost  under  the  shadowing 
arms  of  that  magnificent  figure,  that  wondrous  creation  of  grace,  beauty  and  majesty, 
the  symbol  of  our  republic,  holding  aloft  the  emblems  of  liberty  and  seeming  to  wel- 
come the  nations  to  her  noble  peace  banquet,  my  heart  responded  to  the  inscription 

Mrs.  Lacinda  H.  Stone  is  a  native  of  Hinesburgh,  Vt.  She  was  born  September  30, 1814.  Her  parents  were  Aaron 
Hinsdale  and  Lucinda  Mitchell  Hinsdale.  She  was  educated  at  Hinesburgh  Academy  and  in  the  Female  Seminaries  of 
Middlebury  and  Burlington,  Vt.  She  has  traveled  extensively  in  Europe  and  in  Egypt  and  some  parts  of  Asia.  She  married 
Rev.  James  A.  B.  Stone,  for  twenty  years  president  of  Kalamazoo  College.  Mrs.  Stone  has  been  for  twenty  years  principal 
of  the  ladies  department  of  Kalamazoo  College,  and  she  is  also  a  journalist  of  note.  Has  published  many  letters  from 
Enrope  and  Egypt  and  Palestine.  She  was  the  first  American  woman  to  take  young  ladies  abroad  for  educational  travel,  and 
was  one  of  the  pioneer  organizers  of  literary  clubs.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Kalamazoo,  Mich. 

♦The  article  here  appearing  consists  of  extracts  from  an  address  under  the  title  "  Some  of  the  Lessons  of  the  World's 


MRS.  LUCINDA   H.  STONE. 


Fair; 


446 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  447 

and  I  could  but  voice  what  I  felt:  "Oh  sing  unto  the  Lord  a  new  song,  for  he  hath 
triumphed  gloriously."  And  these  are  the  triumphs  of  peace,  not  war;  and  when  that 
magnificent  band  under  the  flooding  radiance  of  the  great  search  light,  struck  up  the 
music  to  which  is  set  that  glorious  hymn,  "The  Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic,"  written 
by  a  woman,  my  heart  and  soul  sang  as  never  before: 

"Mine  eyes  have  seen  the  glory 
Of  the  coming  of  the  Lord. 
Our  God  is  marching  on." 

"How  far  that  little  candle  casts  its  beams!"  Shakespeare  makes  Portia  exclaim, 
when  she  sees  the  light  of  a  candle,  the  only  light  for  the  palaces  of  kings  in  her  day, 
gleam  from  the  window  of  her  home,  which  she  is  approaching.  And,  quick  as  thought 
and  apt  as  it  is  beautiful  is  the  suggestion  that  comes  to  her  woman's  soul,  of  the 
higher,  the  spiritual,  reach  of  the  same  law,  eliciting  the  instant  exclamation:  "So 
is  a  good  deed  in  a  naughty  world." 

What  diviner  sermon  was  ever  preached  than  is  preached  from  this  text 
furnished  by  the  poet,  in  those  great  searchlights  mounted  on  the  four  corners 
of  yonder  Manufactures  Building,  in  which,  they  tell  us,  that  one  little  candle's  light 
is,  through  the  aid  of  discoveries,  made  in  science  and  invention,  increased  in  power 
to  the  light  of  two  hundred  million  candles  such  as  called  forth  the  enthusiastic 
exclamation  of  Portia;  and  when  we  remember  that  this  wonderful  invention  origi- 
nated in  the  old  city  of  Nuremburg,  where  the  deepest  dungeons,  the  darkest  and 
foulest  prisons,  and  the  most  terrible  engines  for  human  torture  that  man  ever 
invented,  yet  remain  to  bear  witness  to  what  was  yet  called  Christian  in  that  age,  is  all 
the  more  striking  and  should  raise  our  jubilee  in  this  Fair  to  its  fullest  chorus,  in 
which  every  voice  should  join.  And  a  future,  a  future  of  which  this  invention  and 
this  whole  Exposition  is  a  suggestion — more,  a  promise — dazes  the  most  advanced  ideal- 
ist. Truly,  "  what  we  shall  be,  doth  not  yet  appear."  But,  thanks  to  another  kind  of 
searchlight  that  is  illuminating  the  world — that  indicated  in  the  motto  chosen  by  the 
women  of  this  board  of  managers  for  their  auxiliary  congresses:  "  Not  matter,  but 
mind" — thanks  to  this  spirit  in  the  world  which  has  created  a  World's  Fair,  this 
illuminator  for  a  new  era. 

In  the  olden  time  men  could  have  seen  in  the  face  of  every  stranger  whom  we 
welcome  to  our  Midway  Plaisance,  an  enemy  to  be  met  with  an  armed  defense  against 
himself,  his  customs,  his  thought,  and  above  all  against  his  religion.  Now,  thanks  to 
the  new  spirit  of  our  times,  we  see  in  him  a  human  brother  from  whom,  though  we 
may  differ,  with  whom  we  may  yet  agree  in  broad  human  sympathies,  and  who  has 
the  same  claim  to  the  fatherhood  of  God  as  we  have.  The  noblest  art  of  this  Expo- 
sition even,  and  its  mission  to  our  age,  will  be  better  understood  by  men  and  women 
yet  to  come.  This  exposition  is  to  be,  I  believe,  the  educator  of  a  broader  man  than 
has  yet  been.  Fair  as  is  the  infinitude  of  these  parts,  a  fairer  whole  in  a  higher  moral 
and  spiritual  sphere  is  to  grow  out  of  them. 

I  am  reminded  of  Byron's  first  visit  to  St.  Peter's  church  in  Rome,  and  his  famed 
apostrophe  to  it,  which,  mighty  structure  as  it  is,  could  yet  be  put  in  a  corner,  or  form 
a  bay  window  to  our  great  Liberal  Arts  Building.     "  Enter,"  exclaims  the  poet. 
"  Its  grandeur  overwhelms  thee  not.     And  why?     It  is  not  lessened; 
But  thy  mind,  expanded  by  the  genius  of  the  spot,  has  grown  colossal." 

In  this  one  word,  expanded,  or  expansion,  is  best  expressed  the  education  which 
this  World's  Fair  is  destined  to  give  the  world.  It  is  to  be  the  starting  point  of  new 
ideas. 

It  is  a  new  revelation  of  man  to  himself  that  most  astonishes.  Who  thought  out 
this  combination  of  such  an  infinitude  of  parts  touching,  especially  in  its  auxiliary 
congresses,  not  only  material  things,  but  the  mental  and  moral  spheres  of  life?  Those 
searchlights  are  not  mounted  to  penetrate  every  nook  and  cranny  of  the  fair  grounds 
only,  not  every  dark  alley  of  the  city  of  Chicago  even,  but  they  hint  an  illuminated 


448  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

search  into  the  dark  alleys  of  the  moral,  ethical  and  religious  world;  into  all  the  varied 
slums  of  human  thought;  they  hint,  in  short,  at  a  new  civilization,  a  new  man. 

Great  art  is  moral  and  religious  in  its  teachings  and  has  ever  been.  Beethoven 
said:  "All  genuine  invention  is  a  moral  progress."  What  we  acquire  through  art  is 
from  God,  a  divine  suggestion  that  sets  up  a  goal  for  human  capacities  which  the 
spirit  attains.  He  said  also:  "  We  do  not  know  what  grants  us  our  knowledge.  The 
firmly  enclosed  seed  needs  the  moist,  warm,  electric  soil  to  grow,  think,  express 
itself."  Why,  my  friends,  it  is  an  education  to  walk  through  these  grounds,  among  these 
columns,  to  pass  under  these  domes,  an  education  which  we  cannot  estimate.  It  imposes 
a  quietude,  a  courtesy,  a  gentle  awe  of  which  we  do  not  know  the  meaning.  We  feel 
it,  that  is  all.  We  bear  away  a  new  sense  of  humanity,  of  the  brotherhood  of  man,  that 
we  never  felt  before.  These  grounds  are  the  birthplace  of  a  new  democracy,  of  a 
deeper,  more  spiritual  understanding  of  the  first  principles  of  our  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence, I  believe,  than  anything  that  has  gone  before  has  given  us.  The  "  self  evident 
truth  that  all  men  are  created  free  and  equal,  with  the  right  to  life,  liberty  and  the 
pursuit  of  happiness"  here  takes  on  a  new  meaning,  assumes  a  farther  reach.  Caste, 
cannot  live  here. 

My  friends,  in  looking  over  this  wondrous  Exposition,  the  marvelous  achieve- 
ments of  the  arts  and  inventiveness  of  man,  a  new  light  has  seemed  to  come  upon  this 
lesson  of  the  old  Sphinx,  as  good  for  our  day  as  it  was  for  the  pre-Adamites;  as  good 
in  science  as  in  art,  and  the  same  in  both  as  in  morals  and  religion.  There  is  but  one 
law. 

Was  there  ever  such  a  paean,  such  a  divine  symphony  of  art  and  science,  intoning 
through  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  voices,  this  inspired  psalm  of  the  old  Sphinx 
as  this  World's  Fair?  "  There  shall  never  be  one  lost  good  or  one  lost  truth."  Never 
have  I  felt  such  exultation  as  here — that  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth  await  us,  when 
the  knowledge  that  has  been  grasped  by  science  shall  be  realized  as  a  whole,  related  to 
that  which  is  within  us  as  to  that  which  is  external  to  us — that  there  is  but  one  law.  Surely 
the  philosopher's  stone  is  found  here  ?  The  lesson  comes  to  us  like  the  sound  of  many 
waters  in  the  buzz  and  hum  and  roar  from  Machinery  Hall,  the  Electrical  and  Manu- 
factures Building,  revealing  to  us  that  human  possibilities  undreamed  of,  until  within 
the  last  quarter,  or  the  last  decade  of  our  century,  are  in  us  all,  and  forces  of  nature, 
hitherto  undreamed  of,  are  subject  to  man's  knowledge  and  in  his  control,  impressing 
upon  us  as  nothing  else  ever  did,  that,  "verily  the  Highest  dwells  in  us  "and  "that  we 
are  gods  but  in  the  germ."  As  I  read  the  lessons  of  this  Fair  which  has  brought  all 
nations  together  as  never  before;  there  has  never  in  the  world's  history  been  taken  a 
more  important  step  toward  effecting  this,  or  bringing  about  this  time,  than  was  taken 
in  the  organization  of  this  World's  Fair  with  its  Auxiliary  Congresses  Truly  in  this, 
men  have  builded  better  than  they  knew. 

Again,  what  a  lesson  of  the  universality  of  law,  written  as  on  a  Bible  page  before 
us,  in  all  these  facts  of  applied  science.  Law,  sacred,  inviolable  but  with  incalculable 
harm  to  the  violator,  be  it  man  or  thing — law  governing  everything,  from  the  infinitesi- 
mal atoms,  millions  of  which  are  massed  in  a  single  dewdrop,  to  the  invisible  electric 
bolt  that  glides  harmless  and  noiseless  along  its  law-abiding  path  to  its  destined  end, 
but  transcending  its  limitations  by  the  millionth  part  of  one  of  the  scintillating  atoms 
in  the  dewdrop,  it  might  in  the  thousandth  part  of  a  second,  shatter  to  atoms  the 
fairest  structure  in  this  city  of  the  sciences  and  art. 

These  Auxiliary  Congresses,  taking  for  their  motto  "  Not  matter  but  mind,  "  sug- 
gest that  there  are  suitable  forces  analagous  to  those  already  discovered,  but  greater 
than  those  of  which  we  yet  know,  which  will  be  sought  out  through  suggestions 
here  made  to  the  great  discoverers  of  our  age  in  realms  of  mind,  morals,  spirit,  beyond 
those  yet  explored.  Says  the  greatest  seer  of  our  age:  "  We  do  not  yet  half  possess 
ourselves."  But  he  also  adds;  "  By  every  throe  of  growth  the  man  expands  there 
where  he  works."  This  is  the  key  to  growth.  If  we  had  learned  nothing  else  than 
this,  that  through  work  is  growth,  this  World's  Fair  would  have  been  a  rewardful  out- 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  449 

lay.  We  have  taken  for  our  motto  "  Not  matter  but  mind;"  avowed  ourselves  as  no 
longer  limited  by  the  restrictions  of  matter.  Who  shall  prescribe  limitations  to  the  soul  ? 
This  to  me,  is  what  all  this  wonderful  Exposition  with  its  crowning  congresses,  is  sub- 
limely, religiously  teaching.  It  is  the  turning  of  swords  into  plowshares,  of  spears 
into  pruning  hooks,  until  the  Eden  of  past  story  shall  lie  before  us  in  the  attainable, 
not  a  lost  good.  Has  the  beautiful,  odorous  white  lily,  and  the  gentain  of  cerulean 
blue,  in  our  horticultural  show,  blossoming  over  fetid  mud,  no  lessons  of  evolution  that 
have  been  seized  upon  and  applied  in  art,  in  the  creation  of  some  of  the  wonders  of 
this  Fair?  Has  this  Fair  no  suggestions  that  shall  reappear  in  higher  spheres  of  life  and 
thought  like  the  light  of  Portia's  little  candle,  suggesting  "good  deeds  in  a  naughty 
world?  " 

There  is  one  more  lesson  which  has  greatly  impressed  me,  and  which  I  can  not  for- 
bear to  note.  It  is  the  spirit  of  oneness  through  which  ten  thousand  men  and  women  have 
wrought,  as  to  one  end,  in  creating  the  wonders  of  this  Fair.  I  do  not  believe  we  begin 
to  comprehend  the  miracles  here  displayed,  which  have  been  wrought  by  this  new 
gospel  of  oneness;  and  yet,  altruism,  the  spirit  of  which  is  beginning  to  pervade  the 
world  as  never  before — it  is  by  this  divine  instrumentality  that  these  miracles  have 
been  wrought.  Artisan  working  together  with  artist,  the  so-called  working  men  with 
both,  different  nationalities  commingling,  men  and  women  working  together  without 
jealously  or  selfish  competition,  all  have  been  working  together  with  God  in  a  sense 
never  before  realized  in  the  world's  history,  and  the  result  is  a  miracle  of  harmonious 
achievement,  such  as  has  been  frequently  observed,  but  was  never  before  attained. 

"There  is  no  stoppage,"  says  a  great  poet  recently  departed,  "and  never  can  be 
stoppages.  If  you  and  I  and  all  the  worlds,  and  all  beneath  or  upon  their  surfaces, 
were  this  moment  reduced  back  to  a  pallid  float,  it  would  not  avail  in  the  long  run; 
we  should  surely  bring  up  again  to  where  we  now  are,  and  as  surely  go  on  as  much 
farther,  and  then  farther  and  farther." 

Eternity  has  no  limits,  and  we  are  in  it;  the  infinite  has  no  bounds,  and  we  are  a. 
part  of  it. 


(29) 


LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF  ISABELLA  OF  CASTILE. 


By  MISS  LORAINE  PEARCE  BUCKLIN. 

In  the  fifteenth  century  humanity  emerged  from  the  darkness  of  the  middle  ages 
and  saw  the  commencement  of  modern  times.     It  was  one  of  those  rare  episodes  in 

the  history  of  the  world  in  which  all  men  seemed 
possessed  with  a  thirst  for  new  truths  and  for  dis- 
covery in  every  realm  of  thought.  It  was  the  age  of 
Columbus,  of  Sebastian  Cabot,  Vasco  da  Gama,  and 
of  the  discovery  of  printing.  A  new  life  of  intelligent 
thought,  bold  hopes  and  rash  illusions  penetrated  all 
ranks,  and  in  the  next  century  the  reformation  of 
Luther  preceded  reform  in  state  policy  that  found  its 
perfect  development  many  years  later  in  a  country 
that  became  the  refuge  of  all  opinions  and  all  beliefs. 
The  first  link  in  this  complicated  series  of  human 
events  was  the  thought  and  energetic  will  of  the 
Genoese  navigator,  Christopher  Columbus;  the  sec- 
ond was  forged  by  the  delicate  hand  of  a  woman,  who 
recognized  and  accepted  the  word  of  genius  as  proph- 
etic truth. 

It  was  Isabella  of  Castile  who  listened  when  all 
beside  were  deaf,  who  gave  intelligent  sympathy  when 
all  were  cold  or  incredulous,  and,  aroused  to  generous 
enthusiasm  when  reminded  of  her  empty  treasury, 
cried:  "  For  this  enterprise  I  will  pledge  my  jewels 
and  my  crown." 

Isabella  of  Castile  was  born  in  the  little  city  of  Madrigal  on  the  27th  of  April, 
145 1 .  Her  father  was  John  II.  of  Castile,  and  her  mother  was  his  second  wife,  Isabella, 
a  princess  of  Portugal.  Her  father  died  when  she  was  scarcely  four  years  old  leaving 
his  kingdom  to  his  eldest  son,  Henry,  the  child  of  his  first  wife. 

The  widowed  queen  retired  with  her  children,  Isabella  and  the  infant  prince 
Alphonso,  to  the  castle  of  Arevallo,  near  Segovia  and  devoted  herself  to  their  educa- 
tion. She  had  ample  means,  was  a  woman  of  sound  mind  and  a  pure  heart,  and  she 
directed  her  daughter's  life  with  rare  judgment  and  ability. 

In  the  solitude  of  the  country  the  young  girl  led  a  serious  but  busy  existence. 
She  was  taught  all  the  learning  and  accomplishments  possible  to  the  age  in  which 
she  lived. 

Isabella  showed  in  all  she  undertook  the  perseverance  and  the  energy  which  after- 
ward became  her  most  marked  characteristics, 

In  the  Castilian  chronicles  of  the  time  her  beauty  is  portrayed  in  glowing  words. 
They  praise  her  figure,  straight  as  a  palm;  her  complexion  pale,  but  flushed  by  the 
slightest  emotion  like  jasmine  mingled  with  the  wild  rose;  her  eyes  blue  as  sapphires; 
her  hair  a  reddish  chestnut  and  her  serene  expression  typical  of  her  pure  and  gentle 
spirit. 

Miss  Loraine  Pearce  Bucklin  is  a  native  of  Rhode  Island,  U.  S.  A.  She  was  bom  October,  1836.  Her  parents  were 
James  C  Backlin,  architect  of  many  public  boildings  in  Providence,  notably  of  the  Arcade,  a  unique  building,  and  Lucy  Daily 
Bncklin,  prominent  in  patriotic  and  charitable  work  in  her  state.  She  was  educated  in  the  private  and  public  schools  of 
Providence,  R.  I.  Miss  Bucklin's  literary  works  are  articles  for  magazines  and  newspapers  and  lectures  on  art  and  history. 
In  religions  faith  she  is  a  Unitarian.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Providence,  B.  I. 

450 


MISS  LORAINE  PEARCE  BUCKLIN. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  451 

In  the  years  passed  so  peacefully  by  Isabella,  Henry  IV.  had  proved  himself 
incapable  of  ruling  the  kingdom  left  him  by  his  father.  Dissolute,  proud  and  frivo- 
lous, he  found  the  cares  of  state  so  distasteful  that  he  left  them  to  unworthy  favorites, 
who  robbed  the  treasury  and  oppressed  the  people.  The  country  was  in  a  state  bor- 
dering on  ruin,  public  faith  was  a  jest,  the  treasury  bankrupt,  private  morals  too  loose 
and  audacious  to  seek  even  the  veil  of  hypocrisy.  The  troubles  culminated  in  civil 
war,  and  Henry,  despairing  of  being  able  to  conquer  his  rebellious  subjects,  sought  a 
compromise  by  proposing  to  marry  his  sister  Isabella  to  the  brother  of  the  rebel 
leader.  Isabella  was  sixteen  years  old  at  this  time,  and  her  horror  of  the  thought  of 
this  marriage  was  so  great  as  to  almost  deprive  her  of  her  reason.  She  fasted  and 
prayed  for  twenty-four  hours,  beseeching  God  to  spare  her  the  disgrace  by  taking  her 
life.  Among  her  youthful  companions  at  Arevallo  was  one  named  Beatrix  de  Bova- 
dilla.  Beatrix,  to  console  Isabella,  said:  "  God  will  never  permit  this  to  be,  and  I 
swear  to  you  by  all  that  is  sacred  before  it  happens  I  will  myself  plunge  a  poignard  into 
his  breast."  Her  courage  and  fidelity  were  not  put  to  the  test,  for  the  sudden  death 
of  the  bridegroom  put  an  end  to  the  king's  plans  for  his  sister's  marriage. 

One  year  after  these  events  the  archbishop  of  Toledo, as  the  representative  of  the 
dissatisfied  subjects  of  Henry,  offered  Isabella  the  throne  of  Castile.  He  assured  her 
that  her  strong  and  elevated  character  was  so  well  known  that  her  sex  offered  no 
objection,  and  that  God  Himself  had  destined  her  to  save  the  honor  of  Castile.  Isa- 
bella, with  wonderful  judgment  for  so  young  a  woman,  refused  to  accept  the  crown. 
She  gave  her  reasons  in  the  following  words:  "The  work  of  rebellion  is  only  to  excite 
passions  and  sow  discord,  to  light  the  blaze  of  civil  war  and  to  put  all  in  danger;  to 
prevent  such  evils  is  it  not  better  to  tolerate  in  the  state  some  abuses  of  which  the  con- 
sequences are  not  so  fatal?  A  fruit  which  ripens  before  its  time  can  never  last.  Ambi- 
tion to  reign  has  no  place  in  my  heart,  and  I  desire  that  the  crown  of  Castile  shall  not 
be  mine  until  death  shall  have  ended  the  reign  of  my  brother.  Make  the  evils  to  cease 
which  have  for  so  long  a  time  cursed  Castile,  and  I  shall  look  upon  your  submission 
as  the  most  signal  service  you  can  give  to  me,  and  the  best  mark  of  your  affection." 

This  advice  was  followed  and  in  the  terms  made  by  the  rebels  with  Henry,  Isa- 
bella was  recognized  as  the  sole  heir  to  the  Castilian  throne,  but  she  could  not  marry 
without  the  consent  of  her  brother. 

Three  suitors  now  appeared  for  her  hand.  The  Duke  of  Gloucester,  afterward 
Richard  HI.  of  England,  the  Duke  of  Guienne,  brother  of  Louis  IX.  of  France,  and 
Ferdinand,  Prince  of  Aragon  and  heir  to  its  throne.  A  marriage  with  Ferdinand 
would  best  advance  the  political  and  national  interests  of  Castile.  It  would  unite 
the  two  kingdoms  and  make  one  nation  of  their  peoples,  who  were  of  the  same  race, 
spoke  the  same  language  and  had  similar  customs,  religions  and  laws.  United,  their 
strength  would  equal  that  of  any  European  power,  while,  separated,  they  must  remain 
inferior.  A  favorable  answer  was  sent  to  the  Court  of  Aragon,  and  was  received  with 
joy  by  the  king  and  the  Prince  Ferdinand. 

In  a  letter  remarkable  for  the  sense  it  displayed  Isabella  asked  the  consent  of  her 
brother  to  her  marriage  with  Ferdinand.  Henry  did  not  even  answer  the  letter.  Isa- 
bella asked  the  help  of  the  bishop  of  Toledo,  who  had  always  been  her  friend  and  dis- 
liked the  king.  Protected  by  him  she  defied  her  brother  and  signed  the  articles  of 
agreement  for  her  marriage  with  Ferdinand  on  January  4,  1469.  By  this  contract  her 
rights  to  the  crown  of  Castile  were  absolutely  secured  to  her  and  Ferdinand  promised 
to  continue  the  war  against  the  infidels.  A  few  days  before  the  wedding,  which 
occurred  on  the  i8th  of  October,  Ferdinand  went  secretly  to  the  palace  to  see  Isabella. 
.  In  this  interview,  which  lasted  two  hours,  the  beauty  and  spirit  of  the  Princess  delighted 
Ferdinand,  and  Isabella  admired  equally  well  the  manly  bearing  and  affable  manners 
of  the  Prince  who,  although  but  seventeen  years  old  had  already  acquired  a  soldierly 
reputation. 

Henry  IV.  died  in  December,  1474,  and  two  days  afterward  Isabella  proclaimed 
herself  Queen  of  Castile.     She  was  then  in  Segovia,  and  it  was  in  the  cathedral  of  that 


452  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

city  that  she  took  the  oath  to  serve  her  country  faithfully  and  well.  The  first  severr 
years  of  her  reign  were  disturbed  by  a  war  in  which  she  was  made  to  defend  her  rights 
against  the  followers  of  Jane,  the  natural  daughter  of  the  Queen  whose  dissolute  life 
had  disgraced  the  Court  of  Henry  IV.  In  these  years  of  warfare,  Isabella  displayed 
the  devotion  to  her  country  and  to  the  duties  of  her  position  which  was  distinctive  of 
her  life.  She  was  constantly  in  the  saddle,  devoted  her  nights  to  official  business, 
risked  her  health,  and,  when  her  friends  begged  her  not  to  expose  herself  to  such 
dangers,  answered  their  entreaties  by  saying:  "  It  is  not  for  me  to  calculate  perils  or 
fatigues  in  my  own  cause,  or  by  unreasonable  timidity  to  dishearten  those  who  share 
these  dangers  and  fatigues." 

When  the  war  was  ended  Isabella  walked  with  naked  feet  through  the  streets  of 
Tordesillas,  to  the  church  where  she  offered  thanks  for  the  victory  and  praises  for  the 
valor  that  had  won  it.  In  1479  the  death  of  Ferdinand's  father  united  the  crowns  of 
Castile  and  Aragon  and  the  escutcheon  of  Spain  now  carried  the  lions  of  Castile  and 
the  towers  of  Aragon  on  one  shield.  Ferdinand  was  occupied  with  the  cares  of  his 
kingdom,  for  he  ruled  Aragon  with  undivided  authority,  as  Isabella  governed  Castile, 
and  to  her  alone  were  confided  the  reforms  in  government  and  the  condition  of  her 
people.  She  found  the  royal  authority  overshadowed  and  weakened  by  the  power  of 
the  clergy  and  the  nobles. 

The  nobles  lived  in  magnificence  on  their  vast  estates  like  petty  sovereigns,  and 
their  privileges  equaled  their  wealth.  The  people,  instead  of  being  subjects  of  the 
crown,  had  become  vassals  of  their  lords  and  were  subject  to  his  tyranny  and  caprice; 
and  Isabella  was  convinced  that  force,  united  with  stern  and  unyielding  justice,  could 
alone  restore  order  and  security,  and  to  aid  her  in  this  task  she  employed  the  league 
known  as  the  Santa  Hermanadad,  This  brotherhood  had  been  organized  by  the  mid- 
dle class  in  the  larger  cities  of  Castile  for  self-protection;  but,  accustomed  to  the 
authority  of  the  feudal  lord,  they  had  often  answered  his  call  and  had  helped  him  in 
acts  of  rebellion  against  the  crown.  Isabella  convened  them  at  Madrigal  and  changed 
their  office  and  their  work.  She  gave  them  royal  authority  to  preserve  public  order,  and 
remained  the  central  power  which  supported  the  association.  In  this  way  she  taught 
the  peasant  and  the  citizen  to  take  arms  in  the  name  of  the  queen  instead  of  obeying 
the  call  of  his  feudal  chief,  convinced  them  at  the  same  time  that  the  noble  was  a  sub- 
ject like  himself,  and  must  be  made  to  yield  to  royal  authority.  In  a  few  years  the 
Santa  Hermanadad  became  a  strong  support  to  the  throne,  and  cost  the  treasury 
nothing,  being  maintained  by  a  tax  levied  in  each  district  upon  those  who  had  prop- 
erty to  protect.  Isabella  also  restored  estates  to  the  crown,  and  annulled  pensions 
that  had  been  granted  by  her  brother  to  his  favorites,  and  immediately  distributed 
one-half  the  sum  thus  obtained  among  the  widows  and  orphans  of  those  who  had  died 
in  the  war  since  her  accession. 

The  nobles,  who  saw  with  dismay  their  powers  and  privileges  gradually  lessened, 
addressed  a  remonstrance  and  threatened  to  retire  to  their  estates  and  rise  in  rebel- 
lion if  these  measures  and  the  authority  of  the  Hermanadad  were  not  changed.  They 
also  demanded  that  they  alone  should  be  chosen  as  members  of  the  privy  council. 
Isabella  answered  their  threats  by  saying,  "You  can  do  as  you  choose,  but  as  long  as 
God  permits  us  to  keep  the  rank  to  which  He  has  called  us  we  will  never  become  a 
plaything  in  the  hands  of  the  nobility,  who,  when  made  powerful,  seek  to  destroy  the 
throne.  We  are  accountable  to  God  alone  for  the  measures  we  take  for  the  peace  and 
happiness  of  our  people."  Surprised  by  her  spirit  and  stern  resolution,  the  nobles 
submitted. 

The  Marquis  of  Villena,  one  of  the  most  powerful  and  defiant,  when  told  reproach- 
fully by  a  vassal  that  his  father  would  never  have  yielded  to  a  king  of  Castile,  replied: 
"  King  Henry  no  longer  reigns  in  Castile." 

By  convincing  the  Pope  that  it  was  imperative  for  the  safety  of  her  kingdom  that 
she  should  appoint  the  bishops  of  the  church  in  Spain,  Isabella  restored  to  the  crown 
power  over  the  church  benefices.     When  a  bishop  died  the  Queen  took  care  that  his 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  453 

chair  should  be  filled  by  a  priest  who  was  obedient  to  lawful  authority  and  devoted  to 
his  religious  duties,  with  no  ambition  for  worldly  honors.  She  thus  made  it  impossi- 
ble for  any  dignitary  of  the  church  to  threaten  her,  as  the  Bishop  of  Toledo  did  when 
angered,  that  "  he  would  replace  the  distaff  in  the  hands  to  which  he  had  given  the 
sceptre." 

Isabella  also  reorganized  the  legal  code  of  Spain.  Among  the  best  reforms  she 
introduced  were  a  change  in  the  government  of  prisons,  the  right  given  to  every  one 
to  appeal  for  justice  to  the  royal  council,  and  the  appointment  of  an  officer  called  the 
advocate  of  the  poor,  who  was  paid  from  the  public  funds  to  plead  the  cause  of  those 
unable  to  pay  for  their  own  defense. 

The  Queen's  interest  in  all  intellectual  pursuits  was  very  great,  and  her  plans  for 
the  education  of  the  young  nobles  of  her  kingdom  showed  a  spirit  far  in  advance  of 
her  age.  She  asked  Peter  Martyr,  a  learned  Italian,  to  open-a  school  in  Toledo  for 
the  young  men  of  her  court,  and  paid  him  from  her  private  purse  a  liberal  salary  for 
his  services.  To  make  his  lectures  fashionable  she  sent  her  son  to  attend  them,  and 
in  six  months  the  success  of  the  school  was  assured.  Another  Italian  scholar,  Marineo, 
was  encouraged  to  give  lectures  on  classical  learning,  and  the  Queen  saw  with  pleas- 
ure crowds  of  students  filling  the  halls  where  the  professors  spoke.  She  carefully 
■watched  the  young  girls  of  noble  families  who  lived  in  the  palace,  and,  with  her  own 
daughters,  gave  them  equal  advantages  of  education  with  the  young  men.  Loyal  to  her 
own  sex,  she  helped  women  to  larger  opportunity  whenever  she  saw  them  possess  ability 
and  ambition.  She  chose  for  her  own  teacher  in  Latin  a  lady  who  was  called  from  her 
attainments  "  La  Latina,"  and  through  her  influence  two  women  were  appointed  to 
professorships  in  Spanish  universities;  one  filled  the  chair  of  rhetoric  at  Alcala,  and 
the  other  taught  the  Latin  classics  at  Salamanca. 

Isabella  encouraged  the  art  of  printing  in  Spain,  granting  to  a  German  printer 
who  came  to  Castile  to  pursue  his  calling  freedom  from  taxation,  and  gave  him  sev- 
eral orders  for  books  for  herself.  She  also  allowed  foreign  books  of  every  descrip- 
tion to  enter  Spain  free  of  duty.  By  her  own  example  she  made  purity  of  manners 
and  morality  the  rule  of  conduct  in  her  court,  and  her  conversation  was  generally  on 
serious  subjects.  She  had  no  local  prejudices,  and  could  adapt  herself  with  ease  to 
the  customs  and  habits  of  the  people  in  whose  province  she  might  be,  for  Spain,  even 
in  her  reign,  was  more  like  a  union  of  provinces  than  a  nation. 

The  three  great  events  of  Isabella's  reign  were  the  establishment  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion in  Spain,  the  conquest  of  Granada,  and  the  protection  of  Christopher  Columbus, 
which  led  to  the  discovery  of  America.  The  Inquisition  had  existed  in  Spain  since 
the  thirteenth  century,  but,  with  Ferdinand  and  Isabella's  consent,  its  power  was 
increased  until  it  became  a  terrible  agent  in  the  hands  of  men  whose  avarice  or  fan- 
aticism made  them  merciless. 

It  is  only  just  to  the  religion  which  permitted  the  atrocities  of  the  Inquisition,  to 
recall  the  brighter  pages  of  its  history,  illumined  by  the  deeds  of  men  devoted  to 
their  church  and  humanity.  One  of  the  noblest  among  them  was  Talavera,  whose 
charity,  when  bishop  of  Granada,  was  so  universal  and  benignant  that  the  Moors 
called  him  the  holy  priest  of  the  Christians  and  declared  that  a  halo  surrounded  his 
head  when  he  spoke  to  them  of  eternal  and  spiritual  truths.  With  all  his  humility 
Talavera  had  a  profound  sense  of  the  dignity  of  his  office.  Appointed  confessor  to 
the  Queen,  he  heard  her  first  confession  seated;  when  reminded. by  her  that  it  was 
customary  for  her  confessor  to  kneel  with  her,  he  replied:  "This  is  God's  tribunal;  I 
act  as  his  minister,  and  it  is  right  that  I  should  remain  seated  while  your  majesty 
kneels  before  me."  And  we  must  add  to  Isabella's  honor  her  reply:  "This  proves 
you  to  be  the  right  confessor  for  me." 

We  must  also  recall  Aimenes,  the  great  cardinal,  whose  life  of  purity  and  charity 
gave  him  the  name  of  Saint  Augustine  in  devotion,  a  .Saint  Jerome  in  austerity  and  a 
Saint  Ambrose  in  zeal  and  generosity.  His  great  intellect  made  him  supreme  in  coun- 
cil and  in  government,  but  he  lived  in  his  palace  the  simple,  austere  life  of  a  monk, 


454  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

and  in  the  midst  of  power  could  find  time  and  opportunity  for  acts  of  kindness  to  all 
who  needed  charity  and  help. 

In  the  conquest  of  Granada  Isabella  finished  a  work  begun  by  her  ancestors. 
From  the  foot  of  the  mountains  that  separate  it  from  Castile,  the  valleys  and  plains  of 
Granada  extended  to  the  Mediterranean.  It  bristled  with  fortresses,  some  built  to 
guard  the  frontiers,  on  mountain  peaks  far  above  the  flight  of  birds  or  drift  of  clouds; 
others  near  the  cities,  to  protect  the  homes  and  industries  of  the  citizens.  The  Moors, 
loving  Granada  with  patriotic  passion,  believed  that  the  paradise  of  Mahomet  was 
placed  in  the  heavens  that  overhung  it.  The  delicious  climate,  the  beautiful  scenery, 
the  limpid  rivers  and  the  fields  that,  flooded  with  almost  constant  sunshine,  bloomed 
with  flowers  or  bore  golden  harvests,  made  it  worthy  of  their  love  and  pride.  The 
splendor  of  an  oriental  civilization  was  developed  in  Granada  by  the  Moors.  The 
wealth  they  gained  in  commerce  they  spent  in  lavish  profusion  on  palace  and  garden, 
city  and  suburb.  The  suburbs  of  Baza  were  under  such  perfect  cultivation  that  they 
were  called  "the  garden."  Here,  surrounded  by  trees,  were  the  homes  of  rich  mer- 
chants. During  the  war  of  the  conquest  of  Granada  each  house  became  a  fortress, 
every  thicket  was  an  ambush,  every  arbor  hid  a  Moorish  knight,  defending  his  home 
with  desperate  valor.  It  took  seven  weeks  and  the  labor  of  four  thousand  prisoners  to 
clear  this  tract  of  four  miles  of  its  trees  and  mansions  and  convert  it  into  a  desert  that 
offered  no  obstable  in  the  path  of  the  victorious  Spaniard.  The  province  of  Granada 
and  its  capital  city  bore  the  same  name. 

Built  on  the  slopes  of  two  hills  whose  summits  were  crowned  with  the  fortresses 
Albaycin  and  Alhambra,  divided  by  the  rivers  Genii  and  Darro,  the  city  of  Granada 
enclosed  within  its  walls  a  population  of  two  hundred  thousand  souls.  This  did  not 
include  those  who  dwelt  in  the  fortresses,  at  least  forty  thousand  more  of  soldiers  and 
members  of  the  sultan's  royal  household.  Granada  stood  first  among  the  principal 
Moorish  cities  for  her  wealth  and  the  learning,  industry  and  bravery  of  her  citizens. 
Seventy  public  libraries  affirmed  their  intelligence,  and  the  palace  of  the  Alhambra,  even 
in  decay,  still  proves  their  taste  in  architecture  and  suggests  the  luxury  of  their  lives. 
The  Moors  sought  to  reproduce  in  their  palaces  the  delights  of  the  Mohammedan 
paradise. 

In  spite  of  their  voluptuous  lives,  they  were  brave  in  war,  skilled  in  manufactures 
and  accomplished  in  science  and  literature.  The  reigning  sultan  in  1478  was  Muley 
Abdul  Hassan,  the  eldest  son  of  Ismail,  who,  by  a  treaty  made  with  Isabella's  brother, 
Henry  IV.,  had  agreed  to  pay  tribute  to  the  king  of  Castile.  When  a  child,  he  had 
seen  this  tax  paid  to  the  Spanish  ambassador  sent  to  receive  it  and  had  resented  with 
a  boy's  impotent  rage  the  scoffs  and  taunts  of  the  guards  who  escorted  the  embassy. 
When  he  came  to  the  throne  he  received  the  officers  sent  by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
to  demand  the  tribute  with  marked  courtesy  and  splendid  gifts,  but  returned  the  "fol- 
lowing haughty  answer  to  the  sovereigns:  "  Tell  your  masters  that  those  who  paid 
tribute  are  dead,  and  Granada  has  only  for  the  Christian  iron  for  spears  and  steel  for 
swords."  From  that  moment  Isabella  decided  to  drive  the  Moor  from  Spain.  She 
spent  three  years  in  preparation,  for  she  fully  realized  the  magnitude  of  the  task  she 
had  undertaken.  She  reorganized  her  army,  sent  for  skillful  armores  from  France 
and  Italy  to  build  cannon,  imported  gunpowder  from  Sicily  and  Portugal,  and  heard 
in  the  first  battles  of  this  long  war  the  artillery  mingle  with  the  cries  of  knightly  con- 
flict. 

Isabella  gave  especial  attention  to  measures  for  the  care  of  the  sick  and  wounded 
of  her  army.  Large  movable  tents  supplied  with  every  comfort  for  the  injured  were 
made  for  transportation  in  the  rear  of  the  troops  and  were  named  the  "queen's 
hospital."  They  contained  everything  that  could  relieve  suffering,  and  each  tent 
had  its  number  of  surgeons  to  dress  the  wounds,  and  priests  to  soothe  the  last 
moments  of  those  who  were  beyond  mortal  help.  This  was  the  first  recorded  attempt 
of  the  organization  of  camp  hospitals.  Ten  years  of  incessant  fighting  were  ended  at 
last  by  the  fall  of  the  city  of  Granada  and  the  close  of  over  seven  hundred  years  of 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  455 

Moorish  domain  in  Spain.  Throughout  the  long  contest  Isabella  conducted  the  cam- 
paign with  unceasing  energy.  She  re-made  roads,  bridged  rivers,  cut  passes  through 
mountain  defiles,  raised  money  in  every  way:  begged  of  the  Pope  because  it  was  a 
religious  war,  begged  from  her  nobles,  appealing  to  their  patriotism,  and  proved  her 
own  sincerity  by  selling  some  of  the  royal  domains  and  pledging  some  of  the  crown 
jewels  to  the  merchants  of  Barcelona.  Ferdinand  fought  by  her  side,  and  won  his 
right  to  command  by  his  wisdom  in  council  and  his  reckless  daring  in  battle. 

The  city  of  Granada  was  surrendered  to  Isabella  on  the  second  of  January,  1492. 
For  ten  years  the  Moor  had  fought  for  his  country  with  matchless  heroism.  Boabdil, 
the  reigning  Sultan  then  of  Granada,  gave  the  keys  of  the  city  to  Ferdinand  with  the 
words,  "  I  firmly  believe  you  will  use  your  victory  with  justice  and  moderation.  "  In 
his  address  to  the  Moorish  chiefs  he  said,  "  Courage  has  never  been  wanting  among  the 
faithful;  it  has  been  the  strength  of  their  defense.  Fatality  has  paralyzed  our  arms; 
men  escaped  from  terrible  peril  fear  new  dangers  when  there  is  no  hope  for  better 
fortune.  What  resource;  the  tempest  has  destroyed  all!"  The  gate  by  which  the  royal 
household  left  Granada  was  walled  up  by  the  Sultan's  request,  and  the  peak  of  Talmud, 
where  he  saw  for  the  last  time  his  beloved  city,  has  since  borne  the  name  of  "  The  Last 
Sigh  of  the  Moor. "  As  the  Moorish  Sultan  went  on  his  way  to  exile  he  shed  bitter 
tears  of  grief. 

In  Rome  the  success  of  this  Spanish  crusade  against  the  infidel  in  Spain  was  cele- 
brated by  solemn  religious  services  and  public  festivals.  Isabella  and  Ferdinand 
received  from  the  Pope  the  title  of  "  Catholic  kings"  and  ever  afterward  Isabella  signed 
all  official  papers  as  "  Isabella  the  Catholic.  "  In  London  the  final  news  of  the  victory 
at  Granada  was  read  to  the  citizens  in  Saint  Paul's  cathedral  by  command  of  Henry 
VII.  who  went  with  his  court  to  hear  the  recital  and  afterward  attended  the  service  of 
praise  held  in  commemoration  of  the  event. 

After  eighteen  years  of  sovereignty  Isabella  saw  for  the  first  time  her  kingdom 
united  and  at  peace.  While  she  awaited  the  fall  of  Granada  in  Santa  Fe,  Christopher 
presented  to  her  a  memorial  he  had  written  to  explain  his  theories  in  regard  to  a  new 
world  yet  to  be  discovered  and  which  he  believed  himself  divinely  commissioned  to 
find.  With  all  the  resources  of  her  treasury  taxed  to  the  utmost  to  sustain  the  war 
against  the  Moor,  Isabella  could  not  do  anything  but  receive  the  Genoese  sailor  with 
sympathy  and  give  him  hope  of  future  aid.  She  recognized  his  intellect,  his  ardent 
temperament  and  his  piety,  and  was  fascinated  by  the  hope  of  spreading  the  Christian 
faith  and  planting  the  cross  in  new  worlds. 

Ferdinand,  who  was  less  enthusiastic  and  more  cynical  than  his  wife,  called  Colum- 
bus an  Italian  adventurer  with  impossible  plans,  and  opposed  any  idea  of  aiding  him. 

Isabella  met  his  objections  by  saying  that  Castile  would  be  able  when  at  peace  to 
furnish  the  means  for  the  expedition  without  any  help  from  Aragon,  and  she  gave 
Columbus  her  protection  and  a  sufficient  income  for  his  support  until  the  state  of  her 
kingdom  should  justify  her  in  more  active  measures  in  his  behalf.  After  once  plight- 
ing her  faith  to  Columbus,  Isabella  was  his  firm  friend  and  gave  him  her  most  gener- 
ous confidence.  His  commission  signed  by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  on  the  17th  of 
April,  1492,  named  him  admiral  of  the  little  fleet  which  accompanied  him  on  the  first 
expedition,  and  gave  him  ample  resources  for  his  voyage.  Isabella's  faith  in  him  was 
rewarded.  When  he  returned  from  his  first  expedition  she  saw  those  who  derided  his 
plans  as  impossible,  the  idle  dreams  of  a  visionary,  hail  him  as  a  god,  crowding  the 
streets  of  every  city  he  visited  to  do  him  honor,  ringing  the  bells  and  singing  hymns 
as  if  a  great  conqueror  had  returned. 

Isabella  proved  herself  as  energetic  in  the  work  of  increasing  the  temporal  power 
of  her  kingdom  as  she  had  been  in  driving  her  enemies  from  its  soil.  After  a  few 
years  of  tranquillity,  .Spain  stood  among  the  first  nations  of  Europe  in  commercial 
importance  and  wealth. 

The  mercantile  navy  of  Spain  numbered  more  than  a  thousand  ships;  they  carried 
her  work  to  all  the  ports  of  the  world  and  returned  laden  with  gold,  to  still  further 


456  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

enrich  her.  Loyalty,  piety  and  love  of  adventure  were  the  most  striking  traits  of 
Spanish  character. 

After  the  fall  of  Granada,  until  her  death,  Isabella's  life  as  a  Queen  was  brilliant 
with-success;  the  glory  and  prosperity  of  Spain  satisfied  her  patriotism  and  her  ambi- 
tion, but  she  carried  hidden  from  the  world  a  burden  of  domestic  grief  and  anxiety, 
that  clouded  the  splendor  of  her  royalty  and  at  last  caused  her  health,  always  good 
until  now,  to  fail.  Her  mother,  the  loved  companion  of  her  life,  became  insane  a  few 
years  before  her  death,  in  1496.  Isabella's  sorrow  was  intensified  by  the  fear  of  the 
inheritance  that  might  fall  on  her  children,  a  fear  so  sadly  realized  in  the  fate  of  her 
daughter  Jane. 

Isabella  was  the  mother  of  four  children,  one  son  and  three  daughters.  The  eldest 
daughter,  Isabella,  married  the  King  of  Portugal.  In  this  marriage  the  Spanish 
sovereigns  hoped  to  see  Spain  and  Portugal  united  under  one  government.  This  hope 
was  never  realized, the  young  Queen  dying  in  1498,  leaving  an  infant  son  who  survived 
his  mother  only  one  year.  The  second  daughter,  Katherine,  married  an  English  prince, 
the  son  of  Henry  VII. ;he  lived  only  a  few  months  after  the  wedding,  and  the  King  to 
keep  her  rich  dowery  in  England  married  the  young  widow  to  his  second  son  afterward 
Henry  VIII.  of  England.  She  is  known  in  history  as  Katherine  of  Aragon,  the  mother 
of  the  English  Queen  who  by  her  severity  gained  the  name  of  Bloody  Mary.  The 
only  son  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  Prince  John,  was  a  boy  of  great  promise.  His 
education  had  been  carefully  directed  to  develop  his  naturally  brilliant  mind  in  the 
qualities  most  to  be  desired  in  the  heir  to  a  glorious  kingdom  like  Spain.  He  fulfilled 
the  brightest  hopes  of  his  parents  by  an  early  manhood,  graced  by  every  accomplish- 
ment, and  dignified  by  a  trained  intellect  and  serious  mind.  He  was  married,  when  he 
was  twenty  years  old,  to  Margaret  daughter  of  the  Emperor  of  Germany.  The 
marriage  was  celebrated  in  October,  1497,  with  splendor  befitting  the  rank  and  expecta- 
tions of  the  young  couple,  but  the  bridegroom  took  cold  at  one  of  the  fetes  and  died 
after  a  few  days  of  terrible  suffering.  He  met  death  with  serene  courage,  and  prayed 
in  his  last  moments  that  his  parents  might  feel  his  own  sincere  resignation  to  the  Divine 
will.  His  death  was  a  great  misfortune  for  Spain,  and  the  whole  nation  mourned 
with  the  bereaved  parents.  When  Isabella  was  told  that  her  son  was  dead,  she  bowed 
in  submission  saying,  "  The  Lord  gave  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away:  blessed  be  the 
name  of  the  Lord;"  but  her  life  from  this  time  dwelt  in  the  shadow  of  this  great 
affliction. 

The  death  of  Prince  John  made  Jane,  the  youngest  daughter  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella,  heiress  to  the  throne  of  Spain.  She  was  married  to  Philippe  le  Bel  of  Austria, 
and  lived  at  Brussels,  but  payed  a  visit  to  her  parents,  with  her  husband,  after  the  death 
of  her  brother,  in  obedience  to  their  wish  that  the  future  King  and  Queen  of  Spain 
should  become  acquainted  with  the  country  and  its  people.  Philippe  had  such  remark- 
able personal  beauty,  that  the  Spaniards  declared  on  seeing  him  "  that  Spain  had 
been  ruled  by  men,  but  now  it  was  to  be  ruled  by  an  angel." 

Jane  was  the  least  attractive  of  Isabella's  children.  She  was  plain  in  person,  and 
her  moody  and  irritable  disposition  indicated  the  insanity  that  afterward  developed 
itself  and  gave  her  the  name  of  Jane  the  Foolish,  by  which  she  is  known  in  history. 
The  only  child  of  Philippe  and  Jane  the  Foolish  was  born  at  Alcala  in  1503,  and  after- 
ward ruled  Spain  as  Charles  V.  The  deepest  natures  have  the  greatest  capacity  for 
suffering,  and  the  agony  caused  by  repeated  bereavements  seriously  affected  Isabella's 
health.  In  the  autumn  of  1504  she  was  attacked  by  a  fever.  Enfeebled  by  years  of 
grief  and  anxiety  Isabella  sank  rapidly  under  it  and  died  on  the  twenty-sixth  of 
November.  Death  had  no  terrors  for  her;  after  a  life  so  full  of  action  and  responsi- 
bility the  thought  of  rest  must  have  been  sweet.  During  her  illness  she  was  serene 
and  cheerful,  and  said  to  those  who  wept  beside  her  bed  a  few  hours  before  her  death, 
"  Do  not  weep  for  me;  pray  for  the  safety  of  my  soul." 

Escorted  by  a  guard  of  honor  Isabella's  body  was  carried  from  Medina  del  Campo 
to  Granada,     The  peasants  thronged  the  roads  to  see  the  royal  procession,  and  sank 


'    THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  457 

on  their  knees  as  it  passed,  praying  for  the  soul  of  the  good  queen.  At  night,  when 
the  escort  rested  with  their  sacred  charge,  in  the  fields  or  in  some  village  church,  the 
bier  was  watched  by  the  villagers  who,  in  devout  attitudes,  listened  to  masses  for  the 
dead. 

Ximenes,  when  told  of  her  death,  said:  "  Spain  has  lost  a  queen  she  can  not  suffi- 
ciently mourn.  We  have  known  the  superiority  of  her  intellect,  the  goodness  of  her 
heart,  the  purity  of  her  conscience,  the  sincerity  of  her  piety,  her  justice  toward  all 
the  world,  her  desire  to  give  abundance  and  tranquillity  to  her  people."  This  estimate 
of  her  character  can  be  accepted  as  just.  Her  errors  were  those  of  her  education  and 
her  century;  her  virtues  were  those  of  a  great  queen  and  a  great  woman.  She  taught 
her  nobles  that  they  were  born  to  serve  not  to  oppress,  and  recalled  to  mind  the  old 
law  of  Castile,  "  that  a  cavalier  of  noble  blood  should  treat  his  vassals  with  love  and 
gentleness."  She  taught  the  world  that  obedience  to  law  is  as  necessary  for  the  moral 
sphere  as  for  the  physical,  and  that  liberty  is  the  fruit  of  a  wise  government.  In  her 
administration  she  foreshadowed  the  modern  tendency  to  seek  redress  for  wrong  by 
legal  means,  and  order  by  perfect  social  institutions,  and  by  this  course  she  gave  an 
unexpected  movement  to  the  march  of  civilization. 

She  sleeps  beside  her  husband  in  a  magnificent  chapel  in  the  center  of  Granada. 
Every  year  on  the  anniversary  of  her  burial  the  bells  of  twenty-eight  churches,  which 
she  built  in  that  city  on  the  ruins  of  Moorish  mosques,  toll  in  her  memory  and  recall 
the  work  in  which  she  most  gloried — the  planting  of  the  cross  over  the  crescent  of  the 
infidel. 


ADDRESS  ON  EFFECTIVE  VOTING. 


By  MISS  CATHERINE  HELEN  SPENCE. 

Among  the  many  congresses  held  in  Chicago  this  year,  there  has  been  one  which 
has  led  to  definite  action,  and  focused  into  one  point  the  discontent  of  the  many  and 

the  aspirations  of  the  few.  A  league  has  been  formed 
for  active  propagandism  by  the  advocates  of  propor- 
tional representation — what  I  call  effective  voting. 
It  is  not  with  me  a  thing  of  today  or  of  last  year. 
For  thirty-two  years  I  have  written  on  this  subject^ 
and  if  any  man  had  come  forward  to  do  that  I  am 
doing  now  I  would  have  loyally  helped  him;  I  should 
have  rejoiced  in  his  successes  and  sympathized  in  his 
disappointments. 

It  is  said  that  many  of  us  women  spend  our  lives  in 
waiting  for  the  coming  man,  who  often  does  not  come 
at  all,  and  sometimes  when  he  does  come  she  might 
have  done  better  without  him.  I  have  waited  long 
enough  for  the  coming  man,  and  I  as  a  single  woman 
have  had  to  take  up  lecturing  myself,  and,  in  point  of 
fact,  I  have  done  fairly  well,  both  with  life  and  with 
lecturing.  When  I  have  been  asked  if  I  do  not  wish 
that  I  were  a  man,  I  have  replied  no,  not  much.  I 
feel  like  the  Jewesses  who,  when  the  men  publicly 
thanked  God  because  He  had  made  them  men  and 
not  women,  thanked  the  Eternal  Father  because  He 
had  made  them  according  to  His  pleasure.  When  I 
have  been  further  pressed  and  asked  if  I  did  not  wish  I  were  a  man  for  the  sake  of  the 
cause  of  proportional  representation,  I  have  replied  that  I  am  stronger  in  and  for  that 
cause  as  a  woman  than  I  would  be  as  a  man,  because  I  have  no  political  ax  to  grind. 
I  have  not  even  a  vote.  So  I  can  occupy  the  platform  of  absolute  disinterestedness 
when  I  plead  that  the  men  who  are  supposed  or  presumed  to  represent  me  should  be 
equitably  represented  themselves.  This  can  only  be  done  in  your  America  by  escap- 
ing from  the  district  lines  for  congressional  and  state  elections,  and  from  the  ward  sys- 
tem in  municipalities. 

Truth  is  greater  than  falsehood,  and  wisdom  stronger  than  folly;  and  if  we  do  not 
by  our  political  machinery  exclude  the  intelligent  and  the  wise  from  our  federal,  state 
and  municipal  councils,  these  would  leaven  society,  and  make  themselves  felt  in  every 
department,  especially  in  the  political.  But  if  from  defective  machinery  or  other 
causes,  the  representation  is  not  really  equal,  and  intelligent  and  conscientious  min- 

Mis3  Catherine  Helen  Spence  was  born  in  Melrose,  Scotland,  in  1825,  and  went  at  the  age  of  thirteen  to  Adelaide,  Sonth 
Australia,  with  her  parents.  Her  official  title  is  Member  of  the  State  Children's  Council  of  South  Australia,  and  she  carries  a 
government  commission  from  the  Earl  of  Kintore,  governor  of  that  province.  She  published  in  London  four  novels,  "Clara 
Morison,"  "  Tender  and  True,"  "Mr.  Hogarth's  Will  "  and  "The  Author's  Daughter,"  and  has  written  a  great  deal  for  Austra- 
lian newspapers  and  magazines.  In  1860  she  began  to  write  on  electoral  reform,  adopting  the  views  of  Thomas  Hare  and 
John  Stuart  Mill  with  regard  to  proportional  representation.  In  1893  she  began  to  lecture  on  the  subject  with  ballots,  show-, 
ing  that  the  method  made  all  votes  effective,  and  her  main  object  in  visiting  America  was  to  advocate  the  breaking  down  of 
the  ward  and  district  lines  and  electing  representatives  by  the  single  transferable  vote.  She  aided  Miss  Emily  Clark  in  the 
work  of  boarding  out  dependent  children  in  South  Australia,  which  has  been  so  satisfactory  that  it  has  been  imitated  all 
over  Australia  and  New  Zealand.  The  industrial  schools  for  paaper  children  have  been  emptied,  and  the  children  are  kept 
in  proper  homes  till  fit  for  work.  She  has  also  been  fourteen  years  on  a  school  board,  and  is  on  the  Woman's  Suffrage  League- 
Committee  in  her  province.    Her  poetoffice  address  is  Adelaide,  South  Australia. 

468 


MISS  CATHERINE  HELEN  SPENCE, 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  459 

orities  are  shut  out,  the  whole  balance  is  overthrown,  and  party  exercises  a  mischiev- 
ous influence. 

Now  some  minorities  believe  that  their  particular  reform  will  cure  all  evils.  The 
woman  suffragists  fancy  that  if  they  have  votes  and  use  them  they  will  moralize  poli- 
tics. Will  they?  As  soon  as  it  is  seen  that  the  earnest,  conscientious  women  have 
votes  and  use  them,  will  not  the  party  politicians,  who  are  so  eager  to  get  ignorant 
aliens  put  on  the  rolls  that  they  may  use  their  votes  for  party  victory,  will  not  these 
induce  all  the  women  whom  they  could  command,  cajole  or  corrupt,  to  register  as 
voters,  and  the  result  is  that  the  votes  for  these  interested  men  will  be  swelled  by  the 
votes  of  these  women,  and  the  adverse  majority  would  be  only  the  larger.  Therefore, 
I  have  said  all  along  that  the  woman's  suffrage  and  proportional  representation  should 
go  together,  or  the  first  will  be  a  mere  delusion. 

The  prohibition  party  believes  and  declares  that  universal  ab.stinence  from  alco- 
hol in  every  shape  will  put  an  end  to  poverty.  Will  it  do  so  ?  It  is  a  question  whether 
the  whisky  power  would  not  be  greater  if  the  workmen  could  live  on  less  and  waste 
less.  If  he  became  a  vegetarian  and  could  maintain  his  family  and  himself  for  less 
money,  unless  economic  conditions  are  altered,  the  result  would  be  that  wages  would 
fall  below  their  present  level,  and  that  the  profits  of  capital  and  monopoly  would  be 
greater.  It  is  partly  because  the  English  workman  considers  beer  a  necessary  of  life 
that  his  wages  are  at  a  higher  level  than  on  the  Continent  of  Europe,  and  the  temper- 
ate and  vegetarian  peoples  of  India  and  China  are  the  worst  paid  laborers  in  the  world. 
I  heard  a  lady  at  the  Suffrage  Congress  say  to  and  exhort  all  good  men  to  come  to  the 
polls  and  vote,  and  she  asserted  that  it  was  on  account  of  their  criminal  abstention 
that  politics  were  so  corrupt.  But  if  all  the  good  men  in  America  were  to  exercise 
the  suffrage  privilege,  unless  we  get  rid  of  the  present  party  system,  that  is  built  on 
the  duel  between  two  parties,  and  two  parties  only  in  your  separated  districts,  they 
might  benefit  themselves  by  doing  the  duty  of  citizens,  but  they  would  not  moralize 

f)olitics,  for  this  reason,  that  if  one  hundred  Democrats  voted,  and  one  hundred  Repub- 
icans  voted  also,  they  would  not  change  the  situation.  A  few  wavering  and  corrupti- 
ble voters  could  turn  the  scale,  and  thus  virtually  carry  the  district. 

I  believe  I  should  have  a  vote,  and  expect  in  time  to  have  it,  but  it  would  be  little 
pleasure  to  me  unless  I  can  make  it  effective  for  the  return  of  one  man  of  whom  I 
approve,  without  neutralizing  the  vote  of  any  man  who  differs  from  me,  or  wasting  the 
vote  of  anyone  who  agrees  with  me.  It  is  by  the  exchange  of  the  competitive  for  the 
co-operative  spirit  in  politics  that  they  can  be  sweetened,  elevated  and  moralized,  and 
by  the  method  of  voting  which  I  shall  show  you  as  an  object  lesson,  you  will  see  that 
each  vote  has  equal  weight,  and  that  all  are  effective.  It  is  so  simple  that  a  child  of 
eight  years  of  age  by  merely  reading  the  "  Instructions  to  Voters  "  printed  on  the  back 
of  the  ticket  or  ballot  can  tell  the  result.  As  you  see  by  the  ticket  or  ballot,  all  you 
have  to  do  is  to  put  "  i  "  to  the  name  of  the  candidate  you  prefer  over  all  others,  "  2  " 
to  the  name  of  the  one  next  in  preference,  "  3"  to  the  next,  and  so  on.  So  then  if  the 
candidate  you  prefer  has  too  many  votes  or  too  few  votes,  your  vote  is  passed  on 
accordingly  to  the  next,  and  is  used  and  not  wasted.  Thus  is  the  simple  vote  of 
Thomas  Hare  and  John  Stuart  Mill  apprehended  by  a  child.  The  quota  needed  by 
anyone  candidate  for  his  return  is  found  by  dividing  the  whole  number  of  votes  polled 
in  the  electoral  district  by  the  number  of  representatives  needed.  In  the  election  for 
six  poets  to  fill  six  vacant  seats  on  Parnassus  beside  Apollo  and  the  muses,  the  sixth 
part  of  this  assembly  who  vote  are  entitled  to  carry  in  one,  and  not  that  half  plus  one 
should  carry  in  all  six,  leaving  the  half  minus  one  without  any.  This  last  is  stupid 
injustice,  but  effective  voting  is  justice,  common  sense  and  arithmetic. 

All  reformers  should  turn  their  eyes  toward  such  methods  of  representation  as 
would  be  just  to  the  many  and  just  to  the  few.  At  present  outside  parties  are  either 
lamentably  weak  or  mischievously  strong.  They  are  powerless  when  they  try  to  carry 
in  an  honest  representation  of  their  own  opinions;  they  are  strong  when  they  sit  on 
the  fence  and  offer  their  votes  to  that  one  who  offers  the  most  advantageous  terms. 


460  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN 

To  give  them  their  fair  share  of  power,  no  more  and  no  less,  is  the  aim  of  effective 
voting. 

The  old  parties  of  Republicans  and  Democrats  have  each  a  noble  record  and  some 
grand  traditions;  but  in  this  breathing,  suffering  world,  we  can  not  live  on  a  record  or 
grow  by  mere  tradition.  Why  shall  the  large,  earnest  minority  of  the  Prohibitionists 
not  have  real  representation?  and  if  the  Populists  have  a  sixth  part  of  the  votes  in  a 
six-member  district,  or  an  eighth  part  in  an  eight-member  electorate,  why  should  they 
not  carry  in  their  preferred  disciple  as  an  apostle  into  the  representative  body?  It  is 
the  same  with  the  Socialists  and  with  the  Single  Taxers.  So  long  as  all  these  are 
struggling  for  platform  and  their  platform  alone,  the  ticket  is  prepared  by  the  caucus 
leaders,  and  the  red-eyed  corporations  smile;  but  if  all  of  these  combined  to  demand 
equitable  representation  for  all — including  the  Republican  and  the  Democratic  parties 
themselves — their  strength  would  be  irresistible,  because  the  honest  and  conscientious 
Republican  and  Democrat,  who  submit  to  machine  politics  as  a  necessity,  would  be 
glad  of  a  method  which  assures  to  the  real  majority  a  real  ascendency,  and  to  all 
minorities  equitable  representation. 

Everywhere  since  I  came  to  Chicago  I  have  met  with  earnest  reformers  who 
desire  to  improve  existing  administrations  of  public  matters,  especially  along  the  lines 
of  poor  laws  and  child  saving.  I  find,  that  in  Australia  we  have  secured  benefits  which 
are  not  now  in  America.  This  is  not  because  the  Australians  are  more  wise  and  more 
just  than  the  Americans,  but  because  you  are  thwarted  and  hampered  by  what  you  call 
"  politics,"  which  in  that  sense  does  not  exist  in  Australia  at  all. 

The  taking  of  "  the  children  of  the  state,"  as  we  call  them,  the  dependent  and 
destitute  children,  out  of  institutions,  and  placing  them  in  foster  homes  to  lead  a 
natural  life,  both  for  the  advantage  of  the  child  and  the  saving  of  public  money,  is 
opposed  here  by  the  politicians  who  want  the  patronage  of  institutions  and  who 
would  turn  out  a  good  administrator,  like  the  superintendent  of  your  great  Illinois 
Deaf  and  Dumb  School,  who  really  founded  the  institution,  to  put  a  Democrat  in  his 
place.  In  our  changes  of  ministry,  the  only  people  who  go  out  and  who  come  in  are 
the  six  responsible  cabinet  ministers  themselves.  The  civil  service  has  such  security 
that  even  occasional  vacancies  must  be  filled  up  according  to  regulation,  and  the 
*'  outs  "  can  not  promise  places  to  their  adherents  if  they  get  in,  nor  are  the  present 
office-holders  tempted  to  become  active  electioneering  agents  in  order  to  retain  the 
ministry,  which  alone  can  keep  them  in  their  places. 

As  for  our  municipal  elections  we  only  vote  for  mayor,  councilors  and  auditors, 
and  the  political  question  does  not  interfere  with  these.  It  is  character  and  business 
ability  that  are  needed.  Now,  by  your  ward  politics,  by  which  the  intelligent  minori- 
ties are  prevented  from  combining,  your  great  cities  are  taxed  heavily  for  work  badly 
done  or  not  done  at  all.  Last  week,  within  a  stone's  throw  of  the  Windsor  Park  Rail- 
way Station,  surrounded  by  great  hotels  having  thousands  of  inmates,  a  dead  horse 
lay  for  six  days  under  an  August  sun,  seen  and  smelled  by  every  one  Vain  were 
repeated  remonstrances  to  the  police;  and  I  was  told  that  the  most  effective  means  in 
England  and  in  Australia,  writing  to  the  newspapers,  would  be  useless  here. 

Verily,  you  Americans  are  the  most  much-enduring  people  in  the  world.  Professor 
Bryce  says  the  difficulty  of  getting  enfranchised  from  "  machine  politics  "  is  caused 
by  the  essential  conservatism  of  the  American  people.  Social  freedom  you  have,  and 
the  whole  atmosphere  is  sweet  with  it;  but  this  seems  to  blind  you  to  the  slavery  of 
the  party  machine  in  politics,  and  to  the  neglect  of  your  city  governments  to  do  the 
work  you  are  heavily  taxed  for.  No  city  in  Europe  or  in  Australia  would  endure  what 
citizens  in  Chicago,  New  York,  San  Francisco  and  Philadelphia  submit  to  with  noth- 
ing but  private  and  ineffectual  grumbling  And  let  no  one  say  that  it  is  on  account 
of  the  foreign  element  in  these  great  cities  that  municipal  administration  is  so  cor- 
rupt. Who  uses  this  foreign  element?  Who  pays  the  money  and  who  profits  by  the 
bargain?  Who  is  eager  to  put  the  ignorant  alien  on  the  roll?  Americans,  to  be  sure. 
Americans  who  prefer  the  triumph  of  party  to  the  good  of  state.     Who  employ  these 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  4ftl 

ignorant  voters  and  votes  as  a  means  by  which  to  win  the  stakes?  When  1  heard  in 
the  Congress  on  Civil  Government  tlie  comparison  of  the  parties  to  gamblers  playing 
for  high  stakes,  I  felt  tempted  to  interpolate, "  and  these  stakes  arc  not  their  own,  but 
the  money  paid  by  the  citizens  for  honest  work,  and  not  for  dishonest  gambling." 

Thus  all  that  is  faulty  and  mischievous  in  your  American  institutions  depends  on 
your  majority  or  plurality  system  of  representation,  which  has  been  inherited  from 
your  English  forefathers. 

I  do  not  know  if  you  in  America  suffer  as  much  from  merely  local  interests  in 
political  matters  as  we  do  in  Australia  and  in  Canada.  The  large  electoral  district 
will  retain  much  that  is  good  in  local  representation,  and  will  do  away  with  much  that 
is  belittling  and  mischievous. 

You  may  say  that  this  is  a  large  reform,  that  it  demands  besides  a  change  in  the 
method  of  voting,  a  reconstruction  of  districts  so  as  to  allow  quota  representation 
room  to  play.  I  never  said  that  it  is  a  small  reform.  I  have  not  given  my  life  to  tin- 
kering at  old  methods,  old  and  imperfect,  but  for  the  sake  of  radically  changing  them; 
and  I  believe  that  if  the  collective  conscience  of  America  is  fairly  aroused,  it  will  be 
strong  enough  to  affect  this  indispensable  reform.  The  Proportional  Representation 
League  is  intensely  interested  and  in  earnest,  and  means  to  arouse  this  collective  con- 
science, not  merely  to  protect,  but  to  act  and  to  conquer. 

Your  parties  are  Republican  and  Democrat.  Our  parties  in  Australia  have 
advanced  beyond  yours  and  are  actually  the  parties  of  capitalists  and  laborers.  It 
was  when  I  first  saw  these  parties  organized  for  offensive  and  defensive  war  that  I 
abandoned  the  part  of  an  occasional  writer  for  that  of  public  lecturer  on  any  platform 
open  to  me.  I  traveled  all  over  my  own  province  of  South  Australia,  and  addressed 
between  fifty  and  sixty  public  meetings  with  ballot  papers  with  the  names  of  well- 
known  political  men  as  candidates. 

The  problem  of  our  day  is  to  devise  some  means  of  reconciling  the  claims  of  cap- 
ital and  labor,  and  I  felt  assured  that  if  these  were  pitted  against  each  other  in  every 
electoral  district  in  Australia  as  enemies,  they  would  be  embittered  against  each  other, 
and  it  would  become  more  and  more  difficult  to  harmonize  their  actions.  It  is  by  the 
admission  of  the  best  men  of  both  parties,  and  also  of  representatives  of  outside  parties 
into  our  legislature,  that  some  ?nodns  vivetidi  may  be  found. 

And  there  is  an  object  lesson  for  America  to  be  read  and  studied  in  Australia  now. 
We  are  passing  through  a  severe  financial  crisis,  brought  on  by  two  main  causes;  fii'st, 
the  collapse  of  the  land  boom,  which  was  always  and  everywhere  a  most  mischievous 
thing,  and,  second,  the  steady  fall  in  the  price  of  our  products.  Not  to  the  deprecia- 
tion of  silver;  silver  has  not  depreciated.  It  buys  as  much  of  everything  as  we  want 
to  buy  now  as  it  ever  did.  But  it  is  owing  to  the  appreciation  of  gold,  which  makes 
our  public  and  private*  indebtedness  so  much  heavier.  All  the  Australian  colonies 
have  this  financial  difficulty,  but  in  the  two  colonies.  New  Zealand  and  South  Austra- 
lia, which  have  had  the  courage  to  impose  direct  taxation,  and,  above  all,  which  have 
taxed  land  values,  excluding  improvements,  we  see  a  wonderful  difference  for  the  bet- 
ter as  compared  with  New  South  Wales,  Victoria  and  Queensland,  which  will  not  adopt 
such  methods,  but  which  seek  to  balance  the  revenue  to  the  expenditures  by  increase 
of  customs  duties.  New  Zealand  is  prosperous  and  has  a  surplus  revenue.  South 
Australia  has  been  deeply  implicated  in  the  misfortunes  of  the  adjacent  colonies,  and 
she  depends  so  much  on  the  large  silver  mines  which  are  close  to  her  border  and 
largely  owned  by  her  people,  though  they  are  actually  situated  in  New  South  Wales. 
So  the  silver  question  is  trying  her  greatly.  But  still  she  stands,  and  is  increasing  her 
direct  taxation  and  decreasing  her  indirect.  This  plainly  proves  that  a  change  in 
economic  methods  differentiates  between  peoples  otherwise  equally  circumstanced. 

I  am  sometimes  accused  of  having  only  one  idea,  that  of  proportional  representa- 
tion; but  I  have  really  so  many  ideas  that  it  is  hard  for  me  to  keep  to  my  text,  as  at 
present.  The  reason  why  I  insist  so  much  on  a  change  in  electoral  methods  is  that  I 
believe  a  real  representation  of  the  whole  people,  and  not  of  a  mere  segment  of  the 
people,  is  the  key  to  unlock  the  doors  for  all  other  reforms.     First  secure  that  the 


462  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

people  are  equitably  represented,  and  then  see  what  earnest,  conscientious  men  can  do. 
Better  men  will  come  forward,  and  more  citizens  will  exercise  their  right  of  suffrage, 
under  better  circumstances. 

I  could  give  whole  columns  of  figures  to  show  how  the  present  method  leaves  half 
the  citizens  unrepresented,  and  how  a  great  many  vote  for  the  successful  candidate 
because  he  is  the  only  offered.  But  I  do  not  consider  the  figures  necessary,  as  the  fact 
is  tacitly  acknowledged.  I  shall  proceed  to  give  a  practical  lesson.  The  first  objec- 
tion brought  forward  is  that  the  new  method  is  too  difficult  for  the  average  voter,  and 
the  second  that  it  is  too  difficult  for  the  average  poll  clerk.  I  shall  first  make  you  vote, 
and  then  make  you  count.  Imagine  you  are  a  subscriber  to  a  circulating  library,  and 
you  have  a  right  to  one  book.  You  send  your  list,  your  book  ballot,  by  a  messenger, 
of  six  books  you  would  prefer,  named  in  the  order  of  your  preference.  But  you  do  not 
expect  him  to  bring  you  more  than  one  book,  and  that  one  to  be  the  nearest  your  first 
choice  that  can  be  obtained.  It  is  the  same  way  in  an  election.  You  mark  your  pref- 
erence, and  your  vote  will  be  effective  in  the  return  of  the  first  man  on  your  list  who 
needs  your  vote  and  can  use  it. 

(Ballot  papers  are  then  handed  around  among  the  audience,  and  eighty-two  ballot 
papers  are  filled  up.) 

Now,  in  order  to  ascertain  the  quota,  the  number  of  eighty-two  was  divided  by  six, 
the  number  of  seats  to  be  filled  by  the  poets  previously  mentioned,  the  names  of  the 
candidates  being  given  further  on.  This  division  gives  a  quota  of  thirteen,  with  a 
remainder  of  four.  There  was  one  void  vote,  six  names  having  been  marked  with 
a  cross,  which  indicated  no  preference,  and  this  reduced  the  remainder  to  three.  The 
names  of  the  candidates  were  as  follows:  Browning,  Bryant,  Burns,  Byron.  Longfel- 
low, Lowell,  Moore,  Scott,  Shelly,  Tennyson,  Whitman,  Whittier,  Wordsworth. 

(After  the  ballot  papers  were  received,  thirteen  members  of  the  audience  stepped 
forward  to  take  the  votes,  according  to  the  figure  "  i  "  denoting  first  choice  on  each 
ballot.  Longfellow  was  the  most  popular  candidate,  and  has  received  thirteen  votes, 
his  full  quota,  before  the  count  has  been  more  than  two-thirds  taken.  All  subsequent 
^'i"  votes  for  Longfellow  were  then  transferred  to  the  man  marked  "2"  on  each 
voter's  paper,  which  varied  according  to  the  voter's  choice.  There  were  sufficient  of 
such  for  Tennyson  to  make  up  his  quota  of  thirteen,  and  he  also  was  returned,  and  all 
subsequent  2's  were  given  to  the  one  marked  "  3."  At  this  stage  of  the  proceedings 
all  the  votes  had  been  counted  once,  and  only  two  out  of  the  six  were  returned  by  full 
quota.  We,  therefore,  had  to  go  to  the  less  popular  poets,  who  had  no  chance  of  mak- 
ing up  thirteen  votes.  One  poet  had  a  single  vote  that  was  given  to  "  2  "  on  the  ballot 
paper;  another  had  three  dealt  out  in  the  same  way,  unless,  as  often  happened,  the 
second  or  third  vote  had  been  given  to  Tennyson  or  to  Longfellow,  who  did  not  need 
it  at  all,  or  to  the  candidate  eliminated  or  out  of  the  contest.) 

Thus  we  worked  up  all  the  votes  of  the  unsuccessful  candidates  until  we  made  up 
six  full  quotas  of  thirteen,  and  had  three  ballots  over.  This  was  given  as  a  specimen 
of  effective  voting.  Those  who  took  the  votes  and  those  who  looked  on  and  listened 
could  see  that  no  vote  was  wasted.  The  same  principle  will  apply  to  820,  to  8,200,or 
to  82,000  votes,  and  it  would  be  impossible  for  any  party  to  obtain  a  greater  share  of 
the  representatives  than  their  proportion  of  the  votes  entitled  them  to  have.  Here 
you  will  notice,  too,  that  nobody  voted  against  anybody,  but  simply  indicated  what  he 
wanted  done  with  his  vote  in  every  possible  contingency. 

Where  party  spirit  is  strong  the  partisan  will  vote  the  party  ticket,  as  he  will  select 
from  the  list  of  candidates  those  of  his  own  views.  But  in  a  wider  field,  and  in  a  larger 
list  than  is  used  at  present,  character,  ability  and  integrity  will  receive  both  first  and 
contingent  votes.  Even  though  "  outsiders  "  can  not  carry  in  a  candidate  of  their  own, 
still  they  can,  by  their  contingent  votes,  greatly  modify  the  representation.  By  the 
present  method  many  votes  are  simply  lost,  and  often,  by  this  means,  the  most  objec- 
tional  (to  the  voter)  of  the  parties  is  returned. 

In  political  matters,  as  in  all  other  things,  let  us  seek  righteousness  and  justice, 
and  many  other  good  things  will  be  added  unto  us. 


MOORISH  WOMEN  AS  I  FOUND  THEM. 


By  MRS.  A.  L.  HOWARD. 

The  traveler  who  goes  to  Tangiers  in  Morocco  comes  from  Cadiz  or  Gibraltar. 
While  it  is  a  trip  of  but  a  few  hours,  yet  it  seems  like  stepping  backward,  like  closing 

a  modern  history  to  pick  up  a  romance,  like  passing 
from  Gibbon  or  Macaulay  to  the  Arabian  Nights. 

Tangiers  at  one  time  belonged  to  Portugal  and 
formed  a  part  of  the  dower  given  to  Catharine  of 
Braganza  when  she  married  Charles  II.,  King  of  Eng- 
land. The  English  built  a  long  stone  pier,  at  the  end  of 
which  vessels  could  anchor  in  safety.  In  after  years 
they  found  the  possession  an  expensive  one,  without 
any  great  advantages,  so  Tangiers  was  ceded  to  the 
Emperor  of  Morocco,  and  the  first  step  of  the  Mo- 
rocco potentate  was  to  destroy  the  pier,  and  so  com- 
pel all  ships  to  anchor  in  the  offing,  about  a  mile  from 
the  shore.  Before  leaving  the  steamer  the  Arabian 
Nights  Entertainment  begins.  Boats  manned  by  native 
boatmen  in  picturesque  costumes  swarm  around  and 
fight  for  passengers,  knock  each  other  down  with  their 
oars,  toss  each  other  overboard,  screech,  yell,  gesticu- 
late, in  fact,  carry  on  as  if  demented;  it  is  pande- 
monium let  loose.  The  travelers  finally  make  terms 
and  are  stowed  in  the  boats  with  their  luggage.  The 
transit  is  made  in  a  few  minutes,  and  the  boat  reaches 
a  stone  landing.  Here  the  free  fight  begins  anew  with 
fresh  vigor  and  different  combatants.  One  is  very  sure  that  it  is  a  mistaken  idea  that 
Morgiana  scalded  the  forty  thieves  to  death;  they  are  all  here,  forty  times  forty  in 
number,  and  as  much  alive  as  in  the  days  of  Ali  Baba.  They  wade  out  into  the  water 
to  their  waists,  they  snatch  satchels  and  valises  in  spite  of  all  efforts  to  retain  them, 
gesticulating  and  talking  and  demanding  "  backsheesh."  The  boatmen  beat  them  off 
with  their  oars,  and  after  a  struggle  and  much  shouting,  the  passengers  are  landed,  the 
luggage  is  recovered  under  a  shower  of  abuse  in  Arabic,  with  a  droll  intermingling  of 
English  oaths  (learned  from  British  sailors),  is  passed  through  the  custom  house  with 
little  difficulty,  and  we  find  ourselves  within  the  gates  of  Tangiers,  walking  toward 
the  hotel — walking,  for  there  is  but  one  carriage,  and  that  belongs  to  the  Cheriff,  who 
is  married  to  an  English  woman.  How  he  can  use  it  with  any  comfort  or  safety  on 
the  roughly  paved,  steep,  stony  streets  of  Tangiers  I  can  not  imagine.  The  Cheriff's 
wife  came  out  from  England  as  a  governess  and  married  her  husband  with  the  promise 
that  she  was  to  be  the  only  wife.  She  bore  him  two  sons.  When  the  boys  were  eight 
and  ten  years  old  the  father  proposed  to  take  another  wife.     The  English  wife  imme- 

Mrs.  Amelia  Louisa  Howard  is  a  native  of  New  Orleans,  La.  Her  parents  were  James  Waters  Zacharie  and  Caroline 
Elizabeth  Zacharie.  She  comes  of  a  French  family,  her  grandfather,  a  native  of  Lyons,  France,  coming  to  this  country  with 
Lafayette  or  Rochambeaa.  Though  offered  a  high  position  under  the  government  of  Napole<jn,  he  refused  to  return  to  France, 
saying  he  was  an  American  citiz^.  He  was  manager  of  the  first  bank  west  of  the  Alleghaniee.  Mrs.  Howard  was  educated 
in  New  Orleans  schools,  then  at  the  Ursnline  Convent,  finishing  at  Miss  Marcelly's  Academy,  Natchez,  Miss.  She  has  traveled 
over  the  United  States,  a  great  part  of  Europe  and  the  north  coast  of  Africa.  She  married  first  B.  D.  Howard,  a  lawyer  of 
New  Orleans,  and  after  his  death  became  the  wife  of  his  brother,  Richard  Austin  Howard,  of  San  Antonio,  Tex.  Her  prin- 
cipal literary  works  are  lectures  on  English  and  French  literature  and  newspaper  work.  Her  profession  is  teaching.  Her 
postoliice  address  is  New  Orleans,  La.,  No.  248  Eighth  Street. 

463 


MRS.  AMELIA   L.   HOWARD. 


464  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

diately  made  arrangements  for  a  separation,  and  took  charge  of  the  education  of  her 
children.  She  is  bringing  them  up  as  Mohammedans,  as  their  lot  is  cast  in  Tangiers, 
and  is  giving  them  every  advantage  of  an  European  education,  joined  with  the  learn- 
ing of  the  Arabs.     She  is  to  be  seen  very  often  on  horseback  in  and  about  Tangiers. 

The  first  good  look  one  has  at  the  women  is  in  the  market  place.  There  is  a 
market  for  vegetables  and  one  for  grain,  and  outside  of  these  a  wide  plain,  where,  amid 
horses,  donkeys,  camels,  snake  charmers,  etc.,  crowds  of  natives  wander  about  or 
squat  down  in  groups.  Of  course  the  women  met  here  are  of  the  lower  classes, 
those  of  the  higher  rarely  walking  abroad,  save  to  go  to  the  bath,  and  then  are  mufifled 
from  head  to  feet.  The  general  costume  of  the  multitude  is  made  of  coarse  cotton 
cloth,  white  or  unbleached  being  most  common.  Yellow  is  sometimes  seen,  but  I  do 
not  remember  seeing  any  vivid  colors;  the  men  reserve  the  bright  colors  for  their 
own  use.  The  dress  consists  of  drawers,  loose,  but  not  flowing,  scarcely  perceptible 
beneath  the  long,  cloak-like  garment,  lapped  in  front  and  bound  with  a  girdle  of  folds 
of  the  same  material,  the  girdle  being  used  as  a  pocket.  Over  the  whole  is  a  mantle, 
sheet-like  in  form,  that  is  wrapped  about  until  the  person  is  completely  disguised. 
One  edge  comes  down  over  the  forehead  to  the  eyes,  and  the  other  is  brought  across 
the  lower  part  of  the  face  up  to  the  bridge  of  the  nose,  leaving  only  the  eyes  exposed. 
The  lowest  as  well  as  the  highest  drapes  herself  thus,  of  course  in  finer  or  coarser 
material,  according  to  the  rank  and  wealth,  but  even  the  most  abandoned  affect  the 
disguise.  A  favorite  material  for  the  drapery  among  the  lower  classes  is  the  soft  bath- 
ing sheet  we  use.  The  little  girls  use  large  bathing  towels,  and  gravely  imitate  their 
elders  in  concealing  their  faces  and  form.  The  women  seemed  to  be  buying  and  sell- 
ing and  gossiping  in  the  market,  just  as  our  own  women  do.  Sometimes  they  forget 
themselves  and  let  the  drapery  drop  from  their  faces,  but  as  soon  as  they  notice  a  man 
looking  their  way,  they  draw  it  up  around  them  again.  The  young  women  are  quite 
pretty,  some  light  brunettes  and  others  as  dark  as  negroes.  The  old  women  are  hide- 
ous— veritable  hags.  There  is  much  disease  among  them,  and  so  little  medical  care 
that  they  are  great  sufferers.  Male  physicians  are  not  allowed  to  attend  them,  and 
skilled  female  physicians  are  not  yet  sufficiently  numerous  to  do  much  good.  There 
is  an  American  Presbyterian  mission  established  in  Tangiers.  The  American  women 
missionaries  are  generally  doctors.  They  learn  Arabic  quickly,  and  give  their  medical 
services  to  introduce  Christianity. 

Near  the  Kaaba,  or  pasha's  palace,  is  another  palace,  where  the  pasha's  ladies 
reside.  I  thought  at  first  that  this  was  the  pasha's  harem,  but  found  it  was  a  palace 
where  relatives  of  the  pasha,  "  his  sisters,  his  cousins  and  his  aunts"  reside,  the  young 
ones  until  husbands  were  found  for  them,  the  old  ones  until  their  death.  The  pasha 
(governor  of  the  town  under  the  emperor),  quite  a  young  man,  who  had  succeeded  his 
father,  had  but  one  wife,  to  whom  he  was  devotedly  attached.  His  home  was  a  beau- 
tiful country  seat  near  the  town  where  his  wife  and  children  resided,  he  himself  com- 
ing into  the  Kaaba  for  the  transaction  of  business,  remaining  one  or  several  days  at  a 
time. 

The  pasha's  ladies  I  saw  were  three  or  four  quite  pretty  young  ones  and  one  very  old 
one,  the  widow  of  a  former  pasha.  Of  course  in  the:  house  they  wore  no  drapery.  They 
seemed  gay  and  amiable  girls,  delighted  to  see  strangers  and  to  show  their  house. 
The  rooms  were  built  around  a  marble  paved  court  and  contained  no  furniture  but  a 
brass  bed  and  cushions  around  the  wall  or  scattered  on  the  floor.  Some  had  no  beds, 
but  little  round  tables  about  six  inches  high,  to  hold  work  or  a  cup  of  tea  or  coffee, 
as  the  occupants  sat  upon  the  floor.  All  the  floors  were  covered  with  rugs.  Here  and 
there  around  the  court  were  light  tables,  bearing  sweets,  which  they  offered  us.  They 
showed  us  their  costumes,  consisting  of  three  or  more  long  coat-like  garments  over  sev- 
eral skirts.  These  skirts  and  coats,  all  nearly  of  the  same  length,  were  of  thin,  soft  mate- 
rial, a  kind  of  muslin,  of  different  delicate  colors  with  gold  and  silver  interwoven,  and 
were  worn  one  over  the  other  until  all  blended  and  formed  an  airy  drapery.  They 
were  lapped  in  front  and  bound  at  the  waist  with  a  wide  sash  of  soft  silk,  the  folds  of 


TH?:  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  465 

which  were  used  as  pockets  for  handkerchiefs,  flat  pincushions,  scissors  and  sewing 
materials.  They  wore  no  corset  and  their  drawers  did  not  show  beneath  the  dress, 
and  their  bare  feet  were  thrust  into  babouches  of  leather  embroidered  in  gold  and  sil- 
ver. Babouches  are  slippers,  the  fore  part  only  used;  the  back  part  is  mashed  flat  to 
the  sole  by  the  heel.  Their  hair  was  twisted  up  carelessly  and  bound  with  bands  of 
tinsel  and  beads,  with  fresh  flowers  stuck  here  and  there.  They  are  very  fond  of  fresh 
flowers,  and  have  them  about  in  quantities.  One  was  seated  on  the  floor,  sorting  out 
a  large  bunch  which  had  just  been  brought  in,  and  she  seemed  to  be  in  an  ecstacy  of 
delight  over  the  roses.  Tangiers  is  a  paradise  of  flowers.  We  met  at  the  palace  two 
young  American  ladies,  doctors  or  medical  students,  from  the  Presbyterian  mission, 
and  through  them  we  carried  on  our  conversation.  They  told  us  of  the  great  suffering 
among  the  women  from  the  utter  neglect  of  good  medical  attendance.  They  came  to 
the  palace  to  see  particularly  the  widow  of  the  old  pasha,  who  was  a  very  great  suf- 
ferer. She  was  always  glad  to  receive  them,  and  hearing  from  them  that  our  party  was 
in  the  palace,  she  sent  for  us  to  pay  her  a  visit.  They  told  us  she  was  a  very  good 
woman,  and  had  been  a  beauty,  but  we  could  see  no  vestige  remaining.  She  was  a 
perfect  wreck. 

The  house  was  a  two-story  one,  as  are  most  of  the  houses  in  Tangiers.  Some  of 
the  second  stories  had  windows  on  the  street,  and  the  women  seemed  as  free  to  look 
from  them  as  we  were  at  the  gentlemen  of  our  party,  who  were  awaiting  us  in  the  street 
below,  but  they  did  not  appear  to  care  to  look.  I  suppose  they  would  have  felt 
obliged  to  muffle  their  faces,  as  this  is  apparently  a  matter  of  self-respect  with  them. 
There,  then,  within  four  walls  these  women  passed  their  lives,  sewing,  embroidering, 
or  idling  their  days  away  amid  sweets  and  flowers.  I  saw  not  a  sign  of  a  book.  I  was  very 
anxious  to  see  the  inside  of  an  ordinary  Moorish  house,  and  through  the  American 
consul  I  was  enabled  to  do  so.  We  were  taken  by  a  Moorish  employe  of  the  consulate  to 
see  several  interiors.  They  were  all  alike  in  a  general  way,  made  of  stone  and  stucco, 
with  horse-shoe  arches,  two  stories,  the  rooms  around  a  court  open  to  the  sky,  the 
lower  story  without  windows,  very  little  wood  used  about  them,  no  doors  but  the 
heavy  one  at  the  entrance,  and  portieres  everywhere.  All  were  furnished  alike,  but 
more  or  less  richly,  the  bed  of  brass  or  iron  at  one  end  of  the  room,  the  walls  covered 
with  hangings  of  silk  or  cloth,  the  floor  with  marble  or  earthen  tiles,  no  chairs,  ward- 
robes or  tables,  only  divans  or  cushions  against  the  wall,  where  ladies  sat  doing  noth- 
ing but  fanning  themselves.  They  received  us  politely  everywhere,  bidding  us  wel- 
come, and  smiling  as  if  gratified  at  our  visit.  At  last  we  came  to  the  house  of  a  Moor- 
ish merchant,  who  had  been  warned  of  our  coming,  as  our  guide  was  a  friend  of  his. 
We  were  in  the  midst  of  the  Ramadan  week  or  feast,  corresponding  to  the  Christian 
Easter,  coming  at  the  end  of  forty  days'  rigorous  fast,  like  the  Christian  Lent. 
Everybody  was  in  holiday  attire.  We  had  been  astonished  to  notice  that  our  male 
guide  was  allowed  to  enter  everywhere,  to  see  the  ladies  face  to  face  without  veils.  I 
judge  by  this  that  the  veil  or  drapery  stands  in  the  same  light  as  our  bonnets  or  hats. 

At  the  merchant's  house  we  were  received  at  the  door  by  the  host  and  led  to  a 
room  (our  guide  with  us),  where  we  found  his  young  wife,  seated  on  alow  divan  running 
around  the  room.  He  was  about  fifty  years  of  age  and  very  dark.  She  was  young 
and  fair,  and  his  only  wife.  I  found  that  although  Mohammedans,  at  least  the  Moors, 
are  permitted  several  wives,  they  usually  have  but  one,  and  make  good  and  careful 
husbands.  The  lady  was  a  lovely  woman,  a  light  brunette,  with  magnificent  eyes  and 
rounded  limbs.  She  was  dressed  most  elaborately  in  splendid  material,  and  received 
us  courteously  and  gracefully — indeed,  her  whole  bearing  bore  the  stamp  of  highest 
breeding.  No  grand  duchess,  reared  amid  the  ceremonials  of  a  court,  could  have  been 
a  grander,  statelier  lady.  Ilcr  style  of  dress  was  the  same  as  that  of  the  pasha's 
ladies,  but  of  thinner  muslins  and  silks,  gold  embroidered  and  woven.  She  wore 
large  jeweled  ear-rings,  and  necklaces  reaching  from  the  throat  to  the  waist,  formed 
of  string  after  string  of  gold  beads,  jewel  set,  and  pearls.  On  the  bare  arms,  coming 
from  wide  flowing  sleeves,  were  several  bracelets.     On  her  head  she  wore  a  circlet  of 

(30) 


466     .  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

gold  and  muslin  tissue,  twisted  with  gold  beads  and  fastened  in  place  with  jeweled 
pins.  She  had  four  children,  the  youngest  a  pretty  little  girl  about  two  years  old. 
Among  the  Moors  girl  children  are  not  much  valued,  but  as  her  three  elder  children 
were  fine  boys,  the  little  girl  seemed  a  pet  of  both  father  and  mother. 

The  boys  were  dressed  in  long  robes  of  embroidered  muslin  over  colored  silks, 
with  sashes  of  silk  about  their  waists.  They  told  me  with  a  great  deal  of  pride  that 
the  material  of  their  dress  was  French.  They  looked  not  unlike  altar  boys  in  a  Catho- 
lic Church.  At  their  side,  hung  by  silver  chains,  were  antique  wrought  silver  boxes, 
supposed  to  carry  prayers  or  bits  of  the  Koran,  but  the  boys  had  nothing  as  yet  in 
theirs.  They  were  admirably  behaved  children,  neither  shy  nor  forward,  trying  to 
talk  to  us  and  make  us  understand  the  use  of  the  different  parts  of  their  dress. 
They  wore  a  red  fez  with  a  long  blue  tassel  on  their  heads,  and  plain  red  or  yellow 
babouches.  When  we  came  in,  my  two  companions,  younger  women  than  I,  were 
invited  to  a  seat  upon  the  divan,  the  host  gave  me  a  chair  and  took  one  himself,  and 
also  gave  one  to  our  guide.  There  seemed  nothing  unusual  in  the  lady  meeting  her 
husband's  friends  unveiled.  She  conversed  with  the  guide  just  as  we  would  with  a 
male  friend.  The  nurse  brought  in  the  baby  girl,  who  cried  at  the  sight  of  strangers, 
and  stretched  out  her  arms  crying,  "  Mamma,  mamma."  The  mother  took  her  for  a 
moment,  when  the  father  relieved  her,  coaxing  the  child,  cooing  to  it,  telling  it  to 
come  to  "  Baba"  and  be  a  good  girl."  She  nestled  down  in  his  arms  and  soon  became 
quiet,  when  the  nurse  carried  her  away. 

Our  conversation  was  carried  on  through  the  guide  by  means  of  the  little  Spanish 
he  understood,  and  also  by  signs.  I  made  him  compliment  the  lady  on  having  done 
her  duty  to  her  husband  in  bearing  him  three  fine  boys.  She  and  her  husband  both 
smiled  and  nodded  pleasantly.  There  was,  as  usual,  no  furniture  in  the  room  save  a 
very  handsome  brass  bed  at  one  end,  draped  with  embroidered  muslin  curtains;  the 
walls  were  hung  with  gold  embroidered  satin  panel  hangings.  After  a  short  visit 
we  made  a  motion  to  leave,  but  our  host  insisted  on  our  staying  longer.  A  very  hand- 
somely hand-wrought  brass  vase  or  bottle  was  brought,  with  a  corresponding  saucer  or 
basin.  Our  host  directed  me  by  signs  to  hold  out  my  hands,  and  he  poured  over  them 
orange-flower  perfumed  water,  giving  me  a  fine  damask  napkin  to  dry  them;  then  he 
passed  on  to  my  companions,  doing  the  same  for  them.  A  servant  relieved  him  of 
the  vase  and  basin  and  handed  him  a  pierced  brass  vase  standing  in  a  brazier  saucer. 
These  pieces  were  marvels  of  delicate  workmanship  in  brass.  From  the  holes  in  the 
vase  came  forth  a  cloud  of  odoriferous  smoke.  I  was  in  deep  mourning  at  the  time, 
and  wore,  thrown  back  over  my  bonnet,  a  long  black  veil.  He  gathered  the  veil 
around  the  vase  so  as  if  to  confine  the  smoke,  and  bade  me  bend  low  over  it;  after  thor- 
oughly fumigating  me  he  passed  on  to  the  others. 

This  ceremony  over,  a  very  handsome  tea-service  of  beaten  silver  was  brought  in 
with  a  silver  boxof  lump  sugar.  The  spirit  lamp  was  lighted  under  the  silver  tea-kettle, 
and  while  the  water  boiled  the  lady  proceeded  to  put  some  tea  and  sugar  in  to  the  tea-pot 
then  she  poured  on  the  boiling  water  and  tasted  the  mixture.  It  was  all  done  quietly 
and  naturally,  without  a  shade  of  embarrassment  or  self-consciousness.  Here  was  a 
woman  brought  up  her  whole  life  within  the  four  walls  of  her  own  house,  rarely  seeing 
an  outsider,  with  all  the  self-possession,  all  the  grace  and  dignity  of  the  proudest 
duchess  of  Mayfair  or  Belgravia.  I  was  invited  to  take  a  seat  beside  her  on  the 
cushion,  where  a  space  had  been  left  for  me  by  the  boys.  They  were  four,  six  and 
eight  years  old,  and  had  taken  complete  charge  of  my  younger  friends,  entertaining 
them  to  the  best  of  their  ability.  The  seat  afforded  me  was  evidently  the  seat  of 
honor,  and  though  I  had  my  doubts  about  my  being  able  to  rise  without  great  difificulty 
from  so  low  a  seat,  I  accepted  it  as  a  matter  of  course.  Two  immense  round  brass 
trays  were  brought  in  and  deposited  on  the  floor  before  us.  One  contained  fine  little 
baccarat  glass  tumblers  and  a  set  of  royal  Worcester  cups  and  saucers,  and  the  other 
a  pile  of  cakes,  a  kind  of  thick  cookey  about  the  size  of  our  after-dinner  coffee  saucer, 
in  the  center  of  which  different  kinds  of  fruits  had  been  baked.     The  tea  was  served 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  467 

in  the  cups  and  glasses  without  milk  or  spoons.  It  was  very  sweet  and  thick  fronv  the 
quantity  of  sugar  in  it.  We  drank  a  glass  or  two  and  nibbled  at  the  cake  for  polite- 
ness, for  we  did  not  find  any  of  it  good.  The  little  boys  behaved  like  gentlemen, 
handing  the  tea  to  the  ladies.  The  eldest  asked  for  nothing,  but  the  little  four-year- 
old  evidently  wanted  a  cake,  and  in  spite  of  his  elder  brother's  reasoning  and  expos- 
tulation, insisted  on  asking  for  it,  but  did  it  in  a  manly  way,  without  whining  or  cry- 
ing or  worrying  his  mother.  She  gave  it  to  him  with  a  word  or  two  of  reproof,  and 
he  ate  it  silently,  as  if  ashamed  of  his  behavior.  How  different  from  many  American 
children  we  all  have  seen.  Soon  after  our  5  o'clock  tea  we  bade  our  hosts  adieu, 
delighted  with  our  visit.  They  insisted  on  our  taking  away  with  us  a  number  of  the 
cakes. 

I  had  read  a  great  deal  about  the  women  of  the  east  meeting  at  the  baths  as  at 
a  club  room,  and  I  was  very  anxious  to  see  them,  indeed,  to  take  a  bath  with  them. 
I  was  told  I  would  not  be  allowed  to  enter  a  bath  in  Tangiers,  so  I  had  to  wait  until  I 
reached  Algiers.  The  dress  of  the  Algerine  differs  somewhat  from  that  of  the  Tan- 
gerine, the  conspicuous  difference  being  in  the  drawers  or  trousers,  those  in  Algiers 
being  very  large,  loose  and  baggy.  A  woman  walks  or  rather  waddles  about  with  a 
balloon  of  spme  thick  white  material  on  each  leg.  Her  upper  dress  comes  just  below 
the  knee,  and  is  a  slip  of  white  embroidered  muslin  or  lace  over  colored  silk,  bound  at 
the  waist  with  a  sash.  As  ornaments  are  used  ear-rings,  necklaces,  bracelets  and  a 
curious  pin,  which  I  can  scarcely  describe,  used  to  fasten  the  draperies.  The  pin  is  of 
Kabyle  origin,  generally  silver,  with  a  flat  head  in  shape  of  a  triangle,  a  crescent  or 
disk  or  the  prophet's  hand.  It  is  either  cut  out  in  lace  work  or  is  of  filagree.  Fastened 
to  the  pin  is  an  open  ring,  and  through  this  incomplete  ring,  with  a  ball  at  each 
side  of  the  open  part,  the  material  is  caught,  so  that  it  is  as  secure  as  if  fastened 
with  one  of  our  safety  pins.  The  French  occupation  of  Algiers  has  done  away  with 
many  old  customs  and  has  rendered  the  people  less  bigoted.  Any  stranger  taking  off 
his  or  her  shoes  can  go  all  over  the  mosques,  while  in  Tangiers  strangers  have  been 
nearly  killed  for  attempting  this. 

In  Algiers  the  women  of  the  upper  classes  walk  or  drive  abroad,  wrapped  in  the 
sheet-like  drapery.  They  do  not  seem  to  aim  at  concealing  their  faces,  and  the  dra- 
pery is  often  semi-transparent.  I  saw  them  at  the  tomb  or  shrine  of  one  of  their 
saints,  where  barren  women  go  to  pray  for  children,  lounging  about  on  the  cushions  or 
floor  without  mantles  or  drapery,  and  men  coming  and  going  all  the  time.  We  were 
directed  to  a  bath,  and  at  the  door  all  our  romantic  illusions  about  the  beauty  of  them 
were  dispelled.  The  old  hag  in  charge  exacted  a  fee  of  twenty  cents  for  allowing  us 
to  enter  and  look  on.  We  went  down  two  or  three  steps  to  a  room  below  the  level  of 
the  street,  dark,  dirty,  ill-smelling.  Around  the  wall  ran  a  divan,  and  on  it  were  heaps 
of  clothes  left  in  charge  of  the  old  woman  and  her  assistants,  two  almost  nude,  repul- 
sively ugly  negresses.  The  old  woman  led  us  to  a  door  which  opened  into  a  steam 
room.  The  marble  floor  of  it  was  several  inches  deep  in  water,  and  two  completely 
naked  negresses  kept  it  at  the  same  height  by  continually  dashing  on  it  pails  of  water 
from  a  fountain  high  on  the  wall,  an  outlet  carrying  off  the  water.  The  steam  filled  the 
room  as  with  a  cloud,  and  the  most  strong  and  offensive  odor  of  perspiration  filled  every 
nook  and  corner.  On  the  floor  were  over  fifty  nude  women  and  little  girls,  some  scrub- 
bing themselves  or  each  other,  others  washing  their  heads  and  combing  out  their  long 
hair,  others  again  were  stretched  out  at  full  length,  resting  after  their  exercises,  not  a 
shred  of  clothing  to  be  seen  unless  wash  rags  and  towels  could  be  so  called.  We  stood 
gazing  a  few  minutes  and  then  beat  a  hasty  retreat,  glad  to  get  away  from  the  heat  and 
the  stench.  The  women  did  not  seem  to  mind  our  looking  at  them;  they  only  called 
out  to  shut  the  door  behind  us,  as  the  draft  was  cold,  I  could  not  help  thinking  what 
a  golden  opportunity  such  a  visit  would  be  for  a  painter  or  sculptor,  with  such  models 
scattered  around  in  so  many  different  positions,  and  nearly  all  young  and  handsome. 
I  was,  however,  cured  of  all  desire  to  participate  in  an  eastern  bath.    • 

A  few  days  later  we  left  the  shores  of  Africa,  and,  steaming  across  the  Mediterra- 


468  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

nean  to  France,  I  had  these  Moorish  women  constantly  in  mind.  They  seemed  happy 
and  cheerful;  I  had  not  seen  an  unhappy  or  cross  looking  woman  from  Tangiers  to 
Algiers,  save  those  who  were  actually  suffering.  All,  from  the  dirty,  bathing-sheet 
draped  women  of  the  market  place,  to  their  more  fortunate  and  daintier  sisters  of 
the  palace,  seemed  blessed  with  even  tempers.  They  evidently  had  no  idea  of  the 
higher  education,  of  the  fads,  isms  and  ologies  that  make  part  of  our  lives.  Their 
children,  their  embroideries,  their  clothes  and  jewels,  their  flowers  and  trifles  seemed 
to  fill  their  lives  full  of  interest,  and  I  asked  myself  this  question:  "Are  we  women  of 
another  race,  striving  upward  and  onward  feverishly  toward  a  higher  goal — are  we  any 
happier,  any  better  women  than  these  simple-minded  creatures  with  no  interests  out- 
side of  their  homes?"  I  have  not  yet  answered  the  question  to  my  own  satisfaction, 
and  so  I  leave  it  to  you. 


WOMAN  AS  A  FINANCIER. 


By  MRS.  MARY  A.  LIPSCOMB. 

By  simple  illustration  and  a  feV  well-established  facts  I  hope  to  show  that  woman 
is  not  only  capable  of  managing  money,  but  that  she  is  even  a  safer  custodian  of  funds 

than  man.  It  is,  therefore,  an  exploded  theory  that 
women  who  have  property  to  manage  must,  like  chil- 
ren  and  imbeciles,  be  provided  with  guardians.  Under- 
stand me,  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  she  is  a  more 
honest  or  a  wiser  financier  than  man,  but  simply  that 
she  is  a  more  careful  one.  Woman  is  not  naturally 
speculativ^e  while  man  is.  It  is  said,  and  I  think  the 
court  records  and  lawyers  throughout  the  country 
corroborate  the  statement,  that  a  widow  left  in  charge 
of  her  own  estate  will  invariably  manage  it  judiciously 
and,  if  she  does  not  augment  it  to  any  very  great  extent, 
she  will  live  within  her  income  and  never  allow  her 
property  to  be  squandered.  On  the  contrary,  when 
woman's  financial  ability  is  distrusted  and  a  guardian 
is  appointed  from  the  stronger  sex,  in  very  many 
cases  he  becomes  enriched  and  the  widow,  sad  to 
relate,  finds  her  earthly  possessions  "growing  small  by 
degrees  and  beautifully  less"  each  day.  It  behooves 
us  then,  as  mothers  of  the  present  generation  and 
directors  of  the  education  of  the  young,  to  see  to  it 
MRS.  M.  A.  LIPSCOMB,  ^^'^^  culturc  iTi  thls  partlcular  is  not  neglected.     Girls 

should  be  taught  early  the  care  of  money.  They 
should  be  encouraged  to  open  a  bank  account.  They  should  be  taught  to  draw  checks 
and  give  receipts,  balance  books,  and  all  else  that  is  necessary  to  make  them  intelli- 
gent managers  of  small  sums  of  money.  Later  on  they  should  know  something  of 
the  nature  of  contracts  and  deeds;  of  stocks  and  bonds;  of  securities  and  interest; 
so  if  they  have  property  of  their  own  to  manage  there  will  be  no  danger  of  their  los- 
ing it  by  mismanagement  or  ignorance.  Walter  Besant  thinks  it  a  very  dangerous 
experiment  for  woman  to  assume  any  part  of  man's  work  and  gives  this  friendly 
advice  to  them:  "Take  care,  ladies,  man  is  a  useful  creature  when  wisely  trained,  but 
there  is  no  work  so  difficult  or  so  dirty  that  the  average  erring  man  will  not  leave  to 
his  wife  to  do  if  she  shows  the  ability  to  do  it  and  the  conviction  that  it  is  her  duty." 
Our  author  is  right  so  far  as  certain  branches  of  man's  work  is  concerned,  but  I  hold 
that  in  matters  of  finance  and  domestic  economy  woman  is  man's  safest  and  truest 
guide. 

Someone  has  pertinently  remarked  that,  "  Washington  might  as  well  have  decreed 
by  legislation  how  high  a  brown  thrasher  should  fly,  or  how  deep  a  trout  should 
plunge,  as  to  try  to  seek  out  the  height  or  depth  of  woman's  duty.  The  capacity  will 
finally  settle  the  whole  question."     As  to  her  capacity  to  manage  finances,  she  has 

Mrs.  M.  A.  Lipscomb  was  born  in  Athens,  Ga.  Her  parents  were  Laura  Cobb  Ratherford  and  Williams  Rutherford. 
She  was  educated  at  the  Lucy  Cobb  Institute,  Athens,  (ia.,  and  has  traveled  throughout  the  United  States  and  Europe.  She 
married  Francis  Adgate  Lipscomb,  Professor  of  Belles-lettres  at  the  University  of  Georgia.  Her  special  work  has  been  in 
the  interest  of  elocution,  science  and  general  education.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  essays,  plays,  iioems,  newspaper 
articles,  etc.  Her  profession  is  that  of  a  teacher.  She  sams  up  her  life  as  follows :  "  Half  my  years  are  spent  and  I  am  bat 
on  the  threshold  of  knowledge.  ' This  only  I  know  that  I  know  nothing.'"  In  religions  faith  she  is  a  Baptist.  Her  post- 
olfice  address  is  Athens,  Ga. 

469 


470  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

settled  that  question  for  herself  so  far  as  she  has  been  tested.  In  the  state  of  Georgia^ 
where  I  live,  there  are  several  banks  with  women  presidents  and  directors,  and  in  these 
perilous  times  of  embarrassment  and  failure  not  one  of  these  banks  has  been  seriously- 
threatened.  Out  West  there  are  women  cashiers  and,  so  far  as  my  knowledge  goes, 
not  one  has  ever  become  a  defaulter,  nor  has  by  unwise  management  involved  the 
stockholders.  In  Georgia,  too,  not  far  from  my  native  town,  is  a  little  village  of  sev- 
eral hundred  inhabitants  under  the  government  of  a  woman  mayor.  It  i^s  a  new  place, 
but  there  is  an  air  of  prosperity  and  thrift  about  it  that  is  very  remarkable.  Even  the 
stronger  sex  stop  to  admire  and  commend  the  hand  that  holds  and  guides  the  reins  of 
government.  It  is  said  that  this  little  town  of  Demorest  is  the  best  conditioned  town 
in  our  state.  Out  in  Kansas  there  is  still  another  town  that,  I  am  told,  is  entirely 
ofificered  by  women,  and  it  is  affirmed  that  the  finances  of  that  place  are  more  prosper- 
ous than  those  of  any  other  place  in  the  Union.  Said  Frank  Leslie  to  his  wife  when 
he  was  dying:  "Go  to  my  office,  sit  in  my  place,  and  do  my  work  until  my  debts  are 
paid."  He  recognized  in  her  the  ability  to  do  this  work,  and  the  result  proves  that 
his  judgment  was  not  mistaken.  At  the  time  his  business  was  hopelessly  insolvent, 
his  debts  being  estimated  at  three  hundred  thousand  dollars.  With  a  brave  heart  she 
begged  time  of  her  creditors  to  rescue  her  husband's  name  from  the  shame  of  bank- 
ruptcy. It  was  with  distrust  that  they  granted  her  request,  but  in  an  incredibly  short 
time  every  debt  was  paid  and  the  entire  business  placed  on  a  firm  basis.  Today  there 
is  a  no  more  flourishing  business  than  that  of  which  Mrs.  Leslie  is  the  sole  proprietor. 

Perhaps  the  strictest  financier  today  and  the  richest  woman  in  America  is  Mrs. 
Hetty  Green,  of  New  York.  She  is  known  to  all  by  the  little  green  satchel  that  she 
carries  on  her  arm,  in  which  are  stored  stocks  and  securities.  She  is  the  only  woman 
who  has  ever  dared  to  venture  a  deal  with  Wall  Street  brokers,  and  in  no  investment 
has  she  ever  been  known  to  lose.  It  took  the  skillful  financiering  of  a  woman  to 
restore  prosperity  to  a  people  whose  ruin  had  nearly  been  effected  by  the  errors  of 
the  two  preceding  kings.  Might  not  the  wisdom  displayed  by  the  Virgin  Queen  be 
helpful  in  these  later  times  to  a  people  now  beset  by  similar  difficulties? 

Mrs.  Smythe,  of  North  Dakota,  is  a  woman  whose  farming  interests  cover  many 
square  miles,  and  she  grows  annually  thousands  of  bushels  of  golden  grain.  She  has 
her  overseers  and  superintendents  subject  to  her  orders,  but  she  is  the  supreme  director 
of  all  her  interests.  She  invests  her  money  in  real  estate,  and  from  the  yearly  rentals 
she  is  enabled  to  carry  on  her  large  farming  interests  without  borrowing  or  going  in 
debt.  Are  there  many  gentlemen  farmers  who  can  boast  as  much?  These  few  illus- 
trations called  from  here  and  there  are  cited,  not  for  the  purpose  of  advocating- 
woman's  rights,  but  simply  in  proof  of  her  ability  as  a  financier;  an  ability  which  is 
among  the  God  given  rights  with  which  she  is  endowed,  and  which  man  in  full  justice 
to  her  is  bound  to  recognize,  I  am  not  an  advocate  of  woman's  rights  in  the  oppro- 
brious sense  of  that  expression.  I  do  not  care  to  see — hope  never  to  see  the  women 
of  America  leave  the  quiet  sanctity  of  their  homes  and  thrust  themselves  out  into  the 
political  world.  I  could  not  be  so  untrue  to  that  mother  who  taught  me  that  modesty 
was  the  cloak  of  protection  to  be  worn  by  woman.  I  could  not  be  so  untrue  to  my 
religion,  the  religion  of  my  father,  which  has  taught  me  that  the  good  woman  "  openeth 
her  mouth  with  wisdom,  and  in  her  tongue  is  the  law  of  kindness, "  that  "she  looketh 
well  to  the  ways  of  her  household  and  eateth  not  the  bread  of  idleness. "  Nay,  I  could 
never  advocate  any  right  that  would  place  woman  where  the  blush  of  shame  would 
never  mantle  her  cheek,  or  where  the  chivalry  of  man  would  refuse  to  accord  her  that 
honor  which  is  every  true  woman's  due. 

In  closing  this  little  paper  which  I  only  offer  as  containing  some  suggestive 
thoughts,  I  know  of  no  more  beautiful  and  encouraging  example  to  women  in  the 
financial  world  than  the  work  that  has  been  accomplished  by  her  at  this  P2xposition 
now  in  progress.  These  walls  and  all  that  they  contain  are  grand  monuments  to  her 
energy,  patience  and  financial  skill. 

All  honor  then  to  the  noble  daughters  of  America  who  have  conceived  the  plan 
of  all  this  work  and  have  successfully  carried  it  into  execution! 


A  FEW  NOTED  WRITERS  OF  THE  SOUTH. 


.'J^ 


By  MRS.  J.  W.  DRURY. 

Among  the  writers  of  the  South,  we  include  the  names  of  men  who  wrote  their 
works  in  deeds,  as  well  as  in  words.    It  seems  fitting  in  this  "  Columbian  Year,"  while  the 

peoples  of  all  lands  are  with  us,  pleased  to  share  in 
our  rejoicings,  that  we  should  mingle  with  our  thanks- 
:  givings   praises  of  the  men   who    planted    firmly  the 

"^^<  standard  of  freedom,  in  this,  the  fairest  portion  of  the 

New  World.  In  love  of  country  we  recognize  no 
dividing  lines;  but  the  brief  time  at  command  will 
permit  only  the  mention  of  a  few  brilliant  names — in 
the  departments  of  state,  science  and  letters — from 
one  section:  Omitting  living  writers,  Virginia  occu- 
pies the  place  of  honor  in  the  federation  of  states,  as 
the  "  Mother  of  Presidents,"  from  the  fact,  that  of  the 
first  five  chief,  executives  four  were  natives  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  were  re-elected.  Later  there  were  natives 
of  the  same  state  similarly  honored.  Her  colonial 
history  will  ever  present  peculiar  attractions  to  the 
English-speaking  races,  as  Virginia  was  the  first  of 
the  American  colonies  settled  by  the  English. 

The  first  book  written  on  the  American  soil  came 
from  the  "  Old  Dominion,"  entitled  "Good  News 
from  Virginia."  Its  author,  Dr.  Alexander  VVhitaker, 
came  to  America,  impelled  by  the  desire  to  do  mis- 
sionary work  in  the  new  land.  It  was  he  who  baptized 
the  gentle  Pocahontas,  and  gave  her  hand  in  marriage  to  one  of  the  race,  hated  by  her 
savage  father. 

A  review  of  colonial  rule  is  potent,  to  render  us  content  with  the  social  and  polit- 
ical conditions  of  self-government — moreover  vividly  illustrates  the  rapid  strides  of 
progress  in  the  preceding  two  centuries.  The  following  is  a  concise  picture  of  the 
colony  of  Virginia  under  the  rule  of  Sir  William  Berkley,  Governor — given  in  his  own 
words  as  quoted — "The  population  is  forty  thousand.  There  are  forty-eight  parishes, 
and  the  ministers  are  well  paid.  But"  adds  the  governor,  "  I  thank  God  there  are  no  free 
schools,  nor  printing,  and  I  hope  we  shall  not  have  these  hundred  years;  for  learning 
has  brought  disobedience,  and  heresy,  and  sects  into  the  world,  and  printing  has 
divulged  them,  and  libels,  against  the  best  government.     God  keeps  us  from  both." 

The  testy  governor's  wish  was  fulfilled  in  part — one  hundred  years  succeeded  filled 
with  struggles  for  larger  liberty,  which  in  the  end  of  the  century,  culminated  in  the 
Revolutionary  period.  It  is  grateful  and  fitting  to  commence  this  literary  survey,  with 
the  most  prominent  actor  of  this  epoch.  A  learned  critic  says  that  George  Washing- 
ton was  so  immeasurably  great  in  other  respects  that  it  seems  almost  profanation  to 
speak  of  him  as  the  writer.     Yet  his  writings  fill  twelve  octavo  volumes,  and  are  a  val- 

Mre.  John  Wilson  Drnry  was  born  at  Biitternntts,  OtspRo  County,  N.  Y.  Her  parent*  were  Rev.  Isaac  Garvin 
and  Lucy  Bostwick  Garvin.  Mrs.  Dmry  was  educated  at  Aurora  Seminary,  New  York,  but  her  most  valued  lessons  were 
from  her  father,  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth  College,  who  was  a  man  of  wide  and  varied  learning.  She  has  traveled  extensively 
in  her  own  country  and  in  foreign  lands.  She  married,  in  1881,  Judge  John  Wilson  Drury,  of  Chicago,  111.  Her  princi- 
pal literary  work  has  been  as  a  newspaper  correspondent,  daring  her  travels.  In  religious  faith  she  is  an  Episcopalian,  and 
is  a  communicant  of  the  church,    fler  postoUice  address  is  Milan,  111. 

471 


MRS.   J.  \V.  DRURY. 


472  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

uable  part  of  the  political  history  of  the  time.  He  had  formed  for  himself  a  style,  the 
unconscious  outgrowth  of  his  character,  which  is  as  distinctly  marked  as  his  hand- 
writing. Even  his  "farewell  address" — in  which  he  invited  the  co-operation  of  Madison, 
Hamilton  and  Jay — gave  unmistakable  evidence  of  the  molding  hand  of  its  original 
author. 

Thomas  Jefferson's  imperishable  fame  owes  its  existence  not  to  the  fact  that  he 
was  third  President  of  the  American  Republic.  He  won  the  laurel  of  immortality  by 
writing  the  "  Declaration  of  Independence,"  a  document  whose  exalted  sentiment  is 
conveyed  in  diction  worthy  the  most  famous  of  classic  writers.  His  public  life 
embraced  forty-two  years.  Yet  amid  all  the  exciting  rivalries  of  political  life,  he 
found  time  to  retreat  to  the  Shades  of  Monticello,  and  devoted  thought  to  letters,  and 
perfected  his  plans  for  founding  the  University  of  Virginia,  a  monument  alone  suffi- 
cient to  perpetuate  his  name  and  memory. 

Of  the  famed  orators  who  thrilled  the  statesmen  and  the  country  before  the  War 
of  the  Revolution  we  lament  that  there  is  no  record  which  embalms  their  eloquence 
for  all  coming  time.  Even  the  Divine  gift  of  Patrick  Henry — ever  indescribable,  ever 
unapproachable — is  only  a  tradition.  Had  his  pen  been  gifted  as  his  tongue,  we  should 
today  have  need  of  no  other  theme.  Richard  Henry  Lee  was  only  second  to  Patrick 
Henry  in  fervid  eloquence.  He  was  proficient  in  Latin  and  Greek;  also  was  a  deep 
student  and  lover  of  the  classics,  by  which  his  oratory  was  greatly  enriched. 

In  the  councils  of  the  United  Colonies,  an  assemblage  of  intellectual  giants,  Lee 
introduced  the  memorable  resolution  which  kindled  a  fiery  debate,  and  led  to  the 
motion  that  a  committee  be  appointed  to  draft  a  declaration  of  independence.  Of 
this  committee  Lee,  according  to  usage,  should  have  been  chairman.  Illness  in  his 
family  unexpectedly  called  him  away.  On  the  following  day  the  committee  was 
appointed,  with  Jefferson  as  chairman.  By  this  simple  incident  or  accident,  Richard 
Henry  Lee  lost  the  crown  of  glory  which  will  ever  rest  upon  the  brow  of  Thomas 
Jefferson.  We  must  believe  it  wisely  ordered  that  Lee's  eminent  compatriot  was 
called  to  pen  the  immortal  page  which  entitles  him  to  the  high  rank — first  of  South- 
ern writers. 

Of  the  statesmen  of  the  first  three  decades  of  this  century,  none  were  more  prom- 
inent than  William  Wirt.  In  1807  he  won  wide  distinction  in  the  famous  trial  of  Aaron 
Burr  for  high  treason.  In  the  War  of  181 2  he  was  an  ardent  patriot,  engaging  in  active 
military  duty.  In  the  forum  he  displayed  the  same  enthusiasm  with  undaunted  mein, 
breaking  a  lance  with  Pinkney  and  Webster;  plumed  knights,  before  whom  the  stout- 
est heart  might  quail.  Despite  the  pressing  duties  of  public  life  he  found  time  for 
purely  literary  work.  His  writings  were  varied.  He  left  upon  record  that  a  literary 
career,  above  all  others,  would  have  been  most  congenial  to  his  tastes.  The  average 
reader  will  remember  him  as  author  of  the  biography  of  Patrick  Henry. 

With  the  war  in  which  William  Wirt  acted  a  subordinate  part  is  associated  another 
name,  which  will  be  remembered  so  long  as  heaven's  spangled  azure  proclaims  upon 
every  sea,  and  to  all  nations,  the  Divine  origin  of  the  American  Republic.  Francis 
Scott  Key  was  born  in  Frederick  County,  Maryland,  and  educated  at  St.  John's  College, 
Annapolis. 

Like  Hopkinson,  he  is  indebted  for  literary  celebrity  to  the  composition  of  a 
single  patriotic  song,  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner."  It  was  composed  in  1814  on  the 
occasion  of  the  bombardment  of  Fort  McHenry,  when  the  author  was  a  prisoner  in 
the  hands  of  the  attacking  British. 

The  same  period,  from  1780  to  185 1,  is  adorned  by  the  name  of  John  James  Audu- 
bon. Louisiana  proudly  claims  him  as  an  honored  son.  He  was  of  French  descent. 
He  engaged  first  in  commercial  pursuits,  but  finding  himself  strongly  drawn  toward 
the  study  of  birds  he  decided  to  follow  the  bent  of  his  mind.  After  nearly  half  a  life- 
time spent  in  this  pursuit  Audubon  visited  Europe  to  obtain  subscribers  for  his  great 
work,  "  The  Birds  of  America."  He  was  everywhere  received  with  applause.  The 
most  distinguished  men  of  the  time,  Humboldt,  Herschel,  Sir  Walter  Scott,  Jeffreys 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  473 

and  Wilson,  warmly  commended  him  and  his  work.  Wilson,  of  "  Blackwood's  maga- 
zine," said  of  him:  "  He  is  the  greatest  artist  in  his  own  walk  that  ever  lived." 

Matthew  Fontaine  Maury  is  a  name  as  familiar  to  the  civilized  world  as  that  of 
Aububon.  "Wind,"  "  Current  Charts,"  and  "  Physical  Geography  of  the  Sea,"  would 
be  sufficient  to  render  the  author  famous.  Yet  these  are  but  a  small  part  of  the  works 
which  have  proven  of  incalculable  benefit  to  science  and  navigation.  His  fame  rests 
upon  his  services  in  behalf  of  science. 

The  first  half  of  the  century  presents  a  sharp  contrast  to  the  last  in  the  scope  and 
character  of  woman's  sphere.  Southern  skies  and  perpetual  sunshine  had  imparted  a 
luster  to  the  eye,  a  glow  to  the  cheek,  and  an  enthusiasm  and  vivacity  which  distin- 
guished peculiarly  the  daughters  of  the  South. 

The  famous  beauties  of  "  Lady  Washington's  Court,"  as  the  official  circle  of  the 
first  administration  was  termed,  live  in  history.  Their  pictures  so  faithfully  painted, 
that  we  are  familiar  with  their  traits  and  features  as  though  they  were  of  our  world 
today. 

In  this  early  period  the  most  rarely  gifted  women,  pre-eminent  in  grace  of  speech 
and  manner,  matchless  in  physical  endowments,  were  content  to  shine  as  queens  in 
home  and  society.  We  can  only  afford  time  to  present  the  representative  from  each 
sphere. 

Dolly  Madison,  wife  of  the  fourth  President,  is  ever  described  as  the  brilliant 
leader  of  the  official  circle,  not  by  the  strong  hand  of  power,  as  "  First  Lady  of  the 
Land,"  but  by  the  magic  qualities  of  beauty  and  worth  combined,  she  captured  all 
hearts,  and  today  it  is  deemed  a  distinguished  compliment  to  her  successor  to  liken 
her  popularity  to  that  of  Mrs.  Madison. 

A  perfect  example  of  home-life  is  witnessed  in  the  mother  of  George  Washing- 
ton. If  the  grand  life  of  the  son  truly  interpreted  the  lessons  graven  upon  his  heart 
by  his  mother,  then  we  may  pronounce  Mary  Washington  "  best  writer  of  the  South," 
and  one  whose  work  representing  motherhood  in  other  myriad  homes  atones  the 
absence  of  literary  celebrities  among  her  Southern  countrywomen.  It  is  interesting 
to  note  that  the  women  of  the  entire  country  in  this  eventful  year  of  woman's  progress, 
have  signified  their  appreciation  of  Mary  Washington's  greatness  by  joining  in  the 
successful  effort  to  erect  a  monument  to  her  memory. 

Time  will  suffice  only  to  present  one  other  name  so  world-renowned  that  the  fame 
is  American  as  well  as  Southern.  A  sculptured  bust,  dark  with  the  shadow  of  the  sable 
raven,  is  a  familiar  picture  in  all  lands.  In  every  home  where  classic  Pallas  fills  an 
ideal  niche,  is  the  name  of  Edgar  Allan  Poe  as  familiar  as  household  words.  Un- 
known to  society  or  fame,  upon  the  publication  of  the  "Raven,"  the  author  suddenly 
became  a  lion,  and  his  writings  were  eagerly  sought  after  by  publishers. 

The  American  poet,  from  beneath  the  black  shadow  of  the  "  Raven,"  echoes  the 
despairing  cry,  "  Mv  soul  from  out  that  shadow  shall  be  lifted  never  more."  We  fain 
would  believe  that  in  the  distant  "Aiden  "  there  is  a  "  balm  "  for  soaring  souls  allied 
to  hearts  of  sin  and  sorrow.  Yet  the  knell  of  hope,  "  My  soul  is  dark,"  is  wafted  from 
the  new  to  the  old,  and  in  that  shadow  the  memory  of  America's  greatest  poet  ever 
rests. 


PIANO  PLAYING  WITHOUT  PIANO  PRACTICING. 


By  MISS  MARY  VENETTE  HAYES. 

In  this  age  of  advanced  ideas,  when  the  entire  system  of  educating  children  is 
being  so  happily  re-constructed,  I  have  noticed  with  surprise  that  one  evil  has  appar- 
ently escaped  the  attention  of  the  broad-minded 
men  and  women  to  whose  efforts  the  change  of  senti- 
ment is  largely  due,  and  that  is,  the  injury  done  to 
little  children  by  long  continued  hours  of  piano  prac- 
ticing. 

From  my  own  observation  and  experience  I  con- 
clude that  our  common  system  of  musical  training, 
.  employed  in  many  music  schools  and  colleges,  robs 
children  of  more  mental  and  physical  strength  than 
can  be  restored  in  a  lifetime. 

A  child  is  placed  in  a  room  by  itself  to  master 
insurmountable  difificulties,  to  play  scales  and  exer- 
cises in  endless  repetition,  and  to  lift  its  little  hands 
up  and  down  hundreds  of  times,  like  an  automatic 
machine,  to  "  strengthen  the  wrist,"  as  it  is  called  in 
professional  parlance.  What  wonder,  then,  that  both 
body  and  mind  suffer  under  the  inaction,  the  nerves 
are  overstrained  by  the  tiresome  and  wearying  task, 
and  more  than  all,  the  wonderful  music  spirit  flies 
away  unnoticed  and  unsought.  The  essence  of  music 
is  not  a  part  of  notes,  books  or  instruments;  but  this 
is  seldom  appreciated  by  the  pupil  or  mentioned  by 
the  teacher  until  in  later  years,  when  the  struggle  to  cultivate  the  musical  intelligence 
becomes  exceedingly  dif^cult  because  of  its  having  been  dulled  by  the  repetition  of 
tones  without  any  idea  of  their  power  of  expression  or  their  value  in  relation  to  each 
other. 

The  blending  of  color  is  most  essential  to  the  artistic  beauty  of  apicture.  A  pink 
tree  in  a  landscape  would  immediately  excite  comment,  as  also  the  omission  of  a  fea- 
ture of  the  face  in  a  portrait,  yet  such  monstrosities  in  the  interpretation  of  music 
scarcely  attract  attention. 

Can  not  young  children  be  taught  to  be  tone  painters?  It  should  be  as  interesting 
to  a  child  to  study  a  melody  which  wholly  absorbs  its  mind  as  to  read  a  fairy  tale. 
Not  only  would  the  musical  imagination  be  stimulated,  but  because  of  the  melody 
being  all-absorbing,  the  child  would  unconsciously  learn  notes,  rhythms  and  phrasing, 
just  as  it  should  learn  to  read  a  book  without  giving  the  reading  a  thought,  being  so 
absorbed  in  the  story. 

.But  nowadays  children  are  overwhelmed  with  difificulties  which  cramp  their  men- 
tal powers  and  crush  their  enthusiasm. 

It  is  not  meant  that  all  children  should  study  music — the  rose  and  the  wildflower 
each  have  their  climate  and  their  soil. 

If  every  child  who  studies  music  were  destined  to  become  an  artist,  possibly  there 
might  be  more  merit  in  modern  methods,  but  since  only  a  very  small  proportion  ever 

Miss  Mary  Venette  Hayes  was  born  in  Chicago,  III.  Her  parents  were  Americans.  She  was  educated  In  Chicago.  Miss 
Hayes  is  engaged  in  the  development  of  the  musical  intelligence  of  children.  Her  work  in  this  line  is  meeting  with  great 
eaccess  and  attracting  wide  attention.    Her  postoffice  address  is  No.  189  Cass  Street,  Chicago,  111. 

474 


MISS   MARY  VENETTE   HAYES. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  475 

reach  this  consummation,  the  sacrifice  required  to  secure  a  technical  training  which  is 
cifterward  entirely  lost,  must  be  considered  comparatively  useless. 

If  instead  of  the  long  hours  of  practicing  the  child's  attention  was  directed  to  the 
importance  of  listening  to  music  and  studying  its  history,  as  well  as  the  various 
works  of  the  great  masters,  and  the  interpretation  of  their  ideas,  its  musical  intel- 
ligence would  develop  as  a  flower  unfolds,  and  the  child  though  unable  to  execute 
on  any  instrument,  would  nevertheless  be  an  artist  and  a  musician. 

It  is  a  mistaken  idea  to  believe  classical  music  may  not  be  appreciated  by  a  child. 
I  was  convinced  of  this  when  taking  a  little  girl  seven  years  of  age  to  a  rehearsal  of 
the  Apollo  Club,  it  being  the  first  chorus  or  music  of  the  kind  she  had  ever  heard. 
She  was  greatly  interested  throughout  the  entire  performance,  and  that  same  evening 
at  home  sung  several  measures  of  the  chorus  perfectly.  She,  of  course,  had  an 
exceptional  memory,  but  as  we  all  know,  it  is  "  the  exception  that  proves  the  rule." 

Even  in  the  hope  of  becoming  a  virtuoso  more  rapid  and  intelligent  progress 
would  undoubtedly  be  made  by  devoting  more  time  during  the  first  years  of  study  to 
musical  analysis. 

Having  been  greatly  interested  in  the  latent  musical  ability  of  children,  believing 
the  inadequacy  of  present  methods  responsible  for  its  slow  development,  I  determined 
to  prove  the  truth  of  my  theories  by  putting  them  into  practical  execution,  and  so  chose 
a  class  where  my  ideas  would  not  be  restricted  to  methods  which  I  did  not  approve. 
As  many  others  in  emergency,  I  turned  to  Miss  Jane  Addams,  of  the  Hull  House,  who 
found  the  class  for  me  at  once,  and  has  since  been  its  chief  friend,  providing  a  room 
in  which  to  meet  and  doing  all  in  her  power  to  contribute  to  its  success. 

When  hearing  the  children  had  no  pianos  in  their  homes,  I  greatly  doubted  the 
success  of  the  experiment,  but  the  thirty  eager  faces  that  appeared  in  response  to  Miss 
Addams'  call  reassured  me,  as  I  realized  that  this  was  the  opportunity  for  discovering 
what  could  be  accomplished  without  practicing.  Their  ignorance  was  perfect  for  my 
purpose,  the  majority  never  having  touched  a  piano,  and  not  having  the  least  idea  how 
to  move  the  fingers  from  one  key  to  another.  Having  but  one  piano  at  our  dis- 
posal, we  were  obliged  to  substitute  something  else  with  which  to  accomplish  our 
work,  and  began  by  playing  simple  technical  exercises  on  a  table,  or  anything  that 
would  support  the  hand,  sometimes  singing  the  tones  and  sometimes  accompanied 
with  the  piano,  in  order  to  learn  rhythm  and  melody  simultaneously.  In  this  way  an 
excellent  idea  of  pitch  was  soon  acquired,  which  will  be  illustrated  later. 

Two  little  girls  in  the  class  said  they  committed  their  first  piece  of  music  while 
they  were  putting  the  house  in  order,  Anna  singing  the  treble  and  Regnia  the  alto 
until  they  knew  it,  and  afterward  were  able  to  play  it  quite  intelligently,  thus  proving 
the  value  of  technical  work  in  memorizing  is  greatly  overestimated.  Some  of  the 
pupils  have  committed  an  entire  piece  of  music  to  memory  before  playing  it  upon  the 
piano,  showing  that  even  hearing  the  tone  is  unnecessary  to  an  intelligent  understand- 
ing of  a  composition. 

When  we  first  began  the  class  was  so  large  and  the  time  so  limited  in  which  to 
teach  it,  that  on  each  lesson  day  not  more  than  half  of  the  children  were  able  to  reach 
the  piano;  consequently  it  became  necessary  to  have  them  all  come  together  in  order 
that  each  might  have  the  opportunity  of  receiving  at  least  some  benefit  by  hearing 
the  instruction  given  to  the  others.  This  subsequently  developed  into  one  of  the 
most  valuable  features  of  the  class.  The  strict  attention  given  by  the  children 
was  all  that  could  be  desired,  and  each  unconsciously  became  capable  of  criticis- 
ing intelligently.  Sometimes  when  the  younger  children  were  playing,  the  older  girls 
would  read  the  life  of  a  composer  in  an  adjoining  room,  telling  it  to  the  class  in  their 
own  language  on  their  return.  They  are  now  drawing  the  likenesses  of  various  com- 
posers and  also  making  busts  of  them  in  clay. 

Wishing  to  avoid  the  usual  relations  of  teacher  and  pupil,  I  encouraged  the  chil- 
dren to  form  a  club.  They  made  their  own  rules  (which,  by  the  way,  had  nothing 
whatever  to  do  with  music — prohibiting  whispering,  the  chewing  of  gum,  etc.)  and 
chose  their  own  name,  the  Paderewski  Club. 


476  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

During  the  week  the  children  collect  from  the  newspapers  any  clippings  in 
regard  to  music  that  interest  them  and  these  are  pasted  by  the  secretary  in  a  scrap- 
book. 

The  spirit  shown  by  the  children  toward  each  other  has  always  been  most  gener- 
ous and  friendly,  and  I  have  often  trembled  for  fear  that  their  simple  unconsciousness 
might  be  disturbed.  For  this  reason  we  continue  with  our  work,  whatever ^it  may  be, 
no  matter  how  many  visitors  enter  the  room.  In  pursuance  of  this  idea,  I  did  not  tell 
the  children  of  my  plan  to  bring  them  to  the  Woman's  Building,  but  in  their  search  for 
clippings  they  discovered  the  announcement  and  brought  it  with  mingled  surprise  and 
delight  to  the  scrap-book  when  they  met,  as  they  supposed,  for  a  lesson.  I  have  dis- 
covered accidentally  that  several  of  them  are  teaching  pupils  in  their  own  neighbor- 
hood, an  excellent  illustration  that  their  studies  are  not  irksome;  a  proof  of  the  point 
they  care  but  little  for  light  music  is  the  fact  that  they  have  exhausted  the  entire  stock 
of  classical  music  of  a  music  dealer  near  the  Hull  House;  thirty-three  pieces  of  six-cent 
music  being  the  first  music  the  club  has  been  able  to  buy  itself.  It  has  heretofore  had 
no  choice  of  music  whatever,  having  been  obliged  to  use  any  that  could  be  secured  for 
merely  a  song,  because  of  its  being  soiled  or  otherwise  unsalable.  However,  in  spite 
of  every  obstacle,  at  the  end  of  six  months  they  were  playing  as  well  as  many  children 
supposedly  practicing  two  hours  a  day. 

As  one  of  our  musical  papers  said  not  long  ago:  "  Many  of  the  mistakes  of  the 
pupil  are  directly  attributable  to  the  teacher's  inability  to  see  things  from  the  pupil's 
standpoint."  This  is  one  reason  so  many  of  the  world's  distinguished  men  were  con- 
sidered failures  at  school.  The  eminent  teacher,  Albrechtberg,  said  of  Beethoven: 
"  He  will  never  come  to  anything,"  simply  because  Beethoven  could  not  study  music 
from  his  standpoint. 

Rubinstein  expressed  a  belief  not  long  ago  that  music  is  passing  through  a  crisis 
of  deterioration  in  composition,  though  he  admitted  at  the  same  time  that  technic 
has  taken  gigantic  strides;  and  that  technical  training  is  in  the  ascendency  is  to  be 
deplored,  as  many  composers  and  otherwise  talented  musicians  are  driven  from  their 
field  of  labor  through  failure  to  appreciate  that  virtuosity  is  not  the  most  essential  ele- 
ment in  the  development  of  musicianship.  Miss  Caruthers  illustrated  this  point  in  a 
most  interesting  manner  at  the  Woman's  Musical  Congress  of  the  World's  Congress 
Auxiliary,  which  convened  recently  at  the  Art  Palace. 

It  is  the  musical  intelligence  that  makes  expression  and  guides  technical  ability, 
and  music  is  not  found  through  weary  hours  of  struggling  with  technic.  As  one  of 
our  greatest  American  poets  has  said: 

"  The  infinite  always  is  silent, 
It  is  only  the  finite  speaks; 
Our  words  are  the  idle  wavecaps 
On  a  deep  that  never  breaks. 
We  question  with  wand  of  Science, 
Explain,  decide  and  discuss; 
But  only  in  meditation. 
Doth  music  speak  to  us." 


EXTRACTS  FROM  VOCAL  ART. 


By  M.  AUGUSTA  BROWN,  M.  D. 

Vocal  art,  like  all  fine  art,  has  its  mechanical-practical  as  well  as  its  ethical  side. 
The  sculptor  may  chisel  away  many  a  weary  year  before  he  can  bring  out  the  emotions 

that  live  in  stone.  The  painter's  hand  must  be  prac- 
ticed to  the  finest  cunning  before  he  can  transmit  to 
canvas  the  imageries  that  live  in  his  brain.  He  who 
would  transmit  the  soul  through  the  singing  voice 
must  be  painter,  poet,  orator  and  sculptor. 

The  voice  may  be  very  justly  compared  to  the 
diamond  in  passing  to  a  state  of  perfection,  and  as 
the  brilliancy  of  the  diamond  may  be  impaired  or 
ruined  by  one  false  stroke,  so  may  the  voice  be  im* 
paired  or  ruined  by  imprudence,  by  false  or  mistaken 
method. 

In  practicing  softly  the  voice  is  never  in  danger 
of  being  strained,  and  it  is  easy  to  add  power  after 
sweetness  and  brilliancy  are  acquired.  There  should  be 
no  more  break  in  the  voice,  in  passing  from  the  lowest 
to  the  highest  tone,  than  there  is  in  passing  on  the 
key-board  of  the  piano;  and  there  is  none,  unless  we 
make  the  tone  with  the  effort  of  the  throat  muscles, 
instead  of  letting  the  air  make  the  tone  by  playing 
upon  the  muscles.  The  break  that  occurs  is  always 
caused  by  holding  the  throat  muscles  more  or  less 
rigid  (when  they  should  be  held  perfectly  loose,  pas- 
sive and  free).  If  we  hold  the  muscles  at  all  rigid,  we  can  go  only  so  far  when  we 
must  let  go  of  them  and  take  up  the  next  higher.  If  we  hold  these  we  are  obliged  to 
change  again  for  higher  tones,  and  this  change  is  the  cause  of  the  break,  when,  if  we 
simply  let  the  air  play  upon  the  muscles  without  effort,  there  will  be  no  break  from 
the  lowest  to  the  highest  tone.  Bernotzzie's  theme  was  inflation  of  the  lungs  to  their 
fullest  capacity,  a  good  practice  in  moderate  degree,  but  disastrous  if  carried  to  excess. 
Professor  Bears  of  Paris,  on  the  contrary,  taught  his  pupils  to  use  the  smallest 
amount  of  breath  for  the  greatest  vocal  feats,  such  as  making  a  trill  for  thirty  seconds 
with  one  breath,  at  the  same  time  holding  in  the  mouth  a  lighted  match  without  caus- 
ing the  flame  to  flicker. 

Signor  Polini  of  Naples  makes  the  study  of  vocal  music  a  pleasure;  so  simple  is 
his  method,  and  having  so  little  responsibility  or  anxiety,  the  pupil  retains  the  repose 
so  necessary  at  all  times  to  the  singer  and  especially  to  the  beginner. 

Signor  Emanuel  Potentini  of  Rome  goes  to  the  other  extreme,  exacting  in  every 

Dr.  M.  Aagosta  Brown  is  a  native  of  Albany,  N.  Y.  She  was  bom  March  14, 1896.  Her  parents  were  William  Gage,  Jr., 
and  Martha  Carey  Gage.  She  was  educated  at  the  Albany  Female  Academy  and  at  the  Salem  Academy  of  Mosic,  Connecticut. 
She  studied  in  Italy  with  Lamperti  and  Sangiovanni,  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Masio  of  Milan.  In  Paris  she  studied  with 
Charlotte  Patti,  Karl  Formes,  Caughman,  Bears  and  others.  She  has  traveled  extensively  in  Europe  and  in  America.  She 
married,  in  18i57,  Augustus  L.  Brown,  a  native  of  Georgia.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  health  education  of 
woman.  Her  principal  literary  works  are:  "The  Benefit  of  Horticnltnre."  "  Contagions  Disease* ;  Their  Cause  and  Cure," 
"  Cholera  a  Preventable  Disease,"  and  "  Voice  Production  from  a  Physiological  Standpoint.''  Her  profession  is  that  of 
physician  and  surgeon.  She  has  worked  out  a  method  which  quickly  demonstrates  that  "  vocal  music"  is  an  exact  science. 
Its  laws  are  as  fixed  as  the  laws  of  mathematics,  and  these  laws  involve  the  whole  organism.  Dr.  Brown  is  an  Episcopalian. 
Her  postottice  address  is  No.  4225  Michigan  Avenoe,  Cbicago,  III. 

477 


DR.  M.   AUGUSTA  BROWN. 


478  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

particular.  Professor  Bernardi  of  Milan  makes  execution  a  study,  especially  the  trill 
and  shake;  even  bird  tones  he  considers  legitimate  practice,  as  well  as  all  vocal  feats 
and  movements  used  by  the  orator,  reader  or  impersonator. 

Madam  Fabric's  principal  theme  was  legato,  a  smooth,  flowing  style  Professor 
Morley  agreed  with  Delsarte  that  every  note  should  be  sung  at  first  staccato,  making  a 
clear,  decisive  touch.  The  attack  of  a  note  was  his  care,  so  that  each  tone  should 
represent  a  distinct  pearl  example.  You  will  ask  why  I  went  from  one  grand  master 
to  another.  I  was  in  search  of  information  and  I  found  that  each  master  had  some- 
thing to  impart  that  I  had  not  gained  from  the  other.  There  was  Sangiovanni  s  mas- 
terly and  beautiful  phrasing,  Lamperti's  method  of  voice  building  and  Bernardi's 
execution  and  trill.  Each  master  has  brought  out  fine  voices  through  opposing  meth- 
ods, and  many  fine  voices  have  developed  in  spite  of  method.  But  we  hear  little  of  the 
thousands  of  voices  which  have  failed,  even  thpugh  endowed  by  nature  with  talent  and 
early  promise  of  a  brilliant  career.  Many  such  failures  have  come  from  attempts  to 
make  the  voice  fit  a  certain  method,  instead  of  making  a  method  applicable  to  each 
individual  voice.  Beautiful  voices  are  mourned  as  lost  when  there  is  often  only  some 
simple  obstruction  to  the  operation  of  the  natural  law  governing  song  which  might  be 
easily  removed  or  restored. 

This  has  been  the  object  of  my  study — to  know  the  causes  of  voice  failure,  its 
restoration,  preservation  and  building,  and  it  is  astonishing  how  a  small  and  seemingly 
insignificant  thing  may  temporarily  unbalance  a  voice.  Let  us  look  for  some  of  the 
causes  of  impairment.  "One  of  the  most  simple  (common),  is  dryness  of  the  throat 
and  nasal  cavities,  caused  by  inaction  or  paresis  of  the  glands.  They  fail  to  secrete 
enough  moisture  to  lubricate  the  parts.  This  may  be  temporarily  overcome  by  intro- 
ducing into  the  nostrils,  pharynx,  and  throat  a  very  little  glycerine  just  before 
using  the  voice  Glycerine  and  cream,  equal  parts,  is  still  better.  There  may  be  an 
excessive  secretion,  from  inordinate  activity  of  the  glands,  producing  weakness  or 
catarrh,  or  there  may  be  swollen  tonsils."  Elongated  uvula,  nasal  polypus,  inflamed, 
congested,  relaxed  or  closed  eustachian  tubes,  hoarseness,  congestion  of  the  vocal 
cords,  or  they  may  have  become  thickened  from  chronic  congestion  or  covered  with 
mucus,  or  partially  paralyzed  from  over-taxation  or  weakness,  or  one  may  have  lost 
the  full  vigorous  action  of  the  muscles  or  nerves.  The  diaphragmic  muscle  may  have 
lost  its  tone  from  illness,  weakness  or  over-exertion.  The  chest  and  all  the  organs  of 
the  viscera  may  have  fallen  somewhat  out  of  their  normal  position  from  weakness,  long 
continued  indigestion,  constipation,  insomnia;  other  causes  may  be  anxiety,  mental 
strain,  mental  depression,  sedentary  habits,  low  state  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood 
and  vital  fluids,  excitability  of  the  nerves,  anything  that  exhausts  or  depletes  the  vital 
forces,  nerve  prostration,  debility  or  lack  of  nervous  energy,  may,  in  many  instances, 
prevent  the  free,  forcible  use  of  the  muscles  upon  which  the  voice  depends  The  power 
of  the  voice  organs  depends  upon  the  tone  and  vigor  of  the  whole  system,  and  any 
mode  of  life  that  promotes  health  and  strength  is  favorable  to  voice  production;  and 
upon  the  contrary,  anything  that  fatigues  or  exhausts  is  detrimental  to  the  voice.  The 
decline  of  the  beautiful  voice  of  Gerster  was  caused  by  over-taxation,  unbalanced 
nervous  condition.  Notwithstanding  singers  know  the  baneful  effects  of  singing 
directly  after  eating,  when  nature's  efforts  are  engaged  in  the  digestion  and  assimila- 
tion  of  food  and  should  not  be  distracted,  how  many  go  directly  from  the  table  to  the 
piano  and  sing  for  hours?  One  should  never  sing  when  he  is  tired,  or  use  stimulants 
to  urge  the  voice  to  action. 

From  illness,  weakness,  or  from  imitating  others,  one  may  form  habits  entirely 
foreign,  not  only  in  childhood  but  in  any  stage  of  life,  even  after  years  of  correct  prac- 
tice. If  the  organs  become  weakened  or  relaxed  the  same  effort  will  not  produce  the 
same  result;  all  pure  tone  depends  upon  certain  conditions.  If  the  conditions  are 
changed  we  must  change  the  effort.  If  the  organs  are  relaxed  we  must  reinforce  by 
controlling  and  supporting  the  breath  by  the  diaphragm  and  at  the  throne  of  the 
pharynx.     If  these  two  points  have  lost  their  firmness  the  support  may  "be  equally 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  479 

divided  between  the  lungs,  which  are  in  themselves  expansive  and  contractile  muscles, 
the  trachea,  the  pharynx,  the  nasal  cavities  and  strong  muscles  of  the  head.  But 
remove  all  pressure  from  the  throat,  larynx  and  vocal  cord.  Many  a  naturally  fine 
singer's  career  is  blighted  by  this  habit  of  pressure  or  rigidity  of  the  throat  muscles. 
The  remedy  is  in  studying  appropriate  exercises  until  the  correct  habit  is  formed, 
which  is  not  difficult  if  given  individual  attention.  It  is  like  resetting  a  dislocated 
bone;  the  moment  it  finds  its  place  nature  recognizes  its  own.  The  greater  part  of  the 
labor  is  done  when  you  have  found  the  right  adjustment  of  the  whole  organism.  If 
the  weakness  is  caused  by  indigestion,  insomnia,  or  from  whatever  cause,  it  must  be 
removed.  In  many  cases  the  restoration  of  health  is  the  most  necessary  part  in  voice 
production,  and  with  our  teaching  is  the  first  branch  to  receive  attention.  It  is  often 
more  diflficult  to  induce  the  singer  to  practice  health  exercises  than  to  overcome  the 
trouble  after  the  effort  is  made.  We  have  so  long  depended  so  much  more  upon  pro- 
miscuous practice  than  upon  condition  and  adjustment,  and  yet  it  is  astonishing  how 
rapidly  one  may  advance  with  little  practice  when  rightly  directed. 

Singing,  more  than  anything  else,  requires  concentrated  attention.  If  we  would 
express  thought,  feeling  and  emotion,  we  must  think  and  feel.  If  we  have  a  definite 
idea  of  what  we  want  to  do  and  how  we  want  to  do  it,  if  we  know  what  position  of  the 
mouth,  throat  and  vocal  organs  produces  a  certain  effect,  we  have  only  to  call  them  into 
action. 

To  produce  a  good  voice  the  whole  organism  needs  as  much  attention,  and  I  may 
say  practice,  as  do  the  vocal  organs.  The  whole  body  is  a  part  of  the  musical  instru- 
ment, and  must  be  considered.  The  ability  and  activity  of  the  immediate  vocal  appa- 
ratus depends  upon  the  general  strength  and  condition  of  the  body  as  a  whole,  as  well 
as  upon  the  proper  adjustment  of  the  vocal  organs  with  reference  to  acoustic  law. 

The  first  and  most  important  fact  to  fix  in  the  mind  of  one  who  would  rise  to  his 
highest  possibilities  as  a  singer  is  that  there  are  two  important,  principal  points  of  sup- 
port for  the  voice  which  must  never  be  lost  sight  of — the  diaphragmic  muscle  and  the 
throne  of  the  pharynx. 

The  propelling  power  of  the  lungs  is  the  diaphragmic  muscle,  which  has  its  pos- 
terior attachment  at  the  lumbar  vertebrae.  "  It  is  a  thin,  muscular,  fibrous  septum, 
placed  obliquely  at  the  junction  of  the  upper  third  of  the  trunk,  forming  the  floor  of 
the  lungs  and  the  roof  of  the  abdomen." 

If  you  acquire  perfect  control  here,  and  at  the  same  time  at  the  throne  of  the 
pharynx,  you  will  sing  as  free  and  as  easy  as  a  bird,  in  the  way  designed  by  a  wise 
Creator. 

In  singing  a  good  position  is  most  essential.  Stand  upon  the  balls  of  the  feet, 
hold  the  knees  firm,  abdomen  and  shouders  back,  the  chest  raised  and  prominent, 
the  head  bent  slightly  forward  in  a  persuasive,  tranquil  manner,  as  repose,  tranquillity 
of  mind  and  body  is  absolutely  necessary  for  the  singer;  make  repose  your  first  study. 

The  first  organ  involved  "in  singing  is  the  nose.  Close  the  lips;  take  a  breath 
through  the  nose.  Where  do  you  feel  it  first?  At  the  bridge  of  the  anterior  and 
posterior  nares.  Back  of  the  bridge,  and  back  of  and  above  the  palate,  is  the 
throne  of  the  pharynx,  and  this  is  another  strong  point  for  the  singer;  one  of  the  two 
first  important  points  to  be  considered  (never  to  be  lost  sight  of;  never  to  be  let  go 
of).  It  is  first,  last  and  always  (not  only  in  making  the  head  tones,  but  all  the  tones, 
from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  must  be  supported  here).  Feel  that  this  is  the  abiding 
place  of  tone.  We  will  call  it  the  throne  of  the  singer,  for  as  long  as  he  has  control 
here  he  has  control  of  his  voice,  but  when  he  has  lost  control  of  this  point  he  has  lost 
his  kingdom  as  a  singer.  He  may  lose  it  by  simply  letting  go  of  it  and  taking  up  the 
throat  muscles  instead,  when  they  should  always  be  left  perfectly  free  and  passive. 
Many  a  singer  mourns  his  voice  as  lost,  when  he  has  merely  let. go  of  this  point  of 
support.  It  does  not  require  any  pressure  or  contraction,  but  simply  the  feeling  that 
you  direct,  hold  and  support  the  tone  from  this  point,  the  whole  upper  part  of  the 
pharynx  to  the  very  nostrils.  . 


480  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

The  next  step  is  to  take  a  deep,  full,  slow,  inspiration,  filling  the  lungs  from  the  very 
bottom.  In  escaping,  the  air  passes  through  the  top,  so  the  top  is  always  supplied.  (We 
must  form  the  habit  of  filling  the  bottom  of  the  lungs  at  first  effort.)  This  is  called 
abdominal  breathing,  or,  more  appropriately,  diaphragmatic  breathing.  As  the  bottom 
of  the  lungs  is  filled  with  air,  there  is  a  feeling  of  enlargement  all  over  the  abdominal 
region,  caused  by  the  pressure  of  the  well-filled  lung  in  all  directions.  The  downward 
pressure  of  the  lungs  against  the  diaphragmic  muscle  distends  slightly  the  abdominal 
cavity;  hence,  abdominal  breathing,  a  very  misleading  name. 

The  diaphragm  guards  and  follows  the  lungs  like  a  guardian  angel.  To  breathe  a 
deep,  natural  breath  is  proper,  but  we  must  follow  nature  somewhat.  When  we  make 
breathing  altogether  a  voluntary  action,  we  take  the  natural  work  from  the  involuntary 
muscles,  which  are  thereby  weakened  by  inaction. 

For  different  modes  of  breathing,  we  have  what  is  called  "  abdominal  or  diaphragm- 
atic,"  lateral  or  costal,  lumbar  and  the  clavicular.  A  good  diaphragmatic  respiration 
includes  them  all  except  the  clavicular,  which  is  of  no  importance  to  us,  only 
to  be  avoided  and  which  we  need  not  consider,  taking  only  the  diaphragmatic; 
that  is  filling,  the  bottom  of  the  lungs  at  the  first  effort.  Learn  to  accomplish  vocal 
feats  with  the  smallest  amount  of  breath;  that  is,  let  no  breath  escape  unutilized. 

EXAMPLE, 

The  first  and  most  important  step  in  singing  is  to  control  the  emission  of  the 
breath. 

Practice  breathing  at  first  slowly,  then  quickly.  Now,  see  how  nearly  you  can 
approach  the  yawn  without  yawning.  This  position  of  the  mouth  and  throat  is  favor- 
able to  good  tone  by  opening  the  throat  in  all  directions. 

When  we  have  acquired  control  of  the  breath,  the  next  step  is  to  open  the  back 
part  of  the  mouth.  Think  of  the  singer's  throne  at  the  top  of  the  pharynx  and  raise 
the  soft  palate  and  head  muscles  without  effort,  widen  the  whole  pharynx.  The  very 
thought  will  do  it.  You  will  observe  at  once  the  change  even  in  the  speaking  voice, 
always  support  the  tone  in  the  pharynx. 

This  exercise  will  not  only  make  a  musical  singing,  speaking  and  reading  voice, 
but  it  will  banish  clergyman's  sore  throat  and  many  other  forms  of  throat  trouble, 
which  come  from  wrong  placing.  If  we  open  the  back  part  of  the  mouth,  the  front 
will  take  care  of  itself.  Take  the  Italian  la  broad,  or  the  word  loud,  and  be  sure  that 
you  open  the  throat,  for  you  may  say  la  without  opening  the  throat. 

Open  the  throat  as  much  as  possible  without  fatigue  or  strain,  and  you  will  be 
astonished  at  the  volume  of  voice  developed  at  once,  without  effort. 

We  are  supposed  now  to  be  building  or  restoring  a  voice,  but  the  best  voices  will 
be  improved  by  correct  practice.  If  nature  has  given  you  a  fine  voice,  well  placed, 
then  the  right  practice  will  give  it  expansion,  and  bring  possibilities  before  you  of 
which,  perhaps,  you  have  never  dreamed.  If  your  voice  is  small  and  thin,  you  can 
comfort  yourself  with  the  knowledge  that  all  things  are  brought  about  by  condition 
and  practice,  and  if  you  understand  the  laws  of  acoustics  and  the  adjustment  of  the 
vocal  apparatus,  a  small  voice  may  be  increased  greatly  in  power  and  extent,  and 
what  it  lacks  in  power  it  may  make  up  in  intensity,  for  the  softest  tones,  when  con- 
trolled rightly,  may  be  heard  as  distinctly  as  the  loudest,  and  with  far  more  pleasing 
effect.     Intensity  comes  through  control  at  the  throne  of  the  pharynx, 

EXAMPLE. 

For  a  soft,  intense  tone,  take  the  word  He  in  the  top  of  the  pharynx — He-e-e-e. 

The  Bell  tone  is  also  a  good  exercise.  For  intensity  make  the  last  part  soft,  but 
distinct,  as  it  dies  away. 

The  immediate  vocal  instrument  is  made  up  of  the  nasal  cavities,  the  pharynx, 
the  larynx,  the  trachea  and  the  lungs.  But  these  depend  upon  the  nervous  and  mus- 
cular system  of  the  whole  organism. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  481 

In  exercising  the  voice,  each  note  should  be  given  softly,  with  exactly  the  same 
quality  and  volume,  unless  otherwise  marked.  A  few  notes  will  require  more  practice 
and  attention  than  all  the  rest  combined.  Take  these  refractory  notes  and  master 
them  before  going  another  step,  and  you  will  be  astonished  at  your  rapid  advance- 
ment. 

This  must  include  a  proper  healthful  condition;  proper  vocal  exercise  is  con- 
ducive to  health. 

Delsarte  said:  "Voices  may  be  manufactured.  Put  your  heart  in  the  place  of  the 
larynx  and  there  will  always  be  enough  voice  for  attentive  listeners."  The  heart  in 
the  larynx  and  the  tone  in  the  pharynx. 

THE   SINGING   LESSON. 

Before  beginning  to  exercise  the  voice,  one  should  always  go  through  some  pre- 
liminary movements  to  circulate  the  blood  and  animate  the  nerves,  and  bring  the 
whole  body  into  a  state  of  vibration.  It  is  well  to  have  a  little  system  of  exercise, 
beginning  with  the  feet:  posing  on  the  toes,  moving  from  side  to  side,  bending  the 
knees,  the  waist,  raising  the  arms,  raising  and  broadening  the  chest.  A  very  excel- 
lent and  exhilarating  exercise  is  the  Spanish  waltz  with  its  various  movements. 

If  from  any  cause  you  find  it  an  effort  to  sing,  do  not  try  to  sing,  but  exercise  the 
body  until  you  are  comfortably  tired;  study  the  music  with  the  mind.  Then  rest — 
take  a  nap.  There  is  nothing  like  sleep  to  giv^e  freshness  and  vigor  to  the  voice,  and 
it  is  a  mistake  to  give  more  attention  to  the  immediate  vocal  organs  than  the  whole 
system,  for  the  latter  has  much  to  do  with  the  production  of  tone,  especially  in  the 
color,  quality,  sweetness,  freshness  and  fullness,  which  is  also  influenced  by  the  action 
of  the  pharynx,  nasal  cavities,  mouth,  hard  and  soft  palate,  teeth,  and  the  strong 
muscles  of  the  head. 

The  slightest  change  in  either  of  these  affects  the  quality  of  tone.  No  two  per- 
sons are  formed  or  organized  exactly  alike.  The  formation  of  the  mouth  differs  in 
each  individual,  and  a  difference  of  a  hair's  breadth  changes  the  quality  of  the  tone. 
The  slightest  change  in  thought,  feeling,  change  of  the  muscles  of  the  head,  face, 
throat  or  chest,  wrinkling  the  brow,  holding  the  eyes  fixed,  lifting  the  arms,  tight 
shoes,  corsets,  a  corn  on  the  toe,  in  fact,  any  change  in  position,  feeling  or  condition, 
changes  the  tone.  Now,  as  the  formation  of  the  mouth,  throat,  pharynx  and  nasal 
cavities  differs  in  each  individual,  we  must  study  the  acoustic  properties  of  each,  and 
adopt  the  position  accordingly.  If  one  has  a  wide  mouth,  a  low,  flat  roof,  he  must 
drop  the  chin  and  raise  the  muscles  of  the  face  and  head  toward  the  throne  of  the 
pharynx,  and  choose  a  vowel  sound  adapted  to  his  case.  With  a  narrow  mouth  and 
high  roof,  he  must  open  his  mouth  and  throat  laterally  in  a  smiling  position,  say  the 
word  la  broad,  distending  the  cheeks,  and  keeping  in  his  mind  the  word  width. 

One  with  a  well-shaped  but  small  mouth  needs  both  breadth  and  height.  He 
must  practice  the  broad  la,  or  the  word  loud,  with  the  back  part  of  the  mouth  open  as 
much  as  possible  without  strain.  If  one  is  the  possessor  of  a  large  mouth  and  throat 
he  should  be  content. 

For  this  reason  it  is  well  to  take  the  syllable  la  broad,  which  is  favorable  to 
good  tone  by  opening  the  throat.  Then  make  all  the  other  vowel  sounds  as  near 
like  it  as  possible,  without  changing  the  position  of  the  mouth,  and  when  you  are  able 
to  make  the  same  quality  of  tone  on  each  vowel  sound  without  changing  the  position, 
and  without  any  stiffness  or  contraction  of  the  muscles,  you  will  have  accomplished  a 
great  and  difficult  feat,  and  you  will  be  able  to  sing  in  any  language  with  as  much  ease 
as  Italian,  Forget  that  you  have  a  throat,  larynx,  or  vocal  cords;  think  of  them  as  a 
passage  for  breath  only.  Remember  that  the  two  important  points  are  the  posterior 
attachment  of  the  diaphragm  and  the  throne  of  the  pharynx.  These  should  be  held 
in  mind  without  effort.  To  broaden  the  pharynx  at  the  top,  take  the  syllable  ^tf, 
and  widen  all  the  upper  space,  even  the  nostrils  without  effort.  Now,  learn  to  attack 
a  note  at  once  perfectly,  without  reaching  for  it — accomplish  this  before  taking  another 

(31) 


482  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

step.  It  is  one  thing  to  know  how  to  do  a  thing  and  another  thing  to  do  it  There 
is  nothing  more  distressing  than  to  hear  one  strike  a  note  below  the  pitch  and  then 
push  the  tone  up  to  it.  To  overcome  this  habit  and  to  avoid  rasping  the  throat,  give 
a  syllable  to  each  note  with  a  short,  quick  modulating  staccato  touch  (Example:  do 
do  do  do  do  do  do  do  do),  without  changing  the  position  of  the  mouth  or  chest,  but 
be  careful  not  to  mistake  the  glottis  stroke  for  the  staccato  touch.  Example:  There 
is  no  movement  more  fatiguing  than  the  glottis  stroke,  and  it  is  ruinous  to  the  head 
tones,  while  a  moderately  staccato  touch  is  favorable  to  the  tones  of  both  the  head 
and  the  chest. 

The  next  step  is  to  place  the  tone  well  forward  in  the  mouth;  locate  the  tone  at 
the  throne  of  the  pharynx,  and  practice  lightly  the  scale  on  the  syllable  do-po-no. 
To  find  the  tone  of  the  pharynx,  say  the  word  "  on  "  with  the  lips  open,  or  "  om"  with 
with  the  lips  closed. 

For  a  smooth,  legato,  flowing  style,  make  the  tone  like  that  of  the  violin.  Glide 
from  one  tone  to  another  in  one  continuous  wave  on  the  word  law. 

It  is  not  a  question  of  how  much  you  practice,  but  how  correctly.  If  you  practice 
wrong  you  have  harmed  the  voice  without  gaining  any  benefit,  when,  if  you  know  just 
what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it,  you  may  advance  with  every  practice. 

To    give    agility   and    flexibility   to   the   vocal   organs,  speak   rapidly   the    ele- 

1234     12     12     123 
mentary    and   vowel  sounds  a  a  a  a     e  e     it    o  o  0  ip  it  ic.     Open  tone  is  made  by 
supporting  the  tone  at  the  back  part  of  the  throat,  while  the  closed  tone  is  supported 
at  the  throne  of  the  pharynx. 

EXAMPLE. 

We  must  hold  in  the  mind  an  ideal  musical  tone  and  express  it. 

To  give  volume  to  the  voice  I  have  found  no  better  word  than  the  word  loud.  It 
opens  the  throat  in  all  directions. 

For  softness,  sweetness  and  tenderness  of  tone,  take  a  sentence  that  expresses 
such  sentiments.  Think  of  appropriate  expressions  and  words  as  soft,  sweet,  mellow, 
brilliant,  liquid,  joyous,  simple,  childish,  compassion,  love,  disdain.  A  soft,  sweet, 
tone  differs  from  a  brilliant  tone.  Familiarity  with  words  and  expressions,  and  their 
natural  application  in  singing,  will  aid  in  making  you  master  of  song  and  speech. 

Write  on  every  page  of  your  book:  self-confidence,  determination,  perseverance 
and  practice. 

It  is  necessary  to  have  the  tongue,  lips  and  lower  jaw  under  perfect  control. 

For  flexibility  of  the  lower  jaw,  take  the  word  ya  (rapidly)  ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya. 

For  the  lips  tdikc  po-po-po-po. 

For  the  tip  of  the  tongue  take  no-7io-ne-ta-ta-ta-la-la-la. 

Many  singers  find  it  hard  to  keep  the  back  part  of  the  tongue  in  its  place,  but  to 
practice  properly  the  broad  la  on  the  back  part  of  the  tongue  will  soon  subdue  that 
unruly  member,  as  also  will  the  practice  of  the  pleasing,  rippling  laugh  of  a  child, 
ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. 

This  exercise  is  also  a  specific  for  indigestion.  There  is  real  healing  power  in  a 
g9od,  hearty  laugh.  If  two  or  three  dyspeptics  should  meet  daily  and  laugh  and 
laugh,  their  indigestion  would  soon  disappear.  If  any  of  you  are  troubled  in  this  way, 
you  can  experiment. 

For  continuity  of  tone,  chant  very  distinctly  a  sentence  on  each  note  of  the  scale. 

Never  trouble  trouble  until  trouble  troubles  you.  If  you  never  trouble  trouble,  it 
will  never  trouble  you. 

One  short  exercise  intelligently  practiced  and  mastered  is  better  than  a  book  full 
half  learned. 

To  gain  purity  and  distinctness  in  every  tone,  chant  the  alphabet  on  every  note 
of  the  scale,  speaking  distinctly  every  letter — a  b  c  d  e  f  g  h  ij  k  I  mn  o  p  q  r  s  t  u  v 
w  X  y  z  and  ah,  aa,  e.     Also  all  the  elementary  sounds.     These  elementary  exercises 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  483 

are  not  in  themselves  interesting  except  to  the  intelligent  student,  but  with  right  use 
will  develop  a  beautiful  singing  and  speaking  voice,  saving  years  of  time  and  practice, 

EXAMPLE. 

do  de  ra  re  fa  fe  sol  sel  la  le  si  do. 

It  has  always  been  considered  that  the  crowning  glory  of  the  voice  is  a  perfect 
trill.  To  make  a  perfect  trill  in  the  shortest  space  of  time,  make  the  upper  note  as  a 
^race  note  until  you  have  the  movement  fixed,  then  locate  it  at  the  throne  of  the 
pharynx  on  the  letter  m,  close  to  the  lips;  hold  the  whole  throat  perfectly  loose,  and 
by  oscillation  of  the  soft  palate  make  it  without  effort. 

The  trill  is  made  of  two  notes,  but  the  shake  is  a  tremulo  or  a  tremor  of  the  soft 
palate.  We  sometimes  hear  singers  with  good  voices  make  the  shake  instead  of  the 
trill,  because  they  think  they  can  not  make  the  trill.  But  the  trill  is  much  the  easier 
and  far  less  fatiguing  and  wearing  to  the  voice;  excessive  practice  of  the  shake  or 
tremulo  will  soon  destroy  a  beautiful  voice.  Anyone  who  can  make  a  shake  can  make 
a  trill  as  soon  as  he  gets  movement  and  location.  The  nightingale  makes  the  trill. 
The  canary  bird  makes  the  shake,  introducing  a  few  notes  of  the  trill.  The  bird-tones 
which  are  so  much  admired  just  at  the  present  time  are  made  mostly  with  shake 
movement  on  the  different  vowel  sounds. 

We  have  been  taught  to  believe  that  the  trill  is  a  gift  of  nature  to  a  favored  few, 
but  we  know  from  long  experience  that  anyone  with  a  little  perseverance,  who  can 
sing  four  tones  correctly,  can  make  a  beautiful  trill  with  a  little  persevering  practice. 
Formerly  the  student  was  taught  that  the  trill  was  made  with  the  oscillation  of  the 
vocal  cords.  As  I  failed  to  make  it  in  that  way  after  long  practice,  I  concluded 
nature  had  not  favored  me.  But  in  listening  to  Madam  Diormis'  delightful  trill  I  felt 
that  she  made  it  with  the  oscillation  of  the  soft  palate,  instead  of  the  vocal  cords,  and 
I  caught  the  movement  at  once,  and  when  I  went  to  Italy  the  first  thing  the  master 
said  was,  you  have  a  "  natural  trill."  Nature  gives  us  all  the  elements,  but  we  must 
adjust  them  appropriately.  If  we  would  master  all  our  vocal  possibilities  we  might 
have  a  prima-donna  in  many  a  home  that  we  little  dream  of. 


FROM  "THE  ZUNI  SCALP  CEREMONIAL." 

By  MRS.  MATILDA  COXE  STEVENSON. 

The  Zuni  Indians  have  thirteen  secret  cult  societies,  and  one  of  these  is  the 
Society  of  the  Bow  or  Warriors.     It  is  the  common  belief  among  many  of  the  North 

American  Indians,  that  before  coming  to  this  world 
they  lived  in  under  worlds,  and  that  their  point  of 
advent  is  in  the  Northwest. 

Zufii  legends  recount  many  conflicts  with  strange 
peoples  as  they  migrated  from  the  Northwest  to  find 
the  middle  of  the  world;  but  their  goal  was  destined 
to  be  reached  at  all  hazards. 

Watsutsi  and  Kowwitumi,  sons  and  warriors  of  the 
Sun,  who  had,  at  the  command  of  the  Sun-father, 
sought  the  Zufli  in  the  under  world  and  brought  them 
to  his  presence,  afterward  accompanying  them  on 
their  journey,  had  grown  weary  with  fighting  and 
requested  their  father  to  send  two  others  to  work  in 
their  stead.  In  answer  to  their  desire  the  Sun-father 
had  rain  fall  until  the  cascade  of  the  mountain-side 
no  longer  glided  placidly  over  the  rocks  to  the  basin 
below,  but  went  dashing  and  dancing  in  merriment, 
and  in  her  joy  she  was  caught  in  the  Sun's  embrace 
and  bore  twin  children  of  the  froth  of  her  delight. 

Watsutsi  and  Kowwitumi,  looking  toward  the  cas- 
cade, discovered  two  little  fellows  upon  the  waters  in 
the  basin  whom  they  at  once  recognized  to  be  of 
divine  origin.  Kowwitumi  inquired  of  these  wee  ones,  "Who  is  your  father?" 
Ahaiuta,  the  firstborn,  replied,  "The  Sun  is  our  father."  "  Who  is  your  mother?" 
and  he  answered,  "Laughing  Water  is  our  mother."  "It  is  well;  thanks,  it  is  good. 
I  am  very  tired  from  fighting  and  I  wish  you  to  work  for  me."  "  All  right,"  said  the 
elder,  "we  will  fight  for  you."  Then  Watsutsi  spoke:  "We  have  fought  two  days,  but 
we  can  not  vanquish  the  enemy."  The  new-born  gods  of  the  Laughing  Water  replied, 
"  We  will  join  you;  perhaps  we  can  destroy  the  enemy,  perhaps  not." 

After  many  fruitless  attempts  to  overthrow  the  leader  of  the  opposing  forces 
Ahaiuta  sent  his  younger  brother  to  solicit  aid.  from  the  Sun-father  and  to  learn  how 
the  Chaquena's  heart  could  be  destroyed.  The  Sun  gave  two  turkis  rabbit-sticks  to 
Maasewe,  telling  him  that  in  striking  the  Chaquena's  rattle,  he  would  strike  her  heart 
which  she  carried  in  the  rattle.  On  his  return  he  gave  one  rabbit-stick  to  his  brother 
who  threw  it,  but  missed  the  rattle;  then  Maasewe  threw  his,  striking  the  rattle,  when 
the  Chaquena  fell  dead,  and  her  army  fled.  The  Chaquena's  scalp  was  divided  and 
held  by  a  man  who  stood  inside  the  circle,  Kowwitumi,  Watsutsi,  AhaiQta  and 
Maasewe  accompanying  them. 

The  brothers  then  went  to  the  home  of  the  ants  at  Shipapolima — all  ants  lived  here. 

Mrs.  Matilda  Coxe  (Evans)  Stevenson  was  bom  at  San  Augustine,  Tex.,  May  12,  1849.  Her  parents  were  Alexander  H. 
Evans  and  Maria  Matilda  (Coxe),  of  Washington,  D.  C.  She  was  educated  at  Miss  Anable's  Academy  in  Philadelphia,  and 
has  traveled  extensively  over  the  Western  United  States  and  in  Mexico.  She  married  Col.  James  Stevenson,  explorer  and 
ethnologist,  in  1872.  Her  profession  is  that  of  ethnologist  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  Washington,  D.  C.  The 
intrepidity  and  zeal  which  she  had  manifested  in  her  researches  among  barbarous  tribes  are  noteworthy,  and  her  investigations 
have  been  rewarded  with  gratifying  results,  for  they  have  increased  in  a  substantial  degree  our  knowledge  of  tribal  life  and 
society.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  Washington,  D.  C. 

484 


MRS.   MATILDA  COXE  STEVENSON. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  485 

The  war  gods  repeated  their  story  in  the  ceremonial  chamber  of  the  ants,  and  the  director 
of  the  society  said:  "  It  is  well;  sit  down,  my  fathers  and  my  children."  The  voice  of 
the  dead  Navajo  woman  was  soon  heard  calling,  "Where  are  my  husbands?"  The 
director  of  the  society  replied,  "  They  are  sitting  here."  The  ghost-voice  said:  "  I  wish 
them  to  come  out."  "  You  come  in,"  said  the  director.  Four  times  these  words  passed 
between  them,  then  the  being  entered  Shipapolima.  Ahaiota  and  Maasewe  again 
struck  her  with  their  war  clubs,  and  carrying  her  out  threw  her  off. 

The  mere  killing  of  an  enemy  does  not  entitle  the  victor  to  become  a  member  of 
the  Society  of  the  Bow;  he  must  bear  as  trophies  the  scalp,  and  at  least  a  portion  of 
the  buckskin  apparel  as  actual  proof  of  his  prowess.  Thus  the  Zuni,  like  other  primi- 
tive peoples,  make  trophy-bearing  a  necessity  for  distinction  as  warriors. 

There  are  at  the  present  time  but  fifteen  members  of  the  Society  of  the  Bow,  two 
of  these  being  the  priest  and  his  vicar,  or  younger  brother,  who  follow  in  succession 
after  Ahaiata  and  Maasewe,  and  are  supposed  to  carry  the  sacred  traditions  of  their 
divine  predecessors.  The  offices  of  priest  and  vicar  are  for  life,  but  either  one  is  sub- 
ject, for  sufificient  reason,  to  impeachment.  Now  that  inter-tribal  wars  have  virtually 
ceased  there  is  no  further  opportunity  to  initiate  new  members  into  the  Society  of  the 
Bow,  and  as  the  scalp  ceremonial  is  necessary  in  order  to  please  the  gods  that  they 
will  send  much  rain,  it  occurs  in  every  detail  once  in  three  or  four  years  by  command 
of  the  priest  of  the  bow.  The  scalps  used  at  these  times  are  taken  from  the  scalp 
vase,  in  which  such  trophies  have  rested  since  the  establishment  of  Zuni,  or,  perhaps, 
earlier. 

The  priest  of  the  bow,  having  decided  on  a  time  for  the  ceremonial,  notifies  the 
scalp  custodian,  who  in  turn  requests  the  priest  to  designate  two  men  to  act  as  victor 
and  elder  brother.  This  accomplished  the  priest  chooses  two  members  of  the  society 
and  two  other  men  to  personate  the  warriors  returning  from  battle;  subsequently  the 
scalp  washers  and  their  fellows  are  appointed.  The  evening  of  the  day  on  which  the 
actors  in  this  drama  are  selected,  the  four  representatives  of  the  returning  warriors 
leave  the  village  on  horseback  and,  fully  equipped,  spend  the  night  a  distance  north 
of  the  Pueblo.  At  sunrise  they  start  on  their  return,  and  on  discovering  the  first  ant- 
hill they  dismount.  The  two  members  of  the  Society  of  the  Bow  stand  a  short  distance 
off  while  the  others  stoop  before  the  ant-hill.  One  of  these  men  maintains  silence 
while  the  other  addresses  the  ants  in  a  low  prayer.  Plume-offerings  and  shells  are 
deposited  on  the  ant-hill. 

A  large  number  of  people  congregate  to  receive  the  party.  The  scalp  custodian 
faces  the  four  men  while  the  spokesman  addresses  the  people:  "We  have  been  to  the 
land  of  the  enemy.  The  enemy  no  more  will  see  the  light  of  day."  The  scalp  cus- 
todian expectorates  on  a  bit  of  cedar  bark,  waves  it  to  the  cardinal  points,  zenith 
and  nadir,  for  purification,  and  throws  it  upon  the  ground.  The  four  men  then  retire 
to  their  homes.  The  following  morning  the  two  warriors  who  act  as  victor  and  elder 
brother  each  hand  a  tiny  vase,  filled  with  rainwater,  and  a  diminutive  gourd  dipper, 
which  were  given  to  them  by  the  arch-ruler,  to  the  scalp  custodian;  and  about  3 
o'clock  two  scalps  (every  vestige  of  hair  having  long  since  disappeared)  are  taken 
from  the  great  pottery  vase  which  stands  permanently  in  the  scalp  house.  With  these 
articles  the  custodian  proceeds  to  a  sequestered  spot  surrounded  by  hillocks  and  ravines 
and  deposits  the  scalps  on  the  ground,  placing  a  vase  of  water  and  a  gourd  beside 
each.  The  scalp  custodian  then  lights  a  fire  between  the  scalps  and  runs  a  circle  of 
meal  around  on  the  ridge.  The  circle  is  symbolic  of  the  border  of  the  enemy's  land;  the 
burning  fagots  represent  the  campfire;  the  scalps  denote  the  enemy  in  camp;  the 
water  is  symbolic  of  rain. 

The  custodian  then  returns  to  the  village,  and  the  chosen  victor  and  elder  brother 
hasten  to  the  spot,  traveling  on  foot.  P.ach  collects  a  cedar  twig  from  the  top  of  a 
tree,  four  equilateral  triangular  cuts  are  made  with  an  archaic  stone  knife,  and  the 
twig  is  snapped  off.  Discovering  the  campfire,  one  exclaims:  "I  think  there  is  an 
enemy."     One  then  passes  around  the  circle  of  meal  to  the  right,  the  other  to  the  left; 


486  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

meeting  on  the  opposite  side,  they  hold  the  cedar  twig  in  the  left  hand  and  shoot  at 
the  enemy,  each  arrow  piercing  a  scalp.  The  arrows  are  not  removed,  the  scalp  being 
placed  under  the  toga  over  the  region  of  the  heart,  the  feathered  end  of  the  shaft 
touching  the  chin.  The  tiny  vases  of  water  and  gourds  are  transported  in  the  blanket, 
where  it  is  held  around  the  waist. 

In  the  meantime  the  warriors  and  officers  of  the  Ant  Society  gather  in  a  circle 
near  the  victor,  each  warrior  depositing  a  plume  offering  at  some  ant-hill  before  join- 
ing the  group.  They  enjoy  a  social  smoke  and  chat  until  the  arrival  of  the  sun  priest, 
priest  of  the  west,  and  priest  of  the  bow,  when  all  join  in  a  ceremonial  smoke.  The 
priest  of  the  bow  now  selects  two  youths  to  stand  on  the  mounds  and  clasp  one 
another's  left  hands  over  the  excavation.  The  victor  and  elder  brother,  stepping  on 
the  crossed  yucca  fronds,  pass  up  the  line  of  meal  and  under  the  clasped  hands,  each 
carrying  a  scalp.  As  soon  as  they  pass  under  the  scalps  are  received  by  the  custo- 
dian and  vice,  who  lay  them  on  the  ground  a  short  distance  southwest  of  the  mounds. 
The  priest  of  the  fetich  clasps  the  victor  to  his  breast,  while  the  priest  of  the  north 
embraces  the  elder  brother.  The  two  then  reverse  places  and  are  embraced,  long 
prayers  being  repeated  each  time  by  the  two  priests;  they  are  then  embraced  by  the 
other  five  rain  priests.  The  two  scalp  kickers  then  place  their  left  arms  through  the 
right  arms  of  the  victor  and  elder  brother  and  proceed  a  short  distance  north  of  the 
group,  each  couple  going  to  an  ant-hill,  where  they  deposit  plume  wands;  the  men 
offer  prayers,  but  the  women  do  not  speak,  as  no  woman  not  past  child-bearing  period 
may  speak  at  the  house  of  the  ants. 

When  all  the  warriors  have  passed  under  the  hands  the  populace  follow,  the 
equestrians  dismounting  for  the  purpose.  "  They  step  over  the  sacred  road  of  meal  to 
the  home  of  the  ants  that  they  may  keep  their  lives  when  passing  about  the  country 
or  contending  with  the  enemy." 

The  rain  priests  and  priest  of  the  fetich  are  exempt  from  this  feature  of  the  cere- 
monial, as  their  place  is  at  home  and  not  amid  the  danger  of  travel  and  war.  The 
scalp  kickers  start  the  scalps  with  the  left  foot  and  so  keep  them  in  front,  the  right 
foot  never  being  used  for  the  purpose;  they  may  not  look  to  the  right  or  to  the  left, 
but  only  straight  ahead.  The  victor  and  elder  brother  are  next  the  two  kickers,  then 
follow  the  priest  of  the  bow,  the  Ant  Society,  the  scalp  custodian  and  his  vice,  the 
pamosontka  (female  aid  to  the  scalp  custodian),  and  then  the  populace,  some  on 
foot,  others  mounted,  making  the  air  ring  with  rifle  and  pistol  shots  and  the  war- 
whoop.  If  this  imaginary  scalping  can  produce  such  frenzy,  what  must  have  been 
the  scene  when  they  in  reality  came  back  victorious  from  battle  with  the  hated 
Navajo! 

The  procession  passes  around  the  village  from  left  to  right,  coil-fashion,  and  on 
reaching  the  plaza  they  form  concentric  circles.  The  scalp  custodian  and  vice  hold 
the  scalps,  which  are  still  attached  to  the  cedar  twigs,  and  stand  in  the  center  of  the 
circle.  The  priest  of  the  bow  approaches  the  custodian,  who  picks  off  a  bit  of  scalp 
attaching  it  to  an  arrow  of  the  priest,  who  then  passes  around  the  inner  circle  four 
times  from  left  to  right.  The  first  time  he  runs  his  arrow  over  the  ankles  of  the  men 
and  women  whom  he  passes,  the  second  time  he  draws  it  above  their  knees,  the  third 
time  by  the  waist,  the  fourth  over  the  head  that  their  hearts  may  be  pure  and  know 
no  fear.  Each  time  as  he  reaches  the  starting  point  all  present  expectorate  on  cedar 
bark  and  carry  it  around  the  head  four  times  from  left  to  right,  the  priest  of  the  bow, 
instead,  waving  his  arrow  held  in  the  right  hand.  After  the  fourth  time  all  males  give 
the  warwhoop,  and  the  priest  shoots  the  arrow  containing  the  bit  of  scalp  toward  the 
north — the  home  of  the  hated  Navajo. 

By  this  time  the  moon  has  risen  and  the  scene  grows  more  picturesque.  The  sun 
priest,  who  stands  on  the  south,  calls  to  the  populace  to  "  join  in  the  dance."  It  must 
be  appreciated  that  an  enemy  destroyed  becomes  a  friend;  therefore,  the  destruction 
of  the  enemy  so  pleases  the  gods  that  a  reward  of  rain  is  made,  the  scalp  ceremonial 
being  a  rain  festival.  The  custodian  and  vicar  now  attach  the  scalps  to  a  pole  and 
plant  the  pole  in  an  excavation  previously  made  for  it  in  the  center  of  the  plaza. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  487 

After  the  pole  is  hoisted  all  hands  gather  about  it  for  a  time;  then  the  crowd  dis- 
perses to  take  the  evening  meal.  Later,  the  populace  again  encircle  the  pole  and 
dance  throughout  the  night.  This  dance  is  repeated  twelve  nights,  under  the  very 
shadow  of  the  old  church  erected  by  the  Spanish  invaders  nearly  three  hundred  years 
since,  with  the  hope  of  bringing  these  people  to  the  Christian  faith.  None  are  too 
aged  and  few  too  young  to  participate  in  this  dance  of  rejoicing  and  song  for  the 
destruction  of  the  enemy. 

The  members  of  the  Society  of  the  Bow  and  the  two  scalp  kickers  adjourn  to  the 
ceremonial  chamber  of  the  bow  where  a  feast  is  served.  The  first  four  nights  are 
spent  by  the  two  scalp  kickers,  the  victor  and  elder  brother  in  the  ceremonial  house 
of  the  warriors,  when  the  men  sit  apart  from  the  women  and  do  not  speak  to  them. 
On  the  fifth  day  the  scalp  custodian  removes  the  scalps  from  the  pole  and  they  are 
carried  by  the  scalp  washers  to  a  secluded  spot  on  the  river  bank  and  washed.  A  bit 
of  the  scalp  is  eaten  by  each  man  for  courage  in  destroying  the  enemy. 

At  midnight  on  the  twelfth  night,  idols  of  the  war  gods,  Ahaoita  and  Maasewe, 
and  objects  to  be  deposited  with  them  are  carried  by  their  makers  to  the  ceremonial 
chamber  of  warriors.  An  all-night  ceremonial  is  held,  and  at  sunrise  the  custodian 
removes  the  scalps  from  the  pole  and  attaches  them  to  a  pole  some  six  feet  high, 
planting  it  in  the  northwestern  corner  of  the  plaza.  By  9  o'clock  the  six  rain  priests 
and  all  the  warriors  have  collected  in  the  ceremonial  chamber.  After  entering  the 
ceremonial  chamber,  each  has  a  large  white  buckskin  doubled  and  tied  at  the  throat, 
hanging  over  the  shoulders  and  caught  at  the  waist  by  an  embroidered  Tusayan  sash. 
The  priest  of  the  bow  applies  to  their  faces  an  ointment  made  of  the  fat  of  the  animals 
of  the  cardinal  points,  and  the  water-sprinklers  rub  on  the  faces  of  the  warriors  a  red 

f)igment  and  afterward  galena.  The  victor  takes  his  seat,  extending  his  legs  and 
eaning  back  in  his  chair  with  an  air  of  making  himself  as  comfortable  as  possible.  The 
priest  of  the  bow  places  a  cloth  around  him,  barber  fashion,  and  stands  behind  the 
chair  pressing  both  hands  on  the  victor's  forehead,  while  the  sun  priest  prepares  to 
paint  the  face.  He  has  a  small  black  and  highly  polished  archaic  pottery  vase  and  an 
old  medicine  bag;  the  vase  is  supposed  to  contain  a  black  paint  brought  from  the 
under-world,  and  the  bag  contains  corn  pollen.  The  sun  priest  dips  a  stick  of  yucca 
into  the  paint  and  proceeds  to  paint  the  lower  portion  of  the  face.  He  then  applies 
corn  pollen  to  the  upper  portion  by  stippling  with  a  mop  of  raw  cotton,  a  corn  husk 
being  laid  over  the  black  during  this  process  to  protect  if  from  the  pollen.  The  war- 
rior of  the  Ant  Society  covers  the  chin,  upper  lip,  end  of  nose  and  forehead  with  eagle 
down,  and  a  wreath  of  the  same  is  fashioned  around  the  crown  of  the  head,  the  down 
being  held  in  place  by  a  paste  of  kaolin.  The  sun  priest  then  places  an  arrow  point 
in  the  mouth  of  the  victor  and  elder  brother  with  a  prayer.  The  arrows  are  not 
removed  from  the  mouth  until  sunset.  The  warclub,  pouch,  quiver  and  bow  .complete 
the  toilet. 

The  priest  of  the  bow  whirls  the  buzzer  which  calls  for  the  rains  to  come.  This 
instrument  is  commonly  called  a  bull-roarer,  and  is  extensively  known  among  savage 
peoples.  It  is  said  by  writers  to  be  used  to  work  savage  warriors  into  frenzy,  though 
such  is  not  the  case  with  the  Pueblo  tribes  by  whom  the  instrument  is  used  to  create 
enthusiasm  among  the  rain-makers. 

If  the  nightly  dancing  around  the  scalp  pole  arouses  these  people,  the  dances  on 
the  closing  day  of  the  ceremonial  fires  them  to  the  extreme. 

The  epic  songs  of  the  Society  of  the  Bow  during  this  prolonged  ceremonial  are 
histrionic.  They  are  inspiring  and  are  devoid  of  any  exhibition  which  could  stir  a 
single  brute  clement  within  the  breast  of  man.  These  warriors  honor  the  gods  with 
the  song  and  dance  that  they  may  have  rain  in  plenty,  for  in  this  arid  land  the  highest 
gift  of  the  gods  is  from  the  clouds. 


FROM  "SIGNS  OF  THE  TIMES." 


By  MISS  ALISAN  WILSON. 

Taking  a  look  backward  to  the  Centennial  Exposition,  making  some  comparisons 

with  this,  giving  a  few  of  its  benefits.     At  the  time  of  the  exhibit  of  1876,  the  country 

was  in  an  unusual  financial  depression.  Congress 
did  not  feel  rich  enough  to  give  Philadelphia  the 
money  to  assist  in  forwarding  the  enterprise,  but 
loaned  the  money,  which  was  returned  afterward  and 
received  by  them. 

The  time  found  us  a  nation  abnormally  developed 
in  labor-saving  machinery,  an  outgrowth  of  the  neces- 
sities of  war,  the  product  of  clever  brains,  and  proof 
of  the  aptness  of  the  American  people  to  meet  the 
demands  of  peculiar  circumstances  or  conditions. 

In  the  manufacture  of,  and  taste  for,  the  fine 
arts  we  were  almost  entirely  deficient.  A  young 
nation  that  had  wrestled  with  the  vital  question  of 
existence,  laboring  for  the  necessities  of  life,  had 
little  time  to  bestow  on  the  luxuries. 

Many  foreign  visitors  presented  the  government 
with  valuable  exhibits  rather  than  carry  them  home. 
They  now  form  one  of  the  most  interesting  and 
instructive  departments  connected  with  the  govern- 
ment. The  result  is  an  organized  pursuit  of  geology, 
archaeology,  anthropology,  fostering  the  arts  and 
sciences.     And  when  combined  with  the  Smithsonian 

Institute,  we  have  the  advantage  of  rich  collections  gathered  from  all  over  the  world, 

either  loaned  or  donated,  and  so  placed  that  they  may  be  studied  or  admired  by  the 

public. 

I  call  your  attention  to  the  difference  of  the  attitude  of  Congress  toward  this 

World's  Fair,  and  also  to  the  era  of  financial  success  intervening. 

We  can  recall  several  industries,  the  result  of  that  great  show;  and,  following  it, 

a  stimulation  of  old  trades  and  the  introduction  of  new  ones  have  given  us  prosperity 

through  to  the  present  time. 

The  industry  of  ceramics — a  few  insignificant  potteries  were  all  that  we  had;  two 

of  the  oldest  were  Liverpool,  Ohio,  and  Trenton,  N.  J.,  with  utility  the  sole  object. 

Look  at  the  handsome  displays  made  today  in  the   Manufactures  Building.     Since 

then  long  strides  have  been  made  toward  perfection.     Establishments  of  more  or  less 

merit  have  sprung  up  all  over  the  country. 

Until  of  late  years  the  manufacture  of  carpets  in  this  country  was  confined  to  the 

coarsest  qualities,  while  now  are  made  at  Yonkers  and   Hilton,  on  the   Hudson,  the 

finest  grades,  very  little  being  imported.     The  silk  industry  has   reached  much  greater 

Miss  Alisan  Wilson  is  the  daughter  of  James  and  Lydia  Wilson,  and  is  a  native  of  Columbian  County,  Ohio.  She  was  edu- 
cated in  the  public  school  of  New  Brighton,  Pa.,  and  at  the  Curry  Normal  Institute.  In  1875  her  father  had  the  misfortune  to 
lose  his  eyesight;  hermother  was  an  invalid,  and  it  was  thought  best  to  move  to  Washington,  D.  C.  Miss  Wilson  never  married, 
but  has  spent  her  time  largely  in  loving  care  for  her  parents.  Her  father  gave  her  a  substantial  business  training.  Invest- 
ments in  real  estate  have  brought  her  prosperity,  and  she  has  traveled  almost  all  over  the  United  States  and  took  a  trip  to 
Europe,  where  she  wrote  for  publication  "  Letters  of  Travel."  She  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Has  done  some 
charity  work  in  connection  with  the  Industrial  Home  School  in  Massachusetts.  Her  postoffice  address  is  No.  1218  Connect- 
icut Avenue,  Washington ,  D.  C. 

488 


MISS  ALISAN  WILSON. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  489 

proportion  than  is  generally  supposed.  Our  India  silks  are  largely  made  in  Connecticut. 
Most  beautiful  brocades  are  made  in  Patterson,  N.  J.  What  a  trade  has  grown  out  of 
our  intercourse  with  China;  the  beautiful  wood  carving,  the  bronzes  and  lacquered 
ware  from  Japan,  how  they  have  delighted  us.  Let  anyone  recall  the  progress  of  these 
few  industries.  We  have  felt  the  stimulation  of  the  Centennial  from  the  broad 
Atlantic  to  the  shores  of  the  peaceful  Pacific.  We  awoke  from  our  slumber,  and  with 
our  awakening  came  the  desire  to  see  the  countries  that  sent  us  their  treasures.  And 
the  result  is  the  most  traveled  people  in  the  world. 

The  wonderful,  the  curious,  the  unique  find  a  ready  market  with  Americans 
abroad,  and  are  chosen  with  that  same  keenness  of  wits  that  characterizes  the  amass- 
ing of  great  fortunes,  and  brings  to  our  attention  a  trait,  truly  American,  that  the 
best  is  none  too  good  for  us,  our  homes  or  our  museums.  So  that  from  the  year  1876 
may  be  counted  the  birth  of  the  fine  arts  in  the  United  States.  The  development  of 
architecture  has  made  this  Columbian  Exposition  possible;  a  surprise  to  ourselves, 
the  wonder  and  admiration  of  the  world. 

No  accident  has  brought  about  this  dream  of  beauty,  this  perfection  of  harmony; 
but  practical  education,  whether  pursued  in  the  Old  World  or  in  the  New.  Culling 
out  the  gems  of  ancient  architecture  and  adapting  them  to  the  modern  has  not  been 
done  by  the  hand  of  ignorance.  All  agree  to  the  magnificence  of  conception,  and 
behold!  how  well  it  has  been  carried  out. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  buildings  found  in  the  Paris  Exposition  would  have  been 
expected  in  Chicago,  and  the  buildings  found  in  Chicago  would  have  been  expected 
in  Paris. 

In  that  first  exposition  the  world  lent  us  their  treasures.  This  year  they  have 
brought  them.  All  countries  have  come  to  us,  and  the  Islands  of  the  Sea  have  con- 
tributed their  curiosities,  and,  more  than  all,  themselves.  Think  you,  that  having 
touched  our  civilization  they  can  return  to  the  same  rut,  and  fill  the  same  small 
place  as  before?  The  hope  and  belief  that  the  world  will  be  the  gainer  for  this  coming 
together,  is  that  the  women  have  come,  and  woman  takes  no  backward  step  in  this  age. 
Will  they  take  a  lesson  from  us?  A  new  idea?  Can  we  do  them  any  good?  When 
woman  feels  a  prompting  from  within  to  a  better  living,  higher  aims,  there  is  hope  for 
her  future.  Will  prejudice,  custom,  environment  be  too  much  for  these?  We  have 
only  to  study  the  crowd  as  it  passes  by  to  hear  snatches  of  conversations,  the  acci- 
dents and  incidents  of  a  week  at  the  fair,  to  read  the  signs  of  the  times. 

One  of  the  women  which  we  would  like  to  help  gives  her  opinion  of  us  in  the  fol- 
lowing language:  "  The  women  of  this  country  interfere  with  everything."  I  am 
afraid  her  criticism  was  merited.  One  said:  "Your  people  are  very  inquisitive,  must 
see  and  examine  everything." 

Styles  for  men  are  changing,  swearing  has  gone  out  of  fashion,  chewing  tobacco 
is  only  indulged  in  on  the  sly,  or  by  the  uncultivated.  While  within  the  month  I 
heard  some  fashionable  young  men  discussing  smoking  with  the  remark  that  "  it  is  no 
longer  good  form  to  smoke  on  the  fashionable  promenade." 

There  has  been  such  a  warfare  waged  upon  intemperance,  that  public  opinion 
would  not  tolerate  a  man  upon  these  grounds  who  gave  evidence  of  intoxication. 

Women  are  largely  instrumental  in  bringing  about  this  change  in  sentiment;  and 
wisely,  too,  for  here  she  may  roam  from  morning  until  night  in  perfect  safety,  with- 
out a  thought  of  molestation. 

The  United  States  have;  received  the  poor,  the  unfortunate,  the  degraded  of  all 
countries  for  years,  and  now  we  are  glad  to  welcome  the  refined  and  cultivated  class 
of  foreigners  who  have  been  the  nation's  guest  since  this  Exposition  has  been  opened. 
Having  clasped  hands  with  all  the  world,  that  a  friendship  may  flow  from  it  both  true 
and  lasting,  let  us  hope  that  many  reciprocity  treaties  will  follow  with  the  smaller 
nations  who  have  been  our  guests,  and  that  the  markets  of  the  world  may  open  to  our 
productions.  That  to  us,  and  through  this  channel,  will  come  back  like  "  Bread  cast 
upon  the  waters,  return  after  many  days."  That  the  expenditure  of  $50,000,000  will 
be  an  eventual  gain  to  the  nation. 


490  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WQMEN. 

We  classify  woman  and  electricity  as  the  two  forces  making  the  greatest  progress 
of  the  age.  Woman  has  been  largely  emancipated  from  old  prejudices.  The  broad- 
shouldered,  cleSr-headed  woman  has  taken  her  place.  Active,  hard  working,  informing 
herself,  developing  herself,  studying  the  ethical  questions  of  the  times,  giving  her 
substance  and  herself  to  helping  the  poor  and  elevating  the  race,  compare  her  posi- 
tion in  any  df  the  great  public  movements  to  the  important  one  she  occupies  in  the 
Columbian  Exposition.  It  is  our  share  of  the  legacy  from  Queen  Isabella.  It  was  a 
progressive  woman  who  sacrificed  her  jewels  for  the  hope  of  finding  a  new  world. 

And  I  hope  her  new  honors  may  be  borne  with  moderation  and  dignity.  It  is  not 
enough  to  accomplish,  but  to  do  it  well. 

It  is  said  that  at  the  Centennial  the  electrical  exhibit  occupied  one  corner  of 
a  room,  and  that  at  Paris  a  whole  room  was  given,  while  here  a  whole  building  is  all  too 
small. 

What  shall  we  say  of  a  marvelous  agent  that  controls  light,  heat,  power. 

The  many,  many  uses  of  electricity  multiply  endlessly.  And  still  there  are  those 
who  prophesy  that  the  knowledge  and  uses  of  electricity  is  in  its  infancy.  From  the 
earliest  ages,  without  education,  man  valued  gold,  silver  and  copper,  the  precious 
metals;  but  it  took  the  keys  of  science  to  unlock  the  hidden  mysteries  of  nature's 
storehouse. 

Nature  seems  to  hold  hidden  riches  within  her  grasp,  and  makes  us  wonder  what 
forces  are  yet  undiscovered,  and  who  will  be  the  discoverer. 

The  real  question  of  the  hour  is  one  of  finance.  When  we  see  large  fortunes 
melting  away  as  snow  under  a  summer  sun,  we  may  well  stop  and  ask  the  reason. 
Men  say  politics  and  finance  are  too  much  for  the  women.  Well,  and  too  much  for 
many  men.  There  are  many  issues,  all  of  which  operate  as  factors  in  this  experience, 
which  seems  to  be  a  consequence  rather  than  a  cause.  National  unity  is  necessary  to 
national  preservation,  a  patriotic  duty;  and  sectional  interests  must  be  subservient  to 
the  best  interests  of  the  whole. 

Now  is  the  time  for  statesmen  to  show  their  superior  ability  in  grasping  the  vexed 
questions  bringing  order  out  of  disorder  and  harmony  to  all  sections. 

Have  we  thought  of  the  effect  upon  Chicago  when  the  White  City  shall  have  been 
swept  away?  When  the  magic  wands  that  have  turned  Jackson  Park  into  fairyland 
shall  wave  the  wand  and  this  vision  of  loveliness  disappear;  when  the  scene  shall 
become  as  the  memory  of  a  beautiful  dream,  a  sentiment;  will  the  lagoon  return  to 
the  swampy  marsh?  Will  the  waves  of  Lake  Michigan  lave  a  forgotten  shore?  Will 
the  sands  ever  blow  in  unfettered  freedom?  Will  the  prairie  flowers  bloom  again 
unseen?  No;  the  vision  goes  with  us.  Could  Columbus  take  a  glance  at  fair  Col- 
umbia, the  peerless,  the  "  gem  of  the  ocean,"  he,  at  least,  would  pronounce  it  a  fitting 
memorial. 


WOMEN   AS   POLITICAL  ECONOMISTS. 


By  MRS.  BRAINERD  FULLER. 

Those  of  you  who  have  come  from  homes  within   sound  of  the  Pacific's  surf, 
or  from  within  hearing  of  the  Atlantic's  angrier  waves,  from  the  North  or  from  the 

South,  must  have  been  impressed  all  along  the  route 
with  the  evidences  of  our  present  civilization.  You 
saw  cities  lying  here  and  there  with  their  spires,  their 
stately  buildings  and  their  warehouses  of  every  kind 
and  description;  you  observed  railroads  winding  in 
and  out  in  all  directions;  you  noticed  the  surface  of 
great  artificial  water-ways  and  mighty  rivers  alive  with 
commerce. 

Seeing  the  marvels,  standing  as  we  do  this  morn- 
ing in  the  midst  of  this  accumulated  mass  of  witnesses 
to  a  civilization  which  we  know  has  progressed  slowly 
and  by  stages  from  out  the  haze  enveloping  the  primi- 
tive life  of  man  into  the  full  blaze  and  meridian  glory 
of  to-day,  I  am  asked,  as  I  frequently  am,  why  I,  a 
woman,  have  selected  for  the  subject  of  my  talk  so 
broad  and  difficult  a  subject  as  political  economy,  you 
can  readily  understand  why  I  reply  in  the  good  old 
Yankee  fashion  of  answering  one  question  by  propos- 
ing another: 

"What  is  political  economy,  and  why  should  I 
not  study  it?" 

And  then,  as  it  often  happens,  when  I  am  obliged, 
as  the  Irishman  said,  to  sustain  the  dialogue  alone,  I  go  on  to  remark  that  political 
economy  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  "  art  of  getting  the  nation's  living."  It  is 
the  science  that  inquires  how  these  conditions  that  we  find  here  have  been  developed, 
how  all  these  enjoyable  things  that  surround  us  have  been  produced?  In  other  words, 
it  is  the  study  of  the  economic  forces  that  maintain  the  life  of  the  social  organism. 

There  are  certain  phrases  in  use  which  very  often  appear  to  suggest  that  great 
perplexity  of  mind  must  be  experienced  in  order  to  fully  master  their  meaning.  Unfor- 
tunately, political  economy  is  such  an  expression.  And  "  women  as  political  econo- 
mists "  sounds  to  some  more  appalling  still.  In  the  limitations  of  language  I  know  of 
no  better  phrases  to  convey  the  desired  meaning  than  these  which  I  have  mentioned. 
All  they  need  is  simplifying,  and  this  we  have  just  done  with  "  Political  Economy.'^ 
Let  us  now  see  what  we  can  make  out  of  "  women  as  political  economists."  Let  us 
find  out  why  they  are  pushing  their  way  into  the  realms  of  science. 

Writers,  in  their  treatises  on  general  economics,  usually  divide  their  books  into  four 
parts,  and  these  divisions  are,  as  you  remember,  "  Production,"  under  which  head  we 
ascertain  how  wealth  is  created;  "  Exchange,"  or  the  transferring  of  goods  from  one 
to  another;  "Distribution,"  and  I  think  this  part  particularly  interesting,  because  it 
discusses  the  share  each  one  receives  of  what  is  produced — it  treats  of  what  you  get, 

Mrs.  Brainerd  Fuller  is  a  native  of  Middletown,  Conn.  Her  parents  were  Norman  L.  Brainerd  and  Leora  Campbell 
Brainerd.  She  was  educated  at  Miss  Payne's  Young  Ladies'  Seminary,  Middletown,  Conn.,  and  has  traveled  in  Great  Britain, 
Continental  Europe,  Canada,  and  to  some  extent  in  the  United  States.  She  married  Samuel  R.  Fuller.  Mrs.  Fuller  is  a 
delightful  and  charming  lecturer  and  contributes  many  articles  to  the  press.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church.    Her  postoffice  address  is  No.  960  Delaware  Avenue,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

491 


MRS.  BRAINERD  PULLER. 


492  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

of  what  I  get,  and  of  what  each  of  us  ought  to  get.  The  fourth  division  is  "  Consump- 
tion," which  has  been  wisely  defined  as  "  the  end  of  all  production." 

Now,  I  argue  that,  inasmuch  as  it  has  always  been  conceded  that  women  shall 
look  after  the  distribution  and  consumption  of  the  private  economy,  why  may  she  not 
at  least  look  into  the  national  economy?  She  only  broadens  and  extends  her  inter- 
ests in  doing  so.  Having  served  a  long  term  in  the  administration  of  family  econom- 
ics, I  take  that  fact  to  be  presumptive  evidence  that  women  are  natural  born  polit- 
ical economists.  The  very  least  they  can  do  is  not  to  push  the  subject  away  from 
them  as  too  difficult,  too  dry  to  be  annoyed  with.  On  the  contrary,  it  includes  topics 
of  vital  importance  to  every  woman  in  the  land.  The  social  and  economic  life 
of  a  nation  very  materially  affects  women.  Social  laws,  customs  and  conditions 
decidedly  influence  the  home  life  of  every  girl  and  woman;  they  control  all  things  a 
woman  holds  most  dear.  Hence  a  study  of,  and  an  interest  in,  the  civilization  in  which 
she  lives  should  be  neglected  by  none. 

In  this  comparatively  new  field  of  work  I  have  found  that  certain  ideas  invariably 
pop  up  on  all  sides  for  argument  and  discussion.  People  naturally  enough  look  about 
them  with  searching  gaze  when  women  undertake  anything  unusual.  Women  them- 
selves often  say  to  me  that  they  have  never  heard  of  any  women  political  economists 
in  history.  It  is  true  that  they  have  not  read  of  any  such,  that  is,  as  we  understand 
the  term  political  economist.  In  regard  to  the  economic  life  of  the  past,  the  annals 
of  history  are,  indeed,  wellnigh  vacant.  The  pages  of  history  are  heroic  with  the 
deeds  of  warriors,  heavy  with  the  smoke  of  battle,  brilliant  with  marching  and  coun- 
ter-marching armies,  glittering  with  the  rise  and  tarnished  with  the  fall  of  many 
dynasties. 

This  department  of  sociology  certainly  does  have  more  to  do  with  ourselves  than 
many  other  branches  of  knowledge.  Therefore,  we  feel  there  must  have  been  causes 
that  account  for  the  small  role  which  political  economy  has  played  in  the  drama  of 
history.     There  were  such  causes,  as  we  shall  see,  if  we  take  the  trouble  to  seek  them. 

At  the  outset  we  discover  that  one  influence  felt  by  the  historians  has  been  "  the 
knowledge  that  dramatic  incidents  make  more  impressions  on  the  minds  of  readers 
than  dissertations  upon  the  more  hidden  forces  that  operate  just  as  effectively  in  the 
national  organism.  Dramatic  incidents  make  more  impression  on  the  minds  of  the 
historians  themselves."  "  Certain  epochs  excite  and  certain  lives  impress  the  dramatic 
sense.  Both  furnish  a  wide  scope  in  which  the  genius  of  the  author  can  exhibit  itself. 
Yet  there  are  causes  more  potent  still  which  have  confined  the  historic  muse  ever 
within  sight  of  the  nodding  plumes  of  knights  and  within  the  hearing  of  the  '  clash  of 
resounding  arms.' " 

These  more  influential  reasons  lie  in  the  fact  that  two  conditions  must  be  fulfilled 
before  historians  can  to  any  extent  write  of  the  economics  of  their  days.  The  first 
requisition,  says  one  author,  certainly  is  that  social  phenomena  must  be  exhibited  on 
a  sufficiently  extended  scale  to  supply  adequate  matter  for  observation;  consequently 
for  the  recording  of  such  observations,  and  after  social  phenomena  are  provided,  his- 
torians or  writers  must  be  trained  for  their  tasks.  Dr.  Ingram  believes,  as  he  says, 
"  Sociology  requires  to  use  for  its  purpose  theorems  which  belong  to  the  domain  of 
physics  and  biology,  and  which  sociology  must  borrow  from  its  professors.  On  the 
logical  side  the  methods  which  sociology  has  to  employ — deductional,  observational, 
comparative — must  have  been  previously  shaped  in  the  cultivation  of  mathematics, 
m  the  study  of  the  inorganic  world,  or  of  organisms  less  complex  than  the  social 
organism." 

We  must  never  forget  that  scientists  base  their  theories  on  the  fact  that  society  is 
an  organic  whole,  and  each  individual  is  a  member  of  the  same.  Hence  it  is  plain 
that,  although  some  laws  or  tendencies  were  undoubtedly  forced  on  men's  attention 
in  every  age,  yet  it  is  also  ^lain  that  really  scientific  sociology,  including  political 
economy,  must  be  the  product  of  a  very  advanced  stage  of  intellectual  development. 

Accepting  these  reasons  for  the  silence  of  historians  in  regard  to  economics,  we 
are  not  so  much  inclined  to  blame  them  for  their  seeming  shortcomings. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  493 

Today  all  is  changed.  The  exigencies  of  our  times  demand  that  the  social  and 
economic  conditions  receive  more  and  more  attention.  Today  philosophers  are  rising 
to  the  emergencies  of  their  environment. 

The  environments  of  the  past  did  not  develop  political  economists,  and  it  is  true 
that  in  bygone  civilization  we  discover  no  women  distinguished  for  their  theories  of 
wealth  or  their  speculations  upon  the  production,  distribution  and  consumption  of 
wealth.  But  have  we  no  records  of  women  who  left  the  impress  of  their  influence  upon 
the  times  in  which  they  lived?  None  who  were  interested  and  versed  in  the  social 
conditions  of  their  country,  and  in  kindred  topics?  Were  there  none  who  exhibited 
ability  to  grapple  even  with  the  affairs  of  state?  Who  will  say  that  that  beautiful 
Egyptian  queen  of  the  Ptolemaic  dynasty  was  not  a  successful  ruler?  Was  not  her 
kingdom,  in  spite  of  her  grievous  faults,  prosperous  during  her  reign?  Were  not  the 
politics  of  Athens  once  shaped  and  guided  by  Aspasia?  Did  not  the  giant  intellect 
of  Socrates  bow  to  her?  Coming  nearer  and  more  clearly  into  the  light  of  our  own 
times,  we  behold  Elizabeth  Tudor,  a  sovereign,  reigning  as  sovereigns  have  rarely 
reigned — by  the  sovereignty  of  her  own  intellect  and  nature;  and  Maria  Theresa, 
mother  of  emperors!  Did  these  have  no  thought  for,  no  comprehension  of,  the  prob- 
lems of  their  day? 

Lacking  scarce  three  months  of  being  one  hundred  years  ago  this  very  time,  the 
tall,  elegant  figure  of  a  white-robed  woman  was  passing  from  out  the  gray,  grim  gates 
of  the  Conciergerie.  The  preparations  at  the  guillotine  were  speedy.  The  breezes  of 
distracted  France  played  but  briefly  with  the  dark,  beautiful  hair.  The  figure  in  white 
murmured,  "  O  Liberta,  comme  on  t'a  jouee! "  and  the  bloodthirsty  fishwomen  from 
the  San  Antoine,  who,  like  harpies, sat"  knitting,  knitting,  counting  dropping  heads." 
Tell  me,  was  not  the  lovely  Roland  in  her  day  a  power,  a  factor  in  that  civilization  for 
which  she  lost  her  life?  I  am  well  aware  that  it  may  be  argued  that  these  women, 
celebrated  in  history,  have  reigned  and  influenced  through  their  personal  attractions. 
To  an  extent  this  is  true,  but  they  maintained  their  distinctive  power  through  their 
intelligence.  A  woman  may  attain  her  ascendency  through  personal  charms,  beauty, 
and  that  wonderful,  subtle  thing,  called  fascination;  but  she  must  maintain  her  sway 
through  her  mentality,  her  intelligence.  None  can  depreciate  the  potency  of  physical 
beauty;  few  can  resist  its  seductive  spell.  All  lament  its  ephemerality.  But  add  to 
beauty  of  person,  to  fascination,  strength  of  intellect,  and  then  you  discover  the  secret 
of  the  deep  and  lasting  influence  of  these  "  Beacon  Lights  of  History."  These  women 
I  have  just  mentioned  were  not  political  economists,  but  they  were  women  who,  had 
they  lived  today,  would  of  necessity  have  become  such. 

So  much  for  the  past.     What  of  the  present? 

The  spirit  of  progress  is  abroad.  It  is  advancing  with  rapid  strides.  We  who  are 
living  in  the  twilight  of  the  dear,  old  nineteenth  century,  see — we  must  see,  whether 
we  wish  or  not — that  women  are  being  pushed  by  the  trend  of  the  times  out  into  a 
broader  sea  of  life  and  responsibility.  Great  responsibilities  are  hurrying  toward  us. 
They  will  soon  be  ours,  and  I  would  have  American  girls  add  to  their  world-acknowl- 
edged beauty,  their  charms  and  fascination,  an  intelligent  ability  to  meet  these  new 
responsibilities.  This  can  only  be  done  through  a  familiarity  with  political  economy. 
If  we  are,  as  has  been  recently  asserted,  "  on  the  verge  of  a  decisive  conflict  between 
the  conservative  and  destructive  forces";  if  the  "safety  and  the  perpetuity  of  our  civ- 
ilization is  menaced";  if  mighty  problems,  greater  than  any  that  have  shaken  our 
beloved  country  since  the  days  of  slavery,  are  crying  for  solution;  if  amid  scenes  of 
aesthetic  splendor  the  shadow  of  an  impending  danger  falls,  if  the  drums  beat,  if  your 
city  is  encircled  with  the  gleam  of  bayonets,  as  my  Buffalo  during  the  great  railroad 
strike  within  a  year  has  been,  if  a  conflict  of  ideas  and  principle  is  waged  at  your 
door,  then  I  ask  have  women  no  desire  to  inquire  into  the  whys  and  wherefores  of 
such  occurrences? 

Sometimes  the  social  problems  are  less  noticeable  than  at  others.  I  do  not  con- 
tend that  a  knowledge  of  the  theories  of  political  economy  will  settle  such  troubles. 


494  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

But  I  do  say  that  an  observance  of  and  study  of  the  economic  forces  that  have  been 
developed,  especially  in  the  last  one  hundred  years,  give  a  clearer  comprehension 
of  present  phenomena  and  their  causes. 

To  trace  the  feeble  beginnings  of  the  economic  life  of  man  through  the  period 
of  barter  and  exchange  shows  us  how  money  came  into  use.  To  follow  money  into 
our  own  intricate  financial  and  credit  system  will  give  us  some  idea  of  the  difHculties 
that  beset  our  nation  and  Congress  today.  It  is  by  the  study  of  the  simpler  and  ear- 
lier national  organisms  that  we  come  to  better  understand  ourselves.  To  inculcate  in 
her  sons  the  noble  passion  of  patriotism  by  means  of  her  own  knowledge  of  national 
conditions  is  a  work  for  the  American  mother  more  glorious  than  that  accomplished 
by  the  women  of  Sparta.  If  there  are  any  present  who  fear  that  in  developing  our 
girls  and  women  into  political  economists,  or  in  the  broader  education  which  teaches 
them  somewhat  of  national  conditions,  that  we  are  in  danger  of  having  the  devoted 
wives  and  mothers  swept  away,  I  beg  such  to  remember  that  human  nature  is  not 
going  to  change  simply  because  women  have  some  knowledge  of  "  the  art  of  getting 
the  nation's  living."  Whatever  woman's  occupation  is,  whatever  she  thinks  about,  she 
will  always  be  a  woman  at  heart.  Believe  me,  in  the  coming  days  of  the  twentieth 
century,  if  w^e  should  see  political  economists  among  our  girls  and  matrons,  we  will 
find  the  song  of  love  still  the  same,  "  old,  and  yet  ever  new,  and  simple  and  beautiful 
always."  The  stalwart  American  youths  will  fall  in  love,  and  gentle  American  maid- 
ens will  reciprocate  the  passion  none  the  less  fervently  than  in  the  older  days  when 
political  economy  was  unheard  of,  and  when  "  Priscilla  rode  out  through  the  heat  and 
the  dust  of  noonday  to  the  home  of  John  Alden,  her  husband."  Then  as  now,  the 
highest  responsibility,  the  noblest  function  of  woman,  the  most  potent  feeling  that 
dominates  her  being  will  be  motherhood.  This  is  not  going  to  change  in  the  heart 
of  a  single  woman  political  economist.  No,  though  she  will  become  a  deeper  thinker, 
a  more  potent  factor  in  national  life  than  either  Madame  Roland  or  Elizabeth  Tudor. 
In  the  coming  time,  as  now,  woman  will  retain  her  old  place  at  the  side  of  man,  but  a 
better  companion,  a  better  counselor,  and  as  true  a  friend  and  wife.  You  may  rest 
assured  that  the  stars  will  shine  upon  our  fair  and  prosperous  land,  and  Liberty,  not 
only  glorified  as  she  is  today  in  the  figure  of  woman,  but  proclaiming  to  the  world  the 
increased  patriotism  of  the  American  woman,  will  still  stand  guard  in  that  beautiful 
harbor  of  the  "  Empire  State,"  while  gentle  Motherhood  will  rock  the  cradle  then  as 
now  of  the  children  of  the  Nation  sleeping  at  her  feet. 


INDUSTRIAL  REVOLUTION  OF  THE  LAST  CENTURY. 


By  MRS.  ELIZA  STOWE  TWITCHELL. 

It  is  estimated  by  those  who  have  studied  the  subject,  that  the  advance  which 
the  world  has  made  industrially  within  the  last  one  hundred  and  fifty  years,  is  greater 

than  that  of  the  previous  two  thousand.  And  when 
we  remember  how  many  very  important  scientific 
discoveries  and  labor-saving  inventions  have  been 
given  to  the  world  since  1870,  it  is  perhaps  not  too 
much  to  say  that  the  industrial  advance  which  the 
world  has  made  within  the  last  twenty  or  thirty  years 
is  equal  to  the  previous  one  hundred  and  fifty. 

It  is  always  difficult  to  understand  our  own  times. 
We  live  too  near  to  view  them  broadly.  We  scarcely 
appreciate  our  friends,  until  the  grave  has  hidden 
them  from  us;  and  our  men  and  women  of  genius 
must  be  dead  fifty  years,  before  the  world  attains  to 
their  clear  breadth  of  vision,  even  by  the  aid  of  the 
desperate,  thankless  struggle  they  make  to  show  the 
world  "the  things  that  belong  to  its  peace."  To  take 
a  glance  of  the  past  and  (then)  compare  it  with  the 
present,  is  often  helpful  in  gaining  a  broader  view 
of  our  own  times. 

The  year  1776  is  a  very  easy  one  to  remember, 
in  that  it  witnessed  two  great  events:  Our  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  and  also  the  publication  of 
Adam  Smith's  great  book,  "  The  Wealth  of  Nations." 
This  book  is  illumined  on  almost  every  page  with  two  great  thoughts:  First.  As 
our  declaration  affirms,  each  man's  right  to  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness, 
/.  e.,  civil  liberty;  and  second.  Each  man's  right  to  exchange  the  result  of  his  own 
labor  in  any  market  where  he  pleases,  i.  e.,  free  trade,  or  industrial  liberty.  Within  ten 
years  from  the  publication  of  the  book,  four  great  inventions  were  given  to  the  world: 
James  Watt  invented  the  steam  engine,  Hargreaves  the  spinning  jenny,  Arkwright 
the  water  frame,  and  Cartwright  the  power  loom.  These  four  inventions,  together 
with  the  fact  that  about  that  time  coal  was  used  in  place  of  wood  in  smelting  iron 
ore,  making  iron  both  cheap  and  abundant,  revolutionized  all  industry,  and  made, 
in  less  than  a  century.  Great  Britain  the  work-shop  of  the  world.  In  order  to 
clearly  understand  the  effects  which  these  inventions  produced,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  form  a  picture  of  the  condition  of  society  before  this  time.  The  aristocracy  then 
constituted  the  most  important  class;  they  obtained  their  revenue  from  the  rent  of 
their  large  estates,  which  centuries  before  had  possessed  but  little  or  no  value,  and 
were  given  in  most  cases  to  their  ancestors  for  bravery  in  battle.  There  were  two 
advantages  which  they  possessed  over  the  others:  First,  as  chief  owners  of  the  soil, 

Mrs.  Eliza  Stowe  Twitchell  was  born  at  Jamestown,  N.  ¥.,  Janaary,  1845.  Her  parents  were  natives  of  Worcester,  Maes. 
In  addition  to  a  common-school  education  she  spent  three  years  at  Waterford  Academy  and  three  at  Lake  Erie  Seminary, 
graduating  from  the  latter  in  1867.  In  1874  she  married  Edward  Twitchell,  of  Boston,  residing  in  Boston  until  1891,  then  located 
at  Wollaston  Heights,  one  of  its  suburbs.  In  society,  for  its  social  features  merely,  she  was  never  especially  intorested; 
church,  benevolent  societies,  flower  missions  and  day-nurseries  received  her  thought  and  attention.  Books  were  her 
delight;  the  public  library  to  her  a  continual  feast,  which  aided  by  Miss  Ticknor's  "  Society  for  Home  Study,"  established 
mental  discipline  of  a  superior  order.  Two  tracts,  "Justice  not  Charity,"  and  "  Wealth  and  its  Factors,"  are  among  her 
beet  writings.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Wollaston  Heights,  Mass. 

495 


MRS.  ELIZA  STOWE  TWITCHELL. 


496  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

which  was  now  constantly  growing  in  value;  and  second,  as  makers  of  the  laws. 
These  two  advantages  gave  them  leisure  for  study  and  improvement;  wealth,  for 
charity,  for  refinement  and  luxuries.  The  condition  of  those  who  tilled  the  soil  had 
formerly  been  that  of  mere  serfs,  who  had  neither  civil,  religious,  nor  industrial 
liberty.  Everything  the  serf  produced  belonged  to  his  lord.  One  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ago,  then,  most  of  the  land  of  England  was  divided  into  small  holdings,  and 
titled  by  lease  or  copy-holders,  i.  e.,  those  who  obtained  their  lands  of  the  lords  upon 
long  leases;  or  free-holders,  those  who  purchased  their  lands,  yet  continued  to  pay 
annually  a  small  rent.  The  chief  difference  between  the  copy-holder  and  the  free- 
holder was,  the  free-holder's  rent  could  not  be  raised  as  the  land  rose  in  value.  These, 
with  the  farm  laborers,  who  lived  in  the  family,  ate  at  the  same  table,  and  shared  the 
same  coarse  fare  and  rude  society,  constituted  the  sturdy  yeomanry  of  England.  Then, 
dotted  over  all  England,  in  lanes  and  byways,  were  cottages  surrounded  by  an  acre  of 
land  each.  In  the  cottage  was  the  hand-loom,  at  which  sat  the  master- workman  (then 
called  the  manufacturer),  who,  assisted  by  his  apprentices,  wove  the  woolen,  silk, 
linen  and  cotton  cloth  of  England. 

Then  as  the  population  was  sparse,  and  there  was  land  enough  for  all,  the  poorer 
or  common  lands  were  allotted  annuall)^  to  a  still  poorer  class  of  farmers.  Each  man 
had  three  strips,  one  for  barley,  one  for  wheat  and  one  for  grass,  besides  a  right  to 
pasture  a  cow  or  a  pig  and  obtain  fuel  from  the  common  fields.  The  philosopher's 
stone,  so  long  in  vain  sought,  was  at  length  found  m  the  huge  beds  of  coal  and  iron 
ore  that  lay  side  by  side  just  under  the  surface  of  English  soil,  and  that  "  labor"  was 
soon  to  place  England  at  the  head  of  industrial  Europe.  This  was  only  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years  ago.  The  intolerance  and  bigotry  of  those  times  is  well  illustrated  by 
the  manner  in  which  the  great  inventions  of  Watt,  Hargreaves  and  Crompton  were 
received  and  requited. 

Rioters  burst  into  their  houses  and  broke  in  pieces  their  machines,  with  the  cry, 
"Men,  not  machines!"  They  believed  they  could  regulate  the  price  of  wages  by  break- 
ing labor-saving  machines,  just  as  it  is  now  imagined  that  by  restricting  the  number  of 
laborers  wages  will  rise.  Both  methods  only  reduce  the  amount  of  wealth  produced, 
and  in  the  end  works  injury  to  all.  When  cloth  began  to  be  woven  by  machinery, 
moved  by  the  forces  of  nature,  the  first  effect  upon  the  master-workmen  and  their 
apprentices  was  to  gradually  destroy  both  their  industry  and  their  capital,  for  their 
looms  became  so  much  useless  lumber.  Henceforth  if  they  would  weave  cloth  they 
must  go  to  the  machines,  and  become  a  part  of  them. 

The  second  effect  was  to  tear  the  people  up  by  the  roots  and  carry  them  away 
from  the  soil  to  the  town,  with  lives  reduced  to  the  one  monstrous  purpose — that  of 
tending  a  machine.  Many  did  leave  their  homes  to  find  employment;  but  many  were 
left  to  eke  out  a  miserable  existence  as  best  they  could.  Now  what  was  the  effect  of 
all  this  upon  the  manufacturer?     This  word  has  now  a  new  meaning. 

The  gulf  has  widened  between  him  and  his  apprentices  or  day  laborers. 

Obtainmg  his  labor  cheap  (the  price  of  wages  being  fixed  by  law),  his  profits  were 
large,  and  he  soon  amassed  an  enormous  fortune.  Others,  seeing  his  large  profits, 
engaged  in  the  same  business,  and  then  the  competition  between  one  manufacturer 
and  another  gradually  reduced  the  price  of  cloth,  until  the  profits  of  the  business 
amounted  to  only  a  fair  rate  of  interest  on  the  capital  invested,  and  the  effect  of  this 
was  to  so  cheapen  production  that  the  goods  were  within  the  reach  of  nearly  all,  and 
this  so  stimulated  trade  and  foreign  commerce  that  it  opened  up  new  avenues  to  labor, 
and  capital  sprang  up  as  if  by  magic.  Where  before  one  yard  of  cloth  was  produced, 
now  there  were  many  greater  comforts,  and  a  higher  standard  of  living  was  the  result, 
until  these  machines  were  a  blessing  to  all,  except  those  whose  toil  they  were  intended 
to  lighten.  They  lived  a  hard,  monotonous  life,  slaves  both  to  the  machines  and  to 
the  firms  or  corporations  that  employed  them.  Since  that  time  population  in  England 
has  increased  tenfold,  and  wealth  far  more.  So  that  had  there  been  a  just  (not  equal, 
but  a  just)  distribution  of  the  wealth  produced,  all  classes  would  have  been  benefited. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN  497 

Not  one  of  these  machines  could  turn  out  a  yard  of  woolen  cloth  except  fed  by 
wool  from  the  backs  of  sheep  that  fed  upon  the  lands.  In  the  same  way  the  cotton, 
silk  and  linen  came  from  the  land.  Also,  the  increasing  population  in  these  rapidly 
growing  cities  must  all  be  fed  from  products  that  grew  upon  the  land,  and  even  if 
people  dwelt  in  five-story  tenement-houses,  or  pursued  their  business  in  an  office  on 
the  tenth  floor,  its  foundation  must  rest  upon  the  land. 

The  first  effect,  then,  upon  the  farmer,  was  of  great  prosperity,  since  everything 
that  he  raised  was  in  great  demand.  So  well  off  did  he  soon  become,  that  he  refused 
to  board  the  day-laborer  in  his  family,  since  now  he  was  as  good  as  gentle  folk;  thus 
the  gulf  again  widened  between  the  classes.  But  the  second  effect  was,  that  land 
being  in  such  demand,  its  value  rose  enormously,  and  when  the  long  leases  expired,  the 
landlords  refused  to  rent  again  upon  the  old  terms;  so  that  all  this  increase  in  prosper- 
ity, though  it  went  for  a  time  to  capital,  for  a  time  to  the  farmer,  ended  in  raising  the 
value  of  land,  making  it  yearly  harder  either  to  buy  land  or  to  rent  it,  and  those  who 
owned  the  land  reaped  the  cream  of  a,ll  this  prosperity.  A  proof  of  this  is  seen  in  the 
fact  that  both  wages  and  interest  on  capital  are  not  nearly  as  high  today  as  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  ago,  when  compared  with  the  amount  of  wealth  they  produced; 
yet  the  price  of  land  is  vastly  higher;  farming  lands,  some  fifty  times  their  former  price; 
manufacturing  sites,  seventy  times;  mineral  lands  and  city  lots,  many  thousand  times. 
So  the  final  effect  upon  the  farmer  was,  that  since  his  extra  profits  must  now  go  to  pay 
the  increased  rent,  the  small  farmer  was  crushed  out,  and  became  a  day-laborer  or 
small  trader,  again  drawing  more  away  from  the  country  to  the  city,  and  gradually 
concentrating  the  land  in  the  hands  of  a  few.  Slowly  the  sturdy  yeomanry  of  Eng- 
land disappeared — that  class  which  made  England  invincible  in  war  and  prosperous 
in  peace.  As  this  class  has  disappeared  in  England,  the  wealthy  and  retired  merchant 
or  manufacturer  now  coveted  a  title,  but  as  this  could  not  be  granted  except  to  the 
possessor  of  broad  lands,  a  bill  was  passed  through  parliament  called  the  ''Law  of 
Inclosures,"  inclosing  the  land  held  in  common  by  the  poor  people. 

By  this  some  seven  millions  of  acres  of  the  common  lands  were  "inclosed,"  i.e. 
taken  away  from  the  poor  and  given  to  the  rich  to  found  (?)  families,  who  did  not 
pay  the  poor  for  their  land,  but  who  paid  the  government  for  their  titles  of  nobility. 

At  length,  so  great  was  the  distress  and  suffering  in  England,  that  riots  were  com- 
mon; houses  and  factories  were  burned;  the  sky  was  lurid  with  the  approach  of  a  com- 
ing revolution.  The  law  of  settlement  was  repealed  in  time  to  save  coming  disas- 
ter. Since  then  some  twelve  millions  have  found  their  way  to  the  cheap  or  free 
lands  of  Canada  and  the  United  States,  and  have  been  able  to  protect  themselves. 
But  there  is  still  poverty  in  England.  They  still  give  them  scorn,  pity,  and  charity; 
and  if  anyone  will  know  the  cause  of  the  present  submerged  tenth,  let  him  reflect 
upon  this  fact. 

One-half  the  land  of  Great  Britain — land  upon  which  thirty-seven  millions  of 
people  must  live,  is  owned  by  some  twenty-seven  hundred  landlords.  The  many  must 
pay  the  few — their  brothers,  for  a  right  to  live  upon  England's  soil — pay  for  the  right 
to  live  upon  the  land  where  God  has  placed  them.  Why  if  such  were  the  condition  in 
Heaven  there  would  be  distress  and  suffering.  Now  how  do  those  times  and  events  com- 
pare with  the  present?  Against  the  steam-engine,  the  spinning  jenny,  the  power  loom, 
water  frame  and  cheap  iron,  we  have  cheap  steel,  the  electric  motor,  the  reaping 
machine,  ocean  cable,  telephone,  photography,  the  modern  printing-press,  capable  of 
printing  a  book  of  288  pages  in  one  revolution,  or  5,000  books  an  hour!  In  short,  so 
multitudinous  are  now  the  inventions  that  today  only  one-third  of  the  labor  of  the 
world  is  performed  by  muscle. 

Every  new  invention,  in  proportion  to  its  importance,  produces  like  economic 
results  as  have  been  detailed  at  length.  First,  it  destroys  somebody's  industry  and 
makes  some  capital,  for  a  time,  useless;  next,  it  changes  the  location  of  the  social 
units  of  society.  Then  it  increases  the  profits  of  those  who  possess  exclusive  control 
of  the  invention;  but  as  soon  as  exclusive  control  ceases,  competition  steps  in  and 

(32) 


498  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

reduces  both  the  price  and  the  profits,  until  the  invested  capital  usually  receives  only 
a  fair  rate  of  interest,  and  the  effect  of  this  is  to  so  stimulate  all  industry  that  it  opens 
up  new  avenues  to  commerce,  subdivides  labor,  and  lifts  the  standard  of  living,  until 
this  increasing  demand  for  more  and  more  wealth  finally  increases  the  demand  for 
land — the  original  source  of  all  wealth. 

This  increasing  demand  for  land  has  led  to  great  improvements  in  rapid  and  cheap 
transportation,  in  order  to  bring  rich  but  distant  land  into  use;  so  today  railroads,  built 
mostly  of  cheap  steel,  light  and  strong,  trains  can  move  with  great  swiftness  and  com- 
parative safety.  Our. railroads  are  the  greatest  labor-saving  machines  we  have,  and  as 
instruments  of  traffic  they  are  a  blessing  inestimable  to  all.  It  is  only  in  their  franchise 
that  they  are  monopolies,  and  in  the  power  of  land  held  out  of  use  that  they  are  able 
to  grind  the  lives  of  their  employes.  Our  best  roads  can,  and  do,  carry  at  a  profit  a  ton 
of  freight  a  mile  for  less  than  one  cent.  Neither  is  it  in  doing  things  on  a  large  scale 
that  constitutes  a  monopoly.  By  means  of  modern  inventions,  by  manufacturing  in 
large  quantities,  sugar  is  produced  at  a  profit  of  only  one-sixteenth  of  a  cent  a  pound. 
By  recent  improvements  in  agricultural  implements,  steam-plows,  reaping,  sowing  and 
threshing  machines,  three  men  can  in  a  year  produce  grain  enough  to  feed  one  thou- 
sand. In  short,  there  is  hardly  an  industry  that  can  not,  in  six  months'  time,  supply 
the  market  for  a  year,  so  that  the  great  cry  today  is  over-production.  There  was  too 
much  wheat  raised  last  year,  too  much  cotton,  too  many  shoes  made;  our  iron,  cooper 
and  coal  mines  all  have  to  shut  down  because  there  is  an  over-supply.  Why,  then,  do 
not  these  men,  toiling  in  mine  and  mill,  stop  and  rest  awhile,  if  they  are  producing  too 
much?  Why  do  not  the  thirty  thousand  women  and  seventy-five  hundred  children  in 
the  cotton  factories  of  Massachusetts  take  a  vacation?  Who  is  it  that  turns  pale  at  a 
talk  of  a  shut-down  for  six  weeks?  Why  is  it  that  men  consider  it  a  privilege  to  work 
long  and  hard,  often  where  life  is  in  danger,  and  yet  they  cling  to  their  places  as  a 
drowning  man  clings  to  a  floating  spar  in  mid-ocean,  if  it  be  not  that  the  land  has  been 
pulled  out  from  under  them,  while  the  machines  are  doing  their  labor? 

We  have  already  reached  a  time  when  the  small  farms  are  rapidly  disappearing 
and  land  is  being  concentrated  into  the  hands  of  a  few.  In  the  West,  farms  of  thirty 
thousand  acres  are  quite  common.  Foreign  noblemen  already  own  land  enough  to 
give  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  families  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  apiece. 
There  is  much  said,  lately,  about  America  for  Americans.  What  we  ought  to  claim  is 
American  soil  for  American  citizens.  In  this  way  we  shall  soon  be  paying  to  English 
landlords  a  greater  tax  than  that  we  refused  to  pay  to  King  George  III.  'Tis  said 
that  four  millionaires  own  land  enough  to  form  for  each  a  state  the  size  of  Massachu- 
setts. This  concentration  of  land  in  the  hands  of  a  few  produces  a  seeming  scarcity; 
yet,  if  the  inhabitants  of  the  globe  were  placed  in  the  United  States  alone,  the  popula- 
tion to  the  square  mile  would  not  be  nearly  as  great  as  today  in  Belgium.  Notwith- 
standing the  vast  extent  of  land  now  owned  by  private  individuals  or  large 
monopolies,  the  injury  to  the  masses  is  not  felt  in  inclosing  from  them  vast  tracts  of 
land  so  much  as  from  shutting  them  out  from  the  mpre  bountiful  portions  of  nature — 
such  as  rich  oil  or  mineral  lands,  or  giving  them  no  share  in  the  valuable  trading  sites 
in  every  large  city  which  their  presence  has  helped  to  create.  No  one  expects  to 
divide  the  land  equally,  or  to  prevent  it  from  being  bought  and  sold  as  now,  or  to  take 
it  away  from  anybody.  Yet  affairs  must  be  so  adjusted  that  the  veriest  little  sickly 
girl  baby,  born  in  a  five-story  teneinent  house  next  month,  shall  have  her  right  to  an 
equal  share  with  all  others  in  the  value  of  the  land  where  God  has  placed  her.  To 
deny  her  this  is  to  deny  her  right  to  the  wealth  which  her  Heavenly  Father  has  cre- 
ated for  her.  Here  is  a  steamboat  plying  between  New  York  and  Liverpool.  Its 
owner  recently  died,  and  left  this  property  to  his  sons  and  daughters.  If  they  divide 
it  into  equal  parts  they  will  destroy  it;  but  if  they  allow  it  to  sail  back  and  forth,  and 
divide  its  annual  earnings  equally  they  will  each  share  alike.  So  we  are  sailing  upon 
a  boat  through  space,  rushing  at  the  rate  of  sixty-eight  thousand  miles  an  hour.  Our 
boat  is  loaded  down  with  the  materials  of  untold  and  inexhaustible  wealth.     This 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  499 

wealth,  it  may  be  said  (commonly  speaking),  is  of  two  forms.  First,  that  which  is 
produced  by  skill  and  labor,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  grows  cheaper  and  cheaper  as 
civilization  advances;  and,  second,  that  which  is  produced  by  the  growth  of  society — 
i.  e.  the  value  that  attaches  to  land  by  reason  of  population  or  ground  rents,  which 
grow  dearer  and  dearer  as  civilization  advances.  Men  need  wealth  individually. 
This  each  one  produces  by  his  individual  labor,  and  his  right  to  it  is  inviolate. 

We  also  have  need  of  a  social  fund  to  defray  the  common  expenses  of  government, 
such  as  schools,  public  bridges,  roads,  care  of  the  sick  and  aged,  the  unfortunate  who 
are  now  left  to  the  humiliations  of  charity,  or  worse  still,  the  mortification  of  alms. 
Ground  rents  are  produced  socially.  To  use  this  social  fund  to  defray  the  expenses 
of  society  would,  in  reality,  consist  in  all  sharing  equally  in  the  value  of  the  land,  or 
in  other  words,  would  restore  the  land  of  the  world  to  the  people  of  the  world.  We 
would  collect  these  ground  rents  by  means  of  a  single  tax,  placed  not  upon  land,  for 
all  land  does  not  rent  for  the  same  price,  but  upon  land  according  to  its  value. 

Hon.  Wm.  P.  Saunders,  of  London,  says:  "This  would  in  reality  be  no  tax  at  all, 
but  a  pension  for  everybody."  Let  this  simple  yet  radical  change  be  adopted,  and 
how  soon  would  our  present  unjust  standard  of  social  equality  disappear.  Then 
respect  for  the  aged,  pity,  tenderness  and  love  for  the  blind,  crippled  and  unfortunate 
would  be  accorded,  whatever  their  social  rank.  Then  hearts  would  count  as  high  as 
heads,  and  heads  as  high  as  gold.  Hear  the  words  of  one,  who  dwelt  so  long  in  the 
thought  upon  the  misery  and  injustice  in  the  world,  and  this  remedy,  until  in  prophetic 
vision  he  at  length  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  future — 

"  Far  as  human  eye  could  see; 
Saw  the  vision  of  the  world  and  all  the  wonders  that  would  be." 

And  as  he  gazed  he  wrote  this  picture  for  our  comfort  and  hope.  So  earnest  and 
intense  was  his  soul,  so  inspired  his  thought,  that  between  the  lines,  for  ages,  will  be 
heard  the  very  sound  of  his  heart-throbs.  The  fiat  has  gone  forth.  With  steam  and 
electricity,  and  the  new  powers  born  of  progress,  forces  have  entered  the  world  that 
will  either  compel  us  to  a  higher  plane  or  overwhelm  us  as  nation  after  nation,  as 
civilization  after  civilization  have  been  overwhelmed  before.  Even  now,  in  old  bot- 
tles, the  new  wine  begins  to  ferment,  and  elemental  forces  gather  for  the  strife.  But 
if,  while  there  is  yet  time,  we  turn  to  Justice  and  obey  her,  if  we  trust  Liberty  and 
follow  her,  the  dangers  that  now  threaten  must  disappear,  the  forces  that  now  menace 
will  turn  to  agencies  of  elevation.  Think  of  the  powers  now  wasted;  of  the  infinite 
fields  of  knowledge  yet  to  be  explored;  of  the  possibilities  of  which  the  wondrous 
inventions  of  this  century  give  us  but  a  hint.  With  want  destroyed;  with  greed 
changed  to  noble  passions;  with  the  fraternity  that  is  born  of  equality,  taking  the  place 
of  the  jealousy  and  fear  that  now  array  men  against  each  other;  with  mental  power 
loosed  by  conditions  that  give  to  the  humblest  comfort  and  leisure,  and  who  shall 
measure  the  heights  to  which  our  civilization. may  soar?     Words  fail  the  thought! 

It  is  the  Golden  Age  of  which  poets  have  sung  and  high  raised  seers  have  told  in 
metaphor.  It  is  the  glorious  vision  which  has  always  haunted  man  with  gleams  of 
fitful  splendor.  It  is  what  he  saw,  whose  eyes  at  Patmos  were  closed  in  a  trance.  It 
is  the  culmination  of  Christianity — the  city  of  God  on  earth,  with  its  walls  of  jasper 
and  its  gates  of  pearl!     It  is  the  reign  of  the  Prince  of  Peace! 


VOICE  CULTURE. 


By  MME.  LOUISA  CAPPIANL 

The  correct  emission  is  produced  by  bringing  the  vocal  chords  to  phonation  on 
the  principle  of  the  yEolian  harp.     This  tone  production,  without  using  muscular  power 

in  the  throat,  preserves  the  voice  through  lifetime. 
First,  it  must  be  understood  what  an  ^olian  harp  is. 
Nothing  more  than  well-tuned  strings,  stretched  in 
the  middle  of  a  frame  (window)  exposed  to  the  air, 
where  the  friction  of  the  wind  develops  the  tone  of 
those  strings,  in  such  a  soft,  elastic  way,  that  heavenly 
sounds  of  wonderful  effect  are  heard.  What  is  the 
human  voice?  A  living  ^olian  harp.  The  vocal 
chords  are  situated  in  the  upper  part  of  the  windpipe 
(larynx),  where  the  air  of  the  lungs,  called  breath, 
passes,  through  and  brings  to  phonation  the  tones 
conceived  in  the  brain.  By  this  soft  and  elastic  emis- 
sion every  voice  is  beautified,  never  strained  or  injured, 
and  flexibility  acquired  without  difficulty.  Here  I 
must  quote  my  analysis  of  the  voice  of  another  essay 
of  mine:  *' What  is  the  voice?  Reply:  Tone  colored 
breath."     An  ^olian  harp. 

The  epiglottis  stroke,  on  the  contrary,  hardens 
the  voice,  by  forcibly  closing  the  vocal  chords  and 
causing  an  explosive  tone.  This  proceeding  makes  a 
clicking  noise  before  the  tone  is  heard.  In  violin 
playing  a  sudden  stroke  of  the  bow  on  the  strmgs 
produces  a  similar  harsh  tone.  Why  are  Paderewski  and  Joseffy  so  superior  to  other 
virtuosi?  Because  of  their  elastic  touch.  One  can  not  hear  the  percussion  of  the 
hammer  upon  the  piano  strings,  as  too  often  happens  in  piano-forte  playing.  Why 
should  vocalists  hammer  upon  their  poor  vocal  chords  by  this  epiglottis  stroke?  The 
voice  certainly  can  not  improve,  but  must  suffer  by  this  explosive  treatment,  which 
is  injurious  to  the  whole  vocal  apparatus.  A  soft  and  elastic  tone  production  of  the 
iColian  harp,  as  above  explained,  beautifies  the  voice,  renders  it  capable  of  flexibility, 
and  of  expressing  every  sentiment,  besides  extending  its  range  and  increasing  its 
power.  But,  above  all  these  advantages,  "phonation  of  the  human  voice,  upon  the 
principle  of  the  yEolian  harp,  preserves  it  in  its  prime  through  life." 

Placing  of  the  Voice. — The  guidance  of  the  elastic  tone  is  the  next  capital  atten- 
tion. As  you  know,  every  instrument  has  a  sounding-board.  In  the  human  voice  this, 
sounding-board  is  formed  by  the  bony  part  of  the  face  (flesh  is  not  acoustic),  the  nasal 
bridge  being  the  central  arch  or  acoustic  chamber  connecting  the  frontal  bone,  all  the 

Mme.  Louisa  Cappiani  (Kapp- Young)  is  a  native  of  Austria.  She  was  bom  in  1835;  educated  in  Vienna,  Austria.  Her 
maiden  name  was  Young,  Her  father  was  a  dramatic  tenor  and  her  mother  a  gifted  German,  with  both  literary  and  musical 
culture.  At  the  age  of  six  Madame  Cappiani  was  a  musical  prodigy.  She  was  given  thorough  musical  training.  At  the  age  of 
seventeen  she  married  Mr.  Kapp,  an  Austrian  counselor.  He  lived  but  three  years,  leaving  her  with  two  children.  She 
began  a  musical  career  to  provide  for  her  family,  under  the  combined  name  of  Kapp- Young,  Later,  to  satisfy  popular  preju- 
dices, she  fused  her  name  into  Cappiani.  She  is  now  known  all  over  the  country,  as  well  as  in  Europe,  as  the  great  voice 
builder  and  teacher  of  perfect  singing,  she  is  so  successful  with  her  principle  of  the  jEolian  harp  emission  of  tone,  which, 
excludes  all  effort  in  the  throat  and  preserves  the  voice.  She  has  many  pupils.  Her  postoffice  address  is  The  Mystic,  No. 
123  West  Thirty-ninth  Street,  New  York. 

♦The  address  was  delivered  under  the  title  of  "  Voice  Culture  as  a  Means  of  Independence  to  Women." 

500 


MME.   LOUISA   CAPPIANI. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  501 

■nasal  bones  and  molar  bones  and  by  these  with  the  teeth.  When  the  tone  conceived 
in  the  brain  is  correctly  emitted  from  the  throat  and  guided  into  the  nasal  bridge,  it 
makes  all  these  bones  resound  and  gives  to  the  original  tone  by  its  over  and  under 
tones  forming  a  kind  of  accord,  warmth,  mellowness,  fullness  and  strength.  It  must 
be  well  comprehended  that  I  am  speaking  of  the  nasal  bones  and  not  of  the  nostrils. 
The  tones  coming  through  these  would  give  them  a  horrible  nasal  sound,  which  under 
all  circumstances  must  be  avoided.  Finally,  to  quote  Noah  Webster  in  regard  to  the 
turbinated  bones  under  the  nasal  bridge,  you  will  find  in  his  dictionary  that  he  calls 
"  turbinated  or  scroll  bones  the  expression  bones  of  speech."  With  this  you  readily 
understand  that  they  must  be  also  the  expression  bones  for  singing,  as  singing  is  talk- 
ing with  harmonious  tones.  The  clearness  of  pronunciation  is  most  essential  for  a 
good  singer,  and  the  more  distinct  the  syllables  are  heard,  the  better  appears  the  voice. 

For  Breathing. — I  must  warn  singers  not  to  take  exaggerated  breaths,  as  harm 
may  be  done  and  nothing  gained  by  this  spasmodic  breathing.  You  can  not  hold  an 
over-amount  of  air  which  by  its  own  pressure  will  leave  you  with  the  first  note  you 
sing.  The  so-called  abdominal  breathing  is  an  erroneous  expression,  as  one  can  only 
breathe  through  the  larynx.  The  sensation  by  lowering  the  diaphragm  gave  rise  to 
this  error.  The  function  in  breathing  on  natural  principles  is  this:  You  expand  by  a 
muscular  effort  the  lowest  (floating)  ribs,  in  consequence  of  which  the  chest-board 
(sternum)  rises  also — not  the  shoulders — at  the  same  time  you  lower  the  diaphragm 
in  the  abdomen,  giving  to  your  lung  cells  ample  space  to  inflate  with  the  air,  rushing 
through  your  larynx,  thus,  according  to  physical  law,  "  every  vacuum  is  filled  with  air." 
This  air,  or  breath,  will  be  retained  the  longest  if  you  don't  let  sink  in  the  chest  board 
(sternum)  but  keep  it  up  until  your  phrase  is  through.  Specialist  physicians  call  this 
singing  with  fixed  sternum,  which  is  the  right  way  for  good  artistic  breathing,  because 
it  keeps  the  floating  ribs  out  when  the  diaphragm  can  go  upward  to  give  assistance  to 
the  lungs.  When  arriving  from  Europe  about  fourteen  years  ago, the  late  Oliver  Ditson 
asked  me  to  write  an  article  on  breathing,  which  was  published  in  the  Boston  Record 
— I  remember  havin'g  given  as  illustrations  two  extremes:  A  lion  and  a  new-born  baby. 
There  in  a  menagerie  I  saw  this  big  majestic  animal  sleeping;  no  motion  whatever; 
one  could  have  believed  him  dead,  or  sculptured,  or  stuffed,  if  his  abdomen  did  not 
betray,  moving  slowly  with  every  respiration,  there  is  life.  The  same  with  the  new- 
born baby.  In  his  peaceful  sleep  it  seemed  a  departed  angel,  and  only  the  movement 
of  its  abdomen  betrayed — it  belonged  still  to  us.  So  it  came  that  I  called  this  natural 
breathing  abdominal  breathing.  It  was  concise,  to  the  point,  and  I  don't  think  I  was 
wrong  either.  Though  once  a  pupil — from  some  territory — came  to  me  for  lessons. 
After  a  while  with  an  anxious  face  she  asked  me:  "  Madame,  will  you  teach  me  the  dia- 
phragmatic or  abdominal  breathing?"  "  Yes,  certainly!"  "  But — you  will  give  me — 
chloroform?"  "  What  for?"  "  When  you  are  making  that  hole  in  my  diaphragm  for 
abdominal  breathing."  To  avoid  such  misunderstanding  I  would  like  to  propose  to 
exchange  the  expression  "  abdominal  breathing"  to  "  breathing  by  the  guidance  of  the 
abdomen,"  It  is  concise,  to  the  point.  With  this  phonation  of  the  vocal  chords  on  the 
principle  of  the  .^olian  harp,  the  correct  placing  of  the  voice,  and  breathing  on  natural 
principles  as  above  explained,  the  question,  "  When  should  children  begin  to  sing,"  is 
easily  answered.  At  eight  or  ten  years,  or  as  soon  as  they  can  learn  the  notes.  Par- 
ents and  teachers  should  give  their  attention  to  time,  rhythm,  to  the  executive  .skill  of 
singing  (technic)  runs,  trills,  sustained  phrasing,  articulation,  pronunciation,  etc.; 
and  also  of  first  sight  singing,  in  childhood  so  easily  acquired.  After  this  they  can 
join  a  chorus  choir,  in  order  to  learn  and  appreciate  good  music,  though  not"  to  make 
their  voices  heard  above  the  other  voices;  let  them  sing  softly,  carefully. 

The  idea  that  a  powerful  voice  is  not  capable  of  flexibility  is  also  an  error.  The 
biggest  voice  can  acquire  it,  and  is,  by  this  elastic  tone-production,  growing  in  beauty 
and  power.  When  entering  puberty  the  boy  has  to  stop  singing  entirely ;  the  girl  may 
stop  too,  but  this  is  not  always  necessary  when  strong  and  healthy,  though  care  must 
be  taken  not  to  sing  too  loud  so  as  not  to  strain  the  vocal  chords  and  injure  the  voice. 


502  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Singing  should  be  treated  like  a  course  of  medical  studies,  where  the  student  is  not 
allowed  to  practice  until  he  has  his  diploma.  So  with  singers.  They  should  not  be 
allowed  to  sing  in  public  before  they  have  acquired  a  diploma,  certifying  that  they 
have  overcome  all  the  difficulties  in  the  art  of  singing  and  pronunciation.  This  ability 
makes  them  self-reliant,  banishing  stage  fright,  and  all  the  music  they  sing  will  then 
be  rendered  artistically.  In  this  way  a  young  woman  at  the  age  of  eighteen  or 
twenty  years  becomes  a  first-class  artist,  and  as  a  singer  or  teacher  she  has  won  her 
independence.  She.  carries  her  capital  in  her  head  and  throat,  to  draw  upon  with 
singing  or  teaching  wherever  she  goes,  and  nobody  can  steal  it  from  her.  In  case  she 
would  wish  to  be  an  opera  singer,  thus  prepared  she  would  require  only  two  years 
repertoire  study,  with  acting,  to  become  a  brilliant  star  in  art,  and  at  the  same  time 
remain  a  model  of  a  virtuous  woman,  as  her  career  is  based  upon  earnest  learnings  and 
not  held  up  by  momentary  favors. 

This  is  the  right  independence  of  woman. 

Music  in  General: — "Music  is  not  an  invention,"  says  Ritter  in  his  history  of 
music;  "  its  seed  lay  dormant  in  the  breast  of  primeval  man.  Music  is  in  many  respects 
a  reliable  guide  of  progress  and  development,  and  no  art  is  more  closely  connected 
with  the  inner  life  of  men  than  music,  where  its  magic  power  steps  in  at  precisely  the 
point  where  the  positive  expression  of  language  fails,  and  participates  in  man's  strug- 
gles, triumphs,  reverses,  and  in  all  his  feelings.  Music,  the  deeper  expressions  of  man's 
joys  and  emotions,  will  find  always  a  fructifying  field  to  take  root  in,  because  it  reveals 
to  man's  senses  the  great  mystery,  the  beautiful.  Music  is  the  language  of  the  soul, 
its  influence  upon  men's  minds  is  thus  ennobling,  strengthening,  elevating." 

Further  on  Ritter  quotes  Martin  Luther,  and  it  is  not  out  of  place  to  repeat  it 
here.  The  great  reformer  calls  music  one  of  the  greatest  gifts  of  the  Creator,  and 
assigns  it  the  first  place  next  to  Divinity;  for  "  like  this,"  he  says,  "  it  sets  the  soul  at 
rest  and  places  it  in  the  most  happy  mood,  a  clear  proof  that  the  demon  who  creates 
such  sad  sorrows  and  ceaseless  torments  retires  as  fast  before  music  and  its  sounds 
as  before  Divinity.  There  is  no  doubt  the  seed  of  many  virtues  exists  in  the  minds  of 
those  who  love  music,  but  those  who  are  not  moved  by  it  resemble  sticks  and  stones." 
As  a  means  of  education  Martin  Luther  attached  great  importance  to  the  influence  of 
music.  "  It  is  beneficial  "  he  says,  "to  keep  youth  in  continual  practice  in  this  art,  for 
it  renders  people  intellectual;  therefore  it  is  necessary  to  introduce  the  practice  of 
music  in  the  schools;  and  the  schoolmaster  must  know  how  to  sing,  otherwise  I  do 
not  respect  him." 

Before  closing  this  brief  essay  I  will  touch  on  social  position.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  in  your  minds,  as  there  is  none  in  mine,  how  much  higher  social  position  comes 
to  man  when,  besides  his  business  or  profession,  he  is  educated  in  music.  Everybody 
looks  at  him  as  superior  to  others;  why  should  not  a  woman  in  private  life  strive  for 
this  great  accomplishment  which  adorns  her  with  inexpressible  charm,  thus  remaining 
the  attraction  for  husband  and  friends?  Such  homes,  in  which  women  dedicate  their 
leisure  hours  to  music,  and  especially  to  good  artistic  singing,  become  temples  of  a 
higher  sphere,  and  the  influence  of  this  gentle  art  will  be  felt  in  the  refined  inclina- 
tions of  their  children,  as  intelligent  mothers  make  intelligent  nations.  In  this  way 
music  becomes  hereditary,  and  its  difficulties  are  easily  overcome  by  the  love  for  it. 
I  have  above  explained  the  advantages  of  music  for  women  as  a  profession;  "  prima- 
donna,"  church  and  concert  singer,  "and  teacher."  The  musically  well-educated 
woman  in  private  life  though  becomes  an  anchor  of  hope  and  safety  in  case  the  hus- 
band is  overtaken  by  sickness  or  other  reverses.  In  such  cases — and  only  in  such — 
the  wife  will  be  the  bread-winner,  and  the  children  will  imitate  the  mother's  noble 
example.  Welfare  and  independence  will  then  soon  re-enter  the  threatened  house- 
hold; and  all  this  by  the  acquired  charm  of  music 


mnr^' 


MEMBERS  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  LADY  MANAGERS. 


2.  Mrs.  Mary  Pay  ton. 

Oregon. 

4.  Mrs.  Matilda  Shelton, 

Peimsylvania. 

7.  Miss  Floride  CanninKham,       8.  Mrs.  Ellery  M.  Brayton,       9.  Mrs.  John  R.  Wilson,      10.  Mrs.  Helen  Morton  Barker, 
South  Carolina.  South  Carolina,  South  Dakota.  South  Dakota. 


1.  Mrs.  E.W.Allen, 

Oregon. 

5.  Mrs.  Amey  M.  Starkweather, 

Rhode  Island. 


8.  Miss  Mary  £.  McCandless, 

Pennsylvania. 

6.  Miss  Charlotte  Field  Dailey, 

Rhode  Island. 


11.  Mrs.  Lanra  Gillespie, 

Tennessee, 


12.  Mrs.  Susan  Gale  Cooke. 

Tennessee. 


13.  Mrs.  Ida  Loving  Turner, 

Texas. 


SOME  ENGLISH  WOMEN  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.* 


By  MRS.  CAROLINE  FULLER  FAIRBANKS. 

There  is  nothing  especially  to  be  said  of  the  women  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
except  to  emphasize  what  they  have  done  for  us.     We  are  heirs  of  all  the  ages,  but 

the  inheritance  bequeathed  to  us  by  the  women  of  the 
eighteenth  century  is  vastly  richer  then  that  of  any 
preceding  age. 

What  the  women  of  the  eighteenth  century  did 
for  the  emancipation  and  education  of  women  is  like 
what  the  anti-slavery  agitation  in  the  early  part  of  the 
century  did  for  the  emancipation  of  the  slave.  They 
created  possibilities  for  us.  They  give  us  strength 
and  courage  where  these  elements  are  wanting.  They 
pushed  their  way  gently  through  opposition  and  diffi- 
culties, until  the  women  of  today  have  nothing  to  do 
but  to  enter  in  and  possess  the  land. 

We  boast  that  this  is  the  "  woman's  century,"  and 
well  we  may;  but  let  us  do  honor  to  the  women  who 
gave  the  impetus  to  the  great  movement  which  has 
opened  to  us  every  avenue  of  work  and  study. 

It  seems  strange,  indeed,  that  in  a  world  where 
there  was  so  much  learning  only  a  few  could  pos- 
sess it.  Up  to  the  eighteenth  century  it  was  only 
for  the  upper  and  more  polished  classes,  and  even 
among  the  upper  classes  women  were  not  expected, 
yea,  were  not  permitted,  to  obtain  an  education. 
We  have  a  good  illustration  of  this  in  the  career  of  Lady  Mary  Wortly  Montague, 
one  of  the  most  notable  and  brilliant  women  of  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  cent- 
ury. She  tells  us  that  she  was  obliged  to  study  by  herself  and  work  very  hard  that 
she  might  obtain  a  little  masculine  knowledge,  as  it  was  called.  Education  for  girls 
was  most  unpopular.  Her  father,  the  Duke  of  Kingston,  had  apparently  no  desire  to 
give  his  daughter  an  education  beyond  what  was  thought  proper  in  that  day  for  the 
daughter  of  a  nobleman.  She  was  taught  to  read  and  to  write;  beyond  that  her  edu- 
cation was  self-acquired.  She  could  read  books  from  the  well  furnished  library  in 
her  father'  house,  works  of  fiction  and  entertainment,  and  the  old  courtly  romances 
fashionable  "^t  that  time.  But  she  desired  graver  subjects,  and  by  the  help  of  an 
uncommon  memory  and  indefatigable  labor,  she  taught  herself  the  Latin  language  and 
in  time  became  known  among  her  friends  for  her  acquirements  and  her  attachment  to 
learning. 

Education  for  girls  was  discouraged  then  for  the  same  reason  existing  in  our  own 
country  half  a  century  ago.  A  learned  lady  was  unfitted  for  the  duties  of  a  house- 
hold, it  was  thought.  Yet  Lady  Mary  was  not  neglectful  of  such  duties.  After  the  death 
of  her  mother,  Mary  being  the  eldest  daughter,  the  honors  of  the  table  devolved  upon 
her.  This  was  no  small  task,  for  she  had  not  only  to  urge  her  guests  to  eat  more  than 
they  could  well  swallow,  but  she  had  to  carve  every  dish  with  her  own  hands.     Every 

Mrs.  Caroline  Fuller  Fairbanks  is  a  native  of  Maine.  Her  parents  were  Benjamin  and  Theodate  Fuller  of  Puritan 
New  England  stock.  She  received  her  education  at  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  at  Bridgewater,  Mass.,  State  Normal  School 
She  htiB  devoted  much  time  to  elocution  and  vocal  culture.  She  married  J.  E.  Fairbanks,  of  Dubuque,  Iowa.  Mrs.  Fair- 
banks is  a  Protestant,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Charch.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Dubaqae,  Iowa. 


MRS.  CAROLINE  FULLER  FAIRBANKS. 


♦The  full  title  of  the  address  as  delivered  before  the  Congress  was,  "  A  Few  Notable  English  Women  of  the  Eighteenth 
Century." 

503 


504  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

joint  was  carried  up  to  her  in  turn  to  be  operated  upon  by  her  alone.  No  peer  or 
knight  could  offer  his  assistance,  and  the  master  of  the  house  had  to  husband  his 
strength  that  he  might  push  the  bottle  after  dinner.  Though  she  could  not  have  a 
teacher  in  Latin,  she  was  provided  with  a  professional  master  in  carving.  She  took 
lessons  three  times  a  week  that  she  might  be  perfect  on  her  father's  great  days.  No 
doubt  her  carving  master  found  her  a  more  docile  pupil  because  of  her  self-acquired 
Latin. 

If  Lady  Montague  excelled  her  master  in  the  manipulation  of  a  joint,  she  also 
excelled  Walpole,  Cowper  and  Pope,  and  other  men  who  stood  highest  in  literary 
circles.  She  excelled  them  in  vivacity,  ease,  sarcasm,  elegance  and  other  traits  that 
distinguished  letters  from  essays.  While  Lady  Montague's  writings  make  a  valuable 
addition  to  English  literature,  what  she  did  toward  making  the  medical  profession 
possible  for  women  of  the  nineteenth  century  is  of  greatest  value  to  us.  While  in  the 
East  she  discovered  the  Turkish  method  of  inoculation  for  small-pox.  She  studied 
the  method  carefully,  and  on  her  return  to  England  introduced  it  to  her  countrymen. 
What  a  furore  this  created!  Statesmen  forgot  for  the  time  the  graver  matter  of  legis- 
lation to  criticise  and  censure  a  woman  for  usurping  the  rights  of  men.  Lawyers 
doubted  the  wisdom  of  such  an  innovation.  Doctors  shook  their  wise  heads  and  gave 
warning  against  such  a  heathenish  practice.  Ministers  preached  against  Lady  Mon- 
tague and  her  method  of  warding  off  disease,  her  boldness  and  wickedness  in  taking 
such  matters  from  the  hand  of  God.  But  she  persevered,  though  she  declared  she 
could  never  have  undertaken  it  could  she  have  foreseen  the  vexation,  the  oppression, 
the  obliquy  even,  that  it  brought  upon  her.  She  opened  the  way  into  the  medical 
profession  for  women,  and  made  it  possible  for  her  to  practice  therein  without  moles- 
tation. We  cherish  her  memory,  and  place  her  name  high  among  the  notable  women 
of  the  eighteenth  century. 

Before  the  eighteenth  century,  as  has  been  said,  education  was  for  the  titled 
classes.  Jane  Austen  was  fortunate  in  being  born  at  the  right  time.  She  did  not  come 
of  a  noble  family,  but  she  was  w^ell  born  and  well  connected.  She  was  accustomed 
from  youth  to  meeting  people  of  distinction  and  eminence,  and  she  had  reason  always 
to  feel  that  her  kindred  played  a  real  part  in  the  world.  She  was  well  educated 
according  to  the  requirements  of  that  time,  though  she  could  not  have  passed  an 
examination  to  enter  any  lady's  college,  or  had  the  remotest  chance  with  the  Harvard 
Annex  or  the  University  of  Chicago.  But  she  is  a  fine  example  of  the  cultivation  and 
refinement  attainable  before  women's  colleges  were  thought  of.  She  grew  to  woman- 
hood in  gentle  obscurity,  her  individual  existence  lost  in  the  noisy  claims  of  her 
brothers.  But  the  germ  of  great  thought  was  in  her,  and  she  gave  expression  to  her 
thoughts  in  story  as  beautiful  as  was  ever  written  or  told.  She  was  a  girl  that  never 
had  a  love  story  to  tell  in  which  she  was  the  heroine.  As  free  from  sentimentality  as 
anyone  could  be,  yet  she  was  a  born  novelist,  and  a  remarkably  sweet  and  loving  and 
lovable  woman.  She  was  not  a  story-teller  merely — she  was  an  artist.  She  painted 
pictures  as  wonderful  in  unity  and  completeness  as  many  of  the  great  masters.  What 
real  pleasure  and  satisfaction  we  have  in  her  books  today.  And  yet  she  did  her  work 
so  quietly.  Her  books  steal  into  notice.  They  brought  her  but  little  money,  and  a 
modicum  of  praise  while  she  lived,  but  today  they  have  become  classic,  and  it  is  the 
duty  of  every  student  of  English  literature  to  be  more  or  less  acquainted  with  her 
works.  With  all  her  brilliant  parts  as  a  writer,  she  was  false  to  no  instinct  of  woman- 
hood. She  was  an  accomplished  needle-woman,  great  in  satin  stitch,  giving  her 
friends  pretty  presents  of  her  own  handiwork,  and  she  could  carry  on  the  merriest  and 
most  interesting  conversation  over  her  embroidery  or  dressmaking.  How  often  is  her 
portrait  reproduced  in  the  remarkable  women  of  our  day.  The  possibility  of  womanly 
work  going  hand  in  hand  with  genius  obtains  today,  though  it  is  no  new  thing.  Genius 
and  work!  How  well  they  harmonized  in  Jane  Austen,  and  how  well  in  scores  of 
women  who  are  carrying  forward  this  great  Exposition.  Jane  Austen  has  been  an 
inspiration  to  many  a  woman  of  the  nineteenth  century.     Her  spirit  is  with  us. 


thp:  congress  of  women.  505 

What  is  true  of  Jane  Austen  is  also  true  of  Mary  Mitford,  Both  were  notable 
women;  both  have  helped  in  the  education  and  the  emancipation  of  the  women  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  Let  us  add  luster  to  what  they  have  given  us,  and  pass  it  on  to 
the  twentieth  century. 

What  has  the  Quakeress  of  the  eighteenth  century  done  for  the  women  of  the 
nineteenth?  Not  even  the  great  founder  of  the  society  could  have  reached  so  many 
needy  women, 

Elizabeth  Fry  had  a  special  vocation  for  the  office  she  undertook,  and  she  is 
worthily  called  the  mother  of  the  philanthropic  work  of  the  nineteenth  century.  She 
had  extreme  opinions  against  capital  punishment,  yet  it  was  these  very  extreme  opin- 
ions that  contributed  largely  to  the  change  in  the  general  tone  of  thought  and  feeling 
which  resulted  in  a  very  marked  abatement  in  our  criminal  code.  How  unspeakably 
wretched  was  the  condition  of  women  prisoners  before  the  day  of  Elizabeth  Fry! 
Surely,  if  the  complete  abandonment  of  self  to  the  well-being  of  a  class,  and  that 
class  the  lowest  and  the  most  wicked,  could  render  one  worthy  a  crown,  Elizabeth 
Fry  wears  a  crown  radiant  with  numberless  stars.  Yet  she  was  bitterly  opposed  by 
men  of  learning  and  influence,  simply  because  she  turned  aside  from  the  common 
custom  of  women  to  do  a  great  work  for  her  sex. 

Maria  Edgeworth  was  another  notable  woman  of  the  eighteenth  century.  She 
won  the  praise  of  great  men  in  her  own  day,  even  of  Sir  Walter  Scott  and  Lord  Jeffries. 
The  former  admired  her  rich  humor  and  her  admirable  tact  in  the  delineation  of  her 
Irish  characters,  so  much  so  that  he  was  led  to  do  the  same  work  for  his  own  people, 
and  so  came  into  existence  the  "Waverly  Novels,"  wholly  suggested,  as  the  author  him- 
self asserts  and  insists,  by  Maria  Edgeworth.  Lord  Jeffries  bestows  upon  her  the  high- 
est praise  when  he  speaks  of  her  tales  as  works  of  more  serious  importance  than  much 
of  the  true  history  and  solemn  philosophy  that  comes  daily  under  our  inspection  These 
notable  women  write  with  a  high  purpose  in  view,  that  of  making  all  mankind  better. 
Many  of  them  were  novelists,  and  it  would  seem  that  they  outstripped  the  men  in  this 
department. 

I  can  not  pause  to  more  than  mention  Mrs.  Annie  Radcliffe,  whose  works  were 
translated  into  French  and  were  very  popular  in  France,  as  well  as  in  England  and  in 
America,  And  Sarah  Siddons,  who  transformed  herself  into  the  great  creations  of 
Shakespeare,  and  introduced  "Lady  Macbeth"  to  the  world.  She  made  the  dramatic 
profession  worthy  the  best  of  women.  Or  Caroline  Herschel,  who  brought  great  light 
into  the  world  by  the  seven  comets  she  discovered,  without  the  aid  of  her  brother,  and 
won  the  gold  medal  of  the  Royal  Astronomical  Society,  She  opened  for  women  the 
way  to  scientific  study.  Or  Mary  Somerville,  who  shows  us  the  mechanism  of  the 
heav^ens,  and  makes  the  most  abstruse  subjects  interesting  to  the  most  unscientific 
reader.  Her  life  was  an  inspiration  to  our  own  Maria  Mitchell,  and  to  many  another, 
no  doubt,  who  never  would  have  dreamed  of  the  possibility  of  reaching  such  heights 
as  have  been  gained  but  for  the  example  of  the  women  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

There  is  one  other  woman,  it  seems  to  me,  whose  history  has  never  been  fully 
written,  who  stands  high  above  the  rest  in  greatness,  I  speak  of  Hannah  More. 
Indeed,  if  the  appellation  "notable"  can  be  applied  to  any  human  being,  history  can 
furnish  no  name  more  truly  deserving  than  hers.  The  greatness  of  the  eighteenth 
century  women  culminates  in  Hannah  More.  The  possibilities  of  the  human  soul  and 
intellect  are  more  strikingly  manifested  in  her  than  in  any  other  character  that  has 
appeared  to  us  in  centuries.  She  was  the  daughter  of  an  humble  schoolmaster,  and 
yet  by  her  own  industry  and  merit  she  elevated  herself  to  be  the  favored  and  caressed 
associate  of  all  the  distinguished  in  contemporary  rank  and  literature.  Her  ambition 
to  be  of  benefit  to  her  generation  was  unbounded.  Her  benefactions  were  limited  to 
no  class  and  to  no  country.  The  influence  of  her  writings  will  be  felt  for  generations 
to  come.  During  her  own  lifetime  they  effected  a  moral  revolution,  not  only  on  the 
surface,  but  upon  aristocrats  and  middle  life.  They  were  extensively  influential  in 
calming  the  passions  and  correcting  the  delusions  of  a  misguided  populace  in  times 


506  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

of  turbulence  and  discontent.  They  were  read  in  almost  every  language  of  the  globe, 
from  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  to  those  of  the  Indian  Ocean,  and  from  the  Mississippi 
to  the  Ganges.  Her  personal  exertions  changed  the  moral  conduct  of  the  laboring 
classes  within  their  influence,  and  almost  annihilated  the  popular  prejudice  of  the 
times  against  the  religious  education  of  the  poor.  Hannah  More  sacrificed  every 
variety  of  personal  gratification  to  the  object  she  continually  kept  in  view.  She  was 
persecuted  in  early  life  because  she  dared  put  forth  an  effort  to  secure  for  women  a 
better  education.  She  overcome  this,  and  was  soon  recognized  as  one  of  the  foremost 
women  of  the  age;  and  received,  and  deserved  to  receive,  as  great  a  share  of  admira- 
tion as  was  ever  accorded  to  any  woman.  She  created  for  herself  a  most  delightful 
atmosphere,  and  she  was  not  indifferent  to  the  praise  of  those  whose  names  are 
immortal.  Yet  when  she  saw  a  great  work  to  be  done  for  and  among  people  from 
whom  she  could  expect  nothing  but  opposition  and  persecution,  she  did  not  hesitate 
in  her  decision.  She  endured  personal  labor,  exhaustion  and  indignity,  and  all  this 
in  pursuance  of  the  welfare  of  mankind.  Her  aims  were  universal  and  eternal. 
Although  she  was  a  woman,  she  surrendered  admiration,  resigned  the  endearments  of 
friendship  and  relinquished  the  pleasures  of  literature.  Such  qualifications  constitute 
greatness  of  the  most  exalted  type.  Her  father,  as  has  been  said,  was  a  schoolmaster. 
He  desired  to  give  his  five  daughters,  all  bright  girls,  an  education.  Hannah  very 
early  showed  marked  talent.  At  eight  years  of  age  she  began  to  study  Latin,  and  her 
father  was  so  alarmed  at  the  way  she  outstripped  the  boys  of  his  school  that  he  feared 
the  reputation  of  "  learned  lady  "  might  be  a  disadvantage  to  her.  Mr.  More  was  not 
without  his  horror  of  "  learned  ladies,"  but  his  good  sense  and  paternal  pride  controlled 
him,  and  when  Hannah's  great  talents  became  manifest,  he  did  on  the  sly  combine 
some  elementary  instruction  in  mathematics  with  that  of  Latin. 

Hannah,  in  conjunction  with  her  sisters,  established  a  boarding  school  vastly 
superior  in  every  respect  to  any  before  established.  Indeed,  this  was  the  bold  begin- 
ning of  a  broader  education  for  women.  The  great  moral  and  educational  revolution 
which  we  find  going  on  from  this  time  was  due  largely  to  this  school,  combined,  of 
course,  with  the  influential  writings  of  its  founders. 

At  seventeen  years  of  age  Hannah  More  composed  her  first  drama,  "The  Search 
after  Happiness,"  the  literary  merits  of  which  are  astonishing  for  a  girl  of  her  age,  even 
to  this  day.  Her  school  became  the  most  celebrated  in  the  kingdom;  its  fame  reached 
Land's  End  and  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  Her  writings  had  gotten  abroad,  and  she 
was  becoming  famous.  She  wrote  several  sacred  dramas,  as  they  were  called.  Garrick 
took  delight  in  Miss  More's  dramas  and  poems,  and  used  to  read  them  aloud  to  select 
audiences  with  all  the  effect  of  perfect  elocution. 

Her  book,  "The  Importance  of  the  Manners  of  the  Great  to  General  Society," 
created  a  moral  revolution.  She  saw  that  reformation  and  purification  of  national 
morals  must  begin  with  this  class  Their  example  was  in  England  a  hundred  years 
ago  similar  to  that  of  the  higher  classes  in  America  today,  the  fountain  whence  the 
more  ignorant  draw  their  habits,  actions  and  character.  This  book  had  an  immense 
influence.  Seven  large  editions  were  sold  in  a  few  months.  She  was  the  admired  and 
beloved  friend  of  all  the  great  men  and  women  of  that  most  brilliant  period  of  English 
history,  and  yet  she  was  willing  to  abandon  this  society  and  make  her  home  among 
the  most  lawless  and  savage  people.  She  applied  her  great  powers  to  the  educating 
and  the  uplifting  of  this  class.  Though  she  was  persecuted  in  her  most  unselfish,  her 
wonderfully  benevolent  attempts;  though  she  endured  the  worst  abuse  and  insult,  she 
persevered  until  she  gained  the  concurrence  of  those  people,  and  at  length  established 
schools  for  great  numbers.  Girls  and  boys  alike  received  just  that  education  which 
would  be  the  most  useful  to  them,  and  at  length  the  mothers  were  brought  in  in  the 
evening,  and  the  fathers  on  Sunday.  Her  theory  of  education  proved  suitable  for  each 
and  Christian  for  all.  Miss  More's  personal  labors  in  this  direction  seem  incredible. 
She  organized  women's  clubs  and  held  annual  show-days  and  festivities,  which  had  a 
great,  good  influence  on  all.     The  effect  was  marvelous 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  507 

With  all  this  she  carried  on  her  literary  work,  and  some  of  her  writings  were  tre- 
mendously popular,  especially  "Village  Politics,  by  Will  Chip;"  and  who  has  not  read 
"The  Shepherd  of  Saulsbury  Plain?"  Wilberforce  said  he  would  rather  present  him- 
self before  Heaven  with  that  book  than  with  "  Peveril  of  the  Peak."  Scores  of  the  most 
scholarly  men  and  women  of  the  time  read  and  admired  these  works.  She  wrote  a  book 
of  advice  on  the  education  of  the  little  Princess  Charlotte  of  Wales,  by  request  of  the 
queen.  Bishop  Foster,  who  was  employed  as  tutor  to  the  young  princess,  says  that  he 
gained  more  information  on  the  subject  of  his  duties  from  this  book  than  from  all  his 
other  reading.  She  wrote  novels  which  to  the  mere  novel  reader  would,  no  doubt,  seem 
like  a  dialogue  of  Plato.  I  can  not  speak  at  any  length  of  her  "  Practical  Piety,"  her 
*'  Christian  Morals,"  or  of  her  wonderful  essay  on  the  character  and  writings  of  St.  Paul. 
How  well  she  used  her  ten  talents  intrusted  to  her! 

Hannah  More's  influence  was  almost  world-wide.  It  was  felt  in  America,  in  Ger- 
many and  in  F"rance,  in  Persia,  in  Iceland  and  in  far  off  Ceylon.  I  can  not  help  but 
think  we  are  indebted  to  Hannah  More  in  some  degree  for  what  we  have  in  this  Expo- 
sition from  these  distant  countries  and  from  the  islands  of  the  East.  Who  can  tell? 
It  is  a  rich  legacy  that  she  has  bequeathed  to  us  of  what  one  woman  could  be  and  do. 
She  raised  the  standard  of  womanhood  for  all  time.  The  great  and  expansive  principle 
of  love  was  the  soul  of  all  she  did  and  wrote.  It  was  from  this  that  she  reaped  the 
reward  of  a  celebrity  commensurate  with  all  future  time. 

Let  us  raise  a  monument  of  praise  to  her  greatness. 


IS  LABOR  DIGNIFIED?^' 

By  MRS.  O.  R.  LAKE. 

Writers  of  ancient  and  modern  times,  whether  in  poetry  or  prose,  in  refer- 
ing   to    labor,  have   always  quoted  it   as  being  "  noble,   holy  and  dignified."    These 

sentiments  are  undoubtedly  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
Master  when  on  earth  occupied  Himself  with  manual 
labor.  Labor  is  noble,  when  the  laborer  fully  realizes 
the  grandeur  of  the  Creation  and  the  wonderful  power 
which  placed  within  human  reach  all  those  possibil- 
ities and  resources  which,  when  manipulated  by  the 
skill  and  industry  of  man,  supply  all  the  comforts  and 
necessaries  of  life.  Labor  is  holy;  first,  because  to 
labor  is  a  part  of  the  Divine  command,  and  when  ful- 
filling this  or  any  other  command  of  God  one  must  of 
a  necessity  feel  more  closely  in  touch  with  holiness. 
Labor  is  holy  also  when  the  individual  is  engaged  in 
that  particular  phase  of  human  activity  for  which  he 
has  natural  aptitude  or  inherent  love.  For  instance, 
how  often  do  we  hear  it  said  of  a  person,  he  or  she, 
as  the  case  may  be,  is  a  born  musician,  or  is  a  genius 
in  music,  or  art,  or  sculpture.  Yes,  and  to  deal  with 
the  more  prosaic  things  of  life,  I  have  seen  those  who 
were  born  housekeepers,  because  they  had  an  inher- 
ent fondness  for  that  particular  kind  of  work,  and 
MRS.  LEONORA  MARIE  LAKE.  "i^dc  of  it  a  plcasurc  rathcr  than  a  drudgery  which 

the  great  majority  consider  it. 
Labor  is  dignified  only  when  the  laborer  is  self-respecting  and  respected;  self- 
respecting  because  of  his  good  character,  honorable  principles  and  fidelity  to  the 
trust  placed  in  him  by  his  employer  and  the  community,  and  because  he  feels  the 
dignity  of  his  ability  to  so  apply  his  skill,  intellect  and  strength  to  the  God-given 
resources  that  he  may  supply  himself  and  those  dependent  on  him  with  the  neces- 
saries and  comforts  of  life.  Respected  by  his  fellow-men  because  of  his  moral  worth, 
considered  as  a  partner  in  commercial  enterprises,  and  his  abilities  regarded  with  more 
consideration  than  that  which  those  abilities  enable  him  to  produce.  These  are  the 
theoretical  views  of  labor. 

Alas,  how  different  do  we  find  the  practice!  The  nobility  and  dignity  of  labor 
are  lost  sight  of  because  those  who  employ  look  upon  it  as  only  a  means  whereby  they 
may  reach  the  object  of  their  ambition.  It  is  considered  but  a  commodity  to  be  bought 
and  sold,  and  like  any  other  article  for  which  we  bargain,  bought  at  the  greatest  possi- 
ble profit  to  the  purchaser,  while  the  natural  necessities  pressing  the  laborer  compel 
him  to  sell,  though  he  knows  he  is  selling  under  actual  value.  And  as  all  men's  neces- 
sities are  not  equal,  we  find  them  in  the  labor  market  underbidding  each  other,  with  a 

Mrs.  Leonora  Marie  Lake  is  a  native  of  Cork,  Ireland.  Her  parents  were  John  and  Honor  Kearney,  both  of  Ireland. 
She  was  educated  in  the  public  school  of  Pierrepont,  St.  Lawrence  County,  N.  Y.  She  has  traveled  through  the  United 
States  and  parts  of  Great  Britain  and  the  Continent.  She  married  Mr.  O.  R.  Lake,  of  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  in  April,  1890.  Hor 
special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  working  women  and  children;  also.  Total  Abstinence.  Her  literary  efforts  are  news- 
paper articles  on  her  work.  Her  profession  is  that  of  housewife.  In  religious  faith  she  is  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  is  a  mem- 
ber of  St.  John's  Church,  of  St.  Louis,  Mo.    Her  postoffice  address  is  1234  Second  Carondelet  Avenue,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

*  The  above  is  but  a  synopsis  of  an  address  delivered  by  Mrs.  Lake  under  the  title :  "  The  Dignity  of  Labor  in  Theory 
and  Practice." 

508 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  509 

view  to  supplying  those  necessities  rather  than  considering  the  value  of  their  labor. 
Again,  labor  can  not  be  either  noble  or  dignified  when  the  demand  upon  the  physical 
and  mental  energies  is  so  severe  that  the  laborer  becomes  a  drudge,  as  we  find  in  many 
cases,  where  long  hours  and  arduous  toil  deprive  human  beings  of  the  necessary  time 
for  recreation  and  recuperation.  We  expect  a  pleasant  smile  and  cheerful  compli- 
ance to  our  wishes  and  commands  from  our  household  servants  or  domestics  whom  we 
keep  dancing  about  from  basement  to  attic  and  from  kitchen  to  parlor,  obeying  our 
slightest  wish,  from  4  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  10  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
though  if  we  stopped  to  think  of  ourselves  in  the  same  position  we  would  realize  that 
for  us  the  cheerful  smile  would  be  an  utter  impossibility.  Oh,  if  we  would  only  learn 
to  love  humanity  more  and  money  less,  if  our  hearts  would  only  respond  with  love 
and  sympathy  for  our  fellow-beings.  If  one  of  the  results  of  this  great  Columbian 
Exposition  would  be  to  make  us  more  thoroughly  understand  the  "  Fatherhood  of 
God  and  the  Brotherhood  of  Man."  If  it  would  make  women  more  considerate  of 
their  sisters  who  are  struggling  under  the  burdens  of  life,  cause  them  to  remember 
that,  no  matter  what  station  in  life  women  held,  the  Creator  did  not  design  such  wide- 
spread separation  nor  yet  different  organisms  for  women.  If  we  would  all  try  to 
develop  that  beautiful,  gentle,  charitable  womanliness  that  is  ours  by  Divine  inherit- 
ance, and  put  to  shame  that  feline  characteristic  which  we  frequently  find  cropping  out 
in  some  women,  which  gives  them  a  cat-like  delight  when  they  are  scratching  and 
wounding  the  heart  of  some  sister,  then  indeed  would  Columbus*  perilous  journey 
have  brought  out  something  grander  and  more  beautiful  than  any  exhibit  in  this  Dream 
City,  and  would  the  sacrifice  of  Isabella's  jewels  have  brought  forth  a  prolific  harvest 
of  "love  which  is  the  fulfillment  of  the  law!" 


INDUSTRIAL  WOMEN.  ' 

By  MRS.  ELECTA  BULLOCK. 

Not  the  least  among  the  things  that  the  nineteenth  century  has  developed  is  a 
comparative  appreciation  of  the  industrial  women  of  society,  and  the  results  of  their 

quiet,  earnest  and  effectual  efforts.  We  view  the  mar- 
velous industrial  institutions  of  the  civilized  world  as 
they  exist  today  with  wonder,  and  when  we  pause  for 
a  few  moments  to  trace  the  history  of  their  gradual 
development  back  to  their  infancy,  we  invariably  find 
that  their  creation,  nourishment  and  first  strength  was 
the  loving  and  patient  work  of  the  industrial  mothers 
of  the  land.  While  we  point  with  justifiable  pride  to 
the  proud  position  the  manufactories  occupy  today, 
we  do  know  that  they  are  the  outgrowth  of  the  hand- 
card,  the  old  and  revered  spinning-wheel,  and  the 
family  hand-loom,  the  knitting  and  sewing  needles. 

I  well  remember  that  at  the  age  of  ten  years  I 
commenced  to  spin  the  yarn  to  make  my  own  dresses. 
My  father  was  obliged  to  shorten  the  legs  of  the 
spinning-wheel  so  I  would  be  able  to  reach  the  spin- 
dle. Four  ten-knotted  skeins  was  considered  a  full 
day's  work.  There  were  forty  threads  in  each  knot, 
and  when  we  would  reel  we  would  have  to  count  one, 
two,  three,  four,  five,  until  we  had  our  forty  threads, 
then  we  would  tie  it  in  order  to  separate  the  knot. 
But  we  were  made  very  happy  one  day  by  my  father 
bringing  in  a  clock  reel,  which  done  away  with  the  old  system  of  counting.  When  I 
would  get  very  tired  of  walking  back  and  forth  at  the  wheel  all  day  my  mother  would 
say:  "  Dear  child,  sit  down  and  rest  you;  there  is  your  knitting-work;  you  must  not 
be  idle.  You  must  always  remember  what  I  have  taught  you,  that  industry  is  the 
source  of  wealth."  I  have  mentioned  these  habits  of  industry  in  former  times  more 
especially  for  the  young  ladies  who  may  be  present.  Girls  in  those  days,  between  the 
ages  of  ten  and  twenty  years,  were  found  at  the  spinning-wheel,  while  the  girls  of  today 
are  to  be  found  in  our  colleges  and  universities,  where  they  have  the  privilege  of  learn- 
ing not  only  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  but  of  the  various  industrial  pursuits  of  life.  Go 
through  the  educational,  commercial  and  manufacturing  centers  of  this  land  of  ours,  we 
see  the  handiwork  of  woman  standing  side  by  side  with  the  proudest  achievements  of 
man;  and  upon  all  the  stupendous  monuments  of  the  century's  advancement  will  be 
found  the  refining  touch  and  gilded  finish  of  woman's  work,  inspiring  society  to  higher 
and  nobler  efforts  and  still  grander  achievements. 

The  governmental  statistics  showing  the  percentage  of  female  labor  employed*  in 
the  various  industries  of  the  land,  if  but  understood  by  all  our  people,  would  cause  the 
progressive  element  o£  society  to  bow  in  reverence  to  her  achievements  and  the  part 
she  is  daily  playing  in  the  advancement  of  all  that  is  good  and  great. 

We  afifirm   that  with  woman's   influence   withdrawn  from   governmental   affairs, 

Mrs.  Electa  Ballock  was  bom  in  Huron  County,  Ohio.  Her  parents  were  Gideon  Murphy  and  Hannah  Daley  Wood 
Murphy.  She  has  traveled  over  the  United  States  in  the  interest  of  the  woman's  sufiFrage  and  relief  societies  which  she  repre- 
Bents.  In  1891  she  was  a  delegate  from  Utah  to  the  International  Convention  in  Washington,  D.  C.  She  is  a  member  of  the 
Latter  Day  Saints,  or  so-called  "  Mormon  "  Church.  She  was  in  charge  of  the  Woman's  Department  of  the  Utah  Building  in 
the  World's  Columbian  Exposition,  which  position  she  filled  acceptably.  She  now  resides  at  Provo  City,  Utah  County,  Utah. 

510 


MRS.   ELECTA  BULLOCK. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  511 

anarchy  would  prevail;  withdraw  her  labor  from  the  manufacturing  establishments  of 
the  land  and  its  wheels  would  become  stilled;  dispense  with  her  in  our  schools  and  the 
grand  educational  systems  of  today  would  degenerate  to  the  darkness  of  the  long  past; 
banish  her  from  the  arts  and  they  would  lose  their  very  divinity;  take  her  from  the 
industrial  walks  and  avocations  of  life  and  confine  her  exclusively  to  the  narrow  sphere 
of  house-wife  and  maid-servant,  and  the  wheels  of  progress  would  turn  backward  and 
the  retrogression  of  society  would  be  the  inevitable  result.  On  the  contrary,  support 
her  in  her  proud  position  of  wife  and  mother,  sustain  her  in  every  advance  movement, 
and  the  women  of  America  will  lead  society  onward  and  upward,  from  civilization  to 
civilization,  through  endless  stages  of  progress. 


THE  FAITH  OF  ISLAM. 

By  MRS.  LAURA  H.  CLARK. 

I  hope  that  my  brief  talk  today  on  the  "  Faith  of  Islam"  or  "  Mohammedism ' 
may  not  be  devoid  of  interest  and  profit.  I  shall  purposely  refrain  from  much  allusion  to 

Mohammed  biographically.  I  prefer  to  speak  of  him 
as  a  reformer,  coming  into  the  world  at  a  date  pecul- 
iarly ripe  for  instituting  and  successfully  prosecuting 
such  radical  and  blessed  reforms  as  his.  I  will  sketch, 
superficially  of  course,  the  prominent  doctrines  of  the 
sacred  book  of  Islam,  the  Koran,  referring  to  the 
debt  the  world  owes  the  mighty  power  of  the  desert 
reformer.  Another  word,  Islam  or  Mohammedism  is 
greatly  changed  from  its  early  days;  it  is  sadly  degen- 
erated. We  must  charge  the  condition  of  countries 
under  its  sway  not  to  their  religion  but  to  its  abuse, 
and  to  evils  inherent  in  the  Tartar  and  other  races. 
We  might  recall  also  that  Christianity  itself  was  once 
so  corrupt  as  to  need  a  great  purification — the  Refor- 
mation. 

Within  the  memory  of  many,  Mohammed  has  only 
been  regarded  as  a  monster,  a  sort  of  diabolic  warrior 
whose  precepts  are  written  in  blood  and  whose  fol- 
lowers must  needs  be  the  very  incarnation  of  cruelty. 
To  this  I  reply  that  conquerors  have  ever  been  cruel, 
v.uc  T*,-uAi.  .T^,,,.  arid    religious    wars  the  most  bitterly  relentless  the 

MRS.  LAbRA  H.  CLARK.  111  1  11  t  1  i- 

world  has  ever  known.  Witness  the  expulsion  of, 
the  inhabitants  of  Canaan  by  the  Jews,  as  well  as  the  wars  in  Africa,  Asia  and  Europe, 
following  the  establishment  of  Christianity  down  almost  to  our  own  century. 

(At  first  those  opposed  to  Islam  in  war  were  indiscriminately  slain,  afterward 
three  offers  were  made:  First,  to  embrace  Islam  and  enjoy  equal  privileges  with 
their  conquerors;  second,  to  submit  to  tribute  and  retain  their  own  religion  should  it 
not  be  exceedingly  idolatrous  or  immoral;  third,  to  decide  the  contest  by  the  sword. 
See  Joshua's  conditions  to  the  Canaanites — "Let  him  fly  who  will,  let  him  surrender 
who  will,  let  him  fight  who  will.  ") 

But  the  world  moves,  and  in  this  year  of  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition,  and 
just  preceding  the  Parliament  of  Religions,  Mohammed  is  recognized  as  a  mighty  leader 
for  good,  a  benefactor  for  the  race,  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  human  character  the 
world  has  ever  known. 

At  the  time  of  Mohammed's  birth  incessant  warfare  had  raged  for  many  years 
between  the  great  empires  of  Rome  and  Persia.  Arabia,  lying  between  them,  was  held 
by  one,  then  by  the  other.  The  wild  Arab  tribes  had  drawn  religious  ideas  from  Pagan, 
Rome,  and  the  fire-worshiping  Persian.  They  knew  something,  too,  of  the  Jewish  faith, 
for  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  Jewish  colonies  had  settled  throughout  Arabia. 
The  Old  Testament  Scriptures  had  been  translated  into  Arabic,  so  that  the  purer  ideas 
of  Monotheism  and  Christianity  were  not  unknown  to  them.     It  can  occasion  no  sur- 

Mrs.  Laura  H.  Clark  is  descended  from  French-Huguenot  stock  which  emigrated  to  South  Carolina  in  the  earliest  years 
of  our  country.  She  was  educated  at  Cincinnati  and  has  been  a  considerable  traveler  in  our  own  country  and  Europe.  She 
has  always  been  a  student  of  religions,  and  is  also  much  interested  in  art,  literature  and  ethnology.  In  religious  training 
and  profession  Mrs.  Clark  is  a  Presbyterian.  She  has  resided  in  Chicago  for  twenty-two  years.  Her  postoffice  address  is 
No.  318  Belden  Avenue,  Chicago,  111. 

512 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  *     513 

prise  that  the  religion  of  the  Arabs  was  a  mongrel  one,  sadly  straying  from  the  pre- 
cepts of  Abraham,  their  great  ancestor.  They  worshiped  in  their  sacred  city,  Mecca, 
surrounded  by  scores  of  revolting  idols,  a  holy  black  stone  called  the  "  Kaaba, " 
believed  to  be  a  relic  of  a  temple  built  by  Abraham;  this  was  a  shrine  for  devout  pil- 
grims. But  the  hour  was  ripe  for  beneficent  change.  A  mighty  spirit  appeared  who 
could  unite  these  warring  tribes  into  a  powerful  nation;  his  teachings  should  inspire 
them  into  purer  life;  his  daring  enthusiasm  should  endue  them  with  courage  to  over- 
turn the  nations  of  the  earth. 

In  Mecca,  570  A.  D.,  was  born  a  posthumous  child,  who  was  reared  in  the  desert 
until  five  years  old,  when  the  frequent  occurrence  of  epileptic  attacks  (always  regarded 
with  superstitious  fears  among  the  Arabs)  determined  his  return  to  his  mother.  I 
mention  this  fact  because  many  have  ascribed  to  this  nervous  disease  the  religious 
exaltations  and  so-called  visions  of  Mohammed. 

His  youth  and  early  manhood  passed  uneventfully.  For  forty  years  he  was  a 
faithful  worshiper  of  the  gods  of  his  fathers,  yet  growing  yearly  more  abstracted, 
dejected,  frequently  retiring  to  pass  months  in  solitary  fasting  and  prayer.  Whilst  in 
wretched  suspense,  meditating  self-murder,  the  Divine  call  was  heard.  Through  Gabriel, 
dazzling  with  supreme  glory,  the  heavenly  message  came.  "  Oh,  Mohammed,  of  a  truth 
thou  art  the  prophet  of  God;  arise,  preach,  and  magnify  the  Lord."  This  is  the 
real  starting-point  of  Islam.  It  was  the  call  of  the  supreme  God  to  forsake  idolatry 
and  assume  the  ofifice  of  prophet. 

I  must  pass  over  the  long  years  of  weary  effort  to  win  disciples.  Four  years  draw 
but  forty  around  him.  During  the  yearly  pilgrimage  season  he  preached  constantly; 
his  theme — "  There  is  no  God  but  God,  and  Mohammed  is  his  prophet."  He  exorted  to 
prayer,  almsgiving  and  fasting,  and  declared  of  future  judgments  to  come.  When 
seventy  disciples  had  been  won  persecutions  began  with  the  usual  results.  Converts 
multiplied  rapidly,  and  the  "  Hegira,"  or  flight  from  Mecca,  followed. 

Mohammed's  penetrating  mind  realized  well  human  weakness.  To  keep  his  follow- 
ers firm  in  their  purer  religious  faith  he  formulated  a  creed  and  gave  positive  precepts 
for  the  actions  of  every  day.  So  was  Moses  instructed  of  God  to  train  the  Jews. 
Through  minute  practical  details  they  were  transformed  from  a  rabble  of  superstitious 
slaves  into  brave,  God-fearing,  free  men.  So  likewise  the  founders  of  great  orders  in 
the  Christian  church,  Ignatius  Loyala,  Dominic,  Francis  of  Assisi,  etc.,  each  instituted 
a  minute  code  of  rules  for  the  practical  life  of  their  followers. 

The  principles  of  Islam's  faith  are  essentially  orthodox — "  Faith  and  Works," 
Faith  is  defined  as  "  confession  with  the  mouth  and  belief  in  the  heart."  "  There  is  no 
God  but  God,  and  Mohammed  is  his  prophet."  Their  creed  was  brief:  "I  believe  in 
God,  angels,  books,  prophets,  the  day  of  judgment,  the  predestination  of  evil  and  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead." 

The  devotion  of  the  Mohammedan  to  the  Koran  is  intense,  its  authority  is  absolute 
in  science,  ethics  and  religion.  Lest  by  chance  they  shall  touch  its  sacred  pages 
unwashed  they  inscribe  upon  its  cover:  "  Let  none  touch  it,  but  they  who  are  clean." 
They  guard  it  with  care  and  such  respect,  never  holding  it  below  their  girdles.  They 
carry  the  precious  book  with  them  to  war,  inscribe  its  precepts  upon  their  floating 
banners,  on  the  walls  of  their  homes  and  tombs  of  their  loved  ones,  in  gold  and  precious 
jewels. 

Let  me  quote  this  little  gem,  from  the  Koran,  often  called  the  "  Lord's  prayer  of 
the  Moslem." 

"  In  the  name  of  God  the  compassionate  compassioner.  Praise  is  to  God,  the  Lord 
of  the  worlds,  the  compassionate  compassioner,  the  Sovereign  of  the  day  of  judgment. 
Thee  we  do  worship,  and  of  Thee  we  do  beg  assistance.  Direct  us  in  the  right  way,  in 
the  way  of  those  to  whom  Thou  hast  been  gracious,  on  whom  there  is  no  wrath  who 
go  not  astray." 

The  moral  motive  of  Islam  is  a  solemn  sense  of  implicit  obedience  and  submis- 
sion to  the  Divine   Ruler — the  very  name  Islam  expresses  "  resigned  to  the  will  of 

(33) 


514     ■  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

God."  The  ethics  of  the  Koran  are  essentially  those  of  the  New  Testament.  Our 
Saviour  was  held  in  highest  reverence  as  an  inspired  prophet,  His  benign  precepts  are 
incorporated  therein,  thus:  "  He  is  righteous  who  believeth  in  God  and  who  for  love  of 
God  shares  his  wealth  with  the  needy,  who  observeth  prayer,  is  faithful  to  promises, 
patient  under  hardships  and  quiet  in  seasons  of  distress."  "  Deal  not  unjustly  with 
others  and  ye  shall  suffer  no  injustice."  "  Scorn  not  thy  fellow-man,  neither  walk  the 
earth  with  pride,  for  God  loveth  not  the  arrogant  and  boastful."  (Sir  William  Muir 
asserts  that  to  this  day  devout  Mussulmen  never  mention  the  Saviour's  name  without 
adding  "  on  whom  be  peace."  "  Say  unto  the  Christians,  their  God  and  my  God  is 
one."     The  Koran.) 

Mohammed  fully  realized  the  inherent  evils  in  polygamy  and  slavery,  and  though 
their  practices  are  recognized  in  the  Koran,  he  greatly  alleviated  the  wrongs  of  both. 
The  impositions  he  placed  upon  polygamy  were  a  great  advance  upon  the  unrestrained 
licentiousness  before  prevalent.  The  legal  number  of  a  man's  wives  was  reduced  to 
four.  These  limitations  Mohammed  relaxed  in  his  own  case,  not,  however  it  is  believed, 
through  grossness,  but  because  of  intense  desire  for  male  heirs.  The  transmission  of 
wives  as  chattels  was  forbidden,  and  the  rights  of  a  woman  to  share  in  her  father's  or 
husband's  estate  declared. 

Slavery  had  always  existed  in  a  mild  form  in  Arabia.  Mohammed  did  much  to 
ameliorate  its  evils.  Slavery  and  polygamy  should  not  be  associated  with  Islam  any  more 
than  with  Christianity.  Both  Moses  and  Mohammed  took  the  institutions  of  their  peo- 
ple as  they  found  them  and  sought  to  mitigate  their  severest  features.  (Have  not 
Christians  tried  to  justify  human  slavery  in  this  century,  in  our  own  land?)  The  vices 
most  prevalent  in  Arabia  were  sternly  denounced  and  absolutely  forbidden.  Drunk- 
enness, female  infanticide,  incestuous  marriages,  gambling,  art  of  divination  and 
magic  entirely  disappeared.  (What  efforts  is  nineteenth-century  Christendom  mak- 
ing against  the  alarming  growth  of  gambling?)  Mohammed  solved  the  "temperance 
question  "  for  his  people.  Neither  "  high  license  "  nor  "  low  license  "  vexed  his  soul; 
he  was  a  strict  Prohibitionist.  All  pictures  or  representatives  of  living  objects  were 
wisely  prohibited,  being  considered  a  violation  of  the  second  commandment.  (Mo- 
hammed recognized  the  authority  of  the  Pentateuch,  psalms,  etc.) 

The  four  acts  or  duties  of  faith  are  "  prayer,  fasting,  alms-giving  and  the  pilgrim- 
age." "  Cleanliness,"  says  the  prophet,  "  is  the  key  to  prayer."  Minute  rules  for 
ablutions  before  prayer  were  given.  The  entire  body  was  to  be  washed  daily,  parts  of 
it  oftener — all  the  while  appropriate  prayers  were  repeated.  Thus  "  I  am  going  to 
purify  my  bodily  uncleanliness,  preparatory  to  commencing  prayer,  that  holy  act  of 
duty  which  draws  my  soul  near  to  God.  In  the  name  of  God,  great  and  mighty, 
praise  be  to  Him  who  has  given  me  grace  to  be  a  Moslem.  Islam  is  a  truth,  infidelity 
a  falsehood."  When  cleansing  the  teeth:  "Vouchsafe,  O  Lord,  as  I  cleanse  my 
teeth,  to  purify  me  from  all  fault  and  accept  my  homage.  May  the  purity  of  my  teeth 
be  a  pledge  of  the  whiteness  of  my  soul  at  the  day  of  judgment,"  and  so  on  through- 
out the  entire  body. 

The  third  duty  was  that  of  fasting.  The  Koran  prescribes  the  month  "  Ramadan  " 
as  a  very  strict  fast.  (This  fast  is  so  strictly  enjoined  that  it  is  broken  if  they  but 
smell  a  perfume,  take  a  bath  or  injection,  or  purposely  swallow  spittle,  kiss  or  touch 
a  woman.  Some  devout  Moslems  will  not  open  their  mouths  to  speak  lest  they 
breathe  the  air  too  freely.)  The  command  is,  "  from  sunrise  to  sunset  neither  food  nor 
drink  might  pass  the  lips.  "  In  the  course  of  time,  the  Mohammedan  year  being  lunar, 
"  Ramadan  "  falls  in  the  midst  of  summer,  and  necessitates  real  suffering  in  the  hot 
countries  of  Arabia  and  the  East. 

Almsgiving,  the  third  duty,  is  obligatory.  One-tenth  of  a  man's  income  was 
devoted  to  the  poor. 

The  last  duty  was  the  pilgrimage  to  Mecca.  This  was  enjoined  at  least  once  in  a 
lifetime.  Those  dying  on  the  way  were  considered  as  martyrs.  Each  step  toward 
Mecca  blotted  out  a  sin. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  515 

What  does  the  worlcf  not  owe  to  Islam  during  the  dark  ages?  For  full  five  hun- 
dred years  Islam  bravely  bore  up  the  torch  of  learning  to  the  world.  Let  us  glance 
at  Spain  where,  under  a  fortunate  succession  of  Caliph's  literature,  arts  and  sciences 
blossomed  into  a  perfection  before  unknown.  The  Arabs  collected,  translated,  and 
preserved  for  us  the  masterpieces  of  Greek  thought,  who  advanced  upon  the  gener- 
osity of  Euclid,  who  developed  agriculture  and  astronomy  into  sciences.  They  were 
noted  too  for  their  philosophical  lore.  Universities  existed  in  all  their  large  cities, 
Cordova,  Granada,  Seville,  with  immense  libraries  attached,  where  lectures  on  classics, 
rhetoric,  mathematics,  and  other  sciences  were  constantly  given.  Encyclopaedias  and 
lexicons  in  Hebrew,  Greek  and  Latin  were  written.  Jews  and  Christians  alike  pre- 
sided with  Moslems,  a  degree  of  toleration  unknown  in  Continental  Europe  today.  So 
favorable  were  all  their  conditions  that  all  Christendom  desiring  learning  and  refined 
surroundings  sought  to  enter  there.  The  Arabs  were  the  introducers  of  rhyme,  their 
poetry  crossed  the  Pyrenees  and  reappeared  in  the  Troubadors  of  Provence  which  is 
today  recognized  as  the  first  impulse  of  European  literature.  All  mathematical  com- 
putations were  revolutionized  by  their  invention  of  the  nine  digits  and  cipher.  While 
all  Christendom  was  declaring  the  world  was  flat,  the  Arabs  were  teaching  geography 
by  the  use  of  globes.  Every  mosque  was  a  public  school  where  the  poor  were  gratuit- 
ously taught  the  Koran  and  elements  of  education. 

In  the  practical  arts  our  benefits  are  as  great.  They  gave  us  the  use  of  gunpowder, 
artillery  and  mariner's  compass.  They  introduced  rice,  sugar  and  many  of  our  fine 
garden  and  orchard  fruits  and  our  medicinal  herbs.  To  them  Spain  owes  the  culture 
of  silk  and  the  celebrity  of  its  wines.  Irrigation  was  brought  by  them  with  the  manu- 
facture of  all  sorts  of  fabrics,  rugs,  cambrics,  silks  and  cottons  for  wearing  apparel, 
earthenware,  iron,  steel  and  all  metal  work  of  every  description.  (Professor  Draper 
may  be  consulted  for  further  facts  upon  this  subject.) 

Such  was  the  record  of  Mohammedanism  in  Western  Europe,  such  its  luxury, 
splendor  and  knowledge,  such  are  a  few  only  of  Christendom's  debts  to  it  and  which 
with  strange  injustice  Christendom  is  loth  to  acknowledge. 

Finally,  Islam  is  essentially  a  spiritual  religion.  As  instituted  by  Mohammed  it 
needed  no  priests  and  had  no  sacrifices,  it  offers  no  theories  of  Apostolic  succession, 
gives  no  powers  of  absolution.  Absolutely  nothing  intervenes  between  each  human 
soul  and  God.  Forbidding  alike  the  representation  of  all  living  things  as  objects  of 
admiration,  veneration  or  worship,  Islam  is  more  opposed  to  idolatry  than  Christianity 
itself.     The  interior  of  every  mosque  bears  witness  to  this. 

Shall  the  world  longer  deny  Mahomet  his  true  place  in  history?  He  exalted  and 
purified  his  own  nation  and  the  age  in  which  he  lived.  His  precepts  have  brought 
comfort  and  benefactions  to  unnumbered  millions.  Surely  his  name  should  be  forever 
enrolled  not  as  one  worthy  only  of  "  hero-worship,"  but  as  a  benefactor  deserving  the 
immeasurable  gratitude  of  mankind 


A  GLIMPSE  OF  MODERN  SPAIN. 

By  MISS  LAURA  BELL. 

So  much  has  been  said  and  written  during  the  last  few  months  about  the  history 
of  Spain  at  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  the  time  when  we  as  a  country  first  came 
into  historical  contact  with  the  civilized  world,  that  I  think  we  are  all  more  familiar 
with  the  customs  of  the  Spain  of  that  period  than  we  are  with  the  Spain  of  today. 

Entering  Spain  from  France  and  crossing  the  Pyrenees,  the  first  interesting  place 
at  which  to  stop  is  San  Sebastian,  the  noted  fashionable  Spanish  watering  place. 
The  Court  removes  there  in  the  summer,  and  in  fine  weather  the  little  King  can 
be  seen  daily  driving  to  and  from  the  new  chateau,  which  has  been  built  for  him,  at  the 
extreme  end  of  the  town,  and  which  commands  a  beautiful  view  of  La  Concha,  the 
shell-shaped  harbor  lying  below,  and  the  beetling  crags  opposite,  with  houses  cling- 
ing to  the  steep  hillsides.  The  bath-houses  are  ranged  along  the  beach,  and  being  on 
wheels,  can  easily  be  run  into  the  water,  thus  avoiding  the  disagreeable  walk  across 
the  sand.  The  King's  bath-house  is  larger  than  the  others,  more  like  a  little  summer 
pavilion  with  a  piazza  around  it;  the  windows  are  hung  with  pretty  curtains,  the  roof 
and  sides  are  painted  yellow  and  red,  the  Spanish  colors,  and  surmounted  with  a 
crown.  A  railroad  has  been  constructed  down  into  the  water  for  his  bath-house  to 
run  over,  making  a  still  more  agreeable  way  of  reaching  the  surf.  Poor  little  King! 
May  his  path  thro'  life  be  smooth  and  pleasant. 

On  the  way  to  Madrid,  everyone  spends  a  few  hours  in  Burgos,  so  as  to  visit  the 
ancient  cathedral  and  to  gaze  respectfully  on  the  receptacle  of  the  bones  of  the  Cid, 
that  venerable  personage  about  whom  there  is  so  comparatively  little  known,  but  whose 
memory  is  held  in  such  high  repute  by  his  countrymen.  I  think,  however,  the  "  beg- 
gars "  of  Burgos  made  as  much  of  an  impression  upon  me  as  did  these  two  recognized 
sights  of  the  town.  A  little  squad  of  ragged  and  forlorn  humanity,  varying  in  num- 
ber, by  actual  count,  from  half  a  dozen  to  twenty-three,  followed  in  our  wake,  display- 
ing mutilated  limbs  and  sores  of  every  description,  too  distressing  to  look  upon,  and 
yet  so  difficult  to  escape  from  doing  so,  for  in  Spain  beggary  is  a  profession,  requiring 
a  license,  and  parents  often  maim  their  children  in  infancy  so  as  to  be  certain  of  pro- 
curing a  livelihood  for  them  in  the  future.  Such  crippled  objects  as  are  always  seen 
in  the  streets  would  not,  in  our  own  country,  be  tolerated  out  of  a  hospital  or  an  asy- 
lum, and  yet  they  drag  themselves  about,  presenting  a  tray  for  alms  to  every  passer-by. 
They  even  besiege  the  open  street  cars,  where  they  pass  around  their  little  waiter, 
collecting  nearly  as  many  coins  thereon  as  does  the  conductor  himself.  The  first  time 
I  saw  this  done  I  really  thought  it  was  a  new  way  of  collecting  fare!  I  was  told  a 
story  about  a  valued  servant  girl  leaving  her  mistress  to  be  married.  The  lady  was 
naturally  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the  girl,  and  on  inquiring  what  her  future  hus- 
band's prospects  were,  was  told  with  great  pride  that  he  had  been  apoor  workman,  but 
now  was  very  well  off,  indeed,  as  he  had  a  profession;  in  fact,  he  was  a  beggar  with  a 
license.  So  we  see  that  professional  beggars  occupy  a  very  different  status  in  differ- 
ent countries. 

Proceeding  to  Madrid,  one  finds  there  many  things  of  interest,  though  here,  as 
elsewhere,  the  capital  has  more  cosmopolitan  than  distinctively  national  features.  In 
the  one  instance  of  wearing  mantillas,  fewer  are  seen  in  Madrid  than  farther  south,  as 

Miss  Laara  Bell  is  a  resident  of  Philadelphia,  where  she  wasborn  and  educated,  and  although  much  of  her  time  has  been 
spent  in  traveling  throughout  her  own  country,  Mexico,  Europe  and  Asia,  yet  she  maintains  a  deep  interest  in  her  native  city, 
and  is  a  member  of  several  of  its  clubs  and  institutions.  From  time  to  time  she  has  written  papers  on  various  subjects  and 
has  published  one  volume  of  verses  called  "In  Verse  Proportion."  Her  postoflBce  address  is  1428  Spencer  Street,  Philadel- 
phia, Pa. 

516 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  517 

the  ladies  here  copy  Parisian  toilets,  and  wear  hats  and  bonnets,  which  do  not  seem 
to  accord  so  well  with  the  languorous  air  of  the  Spanish  beauties  as  the  clinging, 
graceful  fall  of  lace.  Among  the  commoner  people,  however,  and  by  elderly  ladies, 
the  mantilla  is  still  worn  and  never  loses  its  charm,  softening  the  features  and  adding 
a  coquettish  touch  to  any  dress.  It  seems  a  great  pity  that  the  younger  element 
should  be  gradually  discarding  it.  Nowhere  else  in  Spain  can  be  found  so  magnifi- 
cent a  collection  of  the  works  of  Spanish  artists  as  in  the  world-famous  gallery  of 
Madrid,  and  one  can  spend  hours  before  the  masterpieces  of  Velasquez  and  Murillo, 
as  well  as  in  studying  the  pictures  of  other  painters,  such  as  Goya  and  Ribera.  The 
former,  by-the-by,  was  so  wedded  to  bull-fights,  as  well  as  to  his  art,  that  when  in 
later  life  his  home  was  in  Bordeaux,  he  would  take  a  long  journey  back  to  his  own 
country  every  week  or  two  to  witness  one  of  these  bloody  conflicts.  A  journey  in 
Spain,  I  would  say,  is  no  small  undertaking,  for  the  trains  invariably  start  at  an 
unearthly  hour  in  the  morning,  the  express  trains  run  but  three  times  a  week;  and  as 
the  average  rate  of  speed  is  from  fifteen  to  eighteen  miles  per  hour,  ten  hours  would 
easily  be  consumed  in  going  the  short  distance  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles — a  marked 
contrast  to  our  rapid  way  of  spinning  across  the  continent,  where  the  very  fastest 
trains,  with  every  luxury  of  modern  skill  and  appliance,  is  all  too  slow  for  the  active 
American.  Everyone  travels  with  a  lunch  basket  in  Spain,  and  on  opening  it  its  con- 
tents are  displayed  and  offered  to  all  the  occupants  of  the  car.  Of  course  one  merely 
bows  and  thanks  and  declines  the  proffered  courtesy,  but  this  ceremony  has  to  be 
performed  every  time  a  fresh  piece  of  bread  is  eaten,  another  wing  of  a  chicken 
devoured,  or  another  pull  is  taken  at  the  bottle  of  red  wine  which  always  accompanies 
the  repast.  This  wine  has  a  very  acrid  taste,  produced  by  being  kept  in  skins  which 
have  the  hair  left  on  the  inside;  and  one  can  easily  imagine  the  unpleasant  and  bitter 
taste,  the  indescribable  flavor  imparted  to  the  liquid  within.  Goat's  milk  is  used 
almost  everywhere,  and  the  butter  is  consequently  very  athletic.  I  fear  that  joke  is 
but  a  feeble  one,  not  nearly  so  strong  as  the  butter  itself!  Cows  are  not  often  seen, 
but  occasionally  two  or  three  are  found  cooped  up  in  a  wooden  stall,  and  a  sign  with 
*'  Cow's  Milk  "  advertised  is  a  rarity.  The  cow  is  milked  before  you  if  you  wish,  so  as  to 
show  you  that  you  are  getting  the  genuine  article.  Perhaps  last  season  was  a  remarka- 
bly dry  one  in  Spain,  but  some  of  the  rivers  which  were  marked  on  the  map,  and  care- 
fully bridged  over,  did  not  appear  to  the  naked  eye,  as  in  some  places  the  bed  of  the 
river  was  quite  dry,  with  patches  of  grass  growing  here  and  there,  and  goats  grazing 
about;  white  clothes,  which  had  been  washed  in  some  shallow  pools,  were  left  on  the 
shore  on  one  side,  and  were  spread  out  to  dry  on  what  would  ordinarily  have  been 
mid-stream.  As  Charles  Dudley  Warner  happily  remarks,  in  regard  to  the  slippery 
river  called  the  Eel,  in  Nova  Scotia,  "  I  never  knew  how  much  water  had  to  do  with  a 
river  until  I  saw  one  without!"  However,  in  the  spring  these  rivers  can  become  tur- 
bulent and  dangerous  streams,  and  in  the  narrow  streets  of  Seville  tiles  are  inserted 
in  the  walls  of  the  houses  to  mark  the  height  to  which  the  water  has  attained  in  the 
freshets  of  different  years  when  the  Guadalquiver  has  overleaped  its  natural  bounds. 
Tiles  are  also  placed  higher  up  the  walls  bearing  the  names  of  the  streets,  one  letter 
on  each  tile,  so  that  the  names  can  be  distinctly  seen. 

The  Spaniards  are  naturally  not  an  energetic  race,  but  are  inclined  to  leave  every- 
thing to  be  done  tomorrow  which  could  so  easily  be  done  today,  and  manana,  tomor- 
row, is  the  accepted  rule  of  action.  They  trust  greatly  in  the  help  of  nature,  and  what 
the  sun  does  not  accomplish  for  them  in  the  way  of  cultivating  their  land  remains  for 
the  most  part  undone.  Immense  olive  farms,  however,  flourish  in  the  south,  and  the 
grapes  are  delicious  beyond  expression,  being  meat  and  drink  and  perfume  all  in  one. 
The  poorer  people  in  summer  live  on  bread  and  grapes  to  a  great  extent,  occasionally 
indulging  in  meat  bought  cheap  from  the  carcases  of  the  bulls  killed  in  the  weekly 
bull-fights.  It  is  as  natural  for  the  Spaniard  to  smoke  as  it  is  for  him  to  take  his  cup 
of  aromatic  chocolate  on  arising,  and  his  siesta  of  three  or  four  hours  after  his  sub- 
stantial breakfast  at  noon.     He  is  wider  awake  from  midnight  until  3  or  4  o'clock 


518  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

in  the  morning  than  at  any  other  time  of  the  day,  and  then  the  chief  streets  and 
plazas  are  thronged  with  gay  crowds,  who  walk  about,  sing  and  drink  at  the  out-door 
cafes  until  the  morning  dawns. 

In  Madrid  and  Seville  are  large  tobacco  factories  at  each  of  which  three  or  four 
thousand  women  are  employed  making  cigarettes.  These  women  are  usually  very 
fond  of  flowers,  especially  of  the  heavily  perfumed  tube-rose,  possibly  on  account  of 
the  scent  counteracting  the  odor  of  tobacco,  and  they  have  a  pretty  custom  of  wearing 
one  or  two  with  a  sprig  of  geranium  in  their  hair.  These  flowers  are  sold  in  the 
streets,  stuck  on  small  wooden  sticks,  ready  prepared  to  put  in  the  hair  like  a  hair-pin. 
In  looking  around  the  various  rooms  of  these  factories  one  is  not  impressed  with  the 
beauty  of  the  women,  for  in  Andalusia  especially,  where  the  dark-haired,  dark-eyed 
type  prevails,  and  where  one  naturally  thinks  that  every  woman  living  beneath  these 
sunny  skies  should  be  a  beauty,  the  face  is  often  dull  and  heavy,  the  upper  lip  is  some- 
times shaded  with  a  slight  mustache,  and  many  imperfections  in  the  eyes  are  notice- 
able. Whether  this  is  attributable  to  the  tobacco  surroundings  I  do  not  know,  but 
the  close  air  which  is  breathed  by  so  many  all  day  long  is  so  strongly  impregnated 
with  tobacco  that  it  makes  one's  eyes  sting,  and  until  accustomed  to  the  atmosphere 
one  can  scarcely  breathe  without  sneezing  every  few  minutes. 

The  handsome  senoras  and  seiloritas  are  not  to  be  forgotten  when  once  seen,  and 
a  good  time  to  see  them  in  Seville,  for  instance,  is  about  6  o'clock  in  the  evening,, 
when  they  drive  up  and  down  the  beautiful  avenue  facing  the  river.  It  is  an  odd 
sight  to  see  carefully  groomed  mules  attached  to  their  stylish  drags  and  carts,  for  it 
is  at  present  a  "  fad"  to  own  and  drive  the  heavy-footed,  plebeian  mule  instead  of  the 
dainty  stepping  and  more  aristocratic  horse.  Even  in  the  royal  stables  at  Madrid, 
with  over  three  hundred  fine  horses,  mules  have  the  place  of  honor.  On  the  princi- 
pal drive  of  Seville,  to  which  I  have  alluded,  fronts  the  palace  of  the  Due  de  Mont- 
pensier,  and  it  is  there  that  the  Infanta  Eulalia,  who  has  so  recently  been  the  guest  of 
our  country,  sometimes  makes  her  home;  and  a  charming  spot  it  is,  with  the  large  park 
surrounding  it,  filled  with  flowering  plants  and  tropical  trees. 

A  curious  scene,  which  witnessing  makes  one  feel  as  if  living  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
is  every  day  enacted  on  the  Rambla,  the  main  thoroughfare  of  Barcelona:  scribes  are 
seated  at  tables  along  the  street,  ready  to  write  letters  for  passers-by,  seem  so  out 
of  date,  when  here  typewriters  have  almost  superseded  pens.  It  is  surprising  to  watch 
the  people  who  employ  the  writing-masters'  services,  not  only  sailors  from  the  vessels, 
but  well  dressed  and  seemingly  educated  people,  who  thus  betray  the  lamentable  fact 
that  they  are  either  unable  to  write,  which  is  generally  the  case,  or  else  too  averse  to 
the  exertion.  Even  men  in  business,  what  they  call  active  business,  too,  carry  on  their 
affairs  without  correspondence,  waiting  in  a  leisurely  manner  until  agents  from  France, 
Germany,  Italy,  etc.,  visit  them,  which  occurs  two  or  three  times  a  year,  to  get  orders 
for  foreign  goods;  and  if  anything  should  be  needed  in  the  meantime,  it  is  done  with- 
out rather  than  to  write  a  letter,  so  I  imagine  the  proportion  of  stamps  sold  in  Spain 
is  much  less  than  in  other  countries  of  its  size  and  wealth.  It  is  a  fine  country,  and 
could  be  one  of  the  wealthiest  if  only  the  warm  skies  and  soothing  air  did  not  make 
one  more  indolent  than  in  a  more  bracing  climate.  The  people  know  how  to  accom- 
modate themselves  to  their  climate,  and  take  life  easily;  when  the  noon-day  sun  beats 
down  pitilessly  on  the  pale-colored  houses,  the  occupants  protect  themselves  from  the 
glare  and  heat  by  having  awnings  spread  above  the  open  patios  or  courtyards  around 
which  their  houses  are  built,  and  also  stretched  across  the  narrow  streets  from  house 
to  house,  so  that  it  is  possible  to  walk  around  a  town  like  Seville,  for  instance,  in  mid- 
day, without  suffering  from  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun. 

One  of  the  every-day  sights  in  all  the  principal  cities  on  all  the  streets  is  the  sell- 
ing of  lottery  tickets,  and  I  think  it  safe  to  say  that  every  man,  woman  and  child  invests 
in  these  tissue-paper  slips,  and  as  the  lottery  is  sanctioned  by  the  government,  it  is 
presumably  lucrative  for  it,  if  not  for  the  people.  The  drawing  takes  place  at  the  mint 
in  Madrid  at  intervals  of  ten  days  or  two  weeks,  or  sometimes  longer,  keeping  the  pos- 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  519 

sessors  of  tickets  in  uneasy  restlessness  all  that  time.  Crowds  assemble  at  the  mint  at 
the  hour  appointed,  standing  in  every  available  spot,  even  clinging  to  the  windows  out- 
side, and  about  twenty  small  boys  dressed  in  linen  suits  are  taken  in,  two  by  two,  to 
call  out  the  number  of  the  winner  and  the  amount  won  as  the  wheel  whirls  around. 
Everyone  smokes  in  stolid  silence,  straining  their  ears  to  hear  their  own  number  called, 
and  sullen  despair  takes  the  place  of  the  look  of  expectancy  on  the  majority  of  faces 
when  the  drawing  closes.  Once  the  crowd  parted  to  let  a  flushed,  disheveled  workman 
in  a  blue  blouse  rush  excitedly  out  of  the  building  seeking  the  open  air  in  which  to 
enjoy  his  triumph,  as  he  had  won  a  portion  of  the  grand  prize,  a  sum  amounting  to 
about  a  thousand  dollars.  This  love  for  the  lottery  is  only  equaled  by  the  passion  for 
bull-fights,  which  is  inborn  in  every  Spaniard,  and  so  deep  a  hold  has  this  barbarous 
amusement  attained  on  the  national  temperament  that  it  would  doubtless  cause  a  revo- 
lution if  an  attempt  were  made  to  abolish  it. 

Sunday  is  the  gala  day.  Then  the  bull-ring  is  filled  with  thousands  of  people,  and 
the  avenues  approaching  the  buildings  are  thronged  with  carriages  and  horsemen,  all 
wending  their  way  toward  the  central  point.  Opening  from  the  ring  are  the  stables  for 
the  horses,  the  inclosures,  fenced  in  with  iron,  for  the  bulls,  and  the  chapel  in  which 
the  toreadors  or  bull-fighters  go  to  confession  before  entering  the  arena.  The  band 
strikes  up,  the  procession  of  those  who  are  to  take  part  in  the  performance  marches  in 
front  of  the  boxes  of  the  royal  and  judges,  saluting  the  dignitaries  seated  within;  the 
gate  leading  to  the  bulls'  inclosure  is  thrown  open,  and  a  bull  dashes  forward.  If  he 
is  considered  not  sufficiently  fierce,  a  rosette  is  fastened  to  a  sharp-pointed  prong 
which  is  thrust  in  his  back  as  he  enters,  which  causes  him  to  lash  his  tail  and  to  try  to 
escape  from  this  irritating  pricking;  but  every  movement  makes  the  sharp  instrument 
sink  deeper  into  the  flesh,  the  blood  begins  to  trickle  down,  and,  still  further  excited 
by  the  flaunting  of  the  red  capas,  or  cloaks,  on  every  side,  he  dashes  at  the  first  horse 
he  sees,  and  usually  comes  off  victorious  by  goring  the  animal  and  often  throwing  the 
rider.  The  horses  are  so  heavily  caparisoned  and  half-blinded  that  escape  is  wellnigh 
impossible,  although  the  rider  with  his  long  spear  tries  to  save  the  steed  by  planting 
his  lance  in  the  neck  of  the  bull  as  he  advances.  Sometimes  he  succeeds,  but  the  poor 
animal  is  doomed  to  appear  before  three  different  bulls,  so  that  it  would  be  charity  to 
have  him  killed  outright  at  the  first  encounter  rather  than  to  be  sponged  off  and  brought 
in  again  and  again,  lamed  and  crippled,  and  finally  disemboweled.  The  horses  used  on 
these  occasions  are  poor,  thin,  worn-out  animals,  to  be  sure;  but  to  have  them  thus 
slaughtered  is  a  most  cruel  and  degrading  practice,  the  constant  repetition  of  which 
makes  men  callous  to  the  sight  of  suffering  and  dulls  their  higher  nature.  The  bodies 
of  the  brutes  are  left  strewn  around  the  ring  where  they  have  fallen  until  the  signal  is 
given  that  this  part  of  the  performance  is  over,  and  the  next  act  begins. 

The  horses  are  dragged  off  the  scene,  another  bull  is  let  loose,  and  a  man  on  foot 
holding  in  each  hand  a  long  stick,  decked  with  ribbons  and  tipped  with  steel  points, 
stands  ready  to  place  the  darts  on  each  side  of  the  neck  as  the  bull  charges.  This  is 
done  until  six  or  eight  of  these  bandetillas,  as  these  sticks  are  called,  are  waving  from 
the  animal's  neck,  and  the  crowd  applauds  as  the  man  thrusts  them  in  two  by  two, 
and  jumps  lightly  aside  from  between  the  horns  of  the  bull.  If  he  should  fail  in  the 
attempt  the  crowd  does  not  fail  in  signifying  disappointment  and  disapprobation,  and 
to  be  disgraced  in  the  bull  arena  is  the  disgrace  of  a  lifetime,  especially  in  the  next 
and  crowning  act,  when  the  cspada,  the  principal  performer  in  the  drama,  with  sword 
in  hand,  is  to  give  the  final  lunge  which  ends  the  bull's  existence.  Three  are  allowed 
him,  and  generally  so  accurate  is  his  aim  that  at  the  first  trial  the  bull,  after  bellowing 
noisily  from  the  pain  mflicted  by  the  banderillas,  falls  silently  and  remains  motionless 
when  the  sword  concealed  behind  the  red  cloak  pierces  his  heart  instantaneously. 

These  bull-fights  begin  at  2  or  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  and  last  about  three 
hours,  or  until  the  six  or  eight  bulls  and  as  many  horses  are  slain,  and  on  special  feast 
days  a  great  many  mor€  horses  fall  to  celebrate,  the  occasion.  At  the  close  of  the 
fight  a  young  bull  with  his  horns  covered  so  that  he  cannot  injure  anyone  is  let  into 


520  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

the  ring,  and  the  spectators  are  all  allowed  to  try  their  skill  in  the  various  methods  of 
meeting  his  attacks.  Sometimes  the  younger  boys  are  thrown  or  are  nearly  stamped 
upon,  but  hundreds  rush  to  their  rescue,  brush  them  off,  and  pat  them  encouragingly 
on  the  shoulder  for  so  early  evincing  their  bravery 

Olives  and  bull-fights  are  indigenous  to  Spanish  soil,  and  it  is  said  that  a  taste  can 
be  cultivated  for  them  by  eating  three  of  the  former  and  witnessing  three  of  the  latter 
For  my  own  part  I  prefer  to  remain  uncultivated  in  the  matter  of  bull-fights,  and  should 
a  desire  to  see  a  ferocious  and  sanguinary  conflict  ever  overcome  me,  the  sight  of  a 
foot-ball  match,  our  national  game,  would  probably  amply  satisfy  any  such  craving, 
and  make  the  national  amusement  of  the  Spaniards  an  unnecessary  institution  in 
America. 

Spanish  children  are  taken  to  the  Plaza  de  Toros,  or  bull-ring,  before  they  can 
walk,  and  are  so  accustomed  to  the  scene  within  that  they  imitate  it  from  their  youth 
up,  playing  bull-fights  at  an  age  when  other  children  would  be  flying  kites  or  spinning 
tops.  One  day,  in  a  narrow  street  in  Toledo,  I  remember  seeing  a  small  boy,  not  five 
years  old,  come  out  of  an  open  doorway,  and  flourishing  two  dinner-knives,  evidently 
just  snatched  from  the  dinner-table,  he  went  through  all  the  springs  and  evolutions  of 
the  practiced  toreador,  and  with  eyes  intent  on  the  imaginary  foe,  gracefully  plunged  the 
knives,  the  supposed  banderillas,  into  what  should  have  been  the  animal's  neck,  but 
what  was  in  reality  nothing  but  the  air.  Satisfied  with  the  manner  of  achieving  that 
feat,  he  threw  down  the  knives,  and,  springing  aside,  tore  off  his  little  white  shirt, 
which  he  used  in  imitation  of  the  red  cloaks  flaunted  in  the  face  of  the  bulls,  and  again 
picking  up  one  of  the  knives,  which  this  time  was  to  represent  the  sword,  dexterously 
concealed  it  behind  the  capa,  and  with  equal  agility  dispatched  the  animal.  Such  a 
look  of  conscious  pride  was  on  the  little  fellow's  face  as  he  turned  to  bow  to  the  spec- 
tral judge— when  just  then  a  voice  from  within  calling,  "  Manuelito,  Manuelito,"  caused 
the  "  conquering  hero's"  look  to  vanish,  to  be  replaced  with  the  "I  don't  want  to 
come"  expression  of  reluctant  obedience,  and  the  pretty  little  man,  entirely  unaware 
of  the  interested  spectator  at  the  other  end  of  the  street,  tugged  away  at  his  shirt, 
trying  to  slip  it  over  his  head,  and  as  his  bright  blue  dress  disappeared  through  the 
doorway  the  future  winner  of  honors  in  the  bull-arena  forever  vanished  from  my  sight. 

I  have  merely  tried  to  give  a  brief  sketch  of  impression  received  during  a  brief 
pleasure  trip,  and  would  say  in  conclusion  that  so  long  as  the  cigarette-maker,  with 
her  deft  fingers,  continues  to  roll  fourteen  cigarettes  a  minute,  to  shatter  the  nerves 
and  enfeeble  the  constitution  of  the  male  population  of  Spain,  so  long  as  the  lottery 
reigns  supreme  under  the  authorization  of  the  government,  and  this  unhallowed, 
unwholesome  gambling  takes  the  place  of  steady,  healthful  labor,  so  long  as  the  child 
of  four  years  is  trained  to  imitate  the  acts  and  poses  of  the  toreador,  to  incite  in  him 
the  low  ambition  of  becoming  a  bull-fighter  himself  when  he  is  a  man,  just  so  long 
will  Spain  continue  to  occupy  the  position  she  does  at  present,  that  of  a  once  glorious 
nation  not  living  up  to  her  splendid  capabilities. 


A  SKETCH    OF   "HOME-LIFE   IN    ICELAND." 


By  MADAME  SIGRID  E.  MAGNUSSON. 

1  hope  you  will  not  think  it  out  of  place  to  tell  you,  in  few  words,  about  the  first 
jttlement  of  Iceland,  as  I  have  had  many  and  various  questions  asked  here  about 

that  far  off  little  island. 

Before  872  Norway  was  divided  between  a  large 
number  of  petty  sovereigns.  Harald  Fair-hair,  who 
was  one  of  them,  realized  how  dangerous  for  the 
safety  of  the  country  its  being  held  by  a  number  of 
independent  and  disunited  petty  sovereigns,  who,  as 
soon  as  danger  was  abroad,  would  take  the  opportu- 
nity of  an  alliance,  which  brought  them  the  surest 
hope  of  increased  power  and  extended  dominions. 
Harald  revolted  against  his  own  class,  put  an  end  to 
one  petty  king  after  the  other,  and,  at  last,  brought 
on  by  the  victory  of  Hafrsfjord,  in  872,  a  total  col- 
lapse of  their  power,  whereupon  he  set  himself  up  as 
a  sole  ruler  of  the  country.  He  introduced  the  ma- 
chinery of  the  feudal  system,  which  virtually  reduced 
every  free  man  in  the  country  to  king's  tenant,  "  in 
capite." 

The  oldest  aristocratic  families  in  Norway  could 
not  endure  this,  and  rather  than  sign  their  own  degra- 
dation by  a  willing  submission,  or  to  become  depend- 
ent on  Harald's  royal  grace,  they  preferred  to  commit 
themselves,  with  their  relatives,  and  the  holy  things 
from  their  temples  and  homes,  to  the  treacherous  Atlantic. 

By  this  proud-hearted  aristocracy  Iceland  was  first  peopled.  The  people  still 
speak,  with  primitive  purity,  the  language  they  brought  out  with  them,  so  in  Iceland 
lives  the  mother-tongue  of  the  Scandinavians.  Iceland  is  about  forty  thousand  square 
miles,  and  the  population  at  present  is  about  seventy  thousand.  I  will  now  try  to  give 
you  a  brief,  and  necessarily  a  broken,  sketch  of  the  social  conditions  of  Iceland,  a 
country  almost  devoid  of  all  the  means  by  w^hich  sunnier  countries  have  been  built  up. 
The  land  yields  no  grain  of  any  kind;  no  fruit,  except  a  few  blueberries;  no  tim- 
ber but  what,  soaked  in  brine,  is  thrown  upon  the  coast,  and  no  coals.  It  has  no  roads 
in  the  civilized  sense  of  the  word.  Bridges  are  few  and  far  between,  though  danger- 
ous rivers  in  hundreds  tumble  headlong  in  furious  rush  to  the  sea  from  the  stupendous 
masses  of  inland  glaciers.  Wheeled  vehicles  are  unknown,  save  at  the  townships, 
where  peat  and  merchandise  only  have  the  advantage  of  wheeled  conveyance.  All 
inland  communication  is  effected,  in  summer,  by  means  of  the  enduring,  sure-footed 
little  ponies,  and  in  winter  mostly  on  foot. 

Now,  to  continue  my  sketch  of  "  Home-life  in  Iceland,"  I  fear  you  will  find  it 

Madame  Sigrid  E.  Magnusson  is  a  native  of  Reykjavik,  Iceland-,  she  was  bom  in  1831,  Her  parents  were  Einar  Somundason 
and  Gudrun  Olafsdottir.  She  was  educated  at  Reykjavik,  Iceland;  has  traveled  in  Denmark,  Sweden,  Norway, Finland, 
Scotland,  England,  France,  Germany  and  America,  and  she  speaks  the  langaages  of  each.  She  married  Eivikr  Magnnsson, 
M.  A.,  who  is  now  Sab-librarian  of  the  University  Library,  Cambridge,  England;  a  member  of  Trinity  College;  was  knighted 
by  the  King  of  Denmark,  Ridde  of  Damrebroge,  and  honorary  member  of  the  "Academic  Parisienne  des  Inventears,"  and 
holds  the  gold  medal  of  that  society.  Her  special  work  is  trying  to  better  the  condition  of  women  in  Iceland.  She  made  a 
translation  from  English  of  a  small  book,  "The  Basket  of  Flowers,"  given  to  the  clergy  widows'  fond  in  Iceland.  In  relig- 
ions faith  she  is  a  Lutheran.    Her  trastoHice  address  is  Cambridge,  England. 

521 


MADAME  SIGRID  E.   MAGNUSSON. 


522  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

uninterestingly  monotonous,  for  the  subject  is  not  made  up  of  many  items  of  variety. 
The  country  is  very  poor,  and  poverty  is  the  great  source  of  the  simplicity  of  the 
manners  and  of  the  monotonousness  of  the  life  of  the  people.  Want  of  communica- 
tion also  leads  to  repetition  day  after  day  of  the  same  domestic  occupations,  only 
varied  in  detail,  according  to  the  rotating  change  of  the  seasons. 

As  spring  comes  round  the  sedentary  life  of  winter  dissolves  itself  into  agricult- 
ural activity,  in  which  worpen  and  men  take  almost  an  equal  share.  At  this  most 
changeful  season  great  care  is  bestowed  on  the  lambs  and  ewes,  of  which  the  former 
fall  victims  in  hundreds  almost  every  spring,  to  the  inclemency  of  the  temperature. 
Sheep-shearing  at  this  time  is  also  attended  to  by  almost  everybody.  It  is  not  correct, 
however,  to  call  it  shearing,  as  no  shears  are  used,  the  fleece  being  secured  by  tak- 
ing it  off  the  sheep  while  they  are  shedding  their  coat,  and  the  new  wool  is  growing 
underneath  thick  enough  to  give  the  animal  sufficient  cover  against  the  cold  winds 
and  chilling  rains.  This  mode  of  securing  the  wool  is  not  only  less  cruel  but  it  yields 
infinitely  superior  wool. 

A  more  romantic  occupation  at  spring-time  is  the  ingathering  of  the  eggs  and 
down  of  the  eider-down  from  the  many  islands  thatsurround  the  coast  of  Iceland.  Merry 
expeditions  by  men  and  women  and  children  are  undertaken,  in  boats,  to  the  islands,  and 
the  lovely  ducks  are  deprived  of  a  certain  number  of  their  eggs,  and  a  small  part  of  the 
down,  which,  from  the  motherly  breast,  they  pluck  for  the  protection  of  the  forth- 
coming brood,  while  it  is  becoming  accustomed  to  the  hard  life  in  store  for  it.  It  is  a 
most  beautiful  sight  to  see  the  eider-duck,  sitting  by  the  thousands  on  these  islands, 
and  so  tame  are  they,  that  one  can  go  among  them,  stroking  their  backs,  without  their 
showing  any  fear;  the  reason  is  that  they  are  never  molested,  or  shot  at  any  time. 
A  very  heavy  punishment  is  imposed  on  any  one  killing  an  eider-duck,  so  few  would 
run  the  risk,  even  if  so  disposed.  The  reason  that  the  Icelandic  eider-down  is  so 
infinitely  superior  to  any  other  down  is,  that  it  is  the  down  which  the  duck  herself 
plucks  from  her  breast  to  line  the  nest  with,  so  it  is  living  down,  not  plucked  cruelly 
by  human  hands,  or  rather  inhuman,  but  by  herself  when  "  ripe."  When  the  duck 
leaves  the  nest  altogether,  with  her  young  ones,  the  down  is  gathered  from  the  nests, 
and  after  going  through  a  slow  and  difficult  process  of  cleaning,  it  is  an  item  of  export, 
which  adds  a  considerable  income  to  the  owners  of  the  islands. 

The  last  out-of-door  occupation  of  spring  is  the  journey  to  the  trading  stations, 
called  lestir,  when  the  country-folks  bring  on  the  back  of  their  small  ponies,  in  long 
cavalcades,  the  proceeds  of  their  farms,  such  as  wool,  tallow,  down,  skins,  butter,  etc., 
to  be  exchanged  for  bread-stuff,  and  other  necessaries  of  life.  Returning  home  from 
this  expedition,  active  preparations  for  the  hay-making  begin.  During  the  time  of 
hay-making,  I  think  very  few  people  in  the  world  enjoy  less  sleep  than  the  Icelandic 
mowers.  They  go  at  it  before  sunrise,  or  about  i  o'clock  in  the  morning,  continu- 
ing until  about  12  at  night,  with  only  a  break  of  about  one  or  two  hours  in  the 
middle  of  the  day.  This  is  the  main  business  of  the  summer,  going  on  without 
interruption  day  after  day,  until  about  the  middle  of  September.  While  the  mowers 
only  busy  themselves  with  cutting  the  grass,  women  of  the  household  divide 
their  activity  between  the  buverk,  or  household  work;  that  is,  house  cleaning, 
cooking,  milking  and  other  dairy  work,  and  the  raking  up  of  the  thinly  spread 
hay  as  it  falls  before  the  mowers'  scythe,  into  what  is  called  flecks,  or  patches,  spread 
about  to  a  certain  thickness  to  dry.  When  the  fine  grass  of  the  "  tun,"  or  home-fields, 
has  been  secured,  especially  if  the  season  is  fine,  a  treat  is  given  to  the  household, 
called  todugjold  and  the  day  is  observed  as  a  holiday,  the  only  one  allowed  (week- 
day) through  the  surnmer. 

Toward  the  end  of  September,  autumn  or  fall  begins  to  make  its  appearance. 
The  birds  of  passage,  which  are  mostly  treated  as  long-looked-for  friends,  and  allowed 
to  enjoy  their  summer  visit  in  peace,  now  take  their  departure.  The  wildernesses  of 
the  country  are  cleared,  and  the  sheep,  which  have  roamed  about  them  at  large 
during  the  summer,  are  driven  down  by  systematically  arranged  gangs  of  men,  com- 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN  523 

manded  by  the  so-called  "  Mountain-Kings."  The  sheep  are  driven  into  large  folds, 
kept  up  at  public  expense,  and  by  the  mark  cut  in  their  ears  are  sorted  by  their 
respective  owners.  These  sheep-gathering  days,  called  Rcttir  may  be  said  to  be 
the  last  outdoor  dissipation  of  the  year,  and  everybody  who  can  manage  it  tries  to 
join  at  the  large  common  sheep-folds,  where  they  meet  friends  riot  seen  for  months, 
and  not  likely  to  see  for  many  more, months. 

After  this  sets  in  the  long,  and  in  many  places  dreary,  winter.  All  life  in  the 
country  seems  to  crouch  despondingly  under  roof  and  thatch.  The  animals  are  now 
attended  to  in  their  stalls,  or  huts,  by  the  men,  and  the  women  set  to  work  in  earnest 
at  what  may  be  properly  called  the  domestic  industry  of  the  country.  During  the  day 
various  acts  of  routine  work  disturb,  to  a  certain  degree,  the  industry  proper  of  some 
of  the  women;  but  toward  dusk  everybody  has  settled  down,  and  this  is  the  appear- 
ance of  an  Icelandic  household  generally  during  the  long  winter  evenings:  At  the 
upper  end  of  a  long  room,  the  so-called  badstofa,  the  sitting-room  of  the  family, 
which  in  most  cases  also  serves  as  a  dormitory  for  the  women,  sits  the  mistress  of  the 
house  at  her  spinning-wheel,  surrounded  by  her  children,  the  master  often  also  by  her 
side,  carding  the  wool  for  her,  or  perhaps  making  some  utensils  required  for  the  house. 
Next,  in  a  row  down  the  room  on  either  side  sit  the  hand-maidens,  all  at  their  spin- 
ning-wheels. Then  the  men  are  seated  next,  at  the  lower  end  of  the  room,  carding  the 
wool  for  the  women,  or  some  may  be  exercising  their  skill  at  wood-carving,  making 
ornamental  horn  spoons  or  other  things  required  for  the  house.  For  the  most  part, 
the  whole  company  sits  in  silence,  because  one  of  the  party,  generally  a  youth,  or  one 
of  the  better  readers  among  the  men,  is  sitting  in  a  central  position  in  the  room  read- 
ing an  Icelandic  Saga  to  the  company,  an  act  that  no  one  disturbs  for  a  moment 
until  the  end  of  a  chapter  gives  the  reader  an  opportunity  for  a  pause.  Then  there  is 
a  lively  interchange  of  opinion  between  both  sexes  as  to  the  merits  and  demerits  of 
the  actors  of  the  Saga  (drama),  and  it  is  striking  to  hear  how  intensely  the  girls 
realize,  and  how  intelligently  they  rush  with  a  freshman's  boldness  into  a  discussion 
of  the  subject.  This  kind  of  life  accounts  for  our  language  being  kept  pure,  and  prac- 
tically unaltered,  for  over  a  thousand  years — the  whole  of  the  people  working  together, 
indoors  and  out  of  doors. 

The  weaver,  however,  is,  as  a  rule,  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  household,  the 
hand-loom  being  generally  down-stairs,  in  the  men's  dormitory.  The  whole  winter 
is  spent  in  the  way  described,  with  a  very  few  variations.  Every  garment  of  woolen 
fabric  used  in  the  household  is  spun,  woven  and  knitted  by  hand  by  the  inmates.  They 
all  work  it  and  share  it;  each  servant  gets  a  certain  number  of  garments  as  part  of  his 
wages.  They  all  get  as  much  skin  as  they  require  for  shoes.  Women  make  the 
shoes;  not  only  their  own,  but  the  men's  shoes,  too.  They  often  have  to  sit  up  at  night, 
after  the  men  have  gone  to  bed,  and  make  their  shoes  or  mend  them.  The  mistress 
generally  makes  her  husband's  shoes,  and  the  children's  till  they  are  old  enough  to  do 
it  themselves.     That  is  in  addition  to  her  many  other  duties,  too  numerous  to  count. 

In  spring,  when  all  the  vadmal,  or  cloth,  is  finished,  ready  to  make  up,  the  mistress 
generally  cuts  out  all  the  garments  and  then  teaches  the  servant  girls,  as  well  as  her 
daughters  (if  she  has  any),  to  make  them  up.  I  think  you  will  agree  with  me  that  the 
work  must  be  good  when  I  tell  you  that  Her  Majesty,  Queen  Victoria,  has  been  wear- 
ing the  Icelandic  gloves  for  years,  the  only  "woolen"  gloves  she  wears,  I  am  told; 
also  that  the  work  got  the  highest  possible  award  at  the  International  Health  Exhi- 
bition in  London,  1884,  namely,  "The  Diploma  of  Honor,"  and  the  gold  medal  in  the 
Anglo-Danish  Exhibition  in  1887. 

Among  many  other  questions  about  Iceland  which  I  have  been  asked  here  at  the 
World's  Fair  is,  how  many  policemen  we  have  in  the  country;  the  people  seem  much 
amused  when  I  tell  them  that  we  have  only  two,  and  that  both,  of  course,  are  in  Reyk- 
javik, the  capital.  They  were  still  more  amused  when  I  told  them  how  little,  really, 
they  were  needed,  except  in  summer,  when  foreign  sailors  are  there.  Tl\e  senior 
policeman,  Jon   Borgfjord,  is  quite  a  literary  character,  self-taught,  and  the  one  before 


524  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

him,  Arni  Gislason,  wrote  beautiful  poetry,  and  was  the  most  beautiful  writer  and 
engraver  on  metal — a  real  artist  in  that  line — also  self-taught.  We  have  no  work- 
houses or  poorhouses  in  Iceland.  When  aged  people,  orphans  or  others,  unable  to 
earn  their  living,  fall  on  the  parish,  or  have  to  be  provided  for  by  parish  aid  they  are 
put  out  as  boarders  to  any  family  willing  to  receive  them  into  the  household;  so  they 
really  never  loose  the  feeling  of  a  "  home." 

I  should  like  to  say  a  few  words  about  women's  education  in  Iceland,  or  rather, 
the  want  of  it.  The  question  of  providing  education  for  girls  has  of  late  years 
engrossed  much  attention;  but  slight  progress  has  as  yet,  been  achieved,  mostly  owing 
to  the  poverty  of  the  people,  and  the  miserable  means  of  communication  in  the 
country.  A  few  private  attempts  have  been  made  to  establish  schools  for  girls  over 
fourteen  years  of  age,  but  these  schools  are  small  in  scope,  and  otherwise  fall  short  of 
what  is  needed  nowadays.  Hitherto,  it  may  be  said,  that  the  mother  has  been  the 
universal  schoolmistress,  as  far  as  girls  are  concerned  anyhow.  Instruction  in  read- 
ing and  religion  is  compulsory,  and  this,  as  a  rule,  has  fallen  to  the  mother's  lot. 

In  the  autumn  or  fall  the  clergyman  visits  every  house  in  his  parish,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  examining  the  children  in  reading  and  the  catechism,  and  if  he  is  satisfied 
with  their  progress,  he  invites  the  parents  or  guardians  to  send  children  of  twelve  or 
fourteen  years  of  age,  during  Lent,  to  him  for  further  instruction,  that  is,  preparing  for 
confirmation.  Confirmation  is  compulsory  at  the  age  of  fourteen  to  sixteen,  and  by 
law  the  priest  is  forbidden  to  confirm  a  child  until  it  has  made  such  progress  in  the  art 
of  reading  as  to  be  able  to  perform,  with  decency,  the  family  service,  and  knows  the 
catechism  by  heart  from  beginning  to  end,  as  well  as  the  "  Lardomskver," — a  small 
book  containing  the  essence  of  the  Bible.  Now  here  ends,  as  a  rule,  a  girl's  education 
in  the  country;  in  some  cases  a  little  writing  is  added  to  the  list. 

For  men  a  very  different  provision  has  been  made.  A  splendid  Latin-school  or 
college  is  provided  for  them,  at  Reykjavik,  where  they  have  six  to  seven  years'  good 
training  by  eminent  masters,  many  of  whom  have  even  made  their  fame  in  Europe 
for  their  great  scholarship.  Then  there  is  a  medical  and  theological  college  for  men, 
for  the  continuation  of  their  studies  when  leaving  the  Latin-college.  Those  who 
are  better  off,  and  wish  to  take  a  higher  degree  in  theology  or  medicine,  as  well  as 
students  of  philology,  law,  etc.,  go  to  the  University  of  Copenhagen  on  leaving  the 
Latin-college.  All  these  institutions  in  Reykjavik  for  men  are  endowed,  so  that  most 
of  the  scolars  receive  a  stipend;  anyway,  all  who  are  in  need  of  help,  and  who  show 
themselves  worthy  of  assistance,  and  often  even  those  who  are  in  no  need,  and  there- 
fore ought  not  to  have  it.  The  Icelandic  students  who  goto  the  University  of  Copen- 
hagen also  receive  a  stipend  for  three  years,  an  old  provision  made  for  them  in  olden 
times. 

Now,  what  about  the  women?  I  have  frequently  been  told  since  I  came  abroad, 
both  in  England  and  Scandinavia,  even  here  in  this  country,  that  women  in  Iceland 
were  so  well  educated  that  they  could  speak  Latin;  that  they  were,  indeed,  favored 
with  a  "vote" — suffrage — and  they  were  blessed  with  liberty  even  beyond  their  sis- 
ters in  Denmark;  that  they  were  at  liberty  to  study  at  the  university  with  the  men, 
and  so  forth.  Let  me  begin  by  explaining  the  first  statement,  namely,  their  Latin 
knowledge.  There  is  not  a  woman  in  Iceland  who  can  speak  Latin,  or  who  knows  it. 
This  is  really  built  on  Lord  Dufferin's  "  Letters  from  High  Latitudes,"  one  of  the 
most  interesting  books  of  travels  ever  written.  Iceland  is  justly  proud  of  that  book, 
and  the  honor  of  a  visit  from  so  great  and  distinguished  a  man.  I  had  the  great  priv- 
ilege to  meet  Lord  Dufferin  two  years  ago  in  Cambridge  (England),  at  the  time  of 
his  receiving  an  "  Honorary  Degree  "  conferred  by  the  university.  Speaking  about 
his  travels  in  Iceland,  I  told  him  how  everybody  would  stand  up  and  tell  me  that  all 
the  women  in  Iceland  spoke  Latin,  etc.,  just  when  I  was  deploring  their  want  of  edu- 
cation, and  they  all  said  Lord  Dufferin  was  their  authority.  "Well,"  he  said,  with  his 
usual  well-known  great  humor,  "I  did  not  understand  what  they  said,  so  I  supposed 
it  was  Latin."     Women  have  not  suffrage  in  Iceland,  but  municipal  vote.      This,  how- 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  525 

ever,  is  never  used  or  hardly  (only  two  women  have  voted  in  Reykjavik);  they  have 
not  the  necessary  training  or  education  for  making  use  of  it,  and  old  prejudice  and 
fear  of  being  laughed  at  by  the  men  and  other  women  certainly  will  prevent  them 
exercising  this  right  at  present. 

And  now  we  will  analyze  their  privilege  as  regards  university  studies.  A  few 
years  ago  a  bill  was  brought  into  our  "  Althing,"  or  parliament,  urging  the  necessity 
of  better  education  of  women.  When  it  came  before  consideration  of  the  Danish  Gov- 
ernment it  was  well  received;  so  far  that  a  law  was  passed  permitting  women  in  Ice- 
land to  study  at  the  Theological  and  Medical  College  with  the  men,  but  that  they 
would  not  receive  any  appointments,  either  in  the  church  or  as  medical  practitioners 
(medical  men  in  Iceland  are  appointed  by  the  Danish  Government  at  a  fixed  salary). 
The  value  of  this  law,  I  think  you  will  agree  with  me,  is  none  whatever.  How  can  a 
woman  go  and  study  theology  or  medicine  with  men  who  have  had  at  least  seven  or 
eight  years'  preliminary  college  education,  and  she  has  had  none  at  all?  For  the  law 
did  not  provide  any  preliminary  education  for  women.  Then  comes  the  appendage, 
that  their  studies  will  have  no  reward,  or  recognition,  which  will  secure  them  a  future, 
which  men  naturally  get.  What  possible  inducement  would  it  be  for  women,  suppose 
they  had  the  means,  which  they  have  not,  to  try  and  study  under  such  circumstances? 
In  fact,  they  can  not  do  it;  they  must  have  the  same  education  as  men  before  they 
can  enter  on  university  studies;  and  the  question  is,  how  they  are  to  get  that  most 
important  part. 

For  people  living  in  Reykjavik,  education  is,  comparatively  speaking,  very  easy, 
as  students  from  the  colleges  can  always  be  engaged  to  give  lessons,  both  private  and 
in  the  schools.  But  in  the  country,  where  distances  from  house  to  house  are  so  great 
that  day-schools  are  impossible,  is  where  the  great  difficulty  comes  in.  I  have  known 
many  instances  when  girls  from  the  country,  of  good  families,  have  gone  as  servants 
to  the  better  families  in  Reykjavik,  simply  with  the  object  of  getting  some  instruction, 
their  parents  being  too  poor  to  pay  for  them  there,  but  may  perhaps  have  sons  at  the 
college,  as  education  of  sons  is  even  within  the  reach  of  a  poor  man. 

For  some  years  I  have  been  trying  to  set  up  a  school  in  Reykjavik  for  the 
"higher  education  of  women  in  the  country,"  and  by  the  assistance  of  kind  friends  in 
England  I  have  succeeded  so  far  as  to  build  a  house,  and  even  to  start  a  school  two  years 
ago,  with  fifteen  girls;  but,  as  only  few  could  pay  the  full  fee — one  krone  a  day  for 
everything,  board  and  lodging,  etc.;  that  is,  about  twenty-seven  cents — and  the  others 
not  even  half  of  that  sum,  my  small  funds  were  exhausted  at  the  end  of  the  first  year, 
and,  to  my  great  grief,  I  had  to  refuse  quite  a  number  of  girls  who  were  most  anxious 
to  avail  themselves  of  this  opportunity  of  education. 

I  came  to  this  country  expressly  with  the  hope  of  raising  some  money,  for  the 
benefit  of  this  school,  by  the  sale  of  a  collection  of  antique  Icelandic  silver  and  silver- 
gilt  ornaments,  spoons,  etc.,  the  only  thing  of  value  which  I  possess.  But,  as  yet  I 
have  not  found  a  purchaser,  though  I  feel  perfectly  sure  that,  coming  to  this  country 
with  all  its  wealth,  philanthropists  and  love  of  education,  my  most  sanguine  hopes 
will  be  realized.  The  World's  Fair  has  awarded  the  Icelandic  exhibit  two  medals, 
one  for  the  "woolen  goods,"  the  home  industries;  the  second  for  the  "silver  and 
metal  work,"  the  collection. 


THE  ECONOMIC  INDEPENDENCE  OF  WOMEN. 


By  MRS.  LYDIA  A.  PRESCOTT. 

Olive  Schreiner  in  that  prophetic  vision  of  coming  womanhood,  "Three  Dreams 
in  a  Desert,"  makes  Reason  say  to  the  woman  who  has  come  out  of  the  desert  in 

search  of  the  Land  of  Freedom  but  finds  her  progress 
obstructed  by  a  dark,  deep  river  with  banks  steep 
and  high:  "There  is  one  way,  and  one  only,  to  the 
Land  of  Freedom;  down  the  banks  of  Labor;  through 
the  waters  of  Suffering."  In  answer  to  her  questions, 
the  woman  learns  that  there  is  no  bridge;. thai  the 
water  is  deep;  that  the  floor  is  worn  so  that  her  foot 
may  slip  at  any  moment  and  she  be  lost;  that  none 
have  crossed  before  though  some  have  tried  and 
their  bodies  were  swept  away;  that  even  a  track  to 
the  water's  edge  is  not  yet  made.  Reason  tells  her 
she  must  not  go  into  the  water  with  the  garments  she 
wore  in  the  desert,  as  she  would  be  dragged  down  by 
them  and  lost.  Then  the  woman  gladly  throws  from 
her  the  mantle  of  ancient-received-opinion  worn  full 
of  holes,  though  handed  down  to  her  as  a  priceless 
inheritance,  and  with  it  the  girdle  from  her  waist 
which  had  been  in  use  so  long  that  "the  moths  flew 
out  in  a  cloud." 

Then  said  Reason^that  old  man — "  take  the 
shoes  of  Dependence  off  thy  feet."  And  she  stood 
there  clad  in  one  white  garment  on  the  breast  of  which 
was  written  Truth.  And  the  writergoes  on  to  say  that  the  sun  had  not  often  shone  on 
it;  the  other  clothes  had  covered  it  up.  Then  follows  that  fearful  struggle  between 
love  and  duty  that  is  the  experience  of  almost  every  good  woman  sometime  in  her  life  . 
and  her  final  submission  to  the  voice  of  Reason.  When  the  pitiful  moan  goes  up — 
"  For  what  do  I  now  go  to  this  far  off  land  which  no  one  has  ever  reached?"  "Oh!  I 
am  alone!  I  am  utterly  alone!"  And  Reason  said  to  her — "Silence!  What  do  you 
hear?"  And  she  listened  intently  and  said,  "  I  hear  a  sound  of  feet — a  thousand  times 
ten  thousand  and  thousands  of  thousands,  and  they  beat  this  way."  He  said:"  They 
are  the  feet  of  those  who  shall  follow  you.  Lead  on!  Make  a  track  to  the  water's 
edge.  Where  you  stand  now,  the  ground  will  be  beaten  flat  by  ten  thousand  times  ten 
thousand  feet,  and  over  a  bridge  made  of  the  bodies  of  those  who  shall  follow  you, 
and  will  not  be  washed  away  in  the  stream — shall  pass  away — the  entire  Human  Race." 
What  is  the  lesson  which  this  wonderful  allegorical  picture  would  teach  ?  Woman- 
kind lost  in  the  Desert  of  Economic  Dependence,  groping  her  way  back  to  the  Land  of 
Freedom  and  Equality,  down  the  banks  of  Labor,  through  the  waters  of  Suffering.  There 
is  no  other  way.  Her  woman's  girdle — that  emblem  of  femininity,  and  for  long  ages 
a  badge  of  physical,  mental  and  moral  inferiority — must  be  relegated  to  the  shades  of 

Mrs.  Lydia  A.  Prescott  is  a  native  of  Michigan.  She  was  born  August  5,  1842.  Her  parents  were  Die  and  Lydia  Hess 
She  was  educated  in  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  and  Denmark  Academy,  Iowa.  She  has  traveled  in  Canada,  the  United  States 
and  Mexico.  She  married  Maj.  B.  W.  Prescott  in  January,  1867.  Her  literary  works  have  been  confined  chiefly  to  that  of  cor- 
respondent on  moral  questions.  Mrs.  Prescott  is  a  professional  teacher.  In  religious  faith  she  is  a  Congregationalist.  Her 
postoffice  address  is  Oakland,  Cal. 

♦The  fall  title  of  the  address  was  "  The  Economic  Independence  of  Women  and  Its  Relation  to  Morals." 

526 


MRS.   LYDIA 


PRESCOTT. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  527 

eternal  night,  says  the  voice  of  an  enlightened  Conscience,  along  with  that  venerable 
mantle  of  ancient-received-opinion  worn  full  of  holes.  Yet  these  are  but  adjuncts 
of  the  great  underlying  cause  that  has  put  the  burden  of  subjection  upon  woman's  back, 
tying  it  there,  as  this  author  has  expressed  it — with  the  broad  band  of  inevitable 
necessity — until  she  is  the  creature  you  find  her,  the  natural  product  of  her  condition, 
the  fruit  of  an  environment  forages — the  ages  of  dominion  of  muscular  force,  from 
which  she  is  now,  in  this  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century,  being  slowly  emanci- 
pated; her  bonds  have  been  cut  asunder  by  the  knife  of  mechanical  invention  and  "  she 
knows  she  might  now  rise." 

"  Take  the  shoes  of  Dependence  off  thy  feet,"  says  the  voice  of  Reason,  of  Nature, 
of  Revelation,  and  of  God.  Then,  and  then  only,  may  woman  rightly  distinguish 
between  truth  and  error,  love  and  passion,  duty  and  selfishness,  right  and  wrong,  and 
step  by  step  grow  into  a  realizing  sense  and  wider  knowledge  of  her  possibilities  for 
usefulness  and  her  sacred  obligations  to  the  race. 

That  in  the  annals  of  time  woman  once  stood  noble  and  free,  the  recognized  equal 
of  man  intellectually  and  economically,  ample  testimony  is  to  be  found  in  ancient 
customs,  in  the  early  languages,  in  history  and  revelation.  That  'twas  not  man's  prov- 
ince in  the  primitive  ages  of  civilization  to  assign  woman  a  position  inferior  to  his 
own,  is  evidenced  by  a  universal  goddess — worship — from  time  immemorial.  Says  a 
writer  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  a  few  years  since:  "The  mysteries  of  this  goddess,  the 
worship  of  this  great  nature  mother,  is  not  more  wonderful  for  its  antiquity  than  for 
its  prevalence  as  regards  space.  She  was  the  Isis  of  Egypt,  the  Demeter  of  Greece, 
the  Ceres  of  Rome,  the  Cybele  of  Phrygia,  the  Disa  of  the  Norse,  and  was  worshiped 
by  the  Suevi,  the  Muscovite  and  the  Celt.  She  swayed  the  ancient  world  from  the 
southeast  corner  of  Egypt  and  India  to  Cornwall  and  Scandinavia  on  the  west,  every- 
where the  Mater  Dolorosa.  And  still  she  reigns,  the  ideal  type  of  suffering  and 
purity,  in  the  Madonna,  the  mother  of  Jesus.  If  all  ancient  rulers  believed  in  the  ine- 
quality of  the  sexes,  what  led  that  great  king  of  Egypt,  who  brought  his  fabulous  land 
into  the  comity  of  nations,  to  name  as  his  successor  neither  of  his  brilliant  sons,  who 
had  rendered  such  marked  service  in  his  Asiatic  conquests,  but  his  one  daughter  Hatasu, 
his  counselor  in  affairs  of  state,  his  chief  advisor  in  the  work  of  adorning  his  great 
capitol — Thebes — the  "City  of  Monuments?  "  'Twas  this  woman's  brain  that  evolved 
the  present  system  of  foreign  commerce  in  all  of  its  essential  details,  and  caused  to  be 
built  a  fleet  of  ships  for  that  purpose  which,  laden  with  gifts  for  other  nations,  sailed 
away,  as  much  the  w'onder  of  that  early  age  as  was  the  celebrated  barge  of  Egypt's 
latest  queen  when  obeying  the  mandate  of  Rome's  triumvir. 

Or  what  means  the  story  of  Deborah,  divinely  called  to  take  the  leadership  in  her 
country's  emergency?  She  was  a  wife;  why  should  she  order  an  army  to  the  front 
and  plan  a  great  campaign?  Said  Barak,  at  the  head  of  his  army,  "  If  thou  wilt  go 
with  me  then  I  will  go,  but  if  thou  wilt  not  go  with  me  then  I  will  not  go."  "She 
arose  and  went."  A  nation  was  redeemed  and  delivered,  and,  says  the  inspired  writer, 
"  Under  the  beneficent  rule  of  this  female  judge,  the  land  had  rest  for  forty  years." 
To  such  as  believe  in  the  inherent  inferiority  of  woman,  what  a  picture  is  this!  The 
great  Israelitish  general  reverently  bowing  before  a  female  judge  and  commander, 
listening  to  words  of  wisdom  that  would  guide  a  nation  to  victory. 

And  again,  if  'tis  woman's  sphere  to  be  a  clinging  dependent,  and  that  by  Divine 
decree,  why  that  careful  record  about  Solomon's  virtuous  woman,  to  be  found  in  the 
last  chapter  of  Proverbs,  from  which  a  text  for  this  address  may  well  be  chosen? 

This  perfect  woman,  a  model  for  all  time,  so  strong,  so  self-reliant,  that  husband 
and  children  could  safely  depend  upon  her  in  every  emergency,  was  far  from  the 
ideal  type  of  a  clinging  vine^ — a  dependent  housewife.  Though  'tis  plain  that  her 
domestic  duties  were  none  the  less  faithfully  performed  because  she  went  out  into  the 
world  of  trade  and  commerce  as  a  producer — a  live  factor  in  this  great  organic,  busy, 
human  world.  "She  considereth  a  field  and  buyeth  it,"  "With  the  fruit  of  her  hands 
she  planteth  a  vineyard."     No  mention  is  made  of  her  asking  her  husband's  advice  or 


528  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

permission  as  regards  this  purchase,  or  that  she  was  in  the  habit  of  consulting  this 
Jewish  elder  and  statesman  about  business  affairs  with  which  he  was  practically  unac- 
quainted. "  She  perceiveth  that  her  merchandise  is  good" — again  pointing  out  that 
this  woman  relied  not  upon  the  opinions  of  her  husband  or  of  any  other  man  or 
woman,  but  upon  her  own  judgment.  Not  at  all  vine-like,  you  see;  and  if  we  are  hunt- 
ing for  clinging  types,  we  shall  be  quite  shocked  at  the  next  quotation:  "  She  girdeth 
her  loins  with  strength,  and  strengtheneth  her  arms,"  which  strength  of  body  as  well 
as  of  mind,  instead  of  being  denounced  as  unfeminine,  was  most  earnestly  commended. 
And  as  if  the  inspired  writer  could  not  enough  exult  over  this  important  fact,  he  adds: 
"  Strength  and  honor  are  her  clothing  and  she  shall  rejoice  in  time  to  come."  Then 
as  if  to  show  the  full  significance  of  this  economic  freedom  combined  with  a  perfect 
physical  development,  he  goes  on  to  give,  first,  a  record  of  her  charities:  "She 
stretcheth  out  her  hand  to  the  poor  and  the  needy."  Of  her  discretion:  "Sheopeneth 
her  mouth  with  wisdom  and  in  her  tongue  is  the  law  of  kindness."  Of  her  maternal 
foresight  and  wifely  devotion:  "  Her  children  rise  up  and  call  her  blessed;  her  husband 
also;  and  he  praiseth  her."  Of  the  public  regard  for  this  loyal  wife  and  mother,  whose 
home  horizon  was  not  bounded  by  walls  of  timber  and  stone,  but  by  the  needs  of 
humanity,  and  this  brings  us  to  our  text,  "  Give  her  of  the  fruit  of  her  hands  and  let 
her  own  works  praise  her  within  the  gates."  Which  praise  within  the  gates,  be  it 
remembered  was,  prior  to  the  days  of  a  public  press,  the  greatest  publicity  known. 
Nor  do  I  wish  it  to  be  overlooked  for  one  moment  that  this  noble  woman,  with  a  rec- 
ord worthy  of  being  handed  down  from  the  early  history  of  the  race  as  a  model  wife 
and  mother,  won  this  renown,  not  through  her  husband's  virtues,  influence  or  position, 
albeit  he  was  a  great  man,  and  sat  with  the  elders;  nor  for  any  riches  or  honors  that 
was  in  his  power  to  bestow  on  his  wife;  not  for  the  wealth  she  had  herself  acquired; 
but  because  this  woman  had  a  definite  industrial  position  of  her  own,  an  occupation 
separate  and  apart  from  her  husband's,  over  which  he  had  neither  jurisdiction  nor 
control;  a  purpose  in  life  of  her  own  seeking,  that  promised  to  make  the  world  a  little 
better  for  her  having  lived  in  it,  an  industrial  occupation  which  in  no  manner  inter- 
fered with  the  obligations  and  responsibilities  of  wife  and  mother,  the  sanctity  of 
home,  or  the  claims  of  humanity. 

Dependence  begets  an  inforced  submission  to  the  power  that  feeds.  And  by  a 
law  as  unvarying  as  that  water  finds  its  level,  this  submission  has  restricted  woman's 
energies  to  a  circle  of  private  interests,  warped  her  moral  sense  and  so  weakened  her 
individual  will  as  to  render  it  partially  or  wholly  incapable  of  carrying  out  what  even 
the  warped  moral  sense  can  see. 

"The  ethics  of  human  life,"  says  Mrs.  Charlotte  Perkins  Stetson,  "  require  a  gov- 
erning personal  force  standing  between  cause  and  effect;  a  storage  of  energy  to  keep 
action  steady  when  immediate  pressure  is  removed;  a  power  of  judgment  to  decide 
between  acting  causes  and  move  or  refuse  to  move  from  ultimate  rather  that  imme- 
diate reason.     This  is  called  the  moral  nature." 

Unquestionably,  then,  the  advance  of  humanity  depends  directly  upon  the  ratio 
in  which  this  moral  nature  is  developed.  And  because  it  is  now  generally  admitted 
that  the  development  of  human  characteristics  and  of  other  forms  of  life  are  modified 
by  conditions — by  the  environment — it  behooves  the  student  of  ethics  to  find  out  what 
conditions  tend  most  to  develop  the  moral  nature;  to  ascertain  under  what  circum- 
stances men  have  manifested  the  most  rapid  growth  in  moral  power  and  insight,  pri- 
marily and  essentially,  under  conditions  of  freedom. 

That  slavery  begets  vice  and  freedom  virtue  is  a  fact  that  rests  upon  the  wisest 
laws  of  nature.  No  one  expects  that  virtue  and  slavery  can  co-exist.  "  What  is  free- 
dom?" Mrs.  Stetson  tells  us  again,  "The  capacity  to  see  what  is  right;  the  ability 
and  will  to  do  it;  the  courage  to  bear  the  consequences."  That  the  kind  of  character 
which  sees  right  and  does  it  at  all  costs  is  only  matured  in  an  atmosphere  of  freedom 
is  one  of  the  most  valuable  lessons  to  be  drawn  from  liberty.  When  governments 
require  submission  and  dependence  civic  virtues  are  wanting.    Where  economic  systems 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  529 

require  submission  and  dependence,  economic  virtues  are  wanting.  What,  then,  may  be 
said  of  the  moral  growth  resulting  from  a  lifelong  and  complete  dependence  of  one- 
half  of  the  civilized  world  upon  the  other  half — and  the  case  aggravated  through  count- 
less generations  of  inheritance?  For  it  is  not  alone  that  the  economic  pressure  upon 
woman  compels  submission,  it  is  that  because  of  her  inheritance  of  class  dependence 
she  can  not  rightly  judge  or  strongly  act  independently  of  others.  Her  moral  nature 
is  stunted  by  her  environment — her  slavery. 

I  understand  how  inconsistent  is  this  statement  compared  with  the  immoderate 
estimate  of  moral  superiority  granted  to  women  within  the  last  century  or  so;  but  her 
claim  does  not  bear  analysis,  nor  does  it  appearthat  in  general  cases  women  are  cred- 
ited with  superior  moral  sense.  She  is  superior  only  in  those  virtues  enforced  upon 
her  by  her  position — who  is  not? 

Is  the  moral  sense  strong  when  almost  every  woman  bears  upon  her  hips,  even 
while  admitting  the  injury  to  her  health,  a  dangerous  weight  of  skirts,  too  often  lying 
inches  deep  on  floors  and  pavements,  that  sweep  up  and  carry  into  homes  and  nurseries 
germs  of  stealthy  pestilence? 

Is  the  moral  sense  strong  that  leads  women  to  spend  millions  of  dollars  annually 
in  laces,  jewels  and  idle  ornaments,  in  cities  where  one-fourth  of  the  population  are 
paupers — where  thousands  of  our  own  sex  annually  sell  their  souls  for  the  necessaries 
of  life;  where  multitudes  of  children  are  brought  to  an  untimely  grave  from  hunger 
and  cold?  Says  Ruskin:  "So  long  as  there  is  nakedness  and  cold  in  the  land  around 
you,  so  long  will  there  be  no  question  but  that  splendor  of  dress  will  be  a  crime." 

Is  the  moral  sense  strong  when  ninety-nine  women  out  of  a  hundred  scorn  true 
standards  of  beauty  in  the  human  form  and  voluntarily  so  deform  and  weaken  their 
own  bodies  as  to  increase  the  rate  of  infant  mortality  and  otherwise  lower  health 
standards  as  to  threaten  the  physical  degeneracy  of  the  race  through  this  gigantic  folly 
alone? 

Is  the  moral  sense  strong  when  women,  to  whom  society  has  a  right  to  look  for 
examples  in  matters  of  propriety,  enter  public  gatherings  so  immodestly  clad  as  to 
compel  good  men  to  turn  their  gaze  away,  and  unprincipled  ones  to  believe  that  wom- 
anly virtue  exists  but  in  name?  And  this,  too,  in  defiance  of  a  law  of  the  land  that 
requires,  as  an  essential  to  modesty,  that  the  body  be  covered  ?  Such  intelligent,  high- 
minded  women  too  often  encouraging  their  daughters  to  attract  the  opposite  sex  by  dis- 
plays of  personal  beauty  and  physical  charms,  rather  than  intellectuality  and  moral 
worth. 

Can  it  be  claimed  that  the  moral  sense  is  strong  when  women  condemn  the  same 
sin  a  thousand-fold  more  severely  in  woman  than  in  man;  and  for  the  sake  of  wealth 
or  position,  give  an  innocent  daughter  to  a  man  of  notoriously  unclean  life.  Aye,  'tis 
claimed  that  the  greatest  stumbling-block  men  find  to  leading  purer  lives,  is  that 
women  do  not  care. 

If  the  moral  sense  of  mothers  is  what  it  is  painted,  do  you  think  she  would  ignore 
the  sacred  duty  of  teaching  her  sons  that  to  take  a  wife  who  is  to  come  to  him  in  the 
beauty  of  purity,  when  he  has  shameful  secrets  to  hide,  is  perfidy  in  the  last  degree? 
That  to  dishonor  the  poorest,  giddiest,  weakest  girl  will  bring  disgrace  upon  his  kin- 
dred, his  manhood,  his  unborn  sons  and  daughters? 

It  is  the  economic  pressure  upon  woman  that  has  made  her  what  she  is.  And  it 
is  by  seeing  herself  apaVt  from  the  ideal  virtues  ascribed  to  her,  that  she  may  ever 
hope  to  realize  the  glorious  possibilities  now  opening  to  her,  and  properly  estimate 
her  value  as  a  source  of  strength  to  others  through  the  power  and  influence  of  a  noble 
life. 

The  woman  who  enters  the  married  relation  for  any  pecuniary  consideration  what- 
ever, is  either  making  a  wicked  sacrifice  of  herself  or  is  lacking  in  moral  sense  or 
courage.  And  but  for  the  economic  pressure  brought  to  bear  upon  her,  would  be 
regarded  as  little  less  fortunate  than  the  woman  who  enters  into  a  similar  relation  from 
similar  motives  without  the  sanction  of  the  law.     And  the  woman  who  marries  to  live  in 

(84) 


530  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

ease  and  idleness  can  hardly  be  expected  to  see  as  clearly  that  her  husband  has  no  right 
to  dictate  her  actions  or  opinions  as  the  woman  who  supports  herself.  The  woman 
with  a  definite  industrial  position  of  her  own  is  not  likely  to  marry  for  mercenary  rea- 
sons, she  may  therefore  be  expected  to  see  the  rights,  duties  and  obligations  of  wife  and 
mother  from  quite  a  different  standpoint  from  one  who  marries  for  her  support. 

As  another  has  expressed  it,  this  nineteenth  century  is  sweeping  grandly  on  to  its 
close,  "  carrying  with  it  mighty  movements  that  can  no  more  be  staid  by  the  hand  of 
man  than  the  rushing  waters  of  Niagara  or  the  tides  of  the  ocean,"  Of  woman's  mis- 
sion in  this  field  of  human  progress  we  would  repeat  the  Divine  command,  "  Give  her 
of  the  fruit  of  her  hands  and  let  her  own  works  praise  her  within  the  gates."  And  she 
who  is  to  be  the  product  of  these  future  conditions  of  absolute  freedom  for  woman — 
she  who  is  to  come?     Will  be — 

"A  woman  in  so  far  as  she  beholdeth 

Her  one  Beloved's  face; 
A  mother — with  a  great  heart  that  enfoldeth 

The  children  of  her  race. 
A  body  free  and  strong,  with  that  high  beauty 

That  comes  of  perfect  use,  is  built  thereof; 
A  mind  where  reason  ruleth  over  duty, 

And  justice  reigns  with  love; 
A  self-poised  royal  soul,  brave,  wise  and  tender, 

No  longer  blind  and  dumb; 
A  human  being  of  an  unknown  splendor, 

Is  she  who  is  to  come!  " 


AVOCATIONS  OF  ENGLISH  WOMEN. 

By  MRS.  THERESA  ELIZABETH  COPE. 

Modern  enthusiasm  for  the  enlightenment  of  the  masses  is  at  all  events  beginning 
to  show  some  good  results,  whatever  grumblers  may  say  to  the  contrary.     If  properly 

conducted,  general  education  does  encourage  a  good 
deal  of  invigorating  brain  gymnastics,  favorable  to 
the   subsequent   development   of  interests   that    are 
wholesome   relaxations    from   the   specialty  we  call 
"  our  work."     More  than  that,  a  slight  insight  into  the 
infinite  breadth  and  depth  of  possible  learning  is,  and 
always  has  been,  to  anyone  inclined  to  reflect  at  all, 
a  source  of  constant  humility  and  tolerance.     So  vast 
a  vista  of  what  we  do  not  know  stretches  out  before 
us,  as  we  plant  our  feet  firmly  on  our  small  square  of 
conquered  knowledge,  that  consciousness  of  the  tol- 
erance our  ignorance  must  plead  for  may  well  make 
us  forbearing  with  those  who,  we  may  fancy,  know 
a  little  less.     We  will  feel,  too,  that  our  "Special" 
work  offers  sufficient  possibilities  of  action  and  im- 
provement for  a  lifetime,  and  realize  fully  why  "Jack 
of  all  trades  was  master  of  none, "  and  never  could 
be.     Sympathy  with  those  who,  like  ourselves,  are 
serving  life's   apprenticeship,   and    interest   in   their 
efforts,  however  different  from  our  own,  ought  surely 
to  be  the  result  of  a  good  education;  by  which  I  mean, 
one  that  has  engrafted  into  its  disciples  the  conviction 
that  honest  individual  effort  is  beset  with  difficulties,  and  that  no  field  of  action  use- 
ful to  the  community  is  contemptible  or  incapable  of  improvement.     Petty  cantanker- 
ous fault  finding  should  perish  among  those  who  have  sufficient  "general  education" 
to  grasp  the  fact  that  the  limits  of  man's  mind  are  narrow,  and  that  failure  is  possible 
in  every  branch  of  human  effort,  in  our  own  case  as  in  those  of  our  fellow-men.     Since 
the  possibility,  nay  the  necessity,  of  merging  the  terms  gentlewoman  and  working- 
woman  has  been  widely  recognized,  and  woman's  labor  placfed  in  the  balance  against 
man's,  we  have  heard  much  of  the  selfish  and  jealous  opposition  of  the  stronger  sex,  more 
especially  of  work  under-paid  because  it  was  woman's  work.     That  many  of  these 
complaints  are  only  too  well  justified  it  is  impossible  to  deny,  but  it  is  well  to  make  out 
a  clear  case,  and  be  just,  before  we  begin  to  argue,  above  all  dispute,  for  rights,  or  we 
may  find  those  so-called  rights  a  fruitful  source  of  palpable  wrongs,  for  the  develop- 
ment of  which  we  shall,  in  the  first  case,  have  to  thank  our  own  semination  of  the 
seeds  of  discord. 

If  we  women  really  wish  to  enter  the  vast  world's  factory  on  equal  terms  with 

Mrs.  Theresa  Elizabeth  Cope  is  a  native  of  London,  England.  She  was  bom  in  January,  1858.  Her  parents  were  J.  M. 
Jaqnemot  and  A.  F.  Dopry  de  Lavoase.  She  was  educated  in  England,  Germany,  France  and  Italy,  and  passed  "  B.  A."  of 
the  London  University.  She  has  traveled  over  the  world— India,  China,  Japan  and  America.  She  married  in  1877  Captain 
Cope,  of  the  English  army.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  the  pliilanthropic  work  in  the  East  End  of  London, 
among  women.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  a  work  on  women,  dealing  with  labor  questions,  and  articles  in  the 
newspapers.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Women's  Committee  of  the  Royal  British  Commission,  and  had  charge  of  part  of  the 
British  exhibit  in  the  Woman's  Building  during  the  Columbian  Exposition.  She  was  also  American  correspondent  during 
that  time  to  "  The  Queen,"  published  in  London.  She  is  a  fluent  writer  and  a  brilliant  journalist.  In  religious  faith  she  is  a 
Protestant,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Church  of  England.  Her  permanent  postoffice  address  is  No.  11  Holbein  Houae,  London, 
England. 

531 


MRS.  THERESA  ELIZABETH  COPE. 


532  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

men,  that  is,  as  animated  machines,  to  be  paid  for  according  to  our  marketable  value, 
we  must  fairly  and  squarely  acknowledge  that,  on  the  whole  (giving  a  large  margin 
to  the  numerous  exceptions  that  go  to  prove  the  rule)  man  is  a  more  lusty  and  reli- 
able piece  of  machinery  than  woman.  During  a  recent  discussion  and  investigation 
of  the  vexed  subject  of  relative  salaries  in  the  case  of  government  clerks  in  England, 
it  was  pointed  out  that  female  clerks  required  more  frequent  holidays.  Upheld  by  a 
purpose,  women  workers  do  frequently  succeed  in  walks  that  would  be  tough  for  men 
to  follow,  but  sudden  collapse  has  been  known  to  be  the  aftermath  of  a  rich  harvest 
reaped  by  female  enterprise;  and,  on  the  whole,  permanent  success  and  enjoyment  of 
it  will  depend  largely  on  our  knowledge  of  what  is  familiarly  termed  "the  length  of 
our  tether." 

Logicalargument  has  hitherto  been  an  exceptional  power  among  us,  and  I  am  sure 
many  of  us  have  only  fully  realized  the  humiliating  fact  on  perusing  the  combative 
newspaper  tussles  of  a  few  of  the  women  champions  of  our  rights,  many  of  whose 
barced  words  are  obviously  doomed  to  miss  their  mark  and  recoil  upon  unintended 
victims.  We  have  certainly  often  seen  professional  men  come  warmly  forward  and 
applaud  those  who  have  won  laurels  in  domains  hitherto  deemed  their  exclusive 
hunting-grounds,  and  the  frank  "well  done"  that  not  long  ago  greeted  Miss  Fawcett, 
of  England,  who,  in  the  mathematical  triumphs,  left  all  competitors  far  behind,  had 
nothing  of  envy  in  its  ring. 

Some  of  us  are  still  weak-minded  or  old-fashioned  enough  to  believe  that  honor 
does  come  to  whom  honor  is  due,  and  that  work  honestly  done  for  its  own  sake 
carries  its  own' reward  with  it;  and  many  of  us  have  good  reason  to  doubt  the  asser- 
tion of  an  Amazon  of  wordy  warfare  and  platform  celebrity,  to  the  effect  that, 
"chivalry  is  dead!" 

No  mawkish  serenades  under  our  window  are  likely  to  disturb  our  night's  rest, 
it  is  true;  but  many  a  noble  woman  finds  gallant  knight  proud  to  buckle  on  his  sword 
in  her  service,  and  ready  to  go  forth  on  her  quest,  even  in  these  apparently  prosaic 
days  of  top  hats  and  gaiters.  I  may  safely  venture  to  assert  that  many,  even  most 
women,  had  rather  be  fought  for  than  fight,  and  do  not  at  all  care  about  proving  the 
excellence  of  their  intellect,  having  never  realized  that  they  belonged  to  an  oppressed 
race. 

The  consumptive  little  tailor  (alas!  I  have  seen  so  many  in  the  East  End  of  Lon- 
don), toiling  wearily  and  ceaselessly  for  his  ill-fed  family,  is  not  a  less  pathetic  spec- 
tacle than  the  hard  working  shirtmaker  in  her  attic.  The  anxious  workman,  forced 
unwillingly  into  a  strike  by  his  companions,  is  as  much  to  be  pitied  as  the  hardy 
char-woman  or  "scrub-lady,"  as  I  hear  they  term  themselves,  who  fights  want  single 
handed,  tidies  up  her  children  every  Sunday  and  sends  them  to  Sunday-school  and 
chapel,  and  sobs  over  her  scrubbing  brush  for  the  sickly  baby  who  kqpt  her  awake  at 
nights,  and  whom  a  kind  Providence  has  saved  from  the  evil  to  come. 

How  many  women  have  we  met  whose  daily  martyrdom  was  the  fear  of  being 
crowded  out  of  the  work  that  earned  their  bread  and  cheese,  are  doomed  to  battle 
with  their  bete  noire  till  they  fall.  Who  has  not  met  with  them  in  England,  all 
lonely  and  unfit  for  toil;  trying,  trying,  trying,  only  to  be  jostled  aside  at  last,  and 
who  has  not  longed  at  some  time  or  other  to  help  them  by  teaching  them  to  help 
themselves? 

Every  suggestion  that  promises  a  reduction  of  the  martyrdom  of  "  worry  "  and 
lonely  failure  is  generally  welcome.  Not  long  ago  a  lady  gave  a  sketch  of  her  prac- 
tical experience  of  profitable  gardening.  The  publication  is  valuable  for  its  cheery 
common  sense,  and  for  the  really  encouraging  account  of  the  success  in  a  field  of 
effort  as  yet  almost  unexplored  for  lucrative  purposes  by  educated  women  in  Eng- 
land. The  writer  tells  how,  by  co-operation  and  activity,  a  few  ladies  with  very  small 
capital  succeeded  in  gaining  their  livelihood  from  the  produce  of  Mother  Earth;  how 
they  all  improved  in  health,  and  to  judge  from  the  tone  of  the  writer's  article,  enjoyed 
their  occupation  in  spite  of  its  fatigue,  disappointments  and  drawbacks. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  533 

These  lady  horticulturists  did  a  good  deal  of  grafting;  they  sold  young  rose 
plants,  and  some  cut  flowers;  had  a  few  shops  in  London  and  other  towns  which  they 
managed  and  supplied.  They  found  that  the  roses  which  were  most  valued  were  those 
that,  to  my  mind,  were  ugly  little  enormities.  A  small,  all  but  black,,  rose,  only 
redeemed  from  entirely  resembling  an  undertaker's  rosette  by  a  faint  carnation  flush, 
which  in  the  eyes  of  its  growers  was  its  one  fault;  a  tiny  green  rose,  like  a  pale  and 
bilious  Brussel  sprout  among  the  darker  foliage,  and  a  small  orange-colored  rose, 
recalling  a  double  king  cup  without  its  gloss.  These  floral  aristocrats  had  a  corner 
of  the  garden  to  themselves,  fared  delicately,  and  were  sheltered  from  every  blast  and 
every  parasite  with  the  tenderest  solicitude.    May  they  long  retain  their  exclusiveness! 

Old  ecclesiastical  chronicles  sometimes  solicit  our  admiration  for  St.  Thomas  or 
St.  Somebody  Else,  because  he  never  doffed  his  penitential  hair  shirt,  nor  washed  and 
anointed  his  body.  If  being  uncomfortable  were  virtue,  virtuous  indeed  those  dirty 
old  monks  must  have  been.  Well-born  ladies,  too,  would  dry  a  beggar's  feet  with  the 
hem  of  their  garments  to  show  their  lowliness  of  mind,  and  walk  about  humbly  in 
miserable,  scrappy  under-vests  for  the  glorification  of  their  creed.  Our  nineteenth 
century  ladies  have  left  them  far  behind.  With  the  hem  of  costly  gowns  they  do  not 
dry  a  tramp's  feet  that  have  first  been  well  soaped;  no,  they  sweep  up  the  dust  tramps 
have  carried  in  on  unwashed  feet  from  the  slums  of  our  great  cities,  mingled,  perhaps, 
with  the  refuse  of  garbage  dogs  disdained. 

Well  may  they  wear  those  large  hats  so  much  the  fashion  now.  Are  they  not 
nineteenth  century  halves?  Fit  circlets  for  those  who  humble  themselves  to  the  dust! 
Our  own  young  men  and  maidens  vie  with  each  other  in  boating,  cricket  and  golfing. 
The  common,  sensible  and  not  unsightly  costumes  worn  during  these  favorite  pastimes 
are  influencing  the  costumes  of  working  hours  and  social  intercourse.  Dress  need 
neither  be  ugly  nor  masculine  because  they  are  clothes  instead  of  fetters.  Indoor 
trailing  garments  may  be  graceful,  but  even  then  no  garment  should  be  a  hindrance. 

Women  are  very  eloquent  nowadays  on  what  is  due  to  them.  "  Rights'.  "  "  Fran- 
chise! "  "  Equality! "  is  the  burden  of  a  good  many  speeches. 

*'  When  I  contemplate  the  vicious  brutality  of  tyrant  man,"  remarked  a  lady 
speaker  when  I  was  last  in  London,  to  a  deeply  interested  audience,  "  I  am  not  only 
glad  to  be  formed  in  a  different  mold;  I  regret  that  I  do  not  belong  to  a  different 
genus  of  created  being!  " 

After  all,  one  must  have  something  to  make  speeches  out  of,  and  if  "brutal  man" 
is  the  topic  of  the  day,  why  not  discuss  him?  Reaction  will  surely  set  in!  It  always 
does.  In  twenty  or  thirty  years  we  shall  probably  be  devoted  to  worsted  work  and 
cooing  gently.     If  we  progress  as  we  are  doing  now,  the  pinnacle  will  soon  be  reached. 

Nevertheless,  at  no  time  have  women  been  such  eager  candidates  for  the  servi- 
tude of  government  as  today,  and  in  fairness  be  it  added,  at  no  time  have  a  greater 
number  been  willing  to  serve  the  rough  apprenticeship  that  alone  can  fit  them  for 
holding  the  reigns  of  government. 

The  avocations  of  English  women  are  numerous.  We  have  thousands  of  lady 
clerks,  typewriters,  bookkeepers,  cashiers,  shop  girls,  governesses,  postofiice  and  tele- 
graph clerks,  sick  nurses,  a  few  lady  doctors  and  dispensers  of  medicine,  matrons  of 
hospitals,  etc.,  but  the  time  is  too  short  and  my  paper  too  circumscribed  to  give  you 
all  these  in  detail;  suffice  it  to  say  that  all  these  women,  each  in  their  own  specialty, 
are  earning  their  living  nobly  and  well. 

Chopping  wood  with  a  razor,  and  shaving  with  a  hatchet,  are  laborious,  even  dan- 
gerous, tasks.  The  razor  and  the  hatchet  may  be  most  excellent  and  useful  tools, 
each  in  its  way  and  used  in  the  manner  its  maker  intended;  but  reverse  and  exchange 
the  work  you  consigned  to  them  and  the  chances  are  ten  to  one  they  will  cut  your 
fingers,  or  even  your  throat.  So  it  is  with  man  and  woman — they  are  each  perfect  in 
and  fitted  for  their  own  sphere,  but  there  is  danger  and  disaster  in  one  climbing  into 
the  place  of  the  other.     To  fill  her  place  fitly  is  not  the  ideal  of  woman's  life! 

Perhaps  the  time  is  not  far  off  when  the  relative  positions  of  trivial  and  great 


534  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

will  be  more  clearly  taught,  more  perfectly  understood.  Perhaps  the  pettiness  of 
tyranny  and  dignity  of  true  humility  will  then  become  accepted  realities  instead  of 
theories  suitable  for  copy-book  quotations.  We  may  then  possibly  realize  that  it  is 
given  to  the  poorest  in  earth's  dross,  the  least  influential  in  earth's  puppet  show  to 
govern  by  a  better  and  nobler  right  than  can  ever  be  gained  in  incompetent  platform 
speeches  and  struggles.  Our  kingdom  will  be  a  garden  for  weary  men  and  women  to 
rest  in.  Our  ambition  will  be  to  make  it  so  fair  that  the  world  will  protect  it  unasked. 
The  noblest  lady  in  our  land  is  such  a  queen — not  by  right  of  the  crown  she  wept 
to  wear,  and  wears  so  fitly,  but  by  right  of  a  broad  and  noble  charity  that  can  sympa- 
thize with  the  weak,  encourage  the  strong,  that  is  purified  by  personal  suffering  into 
a  more  tender  pity  for  those  that  weep.  Not  only  because  Victoria  reigns  queen  and 
empress  of  the  grandest  country  in  the  world  are  we  women  of  England  proud  to  serve 
her,  but  because,  as  Carlyle  says,  "  she  has  been  a  guide  and  deliverer  of  many  by 
being  servant  of  many." 


EXTRACTS  FROM  "POSSIBILITIES  OF  THE   SOUTHERN  STATES." 


By  MRS.  SALLIE  RHETT  ROMAN. 

John  Bright,  the  great  English  commoner,  who  said:  "Those  beautiful  states  of 
the  South!     Those  regions,  than  which  the  whole  earth  offers  nothing  more  lovely  or 

more  fertile." 

And,  in  truth,  upon  investigation,  the  agricult- 
ural, mineral  and  commercial  advantages  possessed 
by  them  loom  up  towering  and  imposing.  To  appre- 
ciate the  length  and  breadth  of  these  resources,  a 
cursory  glance  over  the  past  decade  is  imperative. 

In  1865  the  states  of  the  South  were  in  a  wrecked 
and  shattered  condition.  Their  banking  system  was 
destroyed,  agriculture  was  dead,  no  manufacturing 
industries  existed,  capital  had  vanished,  their  rail- 
roads had  been  all  but  completely  destroyed,  poverty 
reigned  supreme  in  town  and  hamlet,  and  recupera- 
r  g  ^  ■■  '^—^        tion  seemed  wellnigh  impossible. 

■  ^^^^^m  ^^  _  Turning  from  this  desolate  picture  to  the  present 

^t^^^m  jflHIifi^        period,  we  see  that  the  conditions  which  exist  every- 

^^^^m^  iS^^P^        where  today  throughout  that  section  justify  the  as- 

^^^■jk  JUl^I^P  sertion  and  the  belief  that  these  states  must  possess 

^^^t  -^^^SL'T  great  and  unusual  advantages  to  have  reached  within 

^^.      -^dSXw^  *^^  short  space  of  thirty  years  a  condition  of  pros- 

^^ ^^■^'^  perity  which  points  with  a  confident  finger  to  a  trium- 

phant future. 

The  London  Fi?ia?icial  Times  said  recently  :  "The 
phenomenal  progress  of  the  Southern  States  since  1881,  must  be  profoundly  gratifying 
to  every  patriotic  American.  Within  these  past  ten  years  they  have  shown  a  most 
marvelous  recuperative  power."  This  assertion  was  made  in  connection  with  the 
location  of  English  capital;  hence  its  importance. 

To  understand  this  statement  a  few  figures  will  suffice:  In  1881  the  South  pro- 
duced 400,000,000  bushels  of  wheat,  corn  and  oats.  In  1891  the  production  in  that 
section  has  grown  to  600,000,000  bushels,  with  a  corresponding  increase  in  the  cotton 
crop,  and,  despite  the  recent  decline  in  the  prices  of  that  commodity,  the  advance  in 
money  and  benefit  to  the  Southern  States  was  not  less  than  200,000,000.  Turning 
toward  the  carrying  power  of  the  South,  we  see  that  the  mileage  of  the  Southern  rail- 
roads has  grown  from  23,000  to  44,000  miles,  and  that  these  roads  have  made  far 
greater  strides  within  the  past  ten  years  than  other  lines,  while  their  reductions  for 
freight  and  passengers  have  been  greater. 

The  South's  production  of  pig-iron  in  1881  was  400,000  tons.  In  1891  its  output 
reached  1,000,000  tons.     The  great  Western  roads  have  viewed  with  some  apprehen- 

Mre.  Alfred  Roman  i8  the  daughter  of  Hon.  Robert  Barnwell  Rhett  of  South  Carolina.  She  was  born  in  Washington, 
D.  C,  while  Mr.  Rhett  was  serviag  his  state  as  senator  in  the  United  States  Congress.  Mrs.  Roman's  mother  was  the 
daughter  of  Chancellor  De  Saussnre,  originally  from  Lucerne,  Switzerland.  Mrs.  Roman  was  educated  at  home  by  an 
accomplished  French  governess.  Her  knowledge  of  French  and  music  is  most  thorough.  She  married  Col.  Alfred  Roman, 
a  son  of  Gov.  A.  B.  Roman  of  Louisiana.  Their  permanent  residence  was  in  New  Orleans,  Colonel  Roman  being  Judge  of 
the  Criminal  Court  of  that  city.  That  eminent  gentleman  died  in  the  early  fall  of  1892.  Mrs.  Roman  is  a  member  of  two 
brilliant  literarj-  clubs,  and  a  weekly  contributor  to  the  New  Orleans  Times-Democrat.  Mrs.  Roman  was  reared  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  but  after  marriage  she  embraced  the  creed  of  her  husband,  and  became  a  Roman 
Catholic.    Her  postoiEce  address  is  No.  92  Esplanade  Avenue,  New  Orleans,  La. 

585 


MRS.    SALLIE  RHETT  ROMAN. 


536  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

sion  the  diversion  of  traffic  to  Southern  ports,  for  a  marked  and  noticeable  increase  of 
exports  from  these  points  has  there  taken  place. 

In  1881  the  value  of  the  produce  exported  from  the  Southern  ports  was  $200,- 
000,000.  In  1 89 1  it  had  increased  to  $300,000,000.  The  further  fact  is  established 
that  the  assessed  value  of  property  per  capita  in  1881  was  $142,  which  in  1891  had 
advanced  to  $232,  while  the  capital  of  the  national  banks  in  the  South  increased  within 
these  past  ten  years  from  $45,000,000  to  $95,000,000. 

As  the  agricultural  industries  of  the  Southern  States  are  the  foundation  of  their 
prosperity,  they  demand  priority  of  consideration  in  the  present  investigation.  Among 
them,  cotton,  the  greatest  staple  production  of  the  world,  stands  unquestionably  fore- 
most; for  the  ramifications  of  interests  interwoven  in  the  cotton  trade,  which  embrace 
the  planter,  manufacturer,  merchant  and  exporter,  aggregate  a  colossal  amount  of  capi- 
tal and  absorb  the  energies,  ingenuity  and  genius  of  millions  of  men.  The  importance, 
therefore,  of  this  textile  upon  the  commercial  and  financial  destinies  of  all  communi- 
ties can  not  be  over-estimated. 

The  Southern  States  of  America  furnish  eighty  per  cent  of  the  raw  cotton  con- 
sumption  of  the  whole  world,  retaining  for  home  uses  one-third  of  the  quantity  pro- 
duced, the  rest  going  to  foreign  markets.  Of  late  years  capital  and  enterprise  have 
combined  to  erect  magnificent  cotton  mills  throughout  all  the  Southern  States. 

Nor  could  a  more  sagacious  investment  be  devised,  for  the  demonstration  seems 
plain  that  if  Great  Britain  (which  has  no  raw  cotton  at  command  and  must  import  its 
raw  material  from  foreign  countries,  chiefly  from  the  Southern  States)  finds  it  profit- 
able to  establish  and  maintain  gigantic  cotton  mills,  the  South  would  clearly  reap  a 
larger  profit  by  locating  and  working  mills  in  close  proximity  to  her  own  cotton  fields. 
Great  Britain's  supremacy  in  cotton  manufacture  is  solely  owing' to  the  fact  that  it  has 
been  the  home  of  the  most  improved  applications  of  machinery  to  that  industry.  The 
Eastern  mills  of  the  United  States,  by  their  present  superior  equipment,  now  rival  those 
of  Lancashire,  while  those  splendid  manufacturing  structures  being  now  erected  in 
North  and  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Texas  and  Louisiana,  will 
eventually  outstrip  both  in  the  near  coming  years,  because  of  the  superior  economic 
conditions  which  they  control. 

These  Southern  cotton  mills  embody  the  newest  forms  of  improved  machinery, 
and  are  located  close  to  the  raw  material  they  employ. 

Besides  the  consideration  of  cheap  and  contented  labor,  that  of  cheap  fuel  is  of 
the  utmost  importance  for  the  success  of  the  cotton  mill.  In  Manchester  the  great 
cost  of  extracting  coal  from  the  deep  beds  of  the  coal  mines  of  England  makes  the 
price  of  that  commodity  far  higher  than  it  is  in  the  Southern  States,  where  limitless 
coal  mines  abound,  whose  surface  strata  alone  is  being  utilized  by  easy  obtainment  and 
at  a  small  cost. 

But  the  difficulties  of  climate,  distance,  labor  and  fuel  are  all  obviated  in  the 
states  of  the  South.  Holding,  therefore,  these  splendid  advantages,  the  states  of  the 
South  will  naturally  seek  for  a  widening  foreign  market.  This  she  will  surely  find 
beyond  her  European  trade  in  China  and  Japan  and  the  islands  in  the  Pacific,  when 
direct  communications  will  be  established  with  those  countries  through  the  cutting  of 
the  isthmus  which  unites  the  two  Americas,  which  engineering  feat  has  now  become 
the  imperious  commercial  necessity  of  this  age.  The  states  of  the  South,  command- 
ing a  short  and  direct  route,  with  her  inexhaustible  forests  at  hand  wherewith  to  build 
the  necessary  shipping  for  this  trade,  would  supply  this  rich  and  prolific  market  with 
their  varied  products  and  manufactures.  Nor  could  any  section  or  outside  power 
successfully  compete  with  them;  for  a  closer  proximity  gives,  necessarily,  a  suprem- 
acy none  may  dispute. 

The  history  of  the  Suez  Canal,  which  has  poured  millions  into  the  coffers  of 
England,  and  that  of  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie's  Canal,  on  the  great  northern  lakes,  gives 
the  basis  for  the  assumption  that  the  tonnage  of  vessels  passing  through  annually  would 
average  nine  million  at  a  low  estimate. 

By  opening  this  canal,  breaking  bulk  in  transit,  a  matter  of  immense  monetary 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  537 

importance,  would  also  be  eliminated;  and  the  coasting  trade  for  small  craft  among 
those  rich  and  fertile  countries  lying  to  the  south  along  the  Pacific,  which  embraces 
most  valuable  product,  would  grow  to  enormous  proportions  and  would  belong  exclus- 
ively to  the  Southern  States. 

Indeed,  the  condition  attendant  upon  the  throwing  open  of  direct  and  easy  commu- 
nication, through  the  Nicaragua  Canal,  is  so  supremely  and  undeniably  advantageous 
that  they  justify  the  prediction  that  San  Francisco  on  the  Pacific,  and  New  York  on 
the  Atlantic,  will  thereby  command  the  markets  of  the  world,  while  the  ports  of  the 
statesof  the  South  must  proportionately  grow  and  prosper  under  the  splendid  impetus 
of  expanding  trade  to  become  shortly  great  and  important  commercial  centers. 

The  Southern  group  of  states  has  an  area  of  eight  hundred  thousand  square  miles, 
with  a  population  of  a  little  over  nineteen  million.  Running  through  their  center 
extends  the  southern  Appalachian  region,  along  whose  northwestern  slope  stretches  a 
continuous  and  unbroken  coal-field  of  incalculable  value,  heavily  timbered,  with  a 
productive  soil  and  a  healthful  and  cool  climate.  Lying  toward  the  east  spreads 
another  strip  of  high,  mountainous  country,  rising  over  two  thousand  feet  above  sea 
level.  These  ranges  are  covered  with  dense  forests  of  varied  and  most  valuable  wood, 
and  are  prolific  in  slates,  fine  clays,  marbles,  ores,  copper  and  other  minerals,  with  a 
wealth  of  iron  which  only  equals  its  colossal  wealth  in  coal.  Piled  up  in  the  center  of 
these  Southern  States  lies  this  magazine  of  enormous  natural  resources,  greater  far 
than  those  ever  possessed  by  Great  Britain,  and  surrounded  by  more  than  a  half  mil- 
lion square  miles  of  lands  whose  fertility  and  productiveness  is  beyond  computation. 

It  is  incontestable  that  here  is  the  section  which  offers  the  most  advantageous 
sites  for  economical  iron-making,  for  the  needed  materials  lie  close  at  hand,  and 
economy  in  transporting  this  raw  material  gives  to  the  manufacturer  of  iron  enor- 
mous advantages  over  competing  branches  of  that  industry,  located  as  they  are  at 
great  distances  in  the  North  and  West.  The  irresistible  logic  of  circumstances  has 
been  recognized,  and  Birmingham,  the  iron  city  of  the  South,  has  grown  into  import- 
ance and  wealth  through  her  blast-furnaces  and  great  iron  industries,  while  others  are 
being  erected  in  various  localities  to  make  of  the  South,  as  Mr.  Edward  Atkinson 
says,  "  the  future  situs  of  the  principal  iron  production  of  the  world."  And  it  may 
be  pertinent  to  add  that  the  recent  splendid  invention,  called  the  Basaic  process,  for 
making  steel  of  iron  containing  phosphorus,  will  unquestionably  turn  the  scale  for 
steel  manufacture  in  favor  of  the  South,  by  throwing  open  to  her  the  possibility  of  fur- 
nishing at  a  lower  cost,  for  the  Southern  railroads,  whose  extension  and  ramification 
over  vast  areas  establish  an  inexhaustible  market,  those  steei  rails  now  manufactured 
by  the  steel  mills  of  Pennsylvania  and  Illinois,  and  furnished  by  them  to  the  Southern 
railroad  companies. 

In  the  Flat  Top  ttegion,  in  the  great  Kanawha  Basin,  in  the  Warnor  Field,  and 
elsewhere  throughout  these  states,  where  coal  mining  has  but  recently  been  inaugu- 
rated, the  coal  trade  amounts  to  millions  of  tons  yearly,  and  gives  employment  to 
thousands  of  men,  besides  furnishing  an  enormous  volume  of  paying  freight  to  the 
railroads.  The  coal  fields  of  the  South,  by  their  extent  and  depth,  are  practically 
beyond  the  limits  of  definite  measurement,  and  the  coal  trade,  yet  in  its  infancy  in  that 
section,  bids  fair  to  spread  far  beyond  the  limits  of  this  country. 

It  may  be  added  in  this  connection,  that  Mobile  and  Pensacola  are  now  making 
extensive  improvements  in  their  harbor  facilities  to  accommodate  the  greatly  increas- 
ing export  trade  of  coal  to  Mexico  and  Central  and  South  America,  brought  by  rail- 
roads for  shipment  from  these  ports. 

These  rich  timber  districts  are  vast  in  area  and  extensive  in  variety.  Here  the 
yellow  and  white  pines,  the  white,  black,  Spanish  and  chestnut  oaks,  the  chestnut, 
walnut,  hickory,  poplar,  cherry  and  laurel  intermingle  their  luxuriant  foliage  and 
mutely  testify  to  the  keen-sighted  lumberman  and  manufacturer  of  the  West  and  East, 
that  the  lands  which  produce  so  superb  a  growth  will  likewise  furnish  the  means  to 
satisfy  a  most  laudable  ambition — that  of  becoming,  through  their  agency,  a  successful 
and  wealthy  citizen. 


538  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

There  are  two  other  salient  features  in  Southern  industrial  life  which  may  not  be 
overlooked,  for  their  importance  imperiously  and  justly  clamor  for  attention.  Over 
a  far  stretching  area  of  country  to  the  southwest  of  Norfolk  lie  a  series  of  highly 
prosperous  truck  farms,  under  the  most  improved  methods  of  culture,  whose  varied 
products  furnish  the  inexhaustible  markets  of  the  large  cities  of  the  East.  Running 
back  from  the  old  and  sedate  "  City  by  the  Sea,"  Charleston,  and  encased  between  the 
broad  sweeping  waters  of  the  Ashley  and  the  Cooper,  extend  a  succession  of  truck 
farms,  admirable  from  the  perfected  culture. 

Passing  through  the  wealthy  and  prospering  State  of  Georgia,  from  east  to  west 
the  traveler's  attention  is  attracted  by  the  contmuous  succession  of  handsome  farms 
which  cover  the  gently  undulating  lands  and  form  a  pleasing  and  charming  panorama; 
while  the  orange  groves  of  Florida  need  no  comment  to  recall  their  beauty  and  their 
moneyed  advantages.  Nowhere  on  this  continent  does  truck-farming  and  fruit-grow- 
ing offer  so  uniformly  good  and  profitable  results  as  among  the  Southern  States. 

After  cotton,  the  product  giving  the  most  lucrative  returns  to  the  cultivator  is 
the  sugar-cane  of  Louisiana,  whose  wealth  of  vegetation  and  salubrious  climate  make 
it  truly  the  Garden  Spot  of  the  South,  Grown  in  rich  alluvial  soil,  in  a  most  healthy 
region,  by  a  population  thoroughly  educated  concerning  its  culture,  the  cane-fields  of 
Louisiana  present  one  of  the  most  beautiful  sights  in  the  world.  The  splendid  luxu- 
riance of  this  crop,  the  waving  grace  of  its  billowy  green  rows,  when  swept  by  the 
gentle  breezes,  under  the  radiant  light  of  a  glowing  Southern  sky,  must  needs  enchant 
the  beholder.  The  cultivation  and  manufacture  of  sugar  give  remunerative  employ- 
ment to  a  large  and  industrious  population,  and  brings  millions  of  dollars  annually 
into  the  State  of  Louisiana,  which  circulates  abroad  for  the  perceptible  benefit  of  all. 

Through  the  old  and  historic  states  of  Virginia  and  South  Carolina,  whose  annals 
contain  names  which  will  ever  adorn  American  history,  down  through  the  prosperous 
states  of  Georgia  and  Alabama,  through  Louisiana,  glorious  in  her  unrivaled  fertility, 
and  through  the  undulating  plains  and  .vast  expanse  of  Texas,  whose  wealth  and 
power  in  the  coming  years  may  not  be  measured,  arise  prophetic  voices  from  field, 
forest,  mine  and  workshop,  telling  of  all  that  a  sagacious  and  mighty  population  will 
accomplish  in  the  near  future,  when  the  glorious  possibilities  of  the  states  of  the  South 
will  be  stirred  into  life  by  the  gigantic  breath  of  extended  commerce,  enterprise  and 
capital. 

"  These  beautiful  states  of  the  South,"  swept  by  the  ocean  and  mountain  winds, 
nursed  by  the  glowing  sun  and  gentle  rains,  what  a  glorious  invitation  you  grandly 
tender  the  stranger  to  seek  rest  and  contentment  amid  your  fertile  plains  and  teeftiing 
valleys;  how  sublime  has  been  the  struggle  of  your  people  for  what  they  deemed  was 
their  constitutional  right!  how  undaunted  their  attitude  and  how  unsurpassed  their 
fortitude  amid  the  upheaval  of  their  colossal  ruin!  And  now  that  the  glimmering 
dawn  of  a  stupendous  future  is  faintly  spreading  its  transcendent  glow  of  prosperity 
abroad  over  the  great  Southern  States,  the  throb  of  a  pulsating  triumph  beats  in  the 
hum  of  the  factory,  glows  in  the  smelting  furnace,  and  ascends  in  the  soft  twilight 
hours  from  the  rich  furrows  of  her  incomparable  fields,  while  the  salt-sea  waves,  as 
they  rock  her  shipping  and  dash  against  pier  and  wharf,  add  their  exultant  voices  in 
prophecy  of  the  coming  prosperity  they  so  plainly  foresee. 

May  the  advancing  wealth,  which  will  crown  with  a  fitting  reward  the  efforts, 
ambitions  and  genius  of  this  people  of  the  South,  never  diminish  those  high  and  true 
aspirations  which  have  hitherto  adorned  her  annals  and  made  of  her  citizens,  in  pros- 
perity and  in  adversity,  a  lofty  and  noble  race. 

Standing  today  amid  the  magnificent  achievements  of  the  great  Northwest,  a  vis- 
itor to  this  imposing  World's  Fair,  in  the  name  of  the  South  I  tender  the  warm  hand 
of  her  true  and  steadfast  friendship  to  her  noble  host,  applauding  her  successful 
efforts  to  demonstrate  the  power  and  capacity  of  the  American  people.  And  I  render 
heartfelt  thanks  to  this  gracious  audience  for  their  courteous  attention  to  this  most 
imperfect  showing  of  the  grand  possibilities  of  the  states  of  the  South. 


WOMAN— THE    INCITER  TO  REFORM. 


By  MRS.  MINNIE  D.  LOUIS. 

We  are  all  familiar  with  the  generally  accepted  source  for  the  traceable  origin  of 
the  wonderful  creation  of  man;  that  every  word  of  that  condensed  statement  is  fraught 

with  deepest  meaning  no  one  will  doubt.     We  read 

that  on  the  sixth  day  God  created  beasts,  reptiles 

and  man.     Man  stands  at  the  head  of  the  animal  cre- 

>'    "  -'*■«.,  ation.    We  read  further,  and  find  that  woman  is  formed 

afterward.     And -wit^iout  diny  rediictio  ad absurdum  msiy 

we  not  utilize  the  Darwinian  theory,  and  call  her  a 

f  higher  evolution  of  man,  the  mental  development; 

in  fine,  the  very  perfection  of  God's  noblest  work.  As 
the  poet  says: 

"  He  tried  his  'prentice  hand  on  man, 
And  then  He  made  the  lassies,  O." 

The  great  Creator  caused  a  deep  sleep  to  fall  upon 
Adam,  and  then  He  formed  Eve  out  of  one  of  his 
ribs;  which  means,  palpably,  that  being  formed  from 
only  part  of  him  she  could  not  possibly  be  endowed 
with  as  much  physical  strength.  But  in  His  benefi- 
cent law  of  compensation,  by  which  the  beautiful 
balance  of  all  distribution  is  maintained.  He  be- 
stowed upon  her  keen  perception,  which,  like  the 
delicate  diamond-drill,  easily  penetrates  where  the 
sledge-hammer  would  only  shatter.  She  was  given 
to  Adam  in  his  quiet  moment;  not  when  he  was  frolicking  with  the  other  denizens  of 
Paradise,  reveling  in  his  superiority,  but  after  he  had  slept,  when  his  brain  was  in  a 
condition  to  be  influenced  by  her  gentle  presence,  then  she  appeared  unto  him,  the 
embodiment  of  a  new  revelation  of  his  power,  his  slumbering,  aesthetic  nature. 

I  suppose  it  is  as  patent  to  others  as  to  me  that  it  was  Eve  who  first  gained 
knowledge  and  then  imparted  it  to  Adam.  It  was  she  who  first  espied  the  lurking 
enemy,  and  she  who  bravely  dared  confront  him.  The  Serpent  was  not  the  enemy;  it 
was  Laziness,  that  destroyer  of  Divine  growth  in  mortal.  The  subtle,  telepathic  serpent 
discerned  Eve's  mental  unrest,  and  despite  all  the  interpreters,  translators,  annotators 
and  commentators  on  the  Bible,  Eve's  interview  with  that  gorgeous,  calm-eyed  ophid- 
ian was  the  first  whisper  of  her  energy  and  ambition,  the  real  tempters;  Adam's  inborn 
sloth  was  exacerbating  to  her  active,  progressive  mind.  There  was  no  philosophy  in 
her  brain  to  tell  her  it  was  better  to  bear  the  ills  they  had.  Quick  impulse,  true  as  the 
magnet  needle,  told  her  that  pain,  toil,  endurance,  exile,  anything  was  better  than  the 

Minnie  D.  Louis  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.  When  four  months  old  her  parents  moved  to  the  South,  so  that  in  all 
but  the  accident  of  birth  she  claims  to  be  a  native  Georgian.  Her  parents  were  Fannie  Zachariah  Dessau,  a  woman  of  rare- 
beauty  and  energy,  born  in  Chatham,  England,  though  a  child  when  brought  to  this  country,  and  Abraham  Dessau,  a  native  of 
Hambarg,  Germany,  a  man  of  wide  learning  and  exceptional  parity  of  character.  She  was  educated  in  academic  schools  in 
Columbus,  Ga.,  and  at  Pecker  Collegiate  Institute,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  She  has  traveled  in  the  United  States  and  Canada.  She 
married  Adolph  H.  Louis  in  July,  1866.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  uneducated  and  needy  children  of  the 
Jewish  poor  in  New  York  City.  Her  literary  works  consist  of  essays  and  poems  and  the  "  Personal  Service  "  Department  in 
the  "American  Hebrew,"  as  yet  uncompiled.  She  is  a  Jewess  and  a  member  of  the  Temple  Emaouel.  Sheisabeaatifol, 
accomplished  and  most  attractive  woman.  Her  rare  good  taste  in  dress  and  deportment  are  a  subject  of  remark.  Her 
permanent  pKjstoffice  address  is  No.  66  West  Fifty-sixth  Street,  New  York  City. 

539 


MRS.   MINNIE  D.   LOLIS. 


540  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

weariness  of  pleasure  provided,  over  which  they  had  no  sway.  Adam  saw  not  this 
serpent,  this  charmer,  that  wooed  beyond  the  gates  of  brute-inhabited  Eden;  it  was 
Eve  who  in  turn  tempted  him.  And  who  can  gainsay  that,  had  she  not  first  tasted 
and  then  given  to  Adam,  there  might  now  be  but  a  race  of  satyrs  frisking  over  the  earth. 

The  ancient  Greeks  were  not  slow  to  recognize  the  due  weight  of  woman's  influ- 
ence, for  in  their  Pantheon  male  and  female  rule  conjointly  over  the  world.  But 
mark  the  nice  distinction  they  make!  To  the  gods  are  given  all  physical  power,  to  the 
goddesses  all  intellectual.  Minerva  is  the  living  essence  of  Jove's  brain,  for  she  lit- 
erally was  born  of  his  head.  And  through  this  belief  to  what  excellence  in  war,  and 
song,  and  art,  and  virtue,  did  men  not  attain?  Perceive  the  contrast  in  countries 
where  the  female  mind  is  ignored.  Look  at  emasculated  Turkey  and  shriveled 
Arabia.  How  far  the  association  of  a  female  in  the  Christian  religion  has  exercised  a 
humanizing  effect  "  he  who  runs  may  read."  The  co-ordination  of  woman  with  man 
in  the  laws  of  the  Hebrews  has  given  them  that  vitality  which  day  by  day  impresses 
mankind  with  the  conviction  of  their  immortal  truth. 

It  would  be  too  sweeping  an  assertion  to  say  that  all  great  men  only  attain  their 
eminence  through  the  influence  of  woman.  Poets  and  musicians  receive  their  gifts 
direct  from  the  great  Creator.  Genius  is  a  self-feeding  flame,  kindled  from  within;  it 
does  not  borrow  fuel.  And  yet,  would  Petrarch  ever  have  been  bonneted  had  he  not 
so  sonneted  his  Laura?  And  while  Virgil  dragged  Dante  down  to  hell,  it  was 
Beatrice  who  lifted  him  up  to  Paradise.  Everyone  knows  that  Madame  de  Maintenon 
forged  the  glittering  rays  in  which  Louis  XIV.  shone  so  grandly.  Queen  Bess  was 
the  female  Vulcan,  who  with  all  her  brusquerie  hammered  out  her  own  "  Golden  Age  " 
of  poets  and  statesmen  and  navigators.  A  woman's  finer  sensibilities  and  foresight 
compassed  the  way  to  America.  And  what  is  called  today  "  the  best  government 
under  the  sun"  hails  a  woman  at  the  helm.  How  much  the  abrogation  of  the  Salic 
law  in  monarchial  France  might  have  lessened  the  causes  that  made  it  volcanic  in  its 
eruption  of  fiery,  devastating  hate,  succeeding  generations  will  pronounce;  and 
whether  the  stepping  of  our  own  government  on  the  downward  grade  is  to  be  arrested 
by  woman  suffrage  remains  also  to  be  demonstrated. 

In  the  early  days  of  American  independence  many  famous  men  wore  their  laurels 
more  gracefully  that  the  wreath  was  reflected  also  on  the  wifely  brow.  Mrs.  John 
Adams  quietly  upheld  her  husband's  dignity  during  his  ministerial  absence,  and 
enhanced  it  when  the  demands  of  his  position  elicited  her  ability  thereto.  Mrs.  John 
Jay  added  brighter  luster  to  the  name  of  her  liege  lord.  Mrs.  William  Bingham  was 
the  admired  lady,  at  home  and  abroad,  who  gave  tone  to  the  sex  of  her  country.  And 
surely  the  memory  of  Washington's  mother  and  wife  descends  to  us  with  their  own 
halos  of  virtue  and  noble  simplicity,  contributing  somewhat  toward  the  glorious 
light  in  which  shines  the  "  Father  of  his  Country." 

As  the  whole  machinery  of  a  watch  without  the  small,  delicate,  almost  unseen 
mainspring  is  useless,  so  does  the  whole  machinery  of  the  terrestrial  world  require 
somewhere  the  delicate,  unseen  influence  of  woman.  Her  care  or  neglect  protects  or 
endangers  mankind  through  the  evil  or  the  virtue  that  she  propagates,  and  her  subse- 
quent fostering  of  it;  while  her  individual  character  is  Parcaean  in  its  fiats.  The 
unfaithfulness  of  a  Helen  plunged  almost  a  world  into  war;  the  chastity  of  a 
Lucretia  transformed  a  kingdom  into  a  republic;  the  compassion  and  equity  of  Harriet 
Beecher  Stowe  unbound  the  fetters  of  a  nation  of  slaves  and  led  them  into  the  sun- 
light of  freedom.  There  is  in  the  temperament  of  woman  that  which  makes  for  weal 
or  woe;  the  question  is  how  best  to  dispose  of  it. 

I  am  not  prepared  to  say  that  the  mere  concession  to  woman  of  the  privilege  to 
cast  her  vote  will  purge  all  governments  of  corruption  and  establish  a  Platonian 
republic,  unless  such  restrictions  could  be  imposed  that  only  the  most  intelligent  and 
unbiased  of  her  sex  could  be  eligible,  but  in  this  country  the  wild  scuffle  for  oflice  to 
subvention  it  to  private  ends  has  so  become  the  "tramp!  tramp!  "  of  the  nation's 
march,  that  there  is  danger  of  the  women  too  following  this  "  Pied  Piper  of  Hamelin." 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  541 

She  has  some  propaedeutical  work  before  sharing  the  ballot-box.  The  money-mad 
men  with  outstretched,  rake-like  hands,  who  scamper  into  position  of  whatever  nature, 
and  who  hope  to  scamper  out  again  just  grazing  the  portiere  of  the  penitentiary,  are 
so  many  villainous  dynamite  bombs  in  the  good  Ship  of  State  that  threaten  to  explode 
her.  Does  women  see  wherein  she  can  help  to  avert  the  calamity?  Does  the  thought 
occur  to  her  that  extravagance  and  vanity  are  the  charges  in  these  bombs?  And  does 
she  entertain  the  thought  that  she  has  aided  in  charging  them?  That  this  desecration 
of  our  paradisical  country  is  a  reflection  of  her  yieldance  to  the  gorgeous  serpents 
that  woo  her?  Yes!  Palatial  mansions,  regal  toilets,  Lucullus'  feasts  and  Dionysian 
pleasures  are  the  tempters  whispering  to  our  Eves,  and  the  Eves  tasting  first,  make 
the  Adams  do  likewise.  Certainly  neither  luxury,  nor  aught  contributing  to  refine- 
ment should  be  ignored.  With  every  object  created  is  also  a  corresponding  thought 
in  man,  and  when  the  affinity  is  attained,  the  object  is  unfolded  into  higher  and  higher 
degrees  of  usefulness  and  beauty;  therefore  there  can  never  be  any  limitations. to  the 
production  of  what  is  called  wealth;  the  earth  is  full  of  treasure  and  we  only  follow 
out  the  plan  of  a  Divine  beneficence  in  discovering,  utilizing  and  enjoying  it;  but  let 
"  the  means  justify  the  end;"  let  "what  happiness  we  justly  call,  subsist  not  in  the 
good  of  one,  but  all.  " 

There  is  not  an  hour  of  the  day  but  some  wail  of  woe  from  still-chained  humanity 
pierces  the  American  woman's  ears.  She  knows  that  industries  are  paralyzed,  that 
idleness  and  want  are  generating  anarchy,  that  the  laborers  stalk  stolidly,  flaunting 
pallid  banners  behind  which  Famine  shrieks  for  bread,  that  the  "  black  bat,  "  Desola- 
tion, is  hovering  over  the  land!  She  sees  the  handwriting  on  the  wall,  and  knows 
there  can  be  no  delay.  Before  she  claims  her  half  of  the  ballot-box  she  will  cope 
with  the  impending  disaster. 

"  Diseases,  desperate  grown  by  desperate  appliance,  are  relieved,  or  not  at  all." 
"  Similia  similibus  curantur''  will  be  the  therapeutics  she  will  practice.  It  is  through  the 
purse — the  over-gorging  of  some  and  the  evisceration  of  others — that  this  fair  country 
has  become  sick,  its  once  healthy,  honest  countenance  scarcely  recognizable  in  its 
present  emaciation;  and  through  the  purse  must  it  be  cured.  The  remedy  that  the 
American  woman  proposes  is  indeed  a  desperate  one.  She  is  well  aware  that  com- 
merce is  the  main  pivot  on  which  the  civil  world  revolves,  and  that  exchange  with 
foreign  nations  is,  in  a  degree,  necessary  to  maintain  it.  She  knows,  too,  that  not- 
withstanding international  courtesy,  the  Old  World's  interest  in  the  New  World  does 
not  extend  beyond  the  material  advantage  it  can  gain  from  her  as  a  market  and  a 
dumping-ground.  And  the  American  woman  feels  justifiable  in  obeying  the  dictum, 
"self-preservation  is  the  first  law  of  nature."  She  sees  our  ragged  children,  our 
despairing  mothers,  our  hollow-eyed,  hollow-cheeked  fathers  sitting  disconsolate  by 
the  silent  mill,  the  mine,  the  manufactory.  And  whether  it  be  the  tariff,  or  whether 
it  be  the  silver-purchase  bill,  or  whether  it  be  the  monopolist,  or  whether  it  be  the 
land-grabber,  one  thing  can  restore  life  and  vigor  to  all,  at  least  for  the  present,  and 
that  she  proposes  to  do. 

And  this  it  is:  That  for  the  next  three,  four  or  five  years,  or  as  long  as  the  tonic 
is  required  to  get  our  country  on  its  legs  again,  she  will  not  buy  for  her  house,  for  her 
person,  for  her  cuisine,  for  her  pleasure,  or  for  any  purpose  except  for  sickness  or 
education,  any  article  that  is  not  produced  and  manufactured  in  the  United  States.  If 
the  merchants  must  in  consequence  cease  their  importations,  the  gold  will  remain  in  our 
own  land;  and  if  exportations,  in  retaliation,  cease,  and  stop  the  influx  of  gold,  then 
let  all  the  mines  be  worked  and  make  up  the  deficiency;  and  if  there  be  not  enough 
gold,  our  silver  coinage,  under  honest  and  discreet  regulation,  must  be  accorded  its 
parity.  Think  of  the  resources  that  would  have  to  be  opened  up  to  supply  every- 
thing! Think  of  the  hands  that  would  be  needed  to  do  it,  and  to  convert  the  raw 
materials  into  all  their  uses!  Why  are  we  dependent  on  the  French  bourse,  the  Eng- 
lish exchange,  the  Indian  or  Austrian  monetary  policy?  Are  we  not  a  whole  new 
world?  Are  we  not  sixty-five  millions  of  people?  But  are  we  all  fed,  all  clothed,  and 
all  housed  as  our  colonial  fathers  planned  we  should  be? 


542  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Why  are  we  waiting  for  French  cambrics,  for  English  prints,  for  Scotch  ginghams, 
when  we  grow  the  cotton  here?  Why  are  we  waiting  for  superior  qualities  of  cotton 
manufacture  when  we  make  the  machinery  for  it  here?  If  the  manufacturers  here 
will  not  make  the  best  qualities,  why  can  we  not  boycott  them  till  they  do?  And  if 
such  manufacture  should  cost  more  than  the  foreign,  which  is  not  probable,  for  domes- 
tic gingham  is  eight  cents  a  yard  and  Scotch  gingham  thirty-five  cents  a  yard  retail, 
eighteen  cents  direct  from  the  factory,  we  must  be  willing  to  share  in  the  just  dis- 
tribution. If  American  silks  will  not  equal  those  of  French  manufacture,  we  can  wear 
them  notwithstanding,  and  encourage  the  improvement.  Our  forests  furnish  all  the 
beautiful  woods  for  every  appurtenance  of  use  or  grandeur;  our  quarries,  as  yet  almost 
unknown,  are  rich  in  material  for  the  finest  structures  or  ornaments;  our  mineral  realm, 
yet  but  superficially  surveyed,  can  surely  overtop  the  world;  our  fields  groan  with 
fullness  of  nourishment;  in  short,  there  is  nothing  that  fails,  if  intelligent  energy  be 
directed  to  unearth  it.  Even  the  contention-breeding  wool  could  be  produced  in  our 
vast  downs  if  the  coveted  quick  returns  did  not  preclude  the  patient  nurture  for  its 
prescribed  standard. 

It  is  positively  disgraceful  that  there  should  not  be  employment  here  for  every- 
one. If  the  laborers  are  unskilled,  establish  plenty  of  schools  wherein  they  may  be 
trained,  which  would  be  the  most  powerful  extirpator  of  crime.  We  have  the  instruc- 
tion and  improvements  of  all  ages  and  all  nations  at  our  command.  What  prevents 
us  from  profiting  by  it  and  making  all  our  people,  the  native-born  and  the  latest  refu- 
gee, happy  and  contented?  Nothing  but  the  wild  desire,  like  the  prodigal  son,  to 
seek  pleasures  away  from  home,  and  the  mad  pursuit  of  unrepublican  opulence  to 
enjoy  those  pleasures;  but  like  the  prodigal  son,  we  come  back  to  the  father's  house 
poor  and  humiliated.  It  is  our  own  homestead  that  we  must  build  up  securely,  this 
pure  city  of  the  gods,  the  most  beautiful  ever  on  earth,  is  proof  of  the  mighty  con- 
structive forces  in  our  sons  and  daughters,  and  nothing  short  of  the  most  determined, 
inviolable,  energetic  home-support  will  thus  build  it.  It  is  directly  in  the  power  of 
woman,  through  her  mercantile  patronage,  to  accomplish  this  revival.  "  For  if  she 
will  buy  American  goods,  she  will,  you  may  depend  on't;  and  if  she  won't  buy  for- 
eign goods,  she  won't;  so  there's  an  end  on't." 

But,  "  if  it  were  done,  then  'twere  well  it  were  done  quickly."  Now  is  the  time 
for  her  to  assert  her  moral  and  intellectual  strength,  her  comprehension  of  the  under- 
lying currents  that  should  sustain  the  even  flow  of  our  prosperity,  and  also  the  quick- 
f^  sands  that  will  insidiously  engulf  it.  I  She  need  not  for  this  wait  for  the  ballot-box. 
i  The  demonstration  of  her  high  resolve  will  bring  man  into  wondering  appreciation, 
and  he  may  ask  woman  as  a  favor  to  share  the  onus  of  government. 

The  basis  ^bH  reform,  in  whatever  department  of  thought  or  action,  is  an 
increasing  knowledge  of  truth,  to  which  purity  is  the  leader.  The  veriest  misogynist 
pictures  his  ideal  of  purity  in  female  form,  and  we  all  instinctively  concede  this  attri- 
bute to  woman;  but  to  lead  man  to  truth,  which  will  unveil  all  his  errors,  she  must  pre- 
serve to  herself  purity  uncontaminated.  It  is  her  most  powerful  weapon.  The  story 
of  the  chasteDianawho,  with  merely  a  look,  converted  the  sensual  Actaeon  into  a  stag, 
torn  to  pieces  by  his  own  dogs,  should  be  an  ^z^^  in  every  woman's  daily  rosary, 
for  it  would  give  a  basilisk  power  to  her  glance  upon  evil.  The  drinking-bout,  the 
dice  box,  the  betting  pool,  could  all  be  denied  admission  to  the  festal  or  family  board 
if  the  hostess  willed  it  so;  but  Mrs.  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  is  the  only  one  who  had  the 
courage  to  publicly  do  so.  It  is  a  sad  confirmation  of  the  rapid  growth  of  vice,  that 
in  our  standard  lexicon  of  1869  a  "bookmaker"  is  defined  as  "one  who  writes  and 
publishes  book,"  or  "  compiles  them,"  and  in  the  one  of  1889,  the  additional  definition 
to  "  bookmaker  "  is  given,  "a  professional  betting  man,"  with  all  the  details  of  the 
process.  It  is  safe  to  say,  that  if  woman  had  ostracized  the  betting  man,  whether 
prince  or  loafer,  from  her  society,  he  would  have  gained  no  significance  in  our  diction- 
ary, which  is  a  mighty  umpire,  especially  for  the  rising  generation. 

It  is  first  in  the  home  that  the  reformatory   processes  begin,  and  from  thence 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  543 

are  carried  into  life's  wide  arena.  When  at  the  Fourth  of  July  celebration,  though  her 
husband  was  not  one  of  the  orators  of  the  day,  Josiah  Allen's  wife  looked  up  and  with 
glowing  pride  observed  that  Josiah's  "  biled  "  shirt  was  the  whitest  of  any  man's  there, 
is  to  me  full  of  meaning.  Pride  that  our  men  shall  be  the  purest,  the  cleanest,  and 
that  our  efforts  in  the  home  shall  make  them  so,  will  effect  the  greatest  reform;  for, 
after  all,  it  must  come  from  within;  the  mere  veneer  of  it  in  statutory  enactments  is 
nothing  without  the  vital  spirit. 

Ever  since  woman  led  the  way  to  that  wonderful  tree  in  Eden  she  has  been  con- 
scious that  she  is  the  leader  of  man;  there  is  only  fear  of  her  conception  of  her  position 
reverting  to  that  crude  one  of  a  certain  savage  tribe,  whose  women,  when  sought  in 
marriage,  leap  astride  a  horse  and  ride  away  furiously,  the  wooer  in  pursuit,  and  never 
abate  their  speed  till  the  wooer's  swiftness  elicits  their  approval,  when  they  allow 
themselves  to  be  caught.  But  whether  in  the  forum,  or  in  the  clinic,  or  in  the  acad- 
emy, or  in  the  pulpit,  or  in  the  legislative  hall,  or  in  the  home,  woman  is  the  lode-star; 
and  with  the  suffrage  which  Heaven  from  the  first  accorded  her,  she  can  will  the  world 
to  sway  which  way  she  please;  but  her  own  mind  and  heart  must  be  in  consonance 
with  all  the  virtues  if  she  desire  to  bring  about  the  reign  of  virtue;  she  must  strive, 
and  wait,  and  pray. 

"Strive — yet  I  do  not  promise; 

The  prize  you  dream  of  today 
Will  not  fade  when  you  think  to  grasp  it, 

And  melt  in  your  hand  away; 
But  another  and  holier  treasure. 

You  would  now  perchance  disdain, 
Will  come  when  your  toil  is  over. 

And  pay  you  for  all  your  pain. 

"Wait — yet  I  do  not  tell  you; 

The  hour  you  long  for  now 
Will  not  come  with  its  radiance  vanished, 

And  a  shadow  upon  its  brow; 
Yet  far  through  the  misty  future, 

With  a  crown  of  starry  light. 
An  hour  of  joy  you  know  not 

Is  winging  her  silent  flight. 

"  Pray — though  the  gift  you  ask  for 

May  never  comtort  your  fears. 
May  never  repay  your  pleading. 

Yet  pray,  and  with  hopeful  tears; 
An  answer,  not  that  you  long  for. 

But  diviner,  will  come  one  day; 
All  souls  will  gratefully  hear  it. 

Then  strive,  and  wait,  and  pray." 


'•KATHARINA"  IN  "THE  TAMING  OF  THE  SHREW."* 

By  MRS.  EMMA  PRATT  MOTT. 

The  prelude  to  this  play,  "  The  Taming  of  the  Shrew,"  is  one  of  the  richest,  raciest 
most  delectable  pieces  of  humor  extant.     This  play  has  been  called  a  perfect  whirl- 
wind of  the  oldest,  maddest  freaks  and  farces  imagin- 
able. "     Let  us  for  a  few  moments  attend  to  a  brief 
study  of  the  principal  characters: 

A  rich  gentleman  of  Padua  has  two  daughters, 
one  apparently  all  that  is  shrewish,  and  the  other 
apparently  all  loveliness.  Like  other  good  parents, 
he  of  course  desired  to  see  them  married.  Kate,  the 
shrew,  must  be  married  anyhow,  and  Bianca  must 
have  a  fat  estate  for  a  husband,  but  he  wisely  denies 
the  hand  of  the  seeming  angel  to  anyone  until  the 
seeming  shrew  shall  have  been  disposed  of,  which 
sets  the  wits  of  the  angelic  Bianca's  suitors  at  work 
to  find  a  suitor  for  the  shrewish  Kate.  Presently  the 
very  genius  of  whims  and  self-will  appears  as  the 
suitor  of  Kate,  in  the  person  of  one  Petruchio,  a  rich 
gentleman  of  Verona,  a  friend  to  one  of  Bianca's 
suitors.  Meanwhile  the  son  of  another  rich  gentle- 
man of  Pisa  visits  Padua  and  is  brought  within  the 
circle  of  Bianca's  attractions.  Lucentio  sees  Bianca, 
and  the  first  sight  is  fatal.  By  a  simple  though  skill- 
ful enough  intrigue  he  wins  her  in  the  disguise  of  a 
tutor  to  her  in  classic  lore,  he  being  obliged  to  em- 
ploy this  method  because  Bianca's  father  has  cut  off  all  open  approaches  to  her  until 
he  shall  have  disposed  of  her  naughty  sister.  This  forms  a  sort  of  under  plot  in  the 
play,  the  interest  turning  upon  the  manner  in  which  Petruchio  woos  and  weds  and 
tames  the  so-called  frightful  Kate.  Both  these  girls  are  affected,  their  affectation  pass- 
ing for  sincerity,  Kate  puts  on  the  show  of  what  she  has  not,  and  Bianca  puts  off  the 
show  of  what  she  has.  The  one  purposely  seems  worse  and  the  other  better  than  she 
is.  Kate,  the  shrew,  too  proud  to  be  vain,  will  do  nothing  to  gain  friends,  everything 
to  serve  them.  Bianca,  too  vain  to  be  proud,  will  do  everything  to  gain  friends  and 
nothing  to  serve  them.  Bianca  is  fond  of  admiration  and  gets  it.  Kate  envies  her 
what  she  sees,  but  will  not  stoop  or  bend  to  get  it.  In  a  word,  Kate  is  willful,  Bianca 
selfish.  The  one  affects  shrewishness  before  marriage,  the  other  conceals  it  until  after 
marriage,  for  they  do  not  so  much  change  their  real  faces  after  marriage  as  to  drop 
the  masks  which  conceal  them.  We  have  all  known  men  who  were  studiously  wise, 
gentle  and  amiable  in  appearance,  yet  mean  and  selfish  apart,  and  who  appeared  to  be 
gentle  and  amiable  because  of  their  selfishness.  Again  we  know  men  who  rather 
study  to  be  rough,  rash,  reckless  and  unkind,  seemingly  from  mere  disinterestedness, 
because  they  were  more  concerned  for  the  good  of  others  than  for  their  favor,  and 

Mrs.  Emma  Pratt  Mott  is  a  native  of  Michigan.  Her  parents  were  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Frank  H.  Pratt.  She  was  educated  in 
Boston  and  Elmira,  New  York.  She  married  the  Rev.  Henry  Elliott  Mott,  a  Presbyterian  minister  of  high  standing  and  ability. 
Her  principal  literary  works  are  magazine  articles  and  j  ournalistic  work.  Her  profession  is  that  of  a  Shakespearean  Teacher. 
In  religious  faith  she  is  Presbyterian.  She  is  a  graceful  writer  and  speaker,  a  beautiful  and  accomplished  woman,  of  great 
popularity  as  a  social  and  literary  leader  in  every  community  in  which  she  sojourns.  As  a  devoted  and  beloved  wife,  she  is  a 
model  for  the  world,  and  a  pillar  of  strength  to  her  husband  in  his  most  noble  work.  Her  present  postoiMce  address  is 
Buffalo,  New  York. 


MRS.     EMMA  PRATT    MOTT. 


♦The  full  title  of  the  address  as  delivered  was,  "Katharina"  in  "The  'Taming  of  the  Shrew'  or  The  Rights  of  Men.' 

544 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  545 

more  willing  to  do  them  a  kindness  than  to  have  it  known.  The  first  will  caress  their 
friends  and  then  desert  them.  The  second  will  abuse  their  friends,  and  then  imperil 
their  lives  to  serve  them.  Kate  belongs  to  that  class  of  women  who  will  never  allow 
their  husbands  to  govern  them  if  they  can  help  it,  nor  ever  respect  their  husbands 
unless  they  do  govern  them;  who,  unsubdued,  will  do  their  worst  to  plague  them,  but 
who  once  subdued  will  do  their  utmost  to  please  them.  There  seems  to  be  a  desire 
with  some  women  to  try  to  prove  their  husbands  and  to  kno^y  them,  whether  they  be 
what  they  call  genuine  pieces  of  manhood  or  not.  Petruchio's  treatment  therefore 
rather  reforms  the  conduct  than  the  character  of  his  wife,  rather  brings  out  the  good 
which  she  seemed  to  want  than  to  remove  the  bad  which  she  seemed  to  have.  After 
marriage  there  are  no  traces  of  the  shrew  in  her  conduct.  One  writer  naively  says, 
her  sense  of  duty  in  the  relation  dissipates  all  her  artificial  life  and  straightens  her 
behavior.  All  the  materials  of  her  closing  speech  are  in  her  heart  all  the  while,  but 
she  disdains  to  let  them  out,  and  it  is  not  until  Petruchio  forces  them  out  that  she 
stands  before  us  in  her  true  character.  Still  the  tender  and  considerate  husband  is  all 
the  while  lurking  under  his  affected  willfulness.  Some  writers  think  that  Petruchio 
falsifies  himself  more  than  Kate  does  because  he  has  more  to  falsify.  He  is  himself 
all  truth,  yet  utters  nothing  but  lies;  full  of  kindness  and  good-nature,  he  will  put  on 
the  garb  of  a  fiend  to  do  the  work  of  a  benefactor.  "He  will  at  any  time  say  more 
and  do  fewer  bad  things  than  any  other  man  in  Italy."  He  now  proceeds  to  work 
out  of  Kate  what  seems  to  others  the  plainest  impossibility  by  the  wildest  contradic- 
tion. "  Say  that  she  rails;  why  then  I'll  tell  her  plain  she  sings."  His  outrageous 
humor  reached  at  once  its  height  when  riding  with  his  wife  he  visits  her  father,  he 
meets  old  Vincentio,  and  requires  him  to  salute  her  as  a  beautiful  lady. 

"  Tell  me,  sweet  Kate,  and  tell  me  truly  true. 
Hast  thou  beheld  a  fresher  gentlewoman?" 

Thus  do  we  see,  as  if  by  magic,  Kate  the  cursed  presently  become  the  most  loyal 
of  wives.  We  have  not  a  grain  of  pity  to  spare  for  Kate,  who  is  better  pleased  to  find 
a  conqueror  than  to  be  the  conqueror.  On  the  whole  it  is  satisfactory  to  her  to  dis- 
cover that  there  is  at  least  one  man  of  force  and  spirit  in  the  world,  and  to  know  that 
he,  and  no  other,  has  chosen  her  for  his  wife;  and  so  Kate  transfers  all  her  boldness 
to  the  very  effrontery  of  obedience.  Behind  her  delightful  sauciness  lie  warmth  and 
courage  at  heart.  Strange  that  Shakespeare  should  have  known  so  long  ago  that 
which  most  people  still  find  so  hard  to  learn.  We  behold  in  the  great  bard's  wonder- 
ful magic  mirrors  that  his  heroines  are  more  perfectly  feminine  than  any  woman  could 
have  found  it  in  her  heart  or  brain  to  make  them.  Woman,  as  she  resembles  man, 
was  of  less  consequence  to  Shakespeare  than  woman  in  herself.  Shakespeare  says: 
"  Here  woman  stands,  the  modern  world  stooping  at  her  feet  will  have  to  yield  some 
of  the  reputed  exclusiveness  of  men,  but  only  such  traits  of  it  as  Imogene,  Cordelia, 
Beatrice  or  Portia  will  elect."  In  dealing  with  married  love  Shakespeare,  ever  true 
to  nature,  gives  it  no  rhapsodies  or  flowers  of  speech.  It  may  be  a  love  that  over- 
whelms a  man's  whole  nature,  as  with  Othello,  when  he  exclaimed  after  an  enforced 
absence,  and  looking  into  his  wife's  face: 

"If  it  were  now  to  die,  'twere  now  to  be  most  happy." 

Or  Brutus,  comforting  his  wife  when  she  desires  to  know  the  secret  that  is  oppress- 
ing him: 

"Am  I  yourself  but  as  it  were  in  sort  of  limitation,     . 
To  keep  with  you  at  meals,  comfort  your  bed, 
—        And  talk  to  you  sometimes?     Dwell  I  but  in  the  suburbs 
Of  your  good  pleasure?     If  it  be  no  more, 
Portia  is  Brutus'  harlot,  not  his  wife." 

and  his  answer  is  full  of  profound,  earnest,  sad  truth: 

(35) 


546  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

"  You  are  my  true  and  honorable  wife, 
As  dear  to  me  as  are  the  ruddy  drops 
That  visit  my  sad  heart." 

Here  is  true,  consistent,  reasonable  love.  It  does  not  worship  the  ground  she  walks 
upon.  It  does  not  desire  to  kiss  the  glove  she  wears.  He,  the  Shakespeare  husband 
lover,  despises  the  ground,  and  would  throw  the  glove  into  the  fire.  But  Othello,  in 
that  moment  of  fury,  would  willingly  die,  and  Brutus  would  give  his  life  for  his  wife. 
This  love  in  the  married  life,  as  represented  by  Shakespeare,  is  the  real.  It  has  grown 
out  of  companionship  and  friendship,  and  passion  only  plays  a  super's  part,  says  his 
lines  and  departs.  "  My  husband  is  my  friend,"  is  the  grandest  exclamation  of 
Shakespeare's  married  love.  The  great  and  noble  friendship  between  husband  and 
wife  which,  like  sun  rays,  serve  to  reveal  the  black  and  bloody  canvas  of  human  his- 
tory, become  fewer  and  fewer  as  the  progress  of  the  age  teaches  us  the  art  of  a  greater 
selfishness,  and  teaches  us  to  laugh  where  once  we  wept,  and  never  weep  at  all. 
Petruchio  had  the  right  which  was  accorded  husbands  in  those  days  to  resort  to  the 
English  custom  of  selling  wives  whenever  considered  shrews,,  but  the  thought  never 
once  suggested  itself  to  him,  for  he  loved  Katharina,  and  endeavored  to  let  her  see 
herself  in  an  exaggerated  form,  and  thus  become  disgusted  with  such  conduct.  But 
as  late  as  April  7,  1832,  at  Carlisle,  England,  occurred  an  example  of  wife  selling. 
One  Mrs.  Thompson  was  eloquently  shuffled  off  at  auction,  her  husband  being  the 
auctioneer,  and  this  is  his  speech: 

"  Gentleman,  I  have  to  offer  to  your  notice  my  wife,  Mary  Ann  Thompson,  other- 
wise Williams,  whom  I  mean  to  sell  to  the  highest  bidder.  Gentlemen,  it  is  her  wish 
as  well  as  mine  to  part  forever.  She  has  been  to  me  only  a  born  serpent.  I  took  her 
for  the  comfort  and  the  good  of  my  house,  but  she  became  my  tormenter,  a  domes- 
tic curse.  Gentlemen,  I  speak  truth  when  I  say  may  God  deliver  us  from  troublesome 
wives  and  frolicsome  women.  Avoid  them  as  you  would  a  mad-dog,  a  roaring  lion,  a 
loaded  pistol,  cholera,  Mt.  Etna,  or  any  other  pestilential  thing  in  nature.  Now  I  have 
told  you  the  dark  side  of  my  wife  and  shown  you  her  faults  and  failings.  I  will  intro- 
duce the  bright  side  and  explain  her  qualifications  and  goodness.  She  can  read  novels 
and  milk  cows.  She  can  laugh  and  weep  with  the  same  ease  that  you  take  a  glass  of 
ale.     Indeed,  gentlemen,  she  reminds  me  of  what  the  poet  said  of  women: 

'"Heaven  gave  to  women  the  peculiar  grace 
To  laugh,  to  weep,  to  cheat  the  human  race.' 

"  She  can  make  butter  and  scold  the  maid,  and  she  can  sing  Moore's  melodies,  and 
make  her  frill  and  cap.  She  can  not  make  rum,  but  she  is  a  good  judge  of  its  quality 
from  long  experience.  I  therefore  offer  her,  with  all  her  perfections  and  imperfections, 
for  the  sum  of  fifty  shillings." 

It  is  marvelous  that  there  could  have  been  found  any  man  with  courage  and  valor 
enough  to  buy,  but  such  there  was  by  name  Henry  Mears,  who,  after  an  hour  s  hag- 
gling, offered  twenty  shillings  and  a  Newfoundland  dog.  They  then  parted  in  perfect 
good  temper,  Mears  and  the  shrew  and  Mr.  Thompson  and  the  dog.  Petruchio  could 
have  exercised  his  right  also  to  the  use  of  the  bridle  or  brank,  which  being  put  upon 
the  offender  by  order  of  the  magistrate,  and  fastened  with  a  padlock  behind  the  ear, 
she  is  lead  in  it  around  the  town  by  an  officer  to  her  shame,  nor  is  it  taken  off  until 
the  woman  begins  to  show  external  signs  of  humiliation.  The  character  of  Petruchio 
is  not  so  uncommon,  and  the  world  is  full  of  Katharinas.  Katharina's  closing  speech 
is  at  once  elegant,  eloquent,  poetical  and  true.  It  is  worth  all  volumes  on  household 
virtues. 

What  kind  of  a  man  is  our  modern  Petruchio?  A  sensible  fellow  with  practical 
ideas  to  suit  his  wife,  who  fancies  that  men  are  in  danger  in  their  turn  of  losing  some 
of  their  rights.  He  is  like  the  majority  of  young  men  in  this  country,  well-meaning, 
industrious,  hoping  to  make  a  moderate  fortune  because  a  good  citizen,  husband  and 
father,  and  go  through  life  creditably  and  honorably.     He  says:  "What  is  my  wife  to 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  547 

be  to  me  and  I  to  my  wife?  "  Since  I  began  to  listen  to  the  story  of  woman's  wrongs 
and  woman's  rights,  the  world  is  turned  topsy-turvy.  I  am  morally  sea-sick.  Tis  a 
state  of  transition  with  women,  answers  this  modern  American  Katharina,  with  her 
pale,  striking  features,  a  skin  like  dough,  gray,  thoughtful  eyes,  her  chest  flat,  her 
movements  and  her  whole  bearing  full  of  unrest,  and  these  hinting  subtly  at  suppressed 
powers,  and  whether  she  condemn  a  philosophy  or  dismiss  a  lover  to  arrange  her  hair, 
it  is  done  alike  with  the  same  careless  air  of  superiority.  This  modern  Kate  grows 
courteously  satirical  when  she  talks  of  her  grandmother's  days,  but  one  notices  that 
this  same  charming  woman  on  examining  some  old  ivory  miniature  grows  annoved  to 
find  the  features  of  those  last  century  dames  as  refined  as  their  own,  and  the  vehicle 
of  as  subtle  and  strong  minds.  "  Strange,"  says  the  nineteenth  century  woman,  as  she 
puts  them  away,  "that  these  faces  could  have  been  content  with  a  life  of  serfdom — 
mere  housekeepers."  "But,  Kate,"  says  our  modern  Petruchio,  "men  are  mulish; 
these  same  domestic  women  are  here  in  the  nineteenth  century.  They  won't  die  out; 
they  won't  be  weeded  out.  This  domestic  woman  is  a  great  stumbling  block  in  your 
modern  woman's  way.  Man  treats  you  precisely  as  the  Chinese  would  were  you  a 
missionary,  would  receive  your  new  spiritual  deity — that  is  to  say,  with  all  politeness, 
with  uplifted  hands  and  drooping  eyes  of  adoration,  and  then  go  home  and  plump  on 
their  knees  before  their  own  private  little  gods  behind  the  kitchen  door.  This  same 
old-fashioned  domestic  woman  lives  and  moves  and  has  her  being  in  her  home! 
Really,  Kate,  how  long  is  this  transition  to  last?  Whose  fault  is  it  that  it  lasts  so 
long?"  "  Petruchio,  as  you  are  one  of  those  men  who  come  in  with  the  mob  at  the 
end  of  a  reform,  I  advise  you  to  shut  your  ears  to  the  tumult,  and  attend  only  to  your 
business."  "  But  how  can  I  shut  my  ears?  The  air  is  filled  with  the  protests  of  women. 
Do  tell  what  it  is  they  want.  What  is  it  that  they  do  not  want?  What  is  it  that  is 
needed  in  the  right  training  of  girls  that  is  not  needed  just  as  imperatively  in  the  right 
training  of  boys?  What  makes  the  difference  then  between  the  position  in  the  world 
of  young  men  and  young  women  when  we  men  have  always  granted,  and  always  will, 
that  neither  sex  is  naturally  the  superior  nor  the  inferior  of  the  other  in  essentials?" 

"The  difference,"  says  Katharina,  "  lies  wholly  in  the  idea  that  underlies  the 
teaching  of  each,  for  from  the  day  the  boy  chips  the  shell  until  he  dies  he  is  taught,  he 
breathes  it  in  the  air,  he  learns  it  by  perpetual  hard  experience,  that  she  is  to  be  taken 
care  of  all  her  days.  Nearly  every  girl  in  our  fashionable  boarding  schools  and  in  our 
public  schools  has  the  day,  when  the  prince  will  arrive  and  carry  her  off,  fixed  in  her 
horizon  like  the  light  to  which  the  mariner  steers.  What  marriage  means,  what  it  im- 
plicates of  duty  to  herself,  to  her  husband,  and  to  her  possible  children,  she  never 
thinks,  nor  is  she  required  to  think." 

"  It  seems  strange  to  me,  Kate,  that  women  will  submit  to  live  with  us  men  when 
they  are  feeling  that  we  are  depriving  them  of  their  rights,  and  that  man  is  the  enemy 
of  woman's  best  advancement.  If  we  were  told  the  history  of  any  race  which  for  three 
thousand  years  had  lived  in  daily  intercourse  with  another  with  a  chance  for  the  same 
culture,  with  the  same  language,  seated  side  by  side  in  perfect  social  equality,  and 
which  had  yet  remained  in  a  state  of  subjection,  debarred  from  rights  which  they 
had  held  to  be  theirs,  we  should  be  apt  to  decide  sharply  enough  that  the  rights  are 
not  fitted  to  them  by  nature,  or  that  their  cowardice  and  hesitation  to  grasp  their  rights 
deserved  the  serfdom.  There  have  been  women  soldiers,  judges,  merchants  in  every 
country  and  in  every  age,  women  who  were  leaders  in  the  state  in  war  cr  in  intrigue,  and 
the  readiness  with  which  the  ground  was  ceded  to  them,  the  applause  with  which  their 
slightest  merit  was  welcomed,  proved  how  easily  climed  was  the  path  they  trod,  and 
how  accessible  to  every  woman  if  she  had  chosen  to  climb  it.  It  was  not  altogether 
the  fault  of  the  obdurate  rock  that  it  hid  for  so  many  years  the  gifts  of  manhood  from 
the  boy  Theseus,  but  his  own  flaccid  muscles  and  uncertain  will  which  failed  to  over- 
turn it.  When  the  hour  came  to  use  them,  the  rock  was  put  aside,  the  golden  sandals 
and  magic  sword,  which  were  to  make  his  path  easy  and  clear  to  him,  lay  underneath." 

"  The  transcendental  inspiration  you  men  have  in  guessing  why  God  ever  made 


548  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

woman,  the  knowledge  you  have  of  the  secret  of  our  power,  is  appalling.  We  have 
been  told  by  our  self-appointed  advisers,  how  we  may  become  charming,  and  in  what 
way  we  are  in  danger  of  losing  our  charms.  That  we  are  the  last  and  most  perfect 
work  of  God,  sprung  from  the  rib  of  Adam,  nearest  the  heart,  we  are  told,  and  at  length 
after  six  thousand  years  of  tuition  we  are  flattered  with  having  risen  to  an  equality 
with  man.  The  efforts  to  equalize  with  man's  woman's  wages,  to  multiply  her  oppor- 
tunities, to  claim  her  interests  in  the  politics  of  human  rights,  to  secure  her  alleviating 
presence  in  the  rude  scenes  of  republicanism,  these,  Petruchio,  are  of  small  conse- 
quences to  men." 

"  You  have  sprung  so  many  points  on  me,  Kate,  I  can  only  hope  to  see  one  at  a 
time.  I  wish  I  might  answer  you  as  a  man  who  honors  woman  and  longs  for  her  noble 
power  in  all  that  man  holds  dear.  Let  us  look  at  equal  rights  first.  The  assertion  that 
the  sexes  are  equal  is  true  if  rightly  understood,  but  the  way  the  word  equal  is  often 
used  it  does  not  convey  the  exact  truth  and  leads  to  confusion.  When  we  say  that  five 
dollars  in  gold  is  equal  to  five  dollars  in  silver,  we  do  not  mean  that  there  is  equality 
of  weight,  but  of  value.  The  statement  that  Napoleon  was  equal  to  Milton  is  true. 
An  examination  of  the  two  brains  would  show  a  difference  of  mental  organization  so 
that  in  some  respects  one  would  be  found  superior  to  the  other,  and  at  the  same  time 
inferior  in  other  points,  but  the  value  of  mental  endowments  in  one  would  be  equal  to 
that  of  the  other.  The  only  kind  of  equality  that  can  be  said  to  exist  between  the 
sexes  is  that  which  exists  between  objects  that  are  unlike.  If  in  addition  to  what 
woman  can  do  now,  she  could  compete  successfully  with  men  wherein  they  have  the 
pre-eminence,  she  would  not  be  his  equal,  but  his  superior.  There  is  no  danger  of  this, 
as  God  has  provided  a  regular  system  of  compensation,  so  that  when  one  person 
covets  that  he  has  not  with  the  idea  that  it  is  better  than  that  actually  possessed,  he 
loses  the  old  in  acquiring  the  new.  It  is  not  desirable  that  husband  and  wife  should 
stand  on  different  planes,  so  that  the  mind  of  one  is  so  far  above  the  other  that  there 
is  no  point  of  contact;  but  if  their  minds  are  on  the  same  level,  the  blending  of  these 
diverse  characteristics  produces  a  union  which  can  not  be  readily  sundered.  If  men  and 
women  were  alike  this  world  would  resemble  the  monotonous  plane  whereon  there  is  a 
superabundance  of  a  certain  kind  of  equality.  The  aggressive  and  tedious  assertions 
of  woman's  ability  to  do  this,  that  or  the  other  work  in  the  world  are  superfluous,  or 
would  be  so  but  for  modern  myopia.  In  the  outer  world  of  fact,  of  demonstration,  of 
volition,  tangible  proofs  and  causalities  and  material  processes,  man  is  supreme,  while 
in  that  more  subtle  sphere  where  lie  spiritual  convictions  which  overtop  our  actual 
life,  and  lead  up  from  grossness  to  glory,  woman  is  the  priestess.  Are  these  two 
spheres  independent  of  each  other?  Are  they  not  conjoined  indissolubly?  It  is  a 
mistake,  and  takes  from  us  men  one  of  our  supreme  rights,  that  which  places  antag- 
onism between  the  two.  There  should  be  between  them  harmony  as  sweet  as  that 
which  moves  the  concentric  rings  of  Saturn,  which  I  viewed  the  other  night.  Untaught 
by  the  presence  and  inspiration  of  woman,  we  men  would  soon  become  cold,  dry 
petrifactions,  constantly  obeying  the  centripetal  force  of  our  lives  and  ending  by 
alluring  self.  And  I  take  it,  without  man's  firmness  and  strength,  woman,  in  whom 
the  centrifugal  force  is  stronger,  would  remain  a  weak,  vacillating  creature,  without 
self-poise.  Cultivate  her  intellect  and  his  heart,  and  the  healthy  action  and  reaction 
consequent  upon  such  a  balance  of  forces,  you  have  the  true  relationship  established 
between  the  sexes — the  relationship  which  the  Creator  pronounced  good.  Do  not 
misunderstand  me,  Kate.  I  say,  let  woman,  if  she  will,  measure  the  stellar  distances, 
study  mechanical  principles  or  the  learned  professions,  make  a  picture  or  write  a 
book,  and  there  are  women,  not  a  few,  true  and  noble,  who  have  done  all  this,  but  let 
her  never  for  such  as  these  abdicate  her  own  nobler  work,  neglecting  the  greater  for 
the  less.  If  a  woman  has  a  special  gift  let  her  exercise  it.  If  she  has  a  particular  mis- 
sion let  her  work  it  out.  Few  women,  though,  are  of  this  elect  class,  just  as  few  men 
are.  But  I  would  have  woman  never  forget  that  it  is  not  for  what  they  may  possibly 
add   to   the   sum  of  human  knowledge  that  the  world  values  them  primarily.     That 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  549 

some  man  is  as  likely  to  do  as  not.  But  what  women  fail  to  do  in  their  own  peculiar 
sphere,  no  man  can  possibly  do.  Did  you  ever  think,  Kate,  that  woman  may  be  able 
to  do  anything  that  man  does  in  his  sphere,  if  she  be  trained,  but  it  is  inconceivable 
that  man  could  do  a  woman's  work,  essentially  that  which  is  most  womanly?  Before 
you  answer  this,  let  us  look  at  your  second  point,  where  you  generously  and  most  prac- 
tically inquire  about  the  maidens  by  choice  and  the  maidens  by  necessity.  What  are 
they  to  do,  and  how  are  they  to  live  in  this  world?  Just  here  is  where  one  of  the 
rights  of  man  should  be  emphasized.  There  is  one  hard  fact  which  women  are  apt  to 
shirk,  but  which  they  must  after  all — that  is,  that  in  the  pitiless  economies  of  nations, 
the  question  is  not  the  worker,  but  the  value  of  the  work.  When  Rosa  Bonheur 
or  Jean  Ingelow  bring  their  wares  to  market,  the  question  of  sex  does  not  intrude 
itself  in  the  matter  of  payment.  If  a  woman  has  taken  a  desk  in  a  counting-room, 
let  her  do  her  duty  like  a  man,  expecting  no  favors  because  she  is  a  woman.  She  has 
no  right  to  stay  at  home  when  it  rains,  and  no  right  to  leave  before  her  hour  because 
she  can  not  cross  certain  places  after  dark,  no  right  not  to  expect  to  be  'blown  up' 
(using  the  expression  which  suits  us  men  best)  when  she  makes  wrong  entries.  It  is 
one  reason  for  less  wages  that  woman  will  not  submit  to  conditions  that  men  have  to 
submit  to,  because  their  uncertain  future  makes  them  careless  and  less  interested  in 
their  work.  Once  let  woman  face  fate,  and  not  flirt  with  it,  and  this  question  of  '  less 
wages  '  will  emerge  from  its  present  muddle.  In  the  matter  of  wages,  as  between 
husband  and  wife,  the  husband's  wages  are  not  simply  payment  from  the  capitalist  for 
his  work,  but  for  his  wife's  also.  The  money  he  earns  the  wife  applies  to  the  house- 
hold and  their  common  wants.  The  wife  in  the  truest  sense  is  her  husband's  most 
important  business  partner,  his  partner  in  a  more  complete  and  comprehensive  sense 
than  any  other  he  can  have.  The  household  is  her  department  of  the  business  of  life, 
as  her  husband's  is  the  store,  the  manufactory  or  the  office.  If  she  fail  to  act  con- 
stantly upon  this  principle  she  is  an  unfaithful  and  untrustworthy  partner,  and  is  as 
much  to  blame  as  if  her  husband  were  to  neglect  his  stock,  his  shipping,  his  contract,  his 
client.  Why  should  the  husband  be  expected  to  manage  his  part  of  the  business  upon 
sound  and  correct  business  principles  while  his  wife-partner  is  letting  hers  go  at  loose 
ends,  with  a  shiftlessness  which,  if  he  should  imitate,  would  ruin  them  in  a  year?  Now 
what  is  the  principle  upon  which  every  good  businessman  manages  his  affairs?  Why, 
sjmply  that  of  sovereignty.  He  keeps,  if  he  is  a  sensible  man,  his  stock  under  lock 
and  key,  and  exacts  a  rigid  accountability  in  its  use." 

"  But,"  says  Kate,  "  we  housekeepers  would  not  dare  lock  up  our  butter,  eggs  or 
sugar.  We  could  not  keep  a  girl  a  day  if  we  doled  out  our  stores  and  held  our  serv- 
ants accountable  for  their  use." 

"  Suppose  a  manufacturer  of  jewelry  should  reason  as  you  do,  Kate.  He  says,  '  I 
can  not  keep  my  help  satisfied  unless  I  give  them  free  access  to  my  stock  of  gold  and 
diamonds.  I  must  throw  open  my  tool  drawers,  and  I  must  not  ask  how  much  mate- 
rial this  or  that  manufactured  article  has  taken  to  make.'  You  know  that  man  would 
have  to  shut  up  shop  in  less  than  a  year.  Now  I  still  ask,  Kate,  is  it  fair,  is  it  right 
that  while  the  husband  superintends  his  business  himself  the  wife  partner  surrenders 
her  responsibility  into  the  hands  of  ignorant  and  irresponsible  subordinates?  Thus 
conducting  the  household  on  purely  business  principles  does  not  necessarily  entail 
upon  you  the  least  participation  in  the  labor  of  the  family.  It  does  not  absolutely 
require  your  personal  presence  at  the  scene  of  those  labors,  although  the  woman  who 
considers  it  beneath  her  dignity  to  go  into  her  kitchen  has  no  more  business  to  under- 
take to  keep  house  than  the  master  mechanic  who  is  too  proud  to  enter  his  workshop 
has  to  try  to  carry  on  a  shop.  The  absolutely  essential  thing  is  that  yours  should  be 
the  controlling  and  directing  mind,  and  that  to  you  everyone  in  your  employ  should 
be  held  rigorously  responsible." 

"  I  wish,"  says  Kate,  "  that  you  would  specialize  a  little.  You  men  in  laying 
down  your  instructions  to  us  women  do  it  in  the  most  stupendously  general  way,  which 
we  are  sometimes  tempted  to  think  betrays  a  condition  of  mind  which  lacks  experi- 
mental knowledge." 


550  •       THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

"  Well,  I  readily  own  up  to  little  experimental  knowledge  in  housekeeping,  but  I 
am  only  suggesting  that  housekeeping  should  be  conducted  on  the  same  principle  on 
which  we  men  conduct  business.  And  first,  to  specialize,  you  should  tell  your  serv- 
ants that  employing  them  at  stipulated  wages  to  do  certain  work  their  time  belongs 
to  you.  Tell  them  distinctly  that  if  you  prefer  to  keep  your  stores  under  lock  and 
key  it  is  not  because  you  suspect  their  integrity,  but  that  you  consider  it  your  business 
as  a  housekeeper  to  know  what  is  the  cost  of  living.  And  secondly,  although  the  plan 
of  keeping  a  book  of  family  accounts  only  belongs  incidentally  to  the  main  subject 
under  discussion,  it  is  so  important  that  I  can  not  refrain  from  a  special  mention  of  it. 
It  is  the  simplest  thing  in  the  world,  not  taking  on  an  average  more  than  ten  minutes 
a  day.  For  reference  in  case  of  a  disputed  bill  it  is  invaluable,  while  its  influence  in 
keeping  down  expenses  is  wonderfully  wholesome.  It  would  be  just  as  safe  for  the 
merchant  to  neglect  his  cash  book  as  for  his  domestic  partner,  who  undertakes  to  do 
her  business  properly,  to  neglect  her  cash  book.  I  believe,  Kate,  that  no  higher  com- 
pliment can  a  husband  pay  to  his  wife  than  to  say,  '  She  is  an  excellent  manager  of  my 
home,  finely  as  she  has  been  educated;  she  knows  everything,  and  how  to  direct  what 
should  be  done,  from  the  private  family  dinner  to  a  sumptuous  entertainment." 

"  You  may  add,  if  you  please,  Petruchio,  that  woman  has  done  nearly  everything 
that  has  been  done  in  the  peaceful  arts  from  the  dawn  of  history  up  to  the  present  era, 
as  you  will  have  to  acknowledge,  if  you  have  examined  at  all  intelligently  the  Woman's 
Building  at  this  wonderful  fair  of  this  wonderful  nation.  In  all  the  earlier  ages  woman 
established  the  home,  built  the  house,  reared  the  family,  provided  food,  tilled  the 
ground,  garnered  the  crops,  provided  materials  for  raiment,  spun  thread  and  wove 
cloth,  designed  and  manufactured  clothing,  cared  for  the  sick  and  educated  the  chil- 
dren. Modern  civilization,  developing  commerce  and  manufactures  and  improving 
agriculture,  has  diverted  the  attention  of  men  from  fighting  and  hunting,  and  given 
into  their  hands  the  task  of  providing  food  and  raiment  and  luxuries  for  the  family. 
Indeed,  the  history  of  civilization  maybe  regarded  as  a  history  of  the  transfer  of  these 
tasks  from  the  hands  of  women  in  the  household  to  the  hands  of  men  in  the  factory, 
the  mill  and  the  shop.  And  may  not  the  single  monotonous  occupation  to  which 
women  are  now  confined  account  for  that  which  seems  to  militate  against  domestic 


peace 


?" 


"Why,  Kate,  the  science  of  domestic  economy  is  one  of  the  noblest  arts,  the  hand- 
maid of  domestic  and,  therefore,  national  health,  riches  and  welfare,  and  worthy  the 
highest  powers  of  the  most  gifted  of  our  women.  You  re-read  the  story  of  Ruth 
Pinch  as  given  in  '  Martin  Chuzzlewit.'  It  is  enough  to  make  one  in  love  with  cook- 
ing and  keeping  house.  The  pretty  girl  does  everything  with  such  grace  and  alert- 
ness, her  whole  soul  is  so  bent  on  infusing  comfort  into  everything,  she  is  so  unself- 
ish, so  wise,  so  unconscious  of  her  wisdom,  so  good,  and  knows  so  little  about  her 
goodness,  that  she  is  one  of  the  sweetest  of  Dickens'  many  lovely,  thoroughly 
human,  women.  It  is  a  pitiful  truth  that  we  may  become  homeless  without  being 
actually  houseless,  for  it  does  look  as  though  the  family  or  homekeeping  was  fast 
becoming  a  matter  of  temporary  arrangement.  Home,  once  a  woman's  temple,  is  now 
her  prison.  The  sweet,  quiet  virtues  which  were  once  her  greatest  charm  are  now  the 
badge  of  her  slavery.  Strong  to  do,  she  is  weak  to  bear,  and  while  she  can  nerve 
herself  to  perform  the  most  revolting  offices  of  a  hospital  nurse,  and  take  an  active 
part  in  the  most  ghastly  operations,  she  can  not  live  under  the  comparative  monotony 
of  her  home  life.  Duty  is  not  in  her  vocabulary  now.  She  writes  work  over  where  it 
stood.  And,  Kate,  I  fear  work  means  simply  excitement  and  publicity.  Is  there  not 
danger  that  not  a  grace,  not  a  gift  will  be  kept  in  the  maturing  shade,  that  not  a  violet 
hides  behind  its  leaves?  All  the  treasure  which  once  used  to  be  kept  in  sacred  shrines 
are  now  laid  in  the  shop  window  for  everyone  to  stare  at,  and  all  buy  who  will.  A 
pretty  piping  voice,  that  can  sing  passably  well  a  drawing-room  ballad,  hires  herself 
for  public  display.  You  hear  girls  say  they  are  hoping  to  become  anotherCamilla 
Urso  because  they  can  strike  a  true  note  on  the  violin.     Many  a  girl  who  can  draw 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  551 

well  enough  for  a  parlor  album  pluhges  into  an  exhibit,  and  dreams  of  fame  through 
her  art,  and  one  with  the  faintest  faculty  for  situation  dashes  off  a  novel  which  is  to 
bring  her  name  very  near  to  that  of  George  Eliot.  While  I  sincerely,  deeply  sympa- 
thize with  every  reform  which  tends  to  afford  a  fair  field  for  exertion  for  those  women 
who  are  forced  to  select  for  themselves  a  trade  or  profession,  I  deprecate  everything 
that  allures  those  who  possess  the  inestimable  privilege  of  a  home  to  desert  their 
fittest  sphere  of  action.  You  will  smile,  Kate,  when  I  say  that  the  manhood  of  man 
must  suffer  some  loss  when  woman  has  appropriated  a  portion  of  it;  for  its  nobler 
attributes  are  created  and  evoked  by  the  duty  and  privilege  of  ministering  to  her 
wants,  and  fortifying  and  protecting  her.  I  believe  woman  is  a  complement,  not  a 
substitute,  for  man.  Is  it,  my  Kate,  so  beneath  the  glory  of  a  woman  to  be  one  whose 
society  is  sought  with  avidity  by  the  opposite  sex,  whose  most  ardent  champions  are 
men,  at  whose  bidding  men  are  prompt  to  respond,  and  in  whose  companionship  men 
seem  to  find  peculiar  happiness?  A  woman  whose  husband  will  think  her  adorable, 
it  matters  little  whether  her  eyes  be  large  or  light,  small  or  dark,  her  features  classic 
or  irregular,  whether  her  tongue  be  eloquent  or  she  be  given  to  silence,  she  hides 
within  her  being  that  subtle  something  which  emphasizes  the  fact  that  men  have  some 
rights  which  women  are  bound  to  respect.  I  can  not  express  it  better  than  to  say 
that,  while  she  is  restful,  at  the  same  time  she  coaxes  out  ambitions  which  we  never 
dreamed  were  ours.  She  seems  to  have  the  grace  of  leisure.  She  is  never  too  busy. 
She  would  inject  a  little  bit  of  duncehood  into  our  American  life — into  this  restless 
desire  for  study.  If  she  be  fortunate  enough  to  possess  children,  she  assimilates  the 
spirit  of  the  age  and  interprets  it  to  them,  and  in  them  evolution  seems  to  take  strides 
swift  and  sure  and  forward.  Should  we  give  small  credit  to  her  who  has  kept  holy 
and  watered  with  the  rain  of  deep  feeling  this  acrid,  dusty  highway  of  civilization,  and 
instructed  her  nature  so  that  it  will  bring  forth  beautiful  June  blossoms? 

"  *  Happy  he! 
With  such  a  mother;  faith  in  womankind 
Beats  with  his  blood,  and  truth  in  all  things  high 
Comes  easy  to  him,  and  though  he  trip  and  fall. 
He  shall  not  blind  his  soul  with  clay! ' 

"You  spoke,  Kate,  of  securing  woman's  alleviating  presence  in  the  rude  scenes  of 
republicanism.  I  suppose  you  have  reference  to  her  participation  in  politics.  His- 
tory tells  us  that  when  the  contrast  between  the  sexes  has  been  least  marked,  the 
tenderer  one  does  not  seem  to  have  gained  purity  or  the  physically  stronger  elevation. 
The  Spartan  maids  who  exercised  in  public  unrobed,  did  not  always,  as  Plato  fondly 
hoped,  wear  virtue  for  a  garment.  The  mothers  of  the  Partheniaes  doubtlessly  acted 
from  patriotism,  but  less  strong-minded  women  would  have  considered  their  honor 
paramount.  The  idea  of  marriage,  of  the  natural  choice  of  each  other  by  one  man 
and  one  woman,  to  unite  and  form  one  separate  family,  seems  to  be  as  naturally 
implanted  in  the  human  race  as  does  the  idea  of  language  or  religion,  and  if  the  famify 
is  one  as  the  United  States  government  is  one,  then  it  would  be  as  absurd  to  send  two 
representatives  to  the  polls  as  it  would  be  to  send  two  representatives  or  ministers  to 
Great  Britain  to  act  on  their  individual  responsibilities.  So  long  as  a  woman  elects 
her  own  husband,  and  she  can  sometimes  take  her  choice  out  of  several  candidates,  it 
is  her  own  fault  if  she  is  not  properly  represented." 

"  And  have  American  women,  whether  married  or  single,  any  vital  share  or  inter- 
est in  this  grand  free  government  of  ours?  "  asked  Kate. 

"  With  all  the  emphasis  of  a  profound  conviction  I  answer,  yes.  Such  a  touching 
and  intimate  interest  as  no  women  ever  had  before  in  any  government  under  the  sun, 
because  the  principles  embodied  in  it  and  represented  by  it  have  made  her  what  she 
is,  and  they  alone  can  make  her  what  she  hopes  to  be.  If  it  be  true  that  the  position 
of  woman  in  society  is  a  sure  test  of  its  civilization,  then  is  our  America  in  the  van 
of  progress.     Nowhere  else  in  the  world  is  the  ideal  of  womanhood  so  chivalrously 


552  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

worshiped  and  protected.  Nowhere  else  is  she  so  respected,  obeyed  and  beloved. 
In  three  exterior  forms  of  action  women  excel — talk,  manner  and  dress.  It  is  in  talk — 
yes,  in  all  three  that  American  women  take  the  lead.  Great  as  is  your  proficiency  in  the 
handlingof  manner  and  dress,  it  is  by  talk  alone  that  you  exercise  a  conquering  force.  I 
know  that  dress  and  manner  are  regarded  as  indispensable  auxiliaries,  but  none 
except  the  foolish  place  them  in  the  front  rank  of  combat,  while  every  woman  who 
merits  being  counted  as  a  social  artist,  takes  care  in  using  them  as  but  subordinates 
to  her  speech.  In  society  our  American  women  are  extremely  self-poised,  reasonable 
and  capable  of  defending  their  own  opinions  and  of  abetting  their  desires,  and  as  you 
talk  more  and  laugh  more  you  lead  and  dictate  more  to  your  brother  man.  It  is  to 
you  women  that  men  must  go  for  exhilaration,  elevation,  brightening  and  appetizing, 
and  above  all,  strengthening  to  do  our  duty,  and  contentment  while  we  are  doing  it. 
Kate,  I  do  wish  that  men's  rights  could  be  regarded  just  a  little — talked  about,  sung 
about,  prayed  about,  and  preached  about." 

"  Men's  rights!  What  do  you  mean,  Petruchio?  Men  have  always  had  all  the  rights 
there  were  to  have,  and  what  more  can  you  cry  for?  " 

"  My  dear  Kate,  this  is  the  age  of  woman  worship.  Women  are  angels  and  men 
are  mostly  demons.  Our  modern  literature  makes  all  virtues  feminine  and  all  vices 
masculine.  A  well-formed,  fair-faced,  sweet-tempered,  gentle-spoken  woman,  if  young 
and  accomplished,  is  an  angel,  though  her  heart  may  be  cold,  selfish,  incapable  of  a  gen- 
erous emotion;  an  angel,  though  utterly  regardless  of  the  misery  she  ruthlessly  inflicts 
upon  others.  What  with  women's  journals  and  women's  clubs  and  women's  colleges 
and  women's  departments,  and  women's  this  and  that,  we  are  beginning  to  fear  entire 
exclusion  from  the  human  family.  Some  one  has  said  that  we  are  in  danger  of  for- 
getting that  '  a  woman  is  a  human  being  first  and  a  woman  afterward.'  But  we  have  one 
hope  and  one  consolation,  and  that  is  in  the  motto  on  the  letter-paper  of  the  Woman's 
Branch  of  the  World's  Congress  Auxiliary  of  the  Columbian  Exposition,  viz.:  'Not 
things,  but  men.'  We  are  still  recognized  as  a  man  and  brother.  For  this  I  for  one 
am  devoutly  thankful.  I  confess  to  you,  Kate,  that  I  have  just  joined  the  P.  A.  S.  O. 
M.  T.  N.  R.,  which  in  this  age  of  cabalistic  nomenclature,  means  the  "  Protective  Asso- 
ciation for  Securing  to  Oppressed  Men  Their  Neglected  Rights.'  I  have  never  liked 
the  '  Taming  of  the  Shrew'  in  Shakespeare  version,  and  would  like  to  get  out  an  edi- 
tion of  my  own.  There  is  something  so  out  of  keeping  with  all  reality  in  it.  Whoever 
knew  a  man  in  the  better  circles  of  society  have  his  way  by  any  domineering  method 
as  against  the  contrary  by  his  wife?  I  believe  there  are  cases,  such  as  that  of  the  one- 
time invincible  John  L.  Sullivan,  where  man's  superior  muscular  action  is  put  into  play 
to  secure  him  wdiat  he  is  pleased  to  term  his  rights.  But  you  know,  Kate,  that  it  is 
not  considered  good  form  for  a  man  in  the  best  society  to  beat  his  wife.  This  puts  him 
at  a  certain  disadvantage.  If  he  is  not  permitted  to  show  his  superiority  in  the  sense 
physical,  where  then  can  he  show  it?  There  is  something  so  far-fetched  in  the 
whole  conception  of  a  man's  having  his  way  that  it  seems  to  me  that  the  play  lacks 
hViman  interest.     Perhaps  there  will  be  a  land  some  time — 

"  '  Where  wives  will  all  obedient  be. 
And  men  will  have  their  way.' 

"  Meanwhile,  Kate,  there  is  another  thing  that  you  enjoy,  and  which  seems  to  be 
denied  to  us  men,  for  the  most  part,  at  least.  I  refer  to  the  literary  circles  all  over  our 
land.  Of  the.  members  of  the  Chautauqua  and  kindred  circles,  what  an  infinitesi- 
mal fraction  are  men.  I  know  that  we  have,  as  a  rule,  less  ability  and  taste  for  this 
sort  of  thing,  but  the  reason  is  that  we  have  been  repressed  for  generations.  Give  us 
a  chance.  When  you  women  gather  to  hear  a  play  of  Shakespeare,  or  to  throw  addi- 
tional obscurity  on  Browning,  or  see  what  extravagant  panegyric  can  do  for  Walt 
Whitman,  men  look  on  with  envious  eyes.  When  there  are  9  o'clock  breakfasts 
and  formal  luncheons  and  coffees  and  5  o'clock  teas,  we  men  must  rest  content  to  stay 
without   the  portals.     The  one  persistent  and  unquestioned  right  which  we  seem  to 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  553 

have  left,  is  to  supply  the  ducats  for  the  same.  You  know,  Kate,  that  if  }'ou  attend  the 
fine  literary  association,  of  which  }ou  are  a  bright  and  particular  star,  I  must  mean- 
while in  my  office  earn  enough  to  buy  the  paper  and  ink  with  which  you  write  those 
essays  which  delight  all  readers.  If  you  will  bear  with  me,  Katharina,  1  would  like  to 
tell  you  of  two  or  three  prominent  faults  of  your  sex  which  injure  and  restrict  our 
rights  as  men.  The  most  mischievous  and  glaring,  and  the  most  ruinous,  is  extrava- 
gance. I  knew  you  would  look  aghast  at  this,  and  ask  me  for  an  account  of  the 
money  I  spend  for  tobacco,  etc.,  but  you  should  be  charitable  toward  some  of  our 
habits,  seeing  that  we  do  not  interfere  with  yours." 

"  Bless  mc,  Petruchio,  what  habits  have  we,  I  should  like  to  know?  " 
"A  multitude,  Kate.  I  don't  know  the  half.  Crochet  work,  embroidery,  painting 
— tea  is  milder  than  tobacco,  but  your  systems  are  more  sensitive.  Then  there  are  pow- 
ders, perfumes,  eau-de-cologne,  lavender,  verbena,  heliotrope,  and  what  not,  against  all 
of  which  I  have  nothing  to  say,  because  their  odors  are  nearly  equal  to  that  of  a  fine 
Havana  cigar.  I  would  be  glad  if  this  feminine  love  for  color  and  fragrance  was 
more  common  among  men.  Rut  there  are  curious  differences  of  taste.  The  peculiar 
fascination  in  smoking  is  not  in  the  taste  of  the  weed,  but  in  the  sight  of  the 
smoke.  It  is  called  the  ear  of  corn  which  we  hold  out  to  induce  into  harmony  the 
skittish  thoughts  which  are  running  loose.  I  understand  that  knitting  is  the  great 
feminine  narcotic.  You  will  agree  with  me,  Kate,  that  this  habit  is  not  very  impor- 
tant in  comparison  with  those  vices  of  character.  Is  not  the  use  of  the  weed  less 
objectionable  than  those  systematic  habits  of  envy,  avarice,  hypocrisy,  or  the  vice  of 
extravagance?  Wastefulness  has  almost  become  a  trait  of  society.  American  women, 
especially,  are  profuse  and  lavish  in  money  and  dress,  in  equipage,  in  furniture,  in 
houses,  in  entertainments.  Perhaps  the  largeness,  the  immensity  of  our  land's 
resources  and  materials,  as  well  as  the  wonderful  national  advance  we  have  already 
made,  tends  to  cultivate  in  our  people  a  feeling  of  profusion  and  the  habit  of  extrava- 
gant display.  When  fortunes  do  not  arrive  by  magic,  but  must  be  built  up  painfully, 
slowly,  at  the  expense  of  the  nerve  and  sinew,  the  brain  and  the  heart  of  the  builder, 
and  when  a  close  attention  to  money-making  is  rapidly  becoming  a  national  badge 
and  is  in  danger  of  eating  out  entirely  what  is  of  infinitely  more  value  than  wealth,  a 
high  national  integrity  and  conscience,  and  sinking  the  immaterial  and  the  intellectual 
in  the  material  and  the  sensual.  It  is,  then,  by  you,  the  women  of  America,  that  the 
men  shall  have  saved  to  them  their  rights.  Great  financial  crisises  in  which  colossal 
schemes  burst  like  bubbles;  commercial  bankruptcies,  in  which  honorable  names  are 
bandied  on  the  lips  of  common  rumor  and  white  reputations  are  blackened  by  public 
suspicion;  minds  that  started  in  life  with  pure  and  honest  principles,  determined  to 
win  fortune  by  the  straight  path  of  rectitude,  gradually  growing  distorted  and  ending 
by  enthroning  gold  in  the  place  niade  vacant  by  departed  virtues;  hearts  that  were 
once  responsive  to  the  fair  and  beautiful  in  life  and  in  the  universe,  that  were  wont  to 
thrill  through  and  through  at  a  noble  deed  or  fine  thought,  now  pulseless  and  hard  as 
the  nether  millstone;  souls  that  once  believed  in  God,  Heav^en,  and  good,  now  wor- 
shiping commercial  success  and  its  exponent,  money,  and  living  and  dying  with  their 
eager  eyes  fixed  dustward.  And  yet,  if  this  is  to  be  checked,  it  must  be  begun  in  the 
home  and  by  its  guardian  woman. 

"Another  thing,  Kate,  which  you  women  do,  and  which  I  think  defraud  us  of  our 
rights,  is  your  wild  chase  after,  and  copying  of,  European  fashions,  habits  and  styles 
of  living.  We  are  accused  of  being  a  nation  of  copyists,  and  it  is  more  than  half  true. 
And  why  it  should  be  I  can  not  understand.  I  am  thankful,  as  I  look  at  this  wonder- 
ful "Dream  City,"  that  we  are  beginning  to  have  an  art  and  a  literature  our  very  own. 
Let  us  have  the  fashion,  as  well,  which  shall  be  distinctively  American.  Not  what  is 
sensible  or  becoming,  but  what  is  the  fashion,  does  the  American  woman  buy.  Not 
what  she  can  afford  to  purchase,  but  what  her  neighbors  have,  is  generally  the  crite- 
rion. The  aping  of  aristocratic  pretentions  has  been  a  much  ridiculed  weakness  of 
Americans.     It  is  certain  that  American  society  needs  republicanizing  in  all  its  grades. 


554  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

This  is  another  right  which  men  look  to  women  to  preserve — the  effort  to  renew 
society  in  the  natural  simplicity  of  our  republican  institutions.  America  has  need  of 
you,  Kate.  Man  has  need  of  you.  We  suffer  for  the  need,  as  well  as  for  the  power, 
of  loving  and  being  loved.  This  is  even  greater  in  man  than  in  woman,  hence  the  chief 
reason  why  she  almost  always  controls  him.  Man  craves  for  the  ideal,  suffers  for  the 
want  of  it,  but  he  dies  not  knowing  how  to  get  it.  I  say,  Kate,  that  not  even  yet  has 
womankind,  in  spite  of  her  irrepressible  longing  to  utter  the  clear,  free,  elevated 
speech,  that  shall  yet  stir  the  pulses  of  the  world.  I  can  not  better  tell  you  what  I 
believe  is  needed  than  to  close  with  the  words  of  that  true  American  woman: 

'* '  If  thou  wouldst  have  happiness,  choose  neither  fame,  which  doth  not  long 
abide,  nor  power,  which  stings  the  hand  that  wields  it;  nor  gold,  which  glitters,  but 
never  glorifies;  but  choose  thou  love,  and  hold  it  forever  in  thy  heart  of  hearts;  for 
love  is  the  purest  and  the  mightiest  force  in  the  universe,  and  once  it  is  thine,  all  other 
gifts  shall  be  added  unto  thee.  Love  that  is  passionate,  yet  reverent,  gentle,  yet 
strong,  selfish  in  desiring  all,  yet  generous  in  giving  all,  love  of  man  for  woman,  of 
woman  for  man,  of  parent  for  child,  of  friend  for  friend — when  this  is  born  in  the  soul 
the  desert  blossoms  of  the  rose;  straightway  new  wishes,  hopes,  sweet  longings  and 
pure  ambitions  spring  into  being  like  green  shoots  that  lift  their  tender  heads  in  sunny 
places,  and  if  the  soil  be  kind  they  grow  stronger  and  more  beautiful  as  each  glad  day 
laughs  in  the  rosy  sky.'  " 


NORWAY  AND  THE  MIDNIGHT  SUN. 


By  MRS.  ADELIA  A.  F.  JOHNSTON. 

This  lecture  began  with  a  description  of  a  storm  on  the  North  Sea.  It  dwelt  upon 
the  physical  geography  of  Norway,  its  mountains,  fjords,  snow  fields,  glaciers,  water- 
falls; upon  its  flora  and  fauna;  upon  its  government 
industries  and  schools;  upon  the  characteristics  of  its 
people,  their  general  intelligence,  thrift  and  economy. 
The  opportunity  offered  by  such  a  subject  was 
improved  by  the  eloquent  speaker,  who  manifested 
throughout  her  address  the  possession  of  those  gifts 
which  have  given  her  reputation  as  a  lecturer  and 
high  standing  as  an  educator.  There  was  the  evidence 
of  keen  observation  and  perception  of  all  she  had 
seen,  and  this  supplemented  by  the  skill  in  delivery 
of  a  trained  speaker,  made  the  occasion  an  enjoyable 
one  to  those  present  at  the  Congress  on  the  occasion 
of  her  appearance.  The  description  of  Norwegian 
scenes  with  Nature  appearing  in  her  grandest  garbs 
and  moods  was  something  to  be  remembered  by  the 
gratified  audience.  On  this  occasion,  as  on  others,  it 
was  a  source  of  regret  that  stenographic  reports  of 
all  the  utterances  at  the  Congress  could  not  be  had 
to  secure  the  preservation  of  all  addresses  delivered 
on  all  occasions. 

Mrs.  Johnston  closed  with  a  graphic  description 
of  the  midnight  sun.     She    spoke    entirely    without 
notes,  so  the  lecture  could  not  be  obtained. 


MRS.   ADELIA   A.   FIELD  JOHNSTON. 


Mrs.  Adelia  A.  Field  Johnston  is  a  native  of  Lafayette,  Ohio.  She  was  born  in  1837.  Her  parents  were  Leonard  Field 
and  Margarette  Gridley  Field.  She  waB  educated  at  Oberlin  College,  with  two  years  of  post-graduate  work  in  Germany.  She 
has  traveled  extensively  in  Europe,  having  been  abroad  live  times.  She  married  James  M.  Johnston  in  1859.  Mr.  Johnston 
died  in  1862.  Mrs.  Johnston  was  appointed  principal  of  the  Woman's  Department  in  Oberlin  College  in  1870,  which  position 
she  still  holds.  She  is  also  professor  of  Mediaeval  History  and  lecturer  on  Italian  Art.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Congrega^ 
tional  Charch.    Her  postoffioe  address  is  Oberlin,  Ohio. 


5d5 


THE  JAPANESE. 


By  MRS.  ROMYN   HITCHCOCK. 

Japan  is  a  glorious  land  of  balmy  air  and  luxuriant  bloom.     Though  its  skies  are 
less  famed  than  those  of  Italy,  though  its  volcanic  peaks,  beautiful  terraced  hillsides 

and  cultivated  valleys  are  less  known  to  the  tourist, 
they  are  as  bright  and  beautiful  as  those  of  any  land. 
There  is  a  restful  charm  about  life  in  Japan  which 
one  can  not  explain  and  yet  can  not  long  resist. 

Sailing:  from  Kobe  or  Hiogo  upon  our  return  voy- 
age, after  a  two  years'  residence  in  Japan,  was  like 
leaving  a  well-loved  house.  With  a  sad  heart  I  looked 
back  as  the  great  steamer  carried  us  from  familiar 
scenes  and  friends.  The  mountains  behind  the  town 
soon  faded  away  in  the  distance,  and  as  darkness 
closed  around  us  we  passed  through  the  narrow  strait 
which  leads  to  the  famous  Inland  Sea. 

The  Empire  of  Japan  embraces  four  large  islands 
and  a  great  number  of  smaller  ones,  extending  over 
nearly  twenty-seven  degrees  of  latitude  and  more 
than  thirty-three  and  one-half  degrees  of  longitude. 
The  form  of  the  land  is  said  to  resemble  that  of  a  silk- 
worm with  its  head  raised,  the  irregular  island  called 
Yesso  forming  the  head. 

It  might  be  well  to  give  a  moment  to  the  formation 
and  existence  of  this  remarkable  chain  of  islands.  We 
will  not  refer  to  the  geologist,  who  would  theorize  about 
corrugations  of  the  earth's  crust,  earthquakes,  volcanoes  and  the  like,  but  we  will  take 
the  prettier  mythological  account  which  the  Japanese  themselves  give.  They  tell  us 
there  were  two  Creator  gods,  Izanagi  and  his  wife  Izanami.  These  stood  upon  a  float- 
ing heavenly  bridge  and  thrust  a  jeweled  spear  into  the  waste  of  waters  beneath.  On 
withdrawing  it  the  drops  of  brine  piled  up  and  formed  one  of  the  islands  of  Japan. 
Upon  this  the  gods  descended.  They  then  gave  birth  to  the  other  islands,  and  after- 
ward to  various  deities  who  were  necessary  to  govern  the  country.  Finally  the  goddess 
Amaterasu  was  born.  She  is  the  sun,  and  every  morning  as  her  beams  light  on  the 
misty  hills  the  faithful  Shintoist  turns  toward  the  east  and  worships.  The  first  Mikado 
was  descended  in  a  direct  line  from  the  sun-godde.<s  Amaterasu.  From  her  he  received 
his  insignia  of  authority,  the  mirror  and  the  sword.  According  to  the  native  records 
the  successive  Mikados  form  an  unbroken  family  line  from  Jimmu  Tenno,  the  first 
emperor,  down  to  the  present  day,  a  period  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  years.  Japan 
has,  therefore,  the  oldest  dynasty  on  earth. 

Mrs.  Emma  Loaise  (Bingham)  Hitchcock  was  born  in  Ithaca,  N.  Y.  She  married  Prof.  Romyn  Hitchcock,  a  chemist, 
since  which  time  she  has  resided  alternately  in  Chicago,  New  York  and  Washington,  as  the  position  held  by  her  husband 
dictated.  As  a  chemist,  Professor  Hitchcock  was  chosen  in  1886  by  the  Japanese  Minister  at  Washington  to  go  to  Japan  in  the 
employ  of  the  Department  of  Education.  This  was  the  beginning  of  Mrs.  Hitchcock's  extended  travels  and  studies  in  the 
Orient.  She  has  since  spent  three  years  in  foreign  travel,  and  is  familiar  with  almost  every  place  of  interest  to  tourists  and 
has  gathered  a  fund  of  valuable  information  from  her  travels.  She  was  one  of  the  prime  movers  in  the  organization  of  the 
Women's  Anthroiwlogical  Society,  and  became  the  first  secretary.  A  year  later,  while  the  society  was  in  a  very  active  and 
flourishing  condition,  she  departed  on  a  second  voyage  to  the  Orient,  her  husband  having  been  appointed  World's  Fair  Com- 
missioner to  China.  Her  literary  work  has  been  limited  to  a  number  of  descriptive  articles  on  travels  among  the  Ainos, 
Japanese  and  Chinese,  several  of  which  have  been  published. 

556 


MRS.  ROMYN  HITCHCOCK. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  557 

The  influence  of  that  ancient  myth  remains.  The  belief  that  Japan  is  the  land  of 
the  gods,  that  the  emperor  is  a  child  of  the  sun,  and  that  the  people  are  all  of  divine 
descent  naturally  results  in  a  feeling  of  importance  and  superiority  which  will  not  be 
outgrown  in  a  few  generations. 

This  is  the  outline  of  early  Japanese  mythology,  which  has  developed  into  a  kind 
of  religion,  known  as  Shinto.  The  word  is  of  Chinese  origin,  but  it  is  obvious  that 
the  religious  system  which  it  designates  must  have  developed  many  centuries  before 
any  trace  of  Chinese  influence  was  felt  in  Japan.  Since  then,  however,  Shinto  has 
changed  so  much  in  its  ceremonial  and  external  character  that  it  is  now  scarcely  to  be 
found  in  its  original  simplicity  in  any  part  of  Japan.  Indeed,  it  is  only  by  the  study  of 
the  oldest  books  that  we  have  come  to  know  fairly  well  what  pure  Shinto  was. 

Different  religions  were  introduced  from  time  to  time.  First  came  the  teachings 
of  Confucius,  which  spread  rapidly  and  were  received  with  greatest  favor  throughout 
Japan.  At  the  present  day  they  still  constitute  an  essential  part  of  a  Japanese  educa- 
tion. Then  came  a  few  Buddhist  images  and  sutras  from  Korea,  in  the  year  552  A.  D. 
But  it  was  not  until  the  famous  priest,  Kobo  Daishi,  in  the  ninth  century,  ingeniously 
identified  the  various  Buddhist  saints  with  the  Shinto  deities  that  the  new  faith  became 
popular  and  finally  almost  supplanted  the  other.  Then  arose  different  schools  of  Shinto, 
and  now  we  find  the  two  religions  borrowing  from  each  other,  until  it  is  sometimes  con- 
fusing to  decide  whether  a  certain  temple  is  Buddhistic  or  Shinto,  or  both. 

The  oldest  Japanese  book  known  is  the  Ko-ji-ki  ("  Record  of  Ancient  Matters"); 
it  dates  from  the  year  71 1  A.  D.    Authentic  historical  records  began  in  the  year  400  A.  D. 

The  earliest  mention  of  Japan  by  European  travelers  is  by  Marco  Polo,  who  from 
1272  to  1298  was  in  the  far  East.  Marco  Polo  did  not  visit  the  country,  but  he  was  told 
fabulous  stories  of  the  great  wealth  of  gold  in  the  island  Kingdom  of  Zipangu. 

When  Columbus  sailed,  August  3,  1492,  on  his  venturesome  voyage  of  discovery, 
his  purpose  was  first  to  visit  China,  and  on  his  return  to  search  for  the  famous  Zipangu. 
He  discovered  America  instead. 

Japan  was  not  discovered  by  the  Portuguese,  the  pioneers  in  navigation  in  the 
Eastern  seas,  until  America  had  been  known  for  half  a  century.  By  the  merest  acci- 
dent, Mendez  Pinto,  with  two  of  his  countrymen,  landed  in  Kinshiu  from  a  piratical 
junk  in  the  year  1542. 

The  Japanese  are  a  most  charming  and  interesting  people  to  live  among.  They 
are  small  in  stature,  with  black  eyes  and  hair.  The  types  of  features  of  the  higher  and 
lower  classes  are  distinctly  marked.  The  fine  oval  face  with  prominent,  well  chiseled 
features,  oblique  eyes  and  high,  narrow  forehead,  distinguish  the  upper  class;  while  the 
round  face  and  less  oblique  eyes  pertain  to  the  lower. 

Their  dress  is  picturesque,  and,  generally  speaking,  convenient.  The  kimono,  or 
principal  garment,  is  a  long,  loose  gown,  open  in  front  from  neck  to  feet  and  held  to 
the  form  by  a  gridle,  or  obi,  which  is  usually  made  of  very  rich  material  fourteen 
inches  or  more  in  width  and  four  and  a  half  yards  in  length,  made  of  two  thicknesses 
of  cloth,  with  a  layer  of  wadding  between  them.  This  is  wound  several  times  around 
the  waist  and  tied  at  the  back,  thus  forming  quite  a  turnure.  Unlike  their  Western  sis- 
ters, they  wear  the  bustle  on  the  outside.  The  long,  flowing  sleeves  of  the  kimo?io 
below  the  elbow  serve  as  pockets,  in  which,  among  other  things,  they  carry  soft  paper 
to  use  as  a  substitute  for  handkerchiefs. 

The  dress  of  men,  women  and  children  differs  but  slightly,  there  being  some 
variation  in  length,  cut  and  choice  of  materials.  The  kimono  of  women  fits  more 
closely  and  comes  down  a  little  longer  than  a  man's,  and  in  full  dress  forms  a  train 
which  is  stiffened  with  wadding.  The  obi  or  belt  of  the  men  is  much  narrower.  In 
place  of  socks  they  wear  what  are  called  tabi,  made  of  cotton  cloth,  usually  white, 
precisely  like  a  low  shoe,  except  that  there  is  a  special  thumb  to  receive  the  great  toe. 
The  soles  are  of  heavy  duck.  When  a  Japanese  goes  into  the  street  he  puts  on  a 
straw  sandal  or  wooden  clog.  The  sandals  or  clogs  are  dropped  at  the  entrance  of  a 
house,  and  only  the  tabi  are  worn  on  the  clean  matted  floors.  The  common  coolie  in 
summer  wears  only  a  loin  cloth. 


558  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

The  hair  of  the  women  is  dressed  very  elaborately,  so  that  the  services  of  a  hair- 
dresser are  required  to  arrange  it.  For  this  reason,  it  is  said,  they  adopted  the  wooden 
pillow,  that  the  hair  might  not  become  disarranged  during  the  night,  as  they  can 
scarcely  afford  the  hairdresser  more  than  once  or  twice  a  week.  The  coiffure  is  held 
in  place  by  long  hair-pins  or  combs  made  of  tortoise-shell  or  wood,  and  is  so  plastered 
with  oil  that  it  could  not  easily  become  ruffled.  Cosmetics  are  very  largely  used,  the 
most  important  being  a  paste-like  preparation  of  impure  white  lead  and  starch,  with 
which  the  face  and  neck  are  smeared.  Carmine  was  formerly  used  to  redden  the  lips, 
but  at  the  present  time  rose  aniline  is  a  favorite  dye  for  the  purpose.  The  color  it  gives 
is  quite  as  good  as  that  of  the  more  expensive  carmine  when  seen  in  the  proper  light, 
but  the  peculiar  green,  metallic  luster  is  very  conspicuous  in  a  side  view,  and  soon 
dispels  the  illusion  of  rosy  lips.  It  has  been  customary  for  all  married  women  to 
shave  off  their  eyebrows  and  stain  their  teeth  black,  to  show  fidelity  to  their  husbands, 
but  this  custom  is  falling  into  disuse,  particularly  in  the  cities.  The  recent  adoption 
of  foreign  dress  by  the  empress  and  her  court  is  being  followed  by  so  many  that  there 
is  quite  a  revolution  in  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  higher  classes. 

Although  woman  occupies  a  position  quite  inferior  to  man,  so  far  as  I  have  observed 
she  is  not  abused  nor  harshly  treated.  Among.the  lower  classes  she  works  as  industri- 
ously as  her  husband,  frequently  at  the  same  labor.  Among  the  higher  classes  her 
principal  duty  seems  to  be  to  make  herself  a  well-dressed  household  ornament. 
Woman  in  the  past  has  not  received  the  advantages  of  a  general  education,  but  the 
daughters  of  good  families  are  taught  several  accomplishments,  among  these  singing, 
playing  certain  musical  instruments  and  dancing  are  the  most  usual.  The  latter  is  a 
system  of  graceful  movements  and  passes,  with  fans,  parasols  and  other  implements. 
Every  movement  is  most  carefully  studied  to  ensure  the  utmost  smoothness  and  grace, 
and  no  young  woman  who  has  received  a  course  of  training  in  this  art  ever  makes  an 
ungraceful  movement  or  gesture.  In  this,  as  in  a  thousand  other  matters,  the  Japanese 
habit  of  studying  the  minutest  detail  results  in  most  wonderful  effects. 

The  houses  throughout  the  country  are  built  upon  one  common  plan,  differing  in 
size  and  in  the  quality  of  the  materials  used.  For  the  finer  houses  the  principal  building 
material  is  cryptomeria  wood,  while  for  the  cheaper  ones  pine  is  used.  The  Japanese 
house  is  a  low  building  of  light  framework,  with  no  foundation,  but  with  a  heavy  pro- 
jecting tiled  roof,  which  is  very  picturesque. 

The  rooms  may  be  entered  from  any  part  of  three  sides,  by  pushing  aside  one  of 
the  sliding,  paper-covered  doors.  There  is  no  privacy  whatever.  These  doors  serve 
the  purpose  of  windows,  not  to  see  through  to  be  sure,  but  to  admit  light.  A  room  of 
ordinary  size  will  have  four  such  doors  on  each  of  the  three  sides,  about  three  feet 
wide,  or  exactly  the  width  of  the  Japanese  floor  mats.  These  mats  are  made  of  rushes, 
which  are  cultivated  like  rice,  upon  marshy  ground,  the  inside  filled  with  straw,  mak- 
ing  them  about  two  inches  thick.  The  edges  are  bound  with  blue  cotton  cloth.  They 
always  measure  thirty-four  and  one-half  inches  by  five  feet  nine  inches,  and  the  size  of 
the  room  is  determined  by  the  mats — a  small  room  is  a  four-mat  room,  one  of  ordinary 
size,  eight  mats.  •  The  mats  are  used  in  the  poorest  hovels  and  the  richest  dwellings. 
Chairs  are  unknown,  and  all  the  people  sit  on  the  floor  in  a  manner  peculiar  to 
themselves. 

The  fourth  or  closed  side  of  the  room  will  probably  consist  of  a  sort  of  double 
recess,  three  or  four  feet  deep,  called  the  tokonojna,  for  the  beauty  of  which  the  Jap- 
anese houses  are  justly  famed.  The  floor  of  the  tokonoma  is  of  polished  wood,  usu- 
ally dark  in  color,  is  raised  a  few  inches  above  the  floor  mats.  An  upright  parti- 
tion separates  the  two  parts.  On  one  side  will  be  a  clear  space,  where  a  kakemono 
— a  painting  on  silk— always  hangs;  on  the  other  side  will  be  a  shelf,  not  a  plain 
board  shelf  such  as  we  would  probably  put  in,  but  a  Japanese  shelf,  which  is  made 
in  two  parts,  running  from  opposite  sides  at  a  slightly  different  level,  the  ends  over- 
lapping a  few  inches  about  the  middle  of  the  space.  Upon  this  shelf  stands  some 
ornament,  and  below,  on  the  floor,  there  is  generally  a  low  stand,  with  a  vase  of  shrubs. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  559 

Above  there  will  probably  be  a  small  closet,  with  decorated  or  plain  gilt  sliding 
doors. 

The  beauty  of  the  tokonoma  is  in  both  the  artistic  design  and  the  fine  finish  of 
the  wood.  Some  of  the  woods  used  are  very  valuable,  and  the  tokonoma  alone  may  cost 
three  hundred  dollars  or  more,  and  yet  not  be  of  the  richest  quality\  The  more  costly 
kinds  of  wood  are  imported  from  China.  The  most  honored  guest  is  always  seated  in 
front  of  the  tokofioma.  The  ceiling  of  the  room  is  very  neat,  usually  made  of  plain,  unvar- 
nished and  uncolored  wood.  The  space  between  the  ceiling  and  the  beams  that  run 
around  above  the  doors  may  be  closed,  but  it  is  more  likely  to  be  filled  with  an  open 
fretwork  of  wood,  which  the  Japanese  are  very  skillful  in  making.  The  best  rooms 
are  found  at  the  back  of  the  house,  where  the  veranda  overlooks  a  beautiful  garden,  a 
landscape  in  miniature,  such  as  only  the  Japanese  can  imagine  and  create.  The  peo- 
ple love  shrubs  and  flowers,  and  the  poorest  of  them  will  have  some  green  thing  about, 
even  though  they  have  only  a  tube  of  bamboo  for  a  holder. 

They  are  famous  for  dwarfing  plants.  Pine  trees  a  foot  high  are  grown  like 
forest  giants  in  miniature.  Oranges  ripen  on  trees  scarcely  larger.  It  requires  years 
of  patient  care  and  watching  to  attain  this  result,  and  a  climate  such  as  Japan  alone 
affords. 

They  are  great  lovers  of  natural  scenery.  Around  every  city  and  town  there 
are  resorts  for  pleasure  and  recreation.  Usually  these  are  temple  inclosures,  but 
wherever  there  are  plum  or  cherry  trees  in  blossom  there  the  people  gather  for  a 
holiday. 

There  are  two  articles  which  the  Japanese  deem  indispensable  to  their  comfort, 
and  these  are  the  hibachi  and  the  tobacco-box.  The  former  is  a  brazier  of  bronze  or 
wood,  copper  lined,  holding  glowing  coals  by  which  the  rooms  are  heated.  In  the 
coldest  weather  this  small  brazier  is  the  only  source  of  heat  in  a  Japanese  house.  The 
cooking  is  done  on  stoves  without  chimneys,  over  fires  of  burning  wood,  but  the 
people  depend  for  bodily  comfort  upon  warm  clothing,  putting  on  suit  after  suit,  one 
over  the  other,  and  toast  their  hands  over  the  hibachi.  The  tobacco-box  also  contains 
glowing  coals  for  lighting  pipes  and  cigarettes,  with  a  piece  of  bamboo  to  serve  as  a 
cuspidor. 

A  Yankee  invention,  called  a  jin-rik-i-sha,  is  a  comfortable  two-wheeled  carriage, 
with  a  coolie  in  place  of  a  horse  trotting  in  the  shafts,  a  veritable  baby  carriage,  also 
called  a  Pullman  car.  In  this  one  travels  over  the  plains  and  through  the  cities.  A 
sort  of  bamboo  basket  is  used  to  travel  over  the  mountains.  This  basket,  called  a 
hago,  is  suspended  from  two  poles,  which  are  carried  on  the  shoulders  of  coolies. 

A  Japanese  hotel  differs  in  proportion  as  the  Japanese  houses,  ways  of  living  and 
customs  differ  from  our  own.  A  foreigner  entering  a  hotel  for  the  first  time  is  at  a 
loss  to  know  what  to  do.  First  he  must  take  off  his  boots  immediately  inside  the 
entrance,  which  may  be  through  a  special  doorway,  although  more  commonly  the 
entire  front  of  the  house  is  open  to  the  street;  one  finds  a  passageway  leading  along 
the  main  floor,  which  is  raised  about  two  feet  abov^e  the  ground.  This  main  floor  is 
divided  into  a  number  of  rooms  by  means  of  the  sliding  doors.  Probably  these  doors  will 
be  open,  and  one  can  then  see  through  the  house  into  the  garden  behind.  In  the  pass- 
ageway outside  the  rooms  are  stained  and  polished  floors  which  would  be  marred  and 
scratched  by  boots  or  shoes.  Having  entered  as  an  unexpected  guest,  the  room  will 
be  absolutely  bare  of  furniture.  A  servant,  or  perhaps  the  proprietor  himself,  will 
immediately  bring  some  cushions  about  twenty  inches  square  to  sit  on,  and  then  a 
hibachi  and  tobacco-box.  Then  follows  an  iron  tea-kettle  which  is  set  on  a  tripod  over 
the  coals,  and  a  small  tray  on  which  is  a  tea-set.  The  teacups  are  very  small  and  with- 
out handles,  very  different  from  ours.  There  will  also  be  an  ornamented  dish  contain- 
ing confections,  probably  thin,  dry,  twisted  or  curled  cakes  made  of  rice  flour.  The 
guest  will  now  have  been  provided  with  all  the  luxuries  of  a  native  hotel. 

The  hot  water,  not  boiling,  is  no  sooner  poured  over  the  tea  than  it  is  poured  out 
into  the  cups.     You  will  probably  be  surprised  that  the  tea  is  made  so  quickly  and 


560  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

without  boiling  water.  As  a  matter  of  fact  boiling  water  is  quite  generally  used,  but 
whenever  the  best  teas  are  used,  and  where,  as  in  private  houses,  the  people  endeavor 
to  bring  out  the  finest  flavor,  the  water  is  just  below  the  boiling  temperature.  As 
regards  the  quickness  of  making  the  tea,  it  must  be  understood  that  the  tea  used  by 
the  natives  is  not  dried  like  the  teas  prepared  for  exportation.  All  the  native  dried  tea, 
such  as  is  used  by  the  people,  is  re-dried  in  the  foreign  godowns  before  it  is  sent  abroad. 

Just  before  dinner  you  will  be  told  that  the  hot  bath  is  ready.  The  hot  bath  is  an 
essential  part  of  Japanese  life.  There  is  probably  no  other  thing  that  the  people  enjoy 
so  thoroughly.  The  water  is  often  quite  too  hot  for  foreigners,  but  to  get  the  full 
benefit  of  it  the  temperature  should  be  as  high  as  can  be  borne.  It  is  then  not 
enervating,  but  restful.  The  bath-room  is  not  always  private,  but  is  often  quite  open 
to  passers-by  in  the  hall. 

The  water  is  used  by  all  the  guests  successively,  but  as  no  one  uses  soap,  the  water 
remains  tolerably  clear.  The  most  distinguished  guest  is  given  the  preference.  After 
the  guests  follow  the  heads  of  the  family  and  children,  aijd  lastly  the  servants.  There 
are  many  public  bath-houses  for  the  people  in  every  town. 

The  dinner  follows  the  bath,  and  it  is  served  in  so  many  different  styles  that  any 
attempt  to  describe  them  intelligibly  would  be  hopeless;  but  usually  it  is  served  upon 
individual  red  or  black  lacquered  trays,  raised  on  legs  from  three  to  eight  inches  in 
height.     Upon  these  trays  will  come  five  different  dishes. 

The  lower  classes  live  mainly  on  rice,  radishes,  and  a  few  other  vegetables  and 
pickles,  the  latter  being  a  very  important  article  of  diet.  The  staple  article  of  food 
with  all  classes  is  rice.  The  rice  is  boiled  so  that  the  grains  retain  their  form,  and  it  is 
eaten  without  seasoning  of  any  kind. 

We  will  suppose  the  dinner  served  upon  a  neat  red  lacquered  zcn,  or  tray.  On  the 
right  front  corner,  as  we  sit  facing  it,  will  be  a  lacquered  covered  bowl  of  jniso  soup, 
probably  containing  an  o.^^  or  some  fine-sliced  or  chopped  vegetable.  On  the  left 
corner  will  be  the  porcelain  rice  bowl;  on  the  corner  back  of  that,  a  clear  vegetable  or 
fish  soup,  the  suimono,  or  a  soup  made  with  G:gg,  fish  and  vegetables,  cooked  up  all 
together  and  called  wan-meshi.  On  the  right  back  corner  will  probably  be  some  kind 
of  baked  or  grilled  fish.  A  small  cup  in  the  center  will  contain  a  relish;  it  maybe 
pickles,  or  beans  boiled  in  black  sugar,  or  fresh  cucumber;  very  likely  there  will  be 
some  fresh  radish  tops  with  skoyn,  or  soy,  a  Ijind  of  sauce  from  which  our  Worcester 
is  made.  The  grilled  fish  is  sometimes  replaced  by  raw  fish,  cut  in  slices,  to  be  eaten 
with  shoyn.  There  is  no  special  ceremony  about  eating,  but  some  skill  is  required  to 
manage  the  chopsticks.  These  are  simply  two  straight  sticks,  which  are  used  with  one 
hand.  The  food  is  prepared  to  be  lifted  with  the  chopsticks.  The  grilled  fish  is  rather 
difficult  to  manage  without  a  knife  and  fork.  However,  every  scrap  of  meat  can  be 
taken  up  if  one  is  skillful  and  knows  how  to  begin.  The  daikon,  or  preserved  radish, 
is  at  first  quite  offensive  to  taste  and  smell,  but  after  a  time  it  is  recognized  as  a  valu- 
able adjunct  to  a  bill  of  fare,  for  unseasoned  boiled  rice  soon  cloys  the  appetite  unless 
some  such  strong  flavored  preparation  is  added.  This  is  not  a  matter  of  individual 
experience,  but  also  of  the  Japanese  people.  There  is  always  some  strong  pickle  used 
at  their  meals;  they  depend  so  much  upon  the  nutritive  value  of  rice  that  they  must 
eat  it  in  large  quantities,  and  this  they  can  not  do  without  something  strong  to  supple- 
ment it. 

The  Japanese  bed  is  made  by  spreading  a  futon,  or  heavy  quilt,  on  the  floor,  on 
which  is  placed  the  peculiar  wooden  pillow  and  as  many  quilts  for  covering  as  the 
weather  may  call  for.  It  may  be  imagined  that  such  a  bed  is  not  springy,  even  if  two 
or  three  such  quilts  are  placed  beneath  one.  The  bed  is  not  good  as  compared  with 
our  spring  and  hair  mattresses.  However,  habit  is  everything.  The  amado,  or  outer 
rain-doors,  which  protect  the  house  from  intruders,  and  shield  the  paper  doors  from 
rain,  being  closed,  the  house  becomes  quiet  and  you  retire,  but  doubtless  a  late  party 
will  arrive  and  make  a  great  noise  just  when  you  wish  to  sleep.  As  the  houses  are  so 
open,  speaking  and  laughing  are  distinctly  heard  all  over,  and  the  Japanese  are  inces- 
sant chatterers. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  561 

Early  in  the  morning  there  will  be  a  tremendous  racket,  caused  by  opening  the 
rain-doors.  This  lasts  only  a  few  moments,  but  long  enough  to  get  one  wide  awake. 
As  soon  as  you  rise  the  quilts  are  removed,  the  hibachi  brought  in,  and  the  room  swept 
and  dusted.  Meanwhile  you  make  your  toilet  out  on  the  veranda  or  down-stairs;  you 
must  wash  in  the  open  air  even  in  winter. 

The  people  marry  very  young,  being  usually  betrothed  while  in  childhood  by 
their  parents.  Divorce  is  quite  common  and  granted  for  what  we  would  consider  most 
trivial  reasons;  for  instance,  a  husband  can  divorce  his  wife  if  she  talks  too  much. 

Several  modes  of  burial  have  prevailed  in  Japan  at  different  periods.  First  w^as 
the  burial  in  artificial  caves,  next  in  simple  mounds  of  earth,  then  followed  burial  in 
mounds  with  rock  chambers  or  dolmens,  later  in  double  mounds  or  imperial  tumili 
surrounded  by  moats,  and  lastly,  burial  in  coffins  shaped  like  round  tubs,  into  which 
the  body  is  placed  in  a  sitting  position.  Cremation  is  also  now  a  very  prevalent  method 
of  disposing  of  the  body.  An  ancient  custom  was  to  bury  the  retainers  of  a  prince 
and  his  family  alive,  standing  upright  like  a  hedge  around  the  grave.  This  custom 
is  said  to  have  come  from  China.  Wives  suffered  themselves  to  be  buried  alive 
around  their  deceased  husbands.  But  this  was  all  too  terrible,  and  when,  in  the  last 
century  before  Christ,  the  Empress  Hibatsuhime  no  Mikoto  died,  the  Mikado  asked 
that  some  other  way  might  be  devised.  One  of  his  court,  Nomi  no  Sukine,  advised 
making  figures  of  clay  to  represent  men  and  horses,  and  to  bury  them  as  substitutes. 
This  was  done,  and  the  Mikado,  well  pleased  with  the  plan,  ordered  that  henceforth 
the  old  custom  should  not  be  followed,  but  that  clay  images  should  be  set  up  around 
the  grave  instead. 

The  making  of  these  clay  images  is  said  to  be  the  beginning  of  Ceramic  art  in 
Japan. 


(36) 


WOMAN'S  WORK  IN  KENTUCKY. 


By  MRS.  EUGENIA  DUNLAP  POTTS. 

What  has  woman  done  for  Kentucky,  for  that  romantic  young  daughter  of  grand 
old  Virginia,  the  throes  of  whose  birth   rang   out  in  Indian   bloodshed  and  violence, 

who  waded  step  by  step  in  conflict  and  courage  be 
fore  the  dark  and  bloody  ground  could  put  on  her 
fair  garment  of  nature's  brilliant  hues,  and  ever  going 
from  this  nursery  of  relentless  discipline  stand  up  in 
the  rank  of  royal  Columbia's  children  a  queen  in  her 
own  right,  clothed  in  the  panoply  of  her  own  inalien 
able  virtues  and  beauty.  She  has  been  called  "God's 
own  country."  'Twas  woman  who  helped  to  make 
her  what  she  is,  and  a  woman  gave  her  the  name 
What  then  has  woman  done  and  how  has  she  done  iti 
Ruskin  says:  "A  woman  has  a  personal  work  and 
duty  relating  to  her  own  home  and  a  public  work  and 
duty  which  is  also  the  expansion  of  that.  The 
woman's  work  in  her  own  home  is  to  secure  its  order 
comfort  and  loveliness.  The  woman's  duty  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  commonwealth  is  to  assist  in  the  ordering, 
in  the  comforting  and  in  the  beautiful  adornment  of 
the  state.  What  the  woman  is  to  be  within  her  gates 
as  the  center  of  order,  the  balm  of  distress  and  the 
mirror  of  beauty,  that  she  is  to  be  also  without  the 
gates  where  order  is  more  difificult,  distress  more  emi- 
nent and  loveliness  more  rare. 
Lord  George  Littleton,  the  English  author  and  statesman  of  a  hundred  years  ago, 
declared  that  "  a  woman's  noblest  station  is  retreat."  Madame  Roland,  herself  a 
remarkable  type  of  the  sex,  held  the  opinion  that  the  talents  and  acquirements  of 
woman  should  never  be  for  the  public.  It  was  about  the  time  that  she  uttered  this 
sentiment  that  the  marvelous  richness  and  vastness  of  Kentucky  were  drawing 
thither  the  highest  and  noblest  elements  of  citizenship  from  Pennsylvania,  North 
Carolina  and  Virginia,  to  become  the  pioneers  of  a  race,  strong,  tender,  heroic, 
simple,  conservative  and  pure.  These  were  the  mothers  of  Anglo-Saxon  blood  who 
upheld  by  the  holy  ties  of  family  and  a  lofty  womanhood,  were  equipped  with  the 
armor  of  perpetual  ownership.  The  fertile  domain  all  rent  with  the  red  man's  butchery — 
he  who  contested  every  inch  of  soil — soon  knew  the  tread  of  gentle  feet;  and  from  the 
Rustic  Parliament  held  under  the  Divine  Elm  at  Boonesborough  that  mild  May  day 
in  1775,  down  through  the  years,  woman  has  historic  value  in  Kentucky,  Rebecca 
Bryant  Boone  was  there  with  her  illustrious  husband,  whose  statute,  modeled  in  Ken- 
tucky clay  by  a  Kentucky  girl,  stands  guard  at  our  Kentucky  building,  wearing  the 
identical  garb  of  that  far  away  day.  Enough  is  told  of  those  early  days  of  adventure, 

Mrs.  Eugenia  Dunlap  Potte  was  born  at  Lancaster,  Ky.  Her  father  was  the  Hon.  George  W.  Dunlap,  a  distingnished 
lawyer  and  statesman.  Her  mother  was  Nancy  E.  Jennings,  a  woman  of  brilliant  talents.  Mrs.  Potts  graduated  from  Frank- 
lin Female  Institute,  then  took  a  special  course  at  Philadelphia  in  music  and  French.  She  married  Surgeon-Major  Richard 
Potts,  U.  8.  A.  andC.  S.  A.,  of  Maryland.  Mrs.  Potts  was  lett  a  widow,  with  her  infant  son,  quite  young.  Her  literary  career 
always  promising,  now  began  in  earnest.  Her  "Song  of  Lancaster,"  a  metrical  history  after  the  style  of  Hiawatha,  Long- 
fellow read  and  approved  in  an  autograph  letter,  of  which  the  young  author  was  very  proud.  She  has  several  later  works 
ready  for  the  press.  Her  favorite  enterprise  is  the  "  Illustrated  Kentuckian,"  which  she  owns  and  edits  in  a  masterly  manner. 
She  is  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Lexington,  Ky. 

562 


MRS.  EUGENIA  DUNLAP  POTTS. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  563 

of  romance,  of  heroism,  to  make  an  epic  as  enchanting  and  inspiring  as  any  of  classic 
lore. 

Susannah  Hart,  the  aunt  of  Mrs.  Henry  Clay,  raised  and  pulled  the  flax  which 
she  wove  and  spun  into  her  wedding  gown,  with  an  art  so  clever  that  she  could  draw 
the  width  through  her  wedding  ring.  She  belonged  to  the  wealthiest  of  those  early 
families  of  note,  and  was  the  wife  of  Gov.  Isaac  Shelby.  She  died  at  the  age  of 
seventy-two  years  at  "  Travelers'  Rest,"  the  grand  old  homestead  which  has  never 
passed  out  of  the  Shelby  family.  She  was  the  mother  of  ten  children,  and  her 
descendants  are  widely  scattered.  Mary  Hopkins  Cabell  Breckinridge  was  a  con- 
temporary whose  work  can  never  die.  Hers  were  not  deeds  of  daring  nor  of  tragic 
from  the  lurking  Indian.  Her  power  was  in  her  eloquent  conversation,  her  strong 
opinions,  her  decided  views  of  duty.  Her  sons  are  orators  and  statesmen;  her 
daughters  are  ambitious  and  progressive.  Margaret  Breckinridge,  a  granddaughter, 
devoted  heart  and  hands  to  hospital  work  during  the  war  of  the  Blue  and  the 
Grey;  and  by  her  gentle,  self-sacrificing  ministering  was  named  the  "Angel  of  the 
hospitals."  She  said:  "Shall  men  die  by  thousands  for  their  country  and  no 
woman  risk  her  life?"  Still  a  younger  generation  is  led  by  Miss  Sophronisba 
Breckinridge,  who  after  years  of  travel  in  Europe,  studied  law  in  her  father's 
office.  Mrs.  Catherine  Hunt,  the  chatelaine  of  one  of  Lexington's  proud  homes, 
reigned  a  queen  in  her  domain.  The  train  of  servants,  the  management  of  her 
handsome  estate  and  all  the  demands  upon  the  mistress  of  such  possessions,  called  for 
executive  ability  of  rare  degree.  Hers  was  the  thinking  head  and  the  guiding  hand.  The 
Baroness  Burdett  Coutts  says:  "Woman  may  be  allowed  to  lead  in  acts  of  charity," 
and  right  nobly  has  she  set  this  example.  This  woman,  Mrs.  Hunt,  used  her  preroga- 
tive here.  Sixty-one  years  ago,  when  cholera  wellnigh  depopulated  the  Blue  Grass 
capital,  she  went  forth  on  pious  mission  bent.  Coming  upon  three  desolate  little 
children,  whose  parents  lay  dead,  she  said  to  a  friend:  "  W^hat  shall  we  do  with  them? 
Let  us  buy  them  a  home."  She  opened  her  purse  and  established  the  Orphans' 
Home,  Lexington's  oldest  charitable  institution,  where  many  little  feet  have  found  a 
resting  place.  Mrs.  Henrietta  Hunt  Morgan  was  her  daughter,  and  the  Hon.  Francis 
Kay  Hunt,  of  legal  celebrity,  was  her  worthy  son.  Mrs.  Morgan  presided  over  her 
household  much  after  the  manner  of  her  bringing  up.  She  was  the  mother  of  a 
remarkable  family.  Her  sons  were  Gen.  John  Hunt  Morgan,  Col.  Calvin  Morgan, 
Capt.  Charlton  Hunt  Morgan,  and  Lieut.  Thomas  Morgan.  Her  daughters  were 
the  wives  of  Gen.  A.  P.  Hill  and  of  Gen.  Basil  W.  Duke.  Behold  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  Kentucky  girl,  if  I  may  so  term  the  greater  liberty  of  today! 
Mrs.  Henrietta  Morgan  Duke,  of  Louisville,  Ky.,  one  of  our  commissioners,  is 
a  woman  of  incomparable  qualities  of  heart  and  brain.  She  reflects  the  grand- 
mother and  mother  in  strength  of  character  and  in  executive  ability.  Times  have 
changed,  and  she  has  risen  to  the  demands.  Her  young  daughter.  Miss  Carrie  Duke, 
the  violin  virtuoso,  represents  the  fourth  generation  of  this  family.  The  ancient  code 
would  have  held  her  captive,  but  the  liberty  of  the  present  sent  her  abroad  to  develop 
the  divine  genius  that  now  sways  multitudes.  Another  young  descendant  of  Mrs, 
Hunt  is  Miss  Lucy  Lee  Hill,  a  World's  Fair  Commissioner,  who  bravely  and  briskly 
went  about  the  work  of  collecting  exhibits;  faithfully  she  has  presided  at  the  state 
building.  Yet  another  great-granddaughter  is  Miss  Eleanor  Howard  Morgan, 
daughter  of  Capt.  Charlton  Morgan,  who  entered  Bryn  Mawr  College,  where  her 
scientist  brother,  Dr.  Thomas  Morgan,  holds  the  chair  of  biology.  This  young  girl 
perfectly  illustrates  the  fact  that  developing  a  woman's  brain  does  not  necessarily  rob 
her  of  feminine  charm.  No  lily  of  the  valley,  breathing  its  delicate  fragrance  far 
below  the  gaze  of  man,  is  more  modestly  environed;  yet  her  influence  pervades  all  the 
atmosphere  about  her.  She  inherits,  not  the  dash  of  her  uncle,  the  cavalry  chief,  but 
the  steady  glow  of  woman's  star  when  lit  by  the  brilliancy  of  intellectual  fire.  Afterforty 
years  of  Kentucky  civilization  and  the  advance  of  commerce  and  education,  in  1822 
Susan  Lucy  Bary  Taylor,  only  fifteen  years  old,  read  from  the  platform  of  the  La  Fayette 


564  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Academy,  at  Lexington,  her  essay  upon  "  The  higher  education  of  women."  Think' 
of  it!  Schools  were  few  and  far  between,  the  reading  of  fiction  was  barred  to  a  degree- 
by  religious  scruples,  and  woman  was  out  of  place  except  at  the  hearthstone  or  in  the 
drawing-room.  No  doubt  many  still  thought  with  Cowley,  that  "she  was  one  of 
Nature's  agreeable  blunders,"  or  with  Thucydides,  that  "  the  best  woman  is  she  of  whom 
the  least  can  be  said  either  in  the  way  of  good  or  harm;"  or  yet  with  Mohammed, 
that  "  the  worst  thing  about  a  woman  is  that  we  can't  do  without  her."  Why,  I 
remember  fully  fifty  years  after  the  La  Fayette  commencement,  a  society  young  man's 
shocked  veto  upon  his  sister  reading  her  graduating  essay  from  the  stage  to  be  gazed 
at  by  men  and  women.  This  mother  of  famous  sons  and  daughters  made  the  plea  that, 
woman  was  capable  of  receiving  instruction,  of  comprehending  the  science  of  numbers,, 
of  learning  languages,  of  following  the  explorations  of  science,  and  of  mental  dis- 
cipline through  logic  and  philosophy,  and  begged  that  proud  men  will  permit  women 
to  spend  some  hours  in  improving  their  minds.  She  says:  "  History  is  no  longer  con- 
fined to  the  exploits  and  achievements  of  men,  but  is  proud  to  have  its  brightest  pages- 
adorned  with  the  names  of  women  distinguished  for  learning,  for  patriotism,  for  high 
and  heroic  virtue." 

Alas!  I  fear  that  proud  men  went  away  exulting  over  the  pretty  reader,  and 
ignoring  what  she  read  as  a  vagary  to  be  pardoned.  It  cost  the  blood  of  battles,  the 
social  disruption,  the  severance  of  family  ties  and  the  martyrdom  of  broken  hearts,  to- 
plume  the  upward  flight  of  Kentucky  women,  to  grant  them  what  has  been  termed 
"their  perilous  freedom  from  social  trammels."  But  now  in  1893  1  clip  the  foUowing^ 
from  a  local  paper: 

"In  Calculus." 

"  Professor  Barbour,  of  the  University  of  Richmond,  Ky.,  has  sent  the  work  of  two 
prodigies  in  mathematics.  In  offering  the  papers  for  display,  he  explains  that  the 
authors  are  very  poor  at  foot-ball,  and  have  not  distinguished  themselves  either  in 
marksmanship  or  as  oarsmen.  Then  he  explains  that  they  are  young  ladies,  to  whose- 
work  in  higher  mathematics  he  calls  the  attention  of  the  educators  and  experts  of  the 
world.  The  young  ladies  are  Miss  Estelle  W,  Walker  and  Miss  Florence  P.  Wither- 
spoon." 

Miss  Chenault,  of  Louisville,  who  is  soon  to  be  married,  declined  the  chair  of 
mathematics  in  a  Western  college  recently  offered  her.  Similar  triumphs  are 
getting  to  be  neither  few  nor  far  between. 

The  descendants  of  Susan  Taylor  are  identified  with  Newport,  Ky.  Here  resides- 
Mrs.  Thomas  L.  Jones,  one  of  the  most  cultivated,  elegant  women  of  the  South.  In 
gracious  hospitality  she  has  not  been  excelled,  and  as  a  prominent  member  of  the 
Kentucky  Historical  Society  she  is  conversant  with  the  choicest  bits  of  patriotic  lore. 

Mrs.  Mary  Gratz  Morton,  president  of  the  Kentucky  Columbian  Club,  is  descended 
from  one  of  the  most  charitable  and  influential  women  of  her  day.  Mrs.  Morton  is- 
cultured  and  refined,  has  found  pleasure  in  literary  clubs  where  a  few  years  ago  they  were 
zn  unknown  quantity.  Miss  Mary  Harrison,  of  Lexington,  a  member  of  the  prominent 
families  of  Clay  and  Harrison,  has  devoted  her  energies  for  years  to  the  establishment 
of  charitable  institutions.  Not  possessed  of  the  necessary  means  to  carry  out  her  plans,, 
she  brought  to  bear  her  strong  personal  influence  and  untiring  perseverance,  till  more 
than  one  lofty  pile  has  arisen  to  shelter  the  sick  and  the  poor. 

Mrs.  Sarah  Bruin  Cronly,  left  a  widow  in  her  early  prime,  has  consecrated  her  life 
to  good  works.  Systematic,  clear-headed  charity  distinguished  her  methods,  and  so 
active  is  she  in  her  daily  rounds  among  the  poor,  supplying  the  needs  of  the  parish, 
that  she  has  been  long  known  by  the  pseudonyn  of  "Aunt  Busy."  Mrs.  Plliza  Brand 
Woodward,  wealthy  and  charitable,  built  and  endowed  the  Church  Home  for  needy 
women  at  Lexington,  and  gives  liberally  to  every  good  cause  Who  does  not  know  of 
Jennie  Casseday,  the  saint  on  her  couch  of  pain  during  thirty  years?  She  instituted 
the  Flower  Mission  for  prisons  and  hospitals,  and  wrote  her  sweet  songs  of  peace  and 
hope  in  the  night  hours  of  patient  watching.     Her  leaflets  are  read  from  pole  to  pole^ 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  565 

and  at  Louisville  the  Jennie  Casseday  Infirmary  stands  a   monument  to  her  labors. 
"They  also  serve  who  only  stand  and  wait."     She  worked  while  she  waited. 

Mrs.  John  M.  Clay,  daughter-in-law  of  Henry  Clay,  was  left  a  widow  two  years 
ago  with  the  broad  acres  of  Ashland  on  her  hands,  and  the  green  pastures  of  blooded 
horses  as  a  heritage.  Diligently  the  turf-men  put  their  heads  together  and  picked 
out  the  sires  and  dams  and  foals  they  meant  to  buy  at  the  coming  sale.  But  Mrs. 
Clay  held  her  farm  intact  and  manages  it  herself.  She  is  besides  a  writer  of  ability, 
not  only  of  novels,  but  gets  out  the  annual  pedigree  catalogue  of  stock  with  the 
accuracy  of  a  man  and  the  dainty  binding  of  a  woman's  artistic  taste. 

Mrs.  Cornelia  Bush  was  our  first  woman  State  Librarian,  and  a  woman  has  held 
the  office  ever  since.  Miss  Belle  Bennett  represents  her  family  in  this  generation  by 
her  work  for  church  and  school  extension.  She  has  traveled  hundreds  of  miles  and 
has  collected  many  thousands  of  dollars.  The  Scarrett  memorial  at  Kansas  City,  and 
the  march  of  religion  and  education  in  the  mountains  of  Kentucky,  bear  testimony  to 
her  labors  and  those  of  her  deceased  sister.  Miss  Laura  White,  of  Ashland,  Ky.,  and 
Miss  Joe  Carter,  of  the  Kentucky  parlor  in  your  Woman's  Building,  have  taken 
•studies  in  architecture.  Miss  Enid  Yandell  is  a  sculptor,  and  our  school  of  wood- 
carving  is  crowded  with  proficients.  Mrs.  Mary  Cecil  Cantrill,  Kentucky's  World's 
Fair  commissioner,  was  born  to  the  self-indulgence  of  wealth,  yet  she  has  long  sought 
the  active  walk  of  intellectual  pre-eminence.  Miss  Jean  W.  Faulkner,  another  com- 
missioner, a  beautiful,  bright  girl,  is  descended  from  a  heroic  ancestry.  Her  grand- 
mother, Mrs.  Jane  Kavanaugh  Walker,  is  now  a  hale,  active  woman  of  four-score 
years,  all  her  lite  remarkable  for  advanced  ideas  and  strong  will.  In  the  bringing  up 
of  her  large  family,  in  church,  and  throughout  her  region,  she  wields  authority  and 
influence.  First  the  wife  of  Gen.  John  Faulkner,  the  sturdy  blood  of  the  two  pioneers 
flows  in  Miss  Faulkner's  veins.  She  carries  the  reflection  of  the  heroism  which  dis- 
tinguished her  grandfather  on  the  battle-field,  and  which  nerved  him  to  sit  calmly 
down  and  have  an  arm  amputated  without  a  groan  before  the  day  of  anresthetics. 
Her  father  was  a  gallant  officer  in  the  late  war,  and  through  her  mother  she  inherits 
the  fluent  tongue  of  the  Joshua  Bell  family.  The  aged  grandmother,  Mrs.  Walker, 
claims  also  as  her  grandchild  the  Estelle  Walker  just  referred  to  as  the  winner  in 
Calculus;  and  her  descendants  comprise  a  veritable  rosebud  garden  of  girls  who  are 
working  their  way  as  teachers  in  the  schools.  Miss  Ida  Symmes  and  Mrs.  Sue 
Phillips  Brown,  two  more  of  our  commissioners  at  the  Columbian  Fair,  have  worthily 
shown  their  claim  to  confidence  and  enterprise.  Miss  Mattie  Lee  Todd,  while  yet  a 
young  and  handsome  girl,  was  appointed  to  the  position  of  postmaster  in  her  native 
town,  and  shouldering  the  burden  of  a  family  debt,  as  well  as  the  arduous  duties  of 
her  office,  has  discharged  all  obligations  and  stands  today  triumphant  at  her  post. 
Mary  Anderson  raised  the  drama  to  a  plane  of  personal  purity  hitherto  denied  by 
critics  to  women  actors.  Her  mighty  genius  attuned  the  gamut  of  fiery  human  emo- 
tions, yet  "  Our  Mary"  came*  forth  unscathed.  Mrs.  Milton  Barlow  has  invented  some 
clever  cooking  utensils,  and  her  daughter.  Miss  F'lorence  Barlow,  is  not  only  a  self- 
supporting  artist,  but  is  the  first  Kentucky  woman  to  venture  into  the  real  estate  busi- 
ness. I  have  found  it  convenient  thus  far  to  pursue  the  line  of  woman's  development 
by  connecting  the  past  with  the  present  by  tracing  ancestral  characteristics  through 
generations  of  improved  conditions  on  to  pursuits  both  within  the  gates  and  without 
-the  gates  of  woman.  But  there  is  an  era  to  which  I  must  go  back.  I  would  I  might 
faithfully  portray  life  in  Kentucky  during  the  long  interval  between  that  brave  girl's 
petition  for  enlightenment  and  the  possibilities  of  the  present.  We  did  not  call  our 
farms  plantations.  Broad  acres  stretched  on  every  side  and  negroes  tilled  the  soil. 
Mansions  of  brick  and  stone  loomed  up,  guarded  and  tended  by  well  trained  serving 
men  and  women  of  the  antebellum  time.  Children  clung  to  their  black  mammies  with 
a  love  that  has  no  exact  parallel  in  history;  and  here  let  me  say  that  many  a  white 
nursling  owes  health,  happiness  and  fine  disposition  to  the  good  influence  of  black 
mammy.     The  work  of  the  colored  woman  was  not  alone  the  drudgery  of  the  house. 


566  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN 

She  filled  a  higher,  holier  niche  in  countless  instances,  and  her  fidelity  was  almost  sub- 
lime. In  her  arms  the  little  ones  cried  "  Sanctuary,"  and  in  truth  the  tyrants  of  the 
home  were  likely  to  be  Aunt  Dinah  and  Old  Black  Joe. 

Larger  children  played  with  sable  mates.  Hospitality  reigned  with  princely  hand. 
Social  life  held  supremacy,  and  the  mistress  had  all  she  could  do  to  provide  for  her 
guests  and  for  the  well-being  of  her  dependents.  The  dying  arts  of  spinning  and  weaving 
were  turned  over  to  Aunt  Sallie,  who  still  rolled  out  yards  of  homespun  for  the  "  hands;'* 
but  once  her  wooly  head  was  laid  low  and  these  implements  of  early  thrift  were 
packed  away,  alongside  of  "  Uncle  Ned's  fiddle  and  de  bow."  The  mistress  trained 
and  taught  and  managed,  till  she  had  time  for  little  else.  True,  she  did  no  menial 
service.  Did  she  venture  with  industrious  intent  into  the  kitchen,  how  promptly  Old 
Aunt  Kitty  would  shake  her  beturbaned  head  and  cry,  "  Now  you  jist  go  right  along 
in  de  house,  Mistress;  I  ain't  guine  to  hab  yer  spilen  yer  pretty  white  ban's."  How  is 
it  now?  The  cooking  school  is  sending  forth  adepts  in  the  art,  and  the  pretty  white 
hands  are  of  secondary  consideration. 

The  aged  negroes  who  have  clung  with  child-like  trust  to  the  "  white  folks  "  are 
cared  for  while  they  live,  and  buried  when  they  die.  Not  from  the  cabin  door,  but 
from  the  wide  marble  portals  of  the  family  mansion.  Only  last  year  an  old  servant 
was  thus  buried  from  Dr.  H.  M.  Skillinan's  home  at  Lexington,  and  the  remains  lay 
in  state  in  their  handsome  parlors.  This  case  is  the  rule,  not  the  exception,  and  no 
will  is  ever  probated  but  a  legacy  is  found  therein  to  the  old  family  servants. 

Now  let  us  look  at  the  poor  relations  of  the  period;  the  old  maid  cousins  and 
aunts;  for  girls  were  old  maids  at  twenty  if  still  unmarried.  Not  one  would  dare 
express  her  wish  to  get  out  and  earn  a  living.  It  was  a  violation  of  social  caste.  She 
might  thus  bring  reproach  upon  rich  Aunt  Margaret.  She  was  welcome  to  abide  with 
rich  Aunt  Margaret  and  take  the  snubbing  that  chanced  to  her  lot.  She  might  bring 
up  every  one  of  the  children  till  decrepit  with  age,  and  get  an  unsystematic  sort  of 
providing  for  in  pay.  She  knew  absolutely  nothing  of  business.  Why  should  she  if 
she  was  gifted  with  a  voice,  she  did  not  dare  hear,  but  in  a  church  choir.  Oh,  no;  she 
might  sing  if  she  did  not  sing  too  loud,  for  this  though  a  bit  conspicuous  was  a  holy 
thing  to  do.  She  could  not  take  money  for  it;  on  no  account  must  she  earn  money. 
For  a  long  while  no  exception  was  made  in  favor  of  school  teaching.  She  might 
trim  bonnets  if  she  kept  her  shop  at  home;  or  if  married  and  abjectly  poor,  taking 
a  few  genteel  boarders  might  be  forgiven,  especially  if  that  little  evasive  fib  could 
pass  current,  that  she  was  doing  it  just  for  company.  But  there  was  a  perceptible  drop 
in  the  social  scale.  Young  women  if  caught  washing  dishes  were  talked  about.  The 
very  next  sewing  society  sat  on  the  case,  for  mind  you,  the  women  must  not  know 
anything  to  talk  about,  and  yet  they  were  held  fully  responsible.  Was  it  any  wonder 
that  tea-table  and  sewing-society  gossip  passed  into  a  proverb.  There  was  actually 
nothing  for  a  girl  to  do  but  get  married.  This  was  the  aim,  if  not  the  end,  of  her 
career.  .Old  Miss  Smith,  I  shall  call  her,  was  slave  in'  her  father's  house  all  her 
life.  She  attended  to  the  spinning,  the  weaving,  butter  making,  sheep  shearing,  hog- 
killing,  fruit  gathering,  pickling,  preserving,  and  all  the  rest  from  early  morn  to  late 
bedtime.  He  was  a  rich  man.  When  he  died  he  willed  all  his  property  to  his  well- 
to-do  sons, and  left  this  daughter  a  black  woman  and  one  old  mare.  The  old  maid 
mildly  lifted  up  her  voice  in  protest  when  the  will  was  read.  She  ventured  to  say  it 
was  not  fair;  at  least  she  did  not  think  it  was  fair.  "Why,  what  on  earth  do  you  want 
with  money?"  they  said.  "You  are  not  married,  you  have  no  family,  you  know  you 
are  to  take  turns  about  living  with  us."  And  whenever  they  saw  her  riding  up  on  her 
old  mare,  her  face  soured  and  disappointed  and  out  of  humor,  there  didn't  anybody 
enjoy  her  visit.  Now  a  father  dies  and  not  only  leaves  money  to  his  daughters,  but 
often  ties  it  up  so  that  their  husbands  can  not  touch  it.  Then  mothers  shielded  their 
daughters  from  menial  work,  and  would  not  even  acknowledge  that  they  were  help- 
ing. They  must  not  be  old  maids;  and  the  dread  of  having  to  spend  their  lives  irt 
weary,  thankless  pilgrimages  from  Brother  Joe's  to  Sister  Mary's  forces  many  a  high- 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  567 

spirited  girl  to  marry  John  Smith  and  risk  this  questionable  extension  of  her  liberty. 
Anything  to  avoid  being  thrown  on  the  kin.  Poor  girls,  they  would  gladly  have 
earned  their  living,  but  then  it  wasn't  genteel.  Sometimes  a  little  school  was  made 
up  in  the  family.  By  and  by  the  more  ambitious  were  sent  off  to  Philadelphia  or 
Baltimore  boarding  schools  to  be  finished  in  style;  so  to  keep  the  patronage  at  home 
seminaries  were  chartered  and  institutions  built;  but  the  teachers  had  to  come  from 
the  North.  The  Yankee  school,  more  in  jest  than  derision,  was  a  necessity  till,  as  her 
admirable  work  went  on,  no  other  teacher  could  win  the  respect  due  her  higher  culture. 
By  an  unreasoning  perversion  of  sentiment  the  Kentucky  girl,  who  was  thought  ever 
so  much  better  than  her  teacher,  was  not  considered  able  enough  to  take  charge  of 
a  school.  Then,  too,  you  heard  the  silly  mothers  who  had  been  made  dunces  from 
necessity,  remark,  in  the  sweet  bliss  of  ignorance:  "I  took  Mary  Eliza  away  before 
commencement — so  much  is  expected  of  a  graduate,  you  know."  How  is  it  now? 
The  normal  schools  are  flooding  the  country  with  capable  young  women.  The  once 
dangerous  forests  of  the  dark  and  bloody  ground  now  gleam  with  steeple  and  spire, 
and  not  one  of  Kentucky's  one  hundred  and  nineteen  counties  is  without  its  common 
school  fund,  and  women  are  being  admitted  to  the  school  boards.  Colleges,  universi- 
ties, institutes,  seminaries,  academies,  kindergartens,  whatever  the  name,  have  fol- 
lowed the  wake  of  railroads,  and  the  children  are  sure  of  intelligent  training  from  the 
state's  own  cultured  daughters.  The  loss  of  property  in  slaves,  and  in  devastated 
homes,  brought  a  change  that  was  destined  to  work  only  good.  Necessity  gradually 
came  to  elevate  honest  endeavor  and  open  the  way  for  woman's  buried  talent.  Par- 
don me  if  I  devote  a  paragraph  to  Mrs.  Nancy  Jennings  Dunlap,  who  was  very  dear 
to  me.  She  eminently  deserves  a  place  in  the  annals  of  Kentucky  women  She  came 
of  good  old  English  stock,  with  every  faculty  on  the  alert  for  whatever  was  new  and 
progressive,  for  all  that  led  onward  and  upward.  Married  at  fourteen,  her  education 
was  meager;  however,  it  included  music  and  painting,  and  she  had  ambition  and  energy 
and  took  up  her  burden  of  life  with  heroic  determination.  Forty  years  after  she 
could  look  back  upon  a  record  of  doing  such  as  few  can  recall.  She  was  the  mother 
of  eleven  children,  had  sewed  for  her  family  white  and  black,  educated  herself  with 
her  sons  and  daughters,  read  everything  that  was  published  in  that  day  of  compara- 
tively restricted  literature,  was  conversant  with  politics  and  every  public  movement, 
entertained  guests  literally  from  one  year's  end  to  another,  had  helped  scores  of 
people,  old  and  young,  to  better  their  conditions,  had  accompanied  her  husband  to  the 
state  legislature  and  to  Congress,  was  a  staunch  church  woman,  faithful  at  Sunday- 
school  during  many  years,  founder  of  the  Good  Templar  Order  in  her  native  place, 
and  a  devotee  to  higher  education.  She  w^as  always  well  dressed  and  ready  to  con- 
verse in  her  vivacious  way  upon  any  topic.  She  was  one  of  the  most  graceful,  popular 
leaders  in  the  state.  She  found  time  in  her  busy  life  to  travel  much  and  learn  from 
observation  as  from  the  books  she  so  loved,  and  when  at  the  early  age  of  fifty-three 
she  closed  her  eyes  upon  the  arena  of  so  much  industry  and  philanthropy,  she  had 
fulfilled  nearly  to  the  letter  the  Bible  portraiture  of  action  for  home  and  state. 

The  day  has  come  when  we  look  about  us  and  say,  "  It  is  good."  The  shackles 
of  repression  that  w^ere  forged,  not  by  intentional  injustice,  but  by  the  shortsighted 
spirit  of  the  times,  are  not  all  loosed;  nor  do  we  look  just  yet  for  a  millennium  of  free- 
dom from  social  prejudice.  But  the  daughters  of  the  house  are  filling  places  as  artists, 
musicians,  poets,  novelists,  teachers,  stenographers,  typewriters,  postmasters,  matrons, 
housekeepers  and  all  the  list  of  undisputed  territory.  They  are  slipping  the  leash 
day  by  day.  The  labors  of  Mrs.  Josephine  K.  Henry,  Mrs.  Mary  B.  Clay,  Miss  Laura 
Clay  and  others,  to  secure  equal  property  rights  for  Kentucky  women,  have  paved 
the  way  to  much  that  was  before  impracticable.  Their  places  shall  ever  be  honored 
in  the  archives  of  the  state.  Men  are  beginning  to  discriminate  between  usefulness 
and  unwomanliness.  The  press  is  falling  into  line,  and  we  read  that  Miss  Margaret 
Guthrie,  who  died  recently  at  the  age  of  ninety-four  years,  was  the  first  to  introduce 
the  cultivation  of  strawberries  in  Jefferson  County,  and  that  she  made  Si,ooo  on  her 


568  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

three-acre  patch.  We  read  of  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Mrs.  Allie  Hervy  Ballard,  who 
brought  the  refining  influence  of  music  into  the  Lexington  public  schools,  where  it 
has  flourished  for  three  years.  Miss  Elizabeth  Harrison,  of  Kentucky,  started  your 
Chicago  Kindergarten  Training  School,  now  a  college,  in  1885.  In'our  literary  exhibit 
on  these  grounds  is  a  pamphlet  upon  the  life  of  Mrs.  Julia  A.  Tevis,  the  pioneer 
teacher  at  Science  Hill,  Shelbyville,  which  school  she  carried  on  for  more  than  sixty 
years;  the  gifted  woman  who,  just  three  years  after  Susan  Taylor's  ambitious  essay 
in  1822,  opened  her  school  with  a  chemical  laboratory  in  the  building,  and  applied  to 
its  mysteries  the  female  intellect.  This  literary  exhibit  contains  also  volumes  in  prose 
and  poetry  from  Rosa  Vertner  Jeffrey,  a  brilliant  writer,  a  woman  of  great  beauty  and 
a  social  leader,  whose  pen  has  wielded  infinite  power.  Other  writers  on  the  list  are 
Sarah  Bryan  Piatt,  Catherine  A.  Warfield,  Amelia  B.  Welby,  Eliza  R.  Parker,  Alice 
Hawthorne  Mudd,  Nellie  Marshall  McAfee,  Annie  Chambers  Ketchum,  Ida  Goldsmith 
Morris,  Elvira  Sydnor  Miller,  Nellie  Talbot  Kinkead,  Florence  Griffith  Miller,  Sophie 
Fox  Sea,  Ida  Withers  Harrison  and  a  hundred  more  who,  from  the  sheltered  sanctum, 
have  moved  the  souls  and  molded  the  sentiment  of  mankind. 

Did  time  permit,  I  might  tell  you  of  our  marvelous  needle-women,  our  societies 
of  church  and  charity  workers,  our  "  King's  Daughters;"  our  missionaries,  led  by  that 
human  saint,  Sybil  Carter;  our  farmers,  with  Miss  Hannah  Burgin  in  the  van;  our  elo- 
cutionists, all  honor  to  Mrs.  Bessie  Miller  Oton;  our  kindergartens,  with  the  pioneer 
Mrs.  S.  S.  Higgins  and  Miss  Sallie  Adams  in  the  field;  our  physicians,  our  journalists 
and  lecturers.  I  should  tell  you  how  the  crowd  of  curious  auditors  flocked  to  hear 
Mrs.  Lula  Adams  Nield,  the  first  W.  C.  T.  U.  speaker  in  the  region;  how  her  modest 
and  quiet  voice  left  no  room  for  frivolous  comment.  How  the  white  ribbons  fluttered 
everywhere  to  the  rally  of  Mrs.  Frances  E.  Beauchamp.  Your  president,  Mrs.  Potter 
Palmer,  whose  energy  and  tact,  whose  wisdom  and  philanthropy,  made  the  Woman's 
Building  possible,  is  a  Kentucky  woman;  your  chairman,  Mrs.  James  P.  Eagle,  who 
has  presided  here  with  such  winning  grace  and  marked  intelligence,  is  a  Kentucky 
woman.  These  need  no  comment;  I  could  not  add  to  their  fame.  But  a  volume  would 
scarce  hold  them  all.  We  have  no  wish  to  be  manlike.  We  care  not  to  lose  our  right 
of  pleasing.  We  do  not  ask  liberty  of  our  individuality.  Fathers  and  brothers  are 
helping  us,  and  husbands  do  not  all  hold  back.  Society  looks  kindly  on,  and  the  rich 
girl  and  the  poor  girl  walk  side  by  side  where  only  dollars  and  cents  constitute  the 
distinction  between.  And  when  voice  and  pen  and  brain  and  hand  shall  have  filled 
our  boundaries  with  enlightened  views,  with  the  education  of  the  masses,  with  happi- 
ness at  the  fireside  and  with  universal  respect,  then  only  shall  it  be  said  of  Kentucky 
women,  "They  have  done  what  they  could."  Then  only  may  we  fold  our  draperies 
about  us  in  a  painless  sleep,  and  smilingly  say — 

"  My  old  Kentucky  home,  good-night." 


MEMBERS  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  LADY  MANAGERS. 


1.  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Cochran, 

Texas. 


2.  Mrs.  Ellen  M.  Chandler, 

Vermont. 


5.  Mrs.  Melissa  D.  Owings, 

Washington. 


4.  Mrs.  E.  S.  6.  Paol, 

Virginia. 

7   Mrs.  W.  Newton  Linch.  8.  Miss  Lily  Irene  Jackson, 

West  Virginia.  West  Virginia. 

10.  Mrs.  William  P.  Lynde,  11.  Mrs.  F.  H.  Harrison, 

Wisconsin.  Wyonwig. 


3.  Mrs.  John  Sergeant  Wise, 

Virginia. 

6.  Mrs.  Alice  Houghton, 

Washington. 

9.  Mrs.  Flora  Beall  Ginty, 

Wisconsin. 

12.  Mrs.  Frances  E.  Hale, 

Wyoming. 


JUSTICE  AND  FREEDOM  FOR  ALL* 

By  PRINCESS  M.  SCHAHOVSKOY. 

A  few  days  ago  I  was  asked  to  speak  on  the  following  quotation:  "Justice  and 
PVcedom  for  AH  are  Far  More  Desirable  than  Pedestals  for  a  Few."     I  was  unable  to 

do  it  then,  but  some  friends  having  read  the  few  ideas 
I  had  put  on  paper  I  was  particularly  asked  to  read 
them  to  you  this  morning. 

Freedom  and  justice  for  everyone  indeed.  Is 
there  anything  more  desirable  than  that,  if  those  who 
claim  it  know  how  to  take  advantage  of  these  two 
privileges?  Freedom  is  the  first  condition  of  each 
step  of  advancement,  and  justice  the  first  duty  of 
those  who  wish  to  avail  themselves  of  that  advance- 
ment. 

And  so  freedom  and  justice  become  the  condi- 
tions of  our  improvement;  but  improvement,  as  all 
development,  goes  step  by  step.  These  steps  of 
human  development  are  the  hard  and  arduous  con- 
quest of  a  few  who  give  the  example,  and  thus 
become  the  leaders  and  helpers  of  those  who  are 
more  weak  and  have  no  strength  to  raise  by  them- 
selves. The  highest  steps  of  this  ladder  of  progress 
we  poor  mortals  of  the  crowd  call  pedestals,  and  for- 
get that  they  are  but  footsteps  for  a  farther  way  up. 
Now,  if  freedom  and  justice  are  the  only  condi- 
tions of  advancement,  pedestals  are  the  only  way  to 
Yes,  pedestals  for  a  few  are  abnormal,  indeed;  not 
because  they  should  not  exist,  but  because  as  every  privilege  they  should  become  the 
aim  of  everybody.  So  let  us  not  regret  that  they  exist.  Let  us  never  put  a  man  on 
a  pedestal,  byt  whenever  he  himself  has  risen  higher  than  us,  then  let  us  strain  every 
effort  to  ourselves  rise  to  his  level. 

The  true  way  of  hero  worship  is  not  to  stay  in  passive  contemplation  and  burn 
the  incense  of  adulation  where  envy,  alas,  often  mixes  its  nauseous  fumes,  but  to  lift 
ourselves  in  a  joyful  movement  of  admiration  and  thankfulness  to  the  side  of  him 
who  showed  us  one  of  the  ways  of  perfection. 

For  my  part  there  is  no  pedestal  that  I  consider  so  high  that  its  height  could  pre- 
vent me  from  looking  up  to  it,  no  man  so  perfect  that  his  perfection  could  intimidate 
my  imitating  him,  and  no  man  so  low  that  he  should  give  up  all  hope  of  rising  him- 
self to  reach  a  pedestal. 

Princess  M.  Scbahovskoy,  maid  of  hoaor  to  Her  Imperial  Majesty,  the  Empress  of  Rassia,  was  the  Roesian  representa- 
tive at  the  Congress  of  Representative  Women  which  convened  in  Chicago,  III.,  in  1893,  Rnssian  Commipsioner  for  Woman's 
Work,  exhibited  in  the  Woman's  Building  at  the  Colombian  Exposition,  and  Jadge  of  Awards  in  the  Fine  Arts  Department 
of  same  Exposition.  Princess  Schahovskoy  is  a  sculptor  of  ability,  and  is  devot^  to  art  and  literature.  In  social  circles 
she  surrounds  herself  with  many  admirers  by  her  genial,  aflfable  and  charming  deportment. 

*The  full  title  under  which  the  address  was  delivered  was  "  Justice  and  Freedom  for  All  are  Far  More  Desirable  than 
Pedestals  for  a  Few." 


PRINCESS   M.  SCHAHOVSKOY. 


its   gradual   accomplishment. 


569 


WOMAN  IN  MUSIC. 


By  MRS.  GASTON  BOYD. 

It  is  interesting  in  tracing  the  development  of  woman  along  the  line  of  music  and 
the  change  of  sentiment  with  regard  to  her  capabilities,  to  consider  for  a  few  moments 

some  of  the  thoughts  contained  in  a  work  written 
upon  this  subject  in  the  year  i88o.  This  writer  says: 
"The  subject  naturally  divides  into  two  heads;  first, 
the  influence  of  women  in  encouraging  the  great  com- 
posers to  labor  and  inspiring  them  in  the  production 
of  their  finest  works;  second,  the  relation  of  woman 
to  the  performance  of  vocal  and  instrumental  music." 
The  writer  states  that  the  latter  branch  does  not  re- 
quire special  attention,  hardly  more  than  eulogistic 
reference  in  the  face  of  well-known  queens  of  song. 
But  of  the  former  branch  he  says:  "More  than  one 
immortal  work  of  music  may  be  traced  to  the  stead- 
fast love  and  thoughtful  care  of  woman  in  the  quiet 
duties  of  home  life."  This  is  emphatically  true  in  the 
same  sense  as  in  a  certain  response  once  given  by 
Mrs.  Ormiston  Chant.  After  one  of  her  characteristic 
addresses  upon  the  rightfulness  of  opening  to  woman 
every  avenue  of  employment  or  advancement  she 
cared  to  enter,  a  man  of  surly  aspect  and  illiterate 
speech  arose  and  made  objection  to  the  arguments 
and  statements  made  by  Mrs.  Chant.  He  said  woman 
was  not  so  intelligent  and  capable  as  man;  if  she  were, 
why  had  she  never  produced  a  Shakespeare?  To  which  Mrs.  Chant  responded:  "She 
has;  if  she  didn't,  who  did?"  It  is  in  this  sense  only  that  the  writer  to  whom  refer- 
ence is  made  seems  to  think  it  possible  that  woman  can  bear  any  relation  to  music  as 
a  composer.  He  says:  "  The  attachments  of  love,  the  bonds  of  friendship,  the  endear- 
ments of  home,  have  played  an  important  part  in  shaping  the  careers  of  the  great 
composers  and  in  giving  color,  form  and  direction  to  their  music."  No  one  would 
question  the  truth  of  this,  but  the  application  falls  far  short  when  it  attaches  the  bonds 
and  endearments  only  to  the  woman  and  the  noble  career  to  the  man. 

In  reading  his  work,  were  it  not  for  the  introduction  of  technical  terms,  one  might 
easily  conceive  he  was  reading  the  old  and  half-forgotten  theories  why  woman  could 
never  succeed  as  a  doctor,  as  a  lawyer,  as  a  banker,  as  a  voter,  or  in  any  of  the  many 
avenues  of  life  where  woman  has  demonstrated  her  ability  to  succeed. 

Listen  to  his  reasons  why  woman  can  never  succeed  as  a  composer:  "  She  lives  in 
emotion  and  acts  from  emotion.     When  the  emotions  lose  their  force  with  age,  her 

Mrs.  Gaston  Boyd  was  born  in  London,  England.  Her  father  was  a  descendant  of  William  the  Conqueror  and  her 
mother  of  the  House  of  Rutlands.  She  was  educated  while  young  by  eminent  private  teachers.  Upon  the  death  of  her 
parents  she  came  to  America,  was  graduated  from  the  Boston  Conservatory  of  Music,  from  Mt.  Carroll  Seminary,  and  after- 
ward studied  with  Madam  Hall,  Lyman  Wheeler  and  Charles  R.  Adams.  In  London  her  studies  were  continued  with  Madam 
Abbott  and  with  Randigger.  She  has  traveled  extensively  in  this  country  and  abroad.  She  married  Gaston  Boyd,  M.  D.,  of 
Newton,  Kan.,  in  1387,  resigning  her  position  as  head  of  the  Department  of  Music  in  Bethany  College,  Topeka,  Kan.,  upon 
that  event.  She  was  appointed  member  of  the  World's  Advising  Council  of  Music,  and  president  of  the  Kansas  World's 
Fair  Music  Board.  She  is  a  professor  of  music,  director  of  music  in  the  public  schools,  director  of  the  Newton  Musical  Union 
and  director  of  St.  Mathews  Church  choir.  Mrs.  Boyd  is  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  Her  postoffice  address  is 
Newton.  Kan. 

570 


MRS.   GASTON    BOYD. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  571 

musical  powers  weaken.  Man  controls  his  emotions  and  can  give  an  outward  expres- 
sion of  them.  In  woman  they  are  the  dominating  element.  There  is  another  phase 
of  the  feminine  character  which  may  bear  upon  the  solution  of  this  problem,  and  that 
is  the  inability  of  woman  to  endure  the  discouragements  of  the  composer  and  to  battle 
with  the  prejudice  and  indifference,  and  sometimes  with  the  malicious  opposition  of 
the  world  that  obstructs  his  progress.  If  her  triumph  could  be  instant;  if  work  after 
work  were  not  to  be  assailed,  scoffed  at  and  rejected;  if  she  were  not  liable  to  personal 
abuse,  to  the  indifference  of  her  own  sex  on  the  one  hand  and  masculine  injustice  on 
the  other,  there  would  be  more  hope  of  her  success  in  composition." 

One  quality  heretofore  accorded  to  the  feminine  nature  is  that  of  endurance.  If 
we  go  back  to  the  history  of  the  early  Christian  Church  we  surely  find  no  indication 
of  the  want  of  endurance  on  the  part  of  woman.  One  has  but  to  look  out  over  the 
world  to-day  to  realize  that  it  is  the  woman  rather  than  the  man  who  is  distinguished 
in  the  exercise  of  this  qualification.  Indeed,  the  progressive  spirit  of  woman  often 
meets  with  the  rebuff  that  it  is  man's  province  to  achieve,  woman's  to  endure. 

If  we  wish  an  instance  of  one  who  through  scoffs,  discouragements,  indifference 
of  her  own  sex  on  the  one  hand  and  masculine  injustice  on  the  other,  where  can  we 
find  a  more  shining  example  of  the  steadfast  and  courageous  pursuit  of  the  object  to 
be  attained  than  in  the  life  and  labors  of  Susan  B.  Anthony?  It  can  hardly  be  said 
of  her  that  she  lives  in  emotion  and  acts  from  emotion. 

At  what  age  the  emotions  are  supposed  to  lose  their  force  is  not  stated;  but  he  is 
a  manly  man,  indeed,  who,  of  the  years  of  Miss  Anthony,  evinces  as  great  interest  and 
activity  in  the  vital  questions  of  the  day;  in  the  future  of  the  young  people  of  our 
land;  in  the  present  good  of  the  humblest  of  her  sisters.  It  may  be  urged  that  Miss 
Anthony  is  an  exception.  So  are  the  great  composers  exceptions  who  are  said  to 
require,  pre-eminently,  these  elements  of  character.  But  in  so  far  as  these  character- 
istics are  necessary  to  the  ability  of  musical  composition  in  its  highest  form,  woman 
is  more  richly  endowed  than  her  brother,  man. 

Still  another  reason  why  woman  can  never  succeed  as  a  composer  is  that  woman 
reaches  results  mainly  by  intuition.  "  Her  susceptibility  to  impressions  and  her  finely 
tempered  organization  enable  her  to  feel  and  perceive  where  man  has  to  reach  results 
by  the  slow  process  of  reason."  You  who  have  heard  Rev.  Anna  Shaw  illustrate  in 
her  inimitable  way  the  difference  of  reaching  a  result  by  reason  or  by  intuition  will 
enjoy  this  illusion. 

Acknowledging  the  list  of  female  composers  found  in  the  appendix  of  his  work, 
this  writer  asserts:  "  But  of  all  the  works  written  by  these  numerous  composers, 
hardly  one  is  known  to  the  lyric  stage  today,"  and  that  the  indisputable  reason  there- 
for is,  that  having  had  equal  advantages  with  men,  they  have  failed  as  composers. 
Inasmuch  as  this  is  found  in  a  revised  edition  of  the  work  published  last  year,  the 
entire  statement  is  open  to  question.  The  defense  of  our  sisters  may  safely  be  left 
to  their  own  achievements.  An  argument  against  their  ability  is  as  interesting  read- 
ing at  this  date  as  was  the  elaborate  proof  published  years  ago  that  an  ocean  steam- 
ship was  an  impossibility ;  which  publication  was  brought  from  England  to  these  shores 
in  the  impossible  steamship. 

No;  it  is  to  the  assertion  relative  to  the  equal  conditions  that  your  attention  is 
called.  It  is  that,  having  had  equal  advantages  with  men,  they  have  failed.  Let  us 
find,  if  we  can  by  our  female  intuition,  the  masculine  reasoning  through  which  he 
establishes  such  a  conclusion.  He  says:  "  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  nearly  all  the 
great  music  of  the  world  has  been  produced  in  humble  life  and  has  been  developed 
amid  the  environments  of  poverty  and  in  the  stern  struggle  for  existence."  "The 
enduring  music  has  been  the  child  of  poverty,  the  outcome  of  sorrow,  the  apotheosis 
of  suffering."  "  In  this  sphere  of  life,  where  music  seems  to  have  had  its  origin,  the 
lot  of  woman  is  bounded  by  homely  but  unremitting  cares.  Her  existence  is  mainly 
devoted  to  the  same  tedious  routine  of  labor  from  the  rising  to  the  setting  sun"  (he 
might  well  have  added  several  more  hours;  the  birth  and  rearing  of  children,  sickness, 


572  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

« 

nursing,  care  of  family  often  make  her  hours  of  labor  from  sun  to  sun  again),  "  which 
has  few  intervals  of  relaxation,  certainly  no  leisure  for  musical  effort.  Its  demands 
are  so  exacting  that  she  has  neither  time  nor  disposition  for  theoretical  application 
which  musical  composition  requires."  In  this  birthplace  of  the  higher  forms  of  musi- 
cal composition  the  writer  affirms  that  woman  is  so  hampered  by  labor  and  excessive 
family  care,  that  no  time  and  no  spirit  is  possible  for  effort  were  she  ever  so  capable 
in  this  direction.  It  is  she  who  must  prepare  the  scant  food;  who  must  clothe  the 
children  with  a  scanty  provision  of  cloth;  who  not  only  shares  the  food  she  needs  for 
her  subsistence,  but  gives  from  her  own  veins  the  nourishment  for  his  child.  Our 
female  intuition  would  lead  us  to  the  conclusion  that  this  masculine  reasoning  is  quite 
adverse  to  the  stated  prevision.  He  acknowledges  that  Sebastian  Bach  was  the  son 
of  a  hireling  musician;  Beethoven's  father  a  dissipated  singer;  that  Cherubini  came 
from  the  lowest  and  poorest  ranks  of  life;  that  Gluck  was  a  forrester's  son;  Haydn's 
father,  a  wheelright;  Handel,  the  son  of  a  barber;  Rossini's  father,  a  miserable, 
strolling  horn-player,  who  led  a  wild,  Bohemian  life;  Schubert  was  the  son  of  a  poor 
schoolmaster;  Schumann,  a  bookseller's  son;  Verdi,  the  son  of  a  peasant;  Wagner's 
father,  a  petty  municipal  officer  of  little  account  as  a  man. 

Now,  these  dissipated  singers,  these  barbers,  bakers  and  basket  makers;  these 
hireling  musicians,  by  a  process  of  reasoning  known  only  to  the  masculine  mind,  have 
transmitted  to  their  sons  the  stanch  faithfulness  to  a  high  purpose  in  life,  the 
unswerving  patience  to  endure  poverty,  discouragement,  scoffs  and  bitter  disappoint- 
ments necessary  to  the  composer 

Female  intuition  sees  with  lightning  glance  the  life  of  the  wife  tied  to  these  loose- 
principled,  dissipated,  shiftless  fathers  of  our  great  composers.  It  sees  the  crushed 
hopes,  the  privations,  the  toil,  the  endurance;  the  birth  of  the  holy  mother-love  while 
yet  the  child  be  not  in  her  arms;  the  heavenly  love  awakening  in  her  soul  as  the 
infant  lies  upon  her  bosom.  All  the  poetry,  all  the  passion,  all  the  suffering  of  her 
poor  heart  given  day  by  day  to  the  child  she  has  borne;  perchance,  the  greatest  hap- 
piness she  has  known,  the  pitiful  pride  of  her  heart  in  the  notes  of  the  strolling  singer 
or  the  dissipated  horn-blower,  the  father.  If  the  lives  and  hearts  of  the  mothers  of 
our  great  composers  were  laid  bare  it  might  not  be  difficult  to  trace  the  primary  source 
of  their  genius  and  poetic  temperament. 

In  reading  the  lives  of  our  great  composers,  one  is  struck  with  the  determination 
with  which  the  boys  were  urged  or  compelled  to  earnest  study,  to  incessant  practice, 
to  the  development  in  every  possible  way  of  the  talent  evinced;  but  we  do  not  read 
of  the  same  parental  anxiety  and  effort  for  the  girls  of  the  family.  Nor  can  one 
believe  that  with  the  same  pre-natal  conditions,  with  similar  environment,  the  musical 
genius  was  always  wanting  in  the  daughter.  But  custom,  tradition,  public  sentiment, 
all  required  the  subservience  of  the  girl  to  a  simple  domestic  life,  and  the  discourage- 
ment of  any  efforts  toward  a  place  for  herself  in  the  world.  As  these  old  traditions 
lose  their  power,  as  custom  recedes  before  the  onward  march  of  achievement,  as  pub- 
lic sentiment  is  revolutionized  by  the  more  numerous  womanly  woman  who  discovers 
she  has  brain  as  well  as  bread-making  ability,  it  may  be  thought  worth  while  by  par- 
ents to  make  equal  sacrifice  and  bestow  as  great  effort  to  keep  her  well  on  the  road 
toward  the  highest  point  of  possible  development.  Until  this  is  done  woman  will  not 
have  had  equal  advantages  with  man,  nor  can  her  ability  as  a  composer  of  music  be 
judged  from  the  same  standpoint. 

It  is  not  necessary  in  this  paper  to  give  a  list  of  the  women  who  have  achieved 
success  as  composers  of  music,  nor  to  relate  what  works  have  been  written  by  them. 
It  is  of  more  importance  to  direct  our  thoughts  toward  the  future  and  discern  what 
may  be  done  toward  the  highest  development  of  the  creative  power. 

It  has  been  said  that  woman  would  possibly  have  flooded  the  world  with  harmony, 
as  she  has  with  song,  if  music  vv^ere  only  an  object  of  the  perceptions  or  a  matter  of 
instinct;  if  it  simply  addressed  itself  to  the  senses;  if  it  were  but  an  art  composed  of 
ravishing  melody;  of  passionate  outbursts;  of  the  attributes  of  joy,  grief,  exaltation 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  573- 

and  vague,  dreamy  sensations  without  any  determinate  ideas;  but  music  is  all  this  and 
more,  for  these  are  only  effects.  It  is  a  science  which,  in.  its  highest  form,  is  "  merci- 
lessly logical  and  unrelentingly  mathematical."  One  must  toil  unceasingly  and 
patiently  continue  the  most  rigid  application  to  achieve  freedom  in  the  correct 
expression  of  poetical  thought.  Theoretical  enigmas,  mathematical  problems,  must 
be  mastered,  and  the  same  intellectual  activities  must  be  brought  to  bear  as  in  the 
acquisition  of  any  other  exact  science.  The  unbeliever  in  woman's  ability  says:  "  For 
these  and  many  other  reasons  growing  out  of  the  peculiar  organization  of  woman,  the 
sphere  in  which  she  moves,  the  training  she  receives  and  the  duties  she  has  to  fulfill,. 
it  does  not  seem  that  woman  will  ever  originate  music  in  its  fullest  and  grandest  har- 
monic forms."  But  we  who  believe  in  her,  say,  if  her  sphere  revolves  in  the  atmos- 
phere of  fashion,  dress,  display,  society;  if  her  musical  training  be  to  fit  her  for  social 
distinction  or  professional  notoriety;  if  her  duties  be  such  as  will  limit  her  freedom  or 
opportunities  for  the  highest  development  of  her  powers,  then  we  may  look  in  vain 
for  the  materialization  of  her  innate  capabilities.  That  the  physical  force,  the  mind, 
the  soul,  necessary  for  this  consummation  is  given  to  woman,  as  well  as  to  man,  we 
can  not  doubt.  When  mothers  come  to  regard  a  musical  education  for  their  daughters 
as  something  more  serious  than  a  drawing-room  accomplishment,  something  higher 
than  a  stage  attraction,  then  we  may  look  for  that  environment,  that  attachment  of 
love,  that  bond  of  friendship,  the  endearments  of  home  which  will  play  an  important 
part  in  shaping  the  career  of  woman  in  Music. 


THE  TEMPTED  WOMAN. 

By  MRS.  ISABEL  WING  LAKE. 

When  a  detached  corps  of  "  Wellington's  "  army  sent  a  message  to  him,  asking 
for  reinforcements,  the  reply  came  back,  "  None  to  spare!"     Later  the  general  rode 

down  to  cheer  them  by  his  presence,  and  the 
shout  arose,  "There's  the  commander  himself;  better 
than  a  whole  battalion!"  I  have  been  laboring  for 
the  past  six  years  among  the  "  tempted  women"  of 
Chicago,  but  of  late,  for  a  few  months  at  least,  I  have 
been  presenting  this  great  matter  (great  in  point  of 
numbers,  great  in  density  of  sin,  great  in  the  need  of 
this  suffering  class),  to  the  churches,  and  asking  for 
reinforcements — Christian  women  as  workers  in  this 
deserted  field.  But  again  and  again  have  I  been  met 
by  the  response,  "  None  to  spare,  none  to  spare!" 
until  I  have  had  to  look  up  and  confess,  "  Oh,  my 
Father,  Thou  art  better  than  a  whole  battalion,  and  I 
will  leave  with  Thee  this  band  of  Christian  women,  to 
have  planted  in  their  hearts  a  hunger  so  deep  and 
strong  to  see  this  awful  social  cancer  wiped  out  of 
our  land,  that  ere  long  they  will  join  the  ranks!" 
Why  is  it,  oh,  my  sisters,  that  this  branch  of  work  in 
the  vineyard  is  so  spurned,  so  ignored  by  the  Church 
of  God? 

As  I  look  upon  this  grand  assembly  of  represent- 

MRS.   ISABEL  WING  LAKE.  .        .  Til  r       i  i 

ative  women  1  wonder  how  many  of  them  nave  ever 
spent  an  hour — one  single  hour — of  their  lives  in  digging  out  from  the  debris  of  super- 
stition, rebellion,  lying,  theft,  swearing,  drinking,  and  often  murder,  these  misguided, 
imprisoned  sisters  of  ours;  prisoners  often  to  the  chain  of  circumstances  that  they 
can  not  break  without  our  help,  and  they  will  sink  lower  each  day  if  we  do  not  throw 
out  the  life-line.  Jean  Ingelow  says,  "  What  if  she  did  strive  to  mend  and  none  of 
you  believed  her  strife?  What  if  this  sinner  wept  and  none  of  you  comforted  her?" 
I  feel  there  is  no  sin  in  the  category  of  crimes  that  carries  with  it  such  a  trail  of 
woes.  I  do  not  wonder  that  the  Bible  says,  "  Whoredom  and  wine  take  away  the 
heart;"  and  need  we  question  when  we  find  it  a  difificult  matter  to  redeem  an  aban- 
doned woman  when  the  very  heart  is  eaten  out?  I  have  asked  myself  when  in  the 
presence  of  one  of  these  poor  besotted  creatures  if  there  were  left  anything  but  the 
animal.  I  did  not  know  where  to  touch  her  and,  indeed,  I  never  can,  with  any  per- 
manent results,  until  that  woman  has  a  new  heart  to  commence  life  with,  in  which 
there  can  be  no  seed  of  the  old  appetite  left;  and  God  must  do  it,  I  can  not.  I  do  not 
know  any  other  way.  I  have  followed  cunningly  devised  plans  of  wiser  heads;  I  have 
run  after  the  methods  of  institutions  of  reform;  I  have  joined  myself  to  the  philan- 

Mrs.  Isabel  Wing  Lake  is  a  native  of  Monroe,  Mich.  She  was  born  in  the  year  1851.  Her  parents  were  Judge  Warner 
Wing  and  Eliza  Anderson  Wing.  She  was  educated  at  Monroe  Female  Seminary,  and  graduated  in  a  collegiate  course  after- 
ward. She  also  attended  one  year  a  German  school.  She  has  traveled  throughout  America.  She  married  Charles  C.  Lake,  of 
Chicago,  in  1877.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  tempted  women.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  varied 
newspaper  contributions.  The  aim  of  Mrs.  Lake's  life  is  to  make  an  open  door  for  erring  women,  so  that  the  victim  of 
impurity  and  of  drink  may  know  that  there  is  womanly  tenderness  and  help  awaiting  her — the  comforts  of  home  and  the 
prayerful  counsels  of  true  friends,  who  are  interested  in  the  fullness  of  their  souls  in  her  eternal  salvation.  In  religious 
faith  Mrs.  Lake  is  a  Baptist.    Her  postoffice  address  is  No.  3441  Calumet  Avenue,  Chicago,  lU. 

674 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  575 

thropic  leaders,  but  to  no  avail,  only  to  find  myself  afloat,  with  these  poor,  drowning 
sufferers  clutching  for  life  to  my  garments;  and  I  could  not  pull  them  to  shore.  But 
today  1  am  glad,  so  glad  to  tell  you  we  have  found  a  way,  the  only  one  I  have  ever 
seen,  to  really  rescue  from  a  life  of  shame  these  girls,  and  that  is  to  love  them.  Yes, 
we  may  love  their  sin  to  death.  That  great  man,  Talfourd,  delivering  his  final  verdict 
to  the  jury,  in  these  dying  words  said:  "What  the  masses  want  is  not  kindness,  but 
sympathy,"  In  my  efforts  at  one  time  to  point  a  frenzied  woman  up  to  better  things, 
she  said  to  me:  "  Mrs.  Lake,  if  you  can,  go  from  shore  to  shore  and  tell  the  people  the 
way  to  save  us  is  to  love  us."  I  believe  this  to  be  the  magic  key  to  success  in  the 
work. 

The  life  in  Chicago  does  not  differ  materially  from  that  in  New  York,  St.  Louis, 
Denver,  San  Francisco,  etc.  In  Leadville  I  found  it  carried  on  more  openly  than 
elsewhere.  In  Washington,  with  "principalities  and  powers,"  it  is  rampant.  But  I 
have  felt  so  earnestly  that  if  the  Church  of  God  would  everywhere  put  her  hand  upon 
it  as  a  part  of  her  "  home  missionary  "  work,  its  downfall  would  be  sure.  They  say  to 
me,  "they  never  stand;"  "so  few  are  rescued.'  This  very  argument  is  accusative. 
Drop  the  question,  oh  Church  of  the  living  Christ,  because  it  is  not  solved,  because  it 
is  a  most  difficult  one  to  handle?  No,  no!  If  this  post  is  held  by  the  arch-enemy  of 
our  souls,  may  it  not  be  for  the  very  reason  of  our  inactivity  in  the  matter?  Are  we 
guiltless  then  of  the  blood  of  our  sister  in  the  gutter?  Is  it  none  of  our  business  that 
she  lies  groveling  there?  Let  the- church  bombard  these  forts  and  take  them  all  for 
God,  and  at  any  cost,  each  church  sending  one  woman,  at  least,  into  this  work  to 
report  the  awful  condition  of  things  to  the  Christian  women  of  our  country, 
willingly  ignorant  of  the  entrapping  snare,  and  they  will  not  longer  attire  themselves 
in  flotsam  and  jetsam,  meeting  once  a  month  to  regulate  work  for  mission  workers 
hundreds  of  miles  away;  but  would  themselves,  with  ungloved  hands,  be  active  mis- 
sionaries; not  deserting  foreign  fields — oh  no,  do  not  misunderstand  me — but  do  this 
first,  and  then  know  better  how  to  feel  for  our  far-away  co-laborers. 

Last  year  in  our  sin-sick  city  of  Chicago  alone,  there  came  under  the  care  of  our 
police  matron,  women  and  children  numbering  over  thirty-one  thousand.  This  is 
startling;  but  visit  our  hospitals  and  reformatories,  and  examine  for  yourselves  the 
formidable  facts.  Let  them  from  their  beds  of  pain  in  the  hospital,  or  the  few  remain- 
ing days  of  their  lives  at  the  poor-house,  pour  into  your  ears  their  tale  of  woe.  Then, 
mother,  fall  upon  your  knees  and  plead  for  mercy  in  that  you  never  knew  before  what 
you  might  do  for  other  mothers'  daughters.  Shall  we  not  be  more  faithful  in  this 
matter,  faithful  to  the  community,  faithful  to  our  sons  and  daughters,  faithful  to  our 
God  in  the  solemn  vows  in  which  we  are  pledged  to  His  service?  I  wish  I  might  tell 
you  of  some  most  heart-rending  cases  that  have  come  under  my  observation,  but  if  we 
had  great  cathedral-like  souls  that  would  soar  up  and  up  until  we  were  in  touch  with 
God  in  this  pressing  matter,  you  would  know  it  all.  I  leave  the  matter  in  your  hands. 
Do  with  it  as  you  will.  Know  only  that  the  answer  will  come  back  to  you  if  you  will 
but  honestly  ask,  "  Lord,  what  wilt  Thou  have  me  to  do? " 


ST.  CATHERINE  OF  SIENA.    1 347-1 380. 

By  the  HON.  MRS.  ARTHUR  PELHAM. 

To  grasp  the  true  significance  of  history  we  should  endeavor  to  look  beneath  the 
surface  of  the  current  accounts  of  remarkable  events,  which  are  found  in  ordinary  his- 
tory books,  and  in  the  effort  to  do  this,  nothing  is  of  more  assistance  than  the  careful, 
sympathetic  consideration  of  the  thoughts  and  habits  of  individual  men  and  women 
as  recorded  by  themselves  in  their  writings,  buildings,  paintings,  and  other  handiwork. 

We  have  chosen  today  a  woman  of  the  fourteenth  century,  St.  Catherine  of  Siena, 
as  our  center  of  interest,  with  the  idea  that  dwelling  upon  the  personal  records  which 
we  possess  of  her  life  may  assist  us  in  freshening  and  vivifying  our  conceptions  of  his- 
tory, and  may  possibly  be  found  to  have  some  bearing  on  the  problems  of  the  present 
day. 

We  think  that  there  will  be  found  much  of  real  living  interest  in  the  life  of  Cath- 
erine, the  "  Beata  Popolana  "  of  the  Republic  of  Siena — the  city  peacemaker.  She  was 
the  correspondent  and  counselor  of  popes  and  queens,  of  proud  churchmen  and 
nobles,  of  independent  plebeian  magistrates  and  lavvless  captains  of  mercenary  troops. 
The  true  value  and  significance  of  the  life  of  Catherine  of  Siena  has  lately  been 
rescued  from  the  atmosphere  of  legend,  which  had  too  long  obscured  it,  by  Mrs. 
Josephine  Butler's  admirable  biography,  and  a  delightful  essay  by  the  late  Mr. 
Symonds  on  Siena  and  St.  Catherine, 

Catherine,  one  of  the  twenty-five  children  of  Giacome  Benincasa,  a  dyer  of  Siena, 
was  born  in  1347  and  died  in  1380.  She  was,  therefore,  a  contemporary  of  Chaucer, 
Petrarch,  Boccaccio,  Froissart,  Wycliffe,  Edward  III.  of  England  and  Philippa  of 
Hainault.     One  hundred  years  before  Columbus  started  for  Portugal  she  died. 

She  successfully  resisted  the  desire  of  her  parents  that  she  should  marry  at  the 
age  of  twelve,  and  after  a  short  period  of  domestic  persecution  was  allowed  to  follow 
her  own  inclinations  in  the  adoption  of  a  life  of  retirement  and  prayer.  At  the  age  of 
sixteen  she  became  a  member  of  the  third  order  of  St.  Dominic,  wearing  the  Domini- 
can habit,  but  living  at  home  and  not  bound  by  monastic  vows. 

At  seventeen  years  of  age  she  represented  herself  as  having  received  a  Divine 
inspiration  to  mix  more  with  the  world, and  though  this  at  first  seemed  contrary  to  her 
idea  of  a  religious  life,  she  obeyed  the  impulse,  and  henceforth  joined  in  family  life, 
and  devoted  much  of  her  time  to  labors  among  the  sick  and  poor.  Her  desire  and 
power  to  preach  became  so  strong  as  to  overcome  the  prejudices  of  religious  ideas 
and  mediaeval  customs.  We  find  interesting  traces  in  her  writings  of  the  mental 
struggles  she  went  through  on  this  subject,  and  allusions  in  her  biographies  show  that 
she  began  to  make  evangelizing  journeys  in  the  neighborhood  during  this  period. 

In  1368  there  was  a  great  revolution  in  Siena,  and  we  now  first  hear  of  Catherine, 
aged  twenty-one,  as  employed  as  peacemaker  between  various  factions  and  persons, 
and  of  her  addressing  two  thousand   people  in  the  streets,  cohorting  them  to  peace. 

It  must  have  been  at  this  time  (1370)  that  she  taught  herself  to  read  and  write, 
for  she  received  no  instruction  of  this  sort  in  her  youth.  It  is  hardly  surprising  that 
her  biographers  regarded  her  literary  attainments  as  miraculous,  when  we  find  that  in 
spite  of  this  drawback  she  is  included  by  some  writers  as  among  those  who  formed 
the  Italian  language.  She  wrote  some  poems  of  merit,  but  her  letters,  her  "  dialogue," 
or  spiritual  auto-biography  and  her  written  prayers  are  the  chief  evidences  of  her 
literary  merit. 

Catherine's  active  life  in  her  native  city  continued,  and  we  have  interesting  details 
in  her  own  words  and  those  of  her  contemporary  biographers,  of  her  power  and 

576 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  577 

influence  with  persons  of  all  classes,  with  accounts  of  several  notable  persons  whose 
lives  were  totally  changed  by  her  exhortations  to  peace  and  virtue,  and  descriptions 
of  her  consolations  to  prisoners  and  criminals  on  the  scaffold,  and  of  her  visits  to  the 
wives  and  families  of  exiled  nobles.  A  letter  from  her  to  the  magistrates  of  Siena, 
in  answer  to  one  from  them  complaining  of  the  length  of  her  visit  to  the  noble  family 
of  Salimbene,  is  extremely  interesting,  as  showing  the  jealousy  that  existed  between 
classes. 

In  the  year  1374  Italy  was  devastated  by  the  great  plague,  described  by  Boccaccio 
and  other  contemporary  writers.  Eighty  thousand  people  are  said  to  have  died  in 
Siena,  and  the  town  has  never  since  recovered  its  former  prosperity.  Catherine 
became  specially  distinguished  at  this  time,  both  by  her  unwearied  exertions  among 
the  stricken  population,  and  by  the  power  of  her  faith  and  prayers  in  restoring  health 
and  courage  to  many  of  those  attacked. 

It  is  after  the  subsidence  of  this  epidemic,  in  the  year  1375,  that  we  first  hear  of 
her  work  in  the  wider  sphere  of  national  politics. 

The  spirit  of  war  and  discord  was  at  this  time  greatly  stimulated  by  the  presence 
in  Italy  of  large  troops  of  foreign  mercenary  soldiers.  The  old  wars,  though  terribly 
frequent,  and  bitter  enough  while  they  lasted,  had  the  advantage  of  being,  as  a  rule, 
limited  in  duration,  as  the  soldiers  were  citizens  engaged  in  trades  and  occupations  of 
their  own,  and  after  a  few  days'  campaign  were  anxious  to  return  to  their  own  busi- 
ness. One  decisive  battle,  therefore,  often  settled  the  point  in  dispute,  and  tribute 
having  been  exacted,  or  other  humiliations  imposed  upon  the  vanquished,  the  adher- 
ents of  the  defeated  party  being  exiled  and  their  goods  confiscated,  everything  went 
on  very  much  as  before.  But  such  was  not  now  the  case.  In  1370,  wars  in  Italy 
increased  in  frequency  and  duration  until  they  became  almost  incessant,  and  the  pres- 
ence of  these  large  troops  of  mercenary  soldiers  made  peace  almost  more  terrible  than 
war.  Catherine's  first  object  seems  to  have  been  to  free  Italy  from  this  heavy  burden, 
and  by  turning  this  restless  fighting  spirit  into  a  legitimate  channel  by  the  old 
mediaeval  idea  of  a  crusade.  She  visited  Pisa  at  this  time  and  there  met  the  ambas- 
sador of  the  Queen  of  Cyprus  on  his  way  to  entreat  the  assistance  of  the  Pope  against 
the  Turks,  who  had  invaded  the  territory  of  that  queen. 

Catherine  seems  to  have  at  once  thrown  herself  warmly  into  this  project  and  to 
have  devoted  herself  for  many  hours  each  day  to  writing  letters  to  the  principal  peo- 
ple throughout  Italy,  endeavoring  to  inspire  them  with  her  own  enthusiasm.  What- 
ever may  be  our  own  feelings  as  to  the  merits  of  this  idea,  these  letters  are  full  of 
,  interest  and  throw  much  light  upon  the  ideas  and  feelings  of  the  men  and  women  of 
that  day,  and  on  the  motives  underlying  the  so-called  "  Holy  Wars."  We  must  now 
pass  rapidly  over  the  most  important  and  best  known  events  of  Catherine's  life,  her 
employment  by  the  Republic  of  Florence,  in  the  year  1376,  as  ambassador  on  their 
behalf  to  the  Pope,  Gregory  XI.,  at  Avignon.  It  is  a  matter  of  history  that  the  influ- 
ence of  Catherine  had  great  part  in  the  Pope's  final  decision  to  return  to  Rome,  and 
records  of  her  conversations  with  Gregory,  which  were  made  at  the  time,  show  us  the 
practical  qualities  gained  in  her  experience  as  an  artisan's  daughter,  and  a  citizen  of  a 
free  republican  city. 

The  continued  appreciation  of  her  services  is  shown  by  her  being  again  employed 
as  ambassador  between  the  Pope  and  Florence,  and  by  her  success  in  this  capacity, 
first  under  Gregory  and  finally  under  his  successor.  Urban  VI.  And  we  need  not 
think  that  Catherine's  influence  can  be  accounted  for  by  the  weakness  and  ultra  refine- 
ment of  Gregory's  character,  for  Urban  VI.,  a  man  of  a  very  different  disposition,  who 
had  first  made  her  acquaintance  at  Avignon,  equally  valued  and  appreciated  her  ser- 
vices. We  feel  that  Catherine,  among  whose  favorite  words  were  "  virile  "  and  "  viril- 
ment,"  and  who  constantly  exhorted  women  as  well  as  men  to  act  in  a  courageous, 
strong,  manly  spirit,  must  have  had  much  more  real  sympathy  with  the  stern  and 
uncompromising  Urban  than  with  the  gentle  and  irresolute  Gregory.  We  can  not 
dwell  upon  the  close  of  Catherine's  life,  the  last  eighteen  months  of  which  were  spent 

(37) 


578  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

in  Rome  by  command  of  Pope  Urban,  in  unwearied  labors  for  the  unity  and  reform  of 
the  Church  and  the  peace  of  Italy.  We  hear  of  her  addressing  the  assembled  Cardi- 
nals in  the  Consistory,  on  the  Schism  and  other  Church  questions,  the  Pope  himself 
summing  up  her  remarks,  and  giving  frank  expression  to  the  encouragement  and  help 
which  he  himself  derived  from  her  advice.  Catherine  is  said  to  have  ruled  in  Rome  at 
this  time;  she  had  daily  interviews  with  the  magistrates  and  chiefs  of  the  army  and 
other  prominent  citizens,  and  also,  assisted  by  her  faithful  band  of  followers,  visited 
daily  the  prisons  and  hospitals.  Her  pen  seems  to  have  been  never  idle,  and  her  last 
letters  are  of  great  interest  both  from  a  political  and  a  human  point  of  view. 

The  chronicler  of  her  last  moments  gives  us  no  account  of  miraculous  ecstasies 
or  visions,  but  tells  us  of  her  humble  estimation  of  herself  and  of  her  continual  prayers 
for  others.  She  died  on  April  29,  1380,  and  was  buried  in  the  Church  of  the  Minerva, 
at  Rome,  her  head  being  later  removed  to  Siena  and  deposited  in  her  own  dearly- 
loved  Church  of  St.  Dominic.  She  was  canonized  as  a  saint  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  in  the  year  1461,  eighty-one  years  after  her  death. 

The  memory  of  Catherine  has  never  ceased  to  be  cherished  in  her  native  city. 
The  mothers  still  teach  their  children  one  of  her  prayers,  and  many  other  traces  of 
her  real  existence  may  still  be  found  and  separated  from  the  legends  and  supersti- 
tions which  so  easily  grow  up  around  the  memories  of  those  who  rise  above  the  com- 
mon level  of  humanity.  What  conclusions  may  be  drawn  from  this  outline  of  a  woman's 
life?  Leaving  aside  many  points  of  great  interest,  suggested  by  a  closer  study 
of  Catherine's  life  and  writings,  may  we  select  as  a  close  to  this  brief  sketch,  and  as 
appropriate  to  our  present  purpose,  the  three  following: 

First.  Mediaeval  saints  will  usually  be  found  upon  closer  inspection  to  have  really 
been  saints,  but  not  widely  differing  from  what  men  and  women  have  been,  and  still 
may  be,  in  the  present  day;  and  we  need  a  new  Acta  Sanctorum  for  the  use  of  the  pres- 
ent day,  with  the  lives  of  the  saints  as  they  really  were,  free  from  legend  and  mira- 
cle, and  including  all  whose  influence  has  made  for  righteousness. 

Second.  Catherine  was  eminently  a  political  woman,  and  owed  her  influence  and 
power  to  the  honorable  and  direct  qualities  of  her  individual  character  and  strength  of 
principle,  and  not  to  the  indirect  ones  of  rank  or  beauty.  Such  women  prove  better 
than  arguments  that  there  may  be  a  place  for  women  in  politics,  and  suggest  that  they 
may  be  even  necessary  for  the  government  of  the  perfect  state. 

Third.     Studies  of  this  description  make  us  feel  the  unity  of  the  ages,  as  we  perceive 
men  and  women  in  all  times  working  together  for  the  advancement  of  the  world;  liv- 
ing for  the  improvement  of  their  own  age,  and  giving  expression  to  its  best  thoughts; 
and  dying  in  the  faith  that  their  work  will  be  carried  on  by  future  generations.  "Their* 
works  do  follow  them." 

We  feel  that  we  who  enter  into  their  labors  should  enjoy  and  appreciate  them,  be 
grateful  for  them,  and  be  encouraged  by  them  to  labor  to  do  our  own  part  in  working 
for  our  own  generation,  and  in  increasing  and  handing  on  the  heritage  which  we  have 
received  from  the  men  and  women  of  bygone  days. 


FOUR  MONTHS  IN  OLD  MEXICO. 

By  MRS.  CAROLINE  WESTCOTT  ROMNEY. 

LAU  rights  reserved.] 

The  exigencies  of  life  in  the  development  of  a  new  country  by  a  comparatively 
poor  people  have  been  such  as  to  necessitate  frequent  changes  of  abode  among  the 

citizens  of  the  United  States.  The  young  men,  as  a 
rule,  have  been  obliged  to  leave  their  Eastern  homes 
on  coming  of  age,  or  before,  to  carve  out  their  own 
individual  fortunes  farther  and  farther  West,  with  each 
succeeding  generation.  The  result  is  that,  as  a  peo- 
ple, we  have  imbibed  a  love  for  change  and  adven- 
turous undertaking  far  beyond  anything  known  among 
European  nations.  Like  the  Greeks  of  old  we  are 
constantly  seeking  "  some  new  thing."  Let  anything 
be  but  novel,  and  we  immediately  lose  our  heads  until 
we  are  able  to  see  it  or  experience  it. 

Where  everything  is  so  exceedingly  new  as  in  our 

own  country,  especially  here  in  the  West,  it  is  getting 

to  be  a  difficult  matter  to  find  anything  newer,  a  really 

f        "'  "  '  "  fresh  experience.      In   fact,   paradoxical    as    it   may 

'  —^ sound,  "  the  old  "  alone  can  now  be  "the  novel"  to  us. 

A  magnificent  store  of  unmined  wealth  in  this  direc- 
tion lies  at  our  very  doors,  almost  unexplored  by 
Americans,  in  the  neighboring  republic  of  Mexico, 
where  everything  is  as  unique  and  different  from  what 
we  are  accustomed  to  in  our  own  land  as  though  it 
were  on  a  different  planet. 
It  is  a  land  of  extremes,  of  deserts  and  paradises,  of  rugged  mountains  and  of 
beautiful  tropical  valleys.  The  tablelands  of  the  interior,  averaging  several  thousand 
feet  in  altitude  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  produce  the  grains  and  fruits  of  the  temper- 
ate zones,  while  the  Tierra  Caliente,  or  Hot  Land,  teems  with  the  most  luscious  fruits 
and  other  precious  products  of  the  tropics. 

When  it  comes  to  scenic  attractions,  some  portions  of  Mexico  surpass  the  world. 
Not  only  is  nature  so  prodigal  in  her  gifts,  so  beautiful  and  inviting,  but  the  people 
and  their  manners  and  customs  offer  a  most  interesting  field  of  observation. 

I  have  made  two  visits  to  Mexico,  which  occupied  upward  of  four  months  of  time, 
during  which  I  visited  in  detail  no  less  than  twenty-seven  different  cities  and  towns. 
I  will  say  right  here,  that  of  all  the  twenty-seven  places  visited,  there  was  not  one 
whose  streets  were  not  paved,  not  one  (with  one  exception)  which  was  not  supplied  with 
water-works,  generally  consisting  of  stone  aqueducts  built  hundreds  of  years  ago,  con- 
ducting the  water  from  sources  in  the  neighboring  mountains,  not  one  that  did  not  have 
its  public  baths,  not  one  whose  streets  were  not  paved  and  lighted,  some  with  elec- 
tricity, some  with  gas  and  some  with  oil  lamps;  not  one  that  did  not  have  its  native 

Mrs.  Caroline  Westcott  Romney  was  born  at  Clyde,  Wayne  County,  N.  Y.  Her  parents  were  Hon.  J.  N.  West- 
cott  and  Sophronia  Willar.l  Westcott.  She  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Ohio,  and  at  home  by  her  father,  who  was 
a  very  fine  scholar.  She  studied  Latin  and  Greek  under  his  tuition,  and  has  traveled  in  Europe,  Old  Mexico  and  nearly  all 
over  the  United  States.  She  married  Mr.  John  Romney  in  1876,  and  was  left  a  widow  the  same  year.  As  a  journalist  she  is  a 
voluminous  writer.  She  has  invented  and  exhibited  at  the  Columbian  Exposition  filters,  conservers  of  heat  and  cold,  and  other 
inventions  of  value  and  importance  to  economic  and  comfortable  housekeeping.  In  religious  faith  she  is  an  Episcopalian. 
Her  postoffice  address  is  Chicago,  111. 

579 


MRS.  CAROLINE    WESTCOTT  ROMNEY. 


580  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

band;  not  one  that  did  not  have  from  one  to  four  plazas  or  public  squares,  ornamented 
with  trees,  flowers  and  fountains;  and  many  of  them  also  paseos  of  greater  or  less 
length,  corresponding  with  our  boulevards,  consisting  of  double  drives,  bridle-paths 
and  walks,  separated  by  narrow  patches  of  ground  planted  like  a  park  with  trees, 
grass  and  flowers,  and  frequently  ornamented  with  fountains. 

In  the  city  of  Pueblo  the  old  paseo  has  no  less  than  nine  passage-ways  for  car- 
riages, horsemen  and  pedestrians,  alternating,  with  the  little  parks  between. 

The  shortness  of  the  paseo  in  general  has  given  rise  to  the  fashion  of  riding  and 
driving  slowly,  or  on  a  walk,  backward  and  forward  many  times  in  order  to  see  and  be 
seen,  as  in  Hyde  Park,  London.  The  Grand  Paseo  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  however, 
is  an  exception  to  this  rule,  owing  to  its  greater  length.  A  more  brilliant  or  pictur- 
esque scene  could  scarcely  be  imagined  than  it  presents  at  about  5  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  especially  on  Sundays  and  holidays,  with  its  glittering  array  of  fine  car- 
riages freighted  with  beauty  and  fashion,  and  gaily  caparisoned  horses  whose  riders 
are  frequently  arrayed  in  the  national  garb  with  embroidered  jackets  and  trousers,  or 
at  least  leggings  decorated  with  silver  or  gilt  braid  and  buttons,  or  rows  of  small  silver 
bells,  and  broad  sombreros  heavy  with  gold  or  silver  cord. 

Mexico,  for  the  most  part,  it  will  be  remembered,  consists  of  a  great  mountain 
plateau  ranging  from  about  4,000  to  8,000  or  g,ooo  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

The  climate,  except  in  the  Tierra  Caliente,  is  charming,  and  even  the  Hot  Land 
affords  great  variety  of  climate,  owing  to  local  causes.  That  portion  bordering  on 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  is  generally  heavily  timbered,  humid  and  unhealthful,  whereas 
that  part  on  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  the  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  California  has  a  dry  and 
healthful  climate,  yellow  fever,  the  pest  of  the  eastern  coast,  and  kindred  diseases 
being  practically  unknown.  Owing  to  the  trend  of  the  mountain  ranges,  and  the  direc- 
tion of  the  prevailing  winds  in  summer,  the  climate  is  not  nearly  so  hot  there  as  on  the 
eastern  coast. 

The  temperature  on  the  table-land  varies  according  to  the  altitude,  from  the  semi- 
tropic  to  the  temperate,  but  in  the  main  is  most  delightful,  neither  too  hot  nor  too 
cold;  in  neither  respect  being  subject  to  the  extremes  of  our  western  states  and  terri- 
tories. The  greater  altitude,  the  frequent  showers  and  the  narrowing  of  the  continent, 
which  permits  of  effects  from  the  ocean  breezes  on  both  coasts  reaching  far  into  the 
interior,  render  the  climate  on  the  central  plateau  much  more  moderate  than  in  the 
adjoining  portions  of  the  United  States,  and  on  the  whole  one  of  the  most  delightful 
on  earth. 

The  rainy  season  is  really  the  most  charming  portion  of  the  year,  a  season  resem- 
bling, somewhat,  our  April  weather.  As  irrigation  is  necessary  during  all  other  por- 
tions of  the  year,  and  that  can  be  applied  only  to  limited  sections  on  account  of  an 
insufficient  water  supply  for  the  whole  country,  it  will  readily  be  seen  that  Mexico  is 
never  so  attractive  as  during  the  rainy  season.  The  dust  is  effectually  laid,  rendering 
travel  more  pleasant  Most  travelers  go  to  Mexico  in  March — a  disagreeable  month 
everywhere  in  the  world,  and  one  of  the  hottest  in  Mexico. 

My  greatest  surprise  in  Mexico  was  in  the  people  themselves.  We  are  too  apt  to 
condemn  what  is  strange  or  unaccustomed,  and  I  must  confess  to  having  had  more  or 
less  prejudice  against  the  Mexican  people,  derived,  probably,  from  casual  contact  on 
the  borders  with  so-called  •'  Greasers."  They  are  not  idle  and  \?izy  per  se,  as  they  are 
generally  represented  to  be,  but  only  idle  and  lazy  as  compared  with  Americans. 
Cradled  in  the  lap  of  a  luxurious  and  generous  nature,  they  lake  life  pretty  much  as 
they  find  it,  while  we  Americans  are  an  epitome  of  the  age  of  steam,  doing  the  work  of 
centuries  in  a  decade,  but  lacking  all  the  sweet  repose  of  calm  content  which  charac- 
terizes our  brethren  across  the  border.  Who  shall  say  which  life  is  the  more  divine; 
or  is  the  charm  of  the  one  a  mere  matter  of  contrast,  a  grateful  change  from  what  we 
know  and  are  weary  of?  They  are  industrious  and  faithful  when  they  do  work,  but 
their  activity  is  one  of  ebb  and  flow.  They  don't  work  when  it  isn't  necessary.  They 
love  holidays  and  sitting  in  the  sun.     They  act  on  the  principle  that  they  have  all 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  581 

eternity  before  thehi,  and  there  is  no  use  in  being  in  such  a  tremendous  hurry.  The 
world  was  not  made  in  a  day.  Why  crowd  the  centuries?  The  result  is  they  do  not 
wear  themselves  out,  as  we  do,  who  call  ourselves  Americans — a  title  which  belongs 
equally  to  them,  however— but  in  many  instances  live  to  an  age  unknown  on  this  side 
of  the  line.  Centenarians  are  not  at  all  uncommon,  and  many  exceed  that  age  by 
ten,  twenty  and  even  forty  years.  It  may  be  a  case,  however,  of  "  a  century  of  Europe  " 
being  worth  "  a  cycle  of  Cathay." 

If  one  member  of  a  Mexican  family  of  the  lower  class  is  earning  money  the  rest 
can  idle  and  be  sure  of  their  share  of  it.  Sometimes  it  is  one  and  sometimes  another 
who  does  the  wage  earning.  Even  a  stranger,  if  in  need,  is  taken  in  and  cared  for  in 
the  same  fashion,  and  if  ill,  treated  with  a  kindness  and  consideration  that  knows  no 
bounds. 

The  hospitality  of  the  better  classes  is  well  known.  The  visitor  is  told  that  the 
house  is  his  own — in  fact,  everything  is  his.  If  he  admires  anything  he  is  immediately 
presented  with  it;  not  that  he  is  really  expected  to  accept  it.  It  is  all  equivalent  to 
our  fashion,  I  suppose,  of  telling  people  to  make  themselves  at  home,  only  given  with 
more  gusto.  The  men  kiss  each  other  when  they  meet  upon  special  occasions,  and 
the  women  embrace  and  kiss  on  the  cheek. 

Through  an  English  lady  who  had  lived  in  Mexico  for  twenty-seven  years,  and 
knew  all  of  the  first  families,  and  to  whom  I  had  a  letter  of  introduction,  I  met  a 
number  of  Mexico's  aristocracy,  whom  I  found  very  agreeable,  very  refined,  and 
possessed  of  the  finest  manners.  We  Americans  are  inclined  to  look  down  upon  the 
Mexicans  as  inferior  to  ourselves.  They  return  the  compliment  by  looking  down 
upon  us.  They  admire  our  smartness,  our  inventive  genius,  and  business  enterprise 
and  push;  but  regard  us  as  uncultured  barbarians  when  it  comes  to  literary  attainments 
and  the  amenities  of  life,  in  which  respect  they  consider  themselves  vastly  our 
superiors.     In  manners  we  may  well  give  them  the  palm. 

The  women  of  the  better  classes  are  refined,  and  many  of  them  accomplished  in 
many  ways,  especially  in  music  and  the  languages,  although  not  thoroughly  educated 
like  American  women  of  the  same  classes.  My  English  lady  friend,  just  referred  to, 
pronounces  them  the  sweetest  women  she  ever  knew,  the  best  wives  and  mothers,  and 
says  she  prefers  them  to  her  own  countrywomen.  That  is  probably  an  exaggerated 
view,  arising  from  the  fact  that  she  has  been  so  long  absent  from  her  own  people. 

The  mothers  and  daughters  are  closely  attached  and  always  together;  whereas 
the  sons  break  away  early  from  maternal  restraints,  and  are  made  much  of  and 
taken  about  by  the  fathers,  who  take  great  pride  in  dressing  them  finely  and 
showing  them  off. 

The  Indians  and  lower  classes  of  Mexicans  I  found  everywhere  to  be  as  amiable 
and  kind,  gentle  and  courteous,  as  their  betters  in  social  standing.  They  are  good  to 
their  own.  No  family  permits  any  of  its  poor  relations,  or  poorer  relations  (for  all 
are  poor)  to  suffer.  All  such  have  a  welcome,  not  to  the  family  hearth  or  the  family 
chimney  corner,  but  to  shelter  under  the  family  roof  tree,  no  matter  how  contracted 
it  may  be,  and  a  share  of  the  tortillas  and  frijolis,  no  matter  how  limited  the  store. 

It  is  a  great  mistake  to  think  that  the  Mexicans  are  not  cultured.  Many  of  the 
wealthy  classes  have  been  educated  abroad,  and  their  higher  schools  and  colleges  are 
of  a  superior  order,  and  education  is  held  in  the  greatest  possible  esteem. 

The  City  of  Mexico  has  not  only  its  literary  colleges,  but  colleges  of  law,  medi- 
cine, technology,  commercial  colleges,  a  conservatory  of  music,  etc.,  and  among 
others  I  saw  one,  with  a  sign  over  the  door,  reading  "  CoUegio  de  Polemica  " — College 
of  Polemics.  It  also  has  art  schools  (one  for  women  as  well  as  men,  for  co-education 
is  not  yet  introduced  in  Mexico,  not  even  in  the  public  primary  schools),  which 
have  been  in  existence  for  about  the  same  length  of  time. 

The  public  schools,  however,  are  the  hope  of  the  country,  which  are  free  in  all 
the  grades,  including  the  highest,  and  the  curriculum  of  studies  pursued  would  astonish 
the  opponents  of  "  the  fads  "  in  our  Chicago  public  schools,  who  think  Mexico  so  much 


582  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

• 

behind  the  times.  The  writer  was  much  astonished  in  visiting  a  secondary  school  for 
girls  at  Aguas  Calientes,  with  pupils  ranging  from  eight  to  fourteen  years  of  age,  to 
find  taught,  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  branches  of  a  common-school  education, 
English  and  French,  drawing  (with  a  room  full  of  models),  music  (both  vocal  and 
instrumental,  with  instruments  for  practice),  fine  needlework  and  embroidery,  and 
decorative  penmanship,  each  with  a  special  teacher,  and  telegraphy  and  photography 
(with  full  apparatus),  the  schoolhouse  being  a  new  one,  but  one-story  in  height,  and 
built  around  an  open  court.  Where  in  the  United  States  could  such  a  curriculum  be 
found  in  a  free  public  school? 

The  Mexicans  are  natural  artists  in  all  lines,  and  when  I  say  Mexicans  I  mean  the 
mixed  race  of  Indian  and  Spanish  blood;  for  they  are  the  people  of  Mexico,  the  ruling 
class,  the  statesmen,  the  scholars, the  artists,  the  everything  that  is  good  and  promising 
and  progressive  in  Mexico.  A  native-born  Spaniard  can  not  even  hold  office  in  Mexico 
under  the  constitution,  so  great  is  the  hatred  of  that  nation  born  and  bred  in  the 
people  whom  they  oppressed  for  so  many  centuries.  This  feature  is  mutual.  Those 
of  pure  Spanish  blood  look  down  upon  and  despise  the  Mestizos,  and  the  Mesitzo  can 
not  find  words  to  express  his  contempt  and  hatred  of  the  Spanish.  Altimiranti,  a 
noted  statesman,  who  died  a  few  years  since  and  who  was  a  full-blooded  Indian,  said 
that  if  he  knew  that  he  had  a  drop  of  Spanish  blood  in  his  veins  he  would  open  them 
and  let  it  out. 

Juarez,  the  greatest  President  Mexico  ever  had,  was  a  full-blooded  Indian.  Diaz, 
the  present  progressive  President,  has  a  large  admixture  of  Indian  blood,  and  is  a 
very  handsome  man  of  his  type.     The  same  is  true  of  all  of  Mexico's  great  men. 

The  Indians  of  Mexico  are  not  of  the  same  race  as  our  red  Indians  of  the  United 
States,  however,  it  must  be  remembered,  but  of  a  higher  and  more  civilized  type,  as  a 
a  rule,  although  there  are  many  Indian  races  in  Mexico  who  differ  greatly  in  point  of 
development  and  in  racial  peculiarities.  Cortez  recognized  nine  distinct  races.  Some 
are  of  a  very  low  type;  some  of  a  very  high  type. 

In  the  state  of  Oaxaca,  to  the  southeast  of  the  state  of  Mexico,  the  native  popu- 
lation is  of  a  very  high  order.  The  capital  of  the  state  of  Oaxaca  is  also  called 
"  Oaxaca,"  and  presents  the  anomaly  of  a  city  of  forty  thousand  inhabitants,  without 
even  a  carriage  road  giving  access  to  it. 

This  isolated  city  has  its  own  university  and  has  produced  more  great  men  than 
any  other  in  Mexico.  Juarez  came  from  Oaxaca,  and  was  a  graduate  of  its  university. 
The  same  is  true  of  Diaz,  the  present  President,  and  of  Senor  Matteo  Romero,  the 
accomplished  Mexican  Minister  at  Washington  for  so  many  years  past,  the  latter  two 
being  Meztizos  or  Mexicans,  and  the  former,  as  before  stated  having  been  an  Indian. 

Another  great  center  of  letters  and  art,  second  only  to  the  City  of  Mexico,  if 
indeed  it  does  not  lead  it  in  this  respect,  is  the  City  of  Guadalajara,  the  capital  of  the 
state  of  Jalisco,  on  the  Pacific  slope,  off  to  the  northwest  of  Mexico. 

The  Mexicans  are  also  a  nation  of  musicians.  No  town  or  village  of  any  size  is 
without  its  string  band,  many  of  the  instruments  being  of  native  manufacture.  Even 
the  pure-blooded  Indians  are  almost  universally  musicians  and  make  their  own  instru- 
ments. 

The  Indian  women  are  also  expert  in  many  kinds  of  fancy-work;  embroidering 
with  feathers,  ante-dating  Cortez;  and  the  fine  drawn-thread  needlework  of  Mexico, 
which  is  so  much  admired,  is  wrought  by  them,  some  of  it  being  so  delicate,  that  it  can 
only  be  done  at  midday  with  the  work  held  between  the  eyes  and  the  sun.  This  is  not 
an  accomplishment  learned  from  the  Spanish,  as  I  understand  it,  but  is  a  native 
acquirement  of  the  Indian  women  themselves. 

I  went  to  Mexico  entirely  unattended.  I  was  the  first  American  lady,  or  lady  of 
any  other  nation,  so  far  as  I  could  learn,  who  ever  went  through  the  country  in  that 
way,  stopping  over  at  the  various  cities  and  visiting  them,  as  I  would  in  any  other 
country.  The  camareros  (chambermaids)  are  all  men,  and  contrary  to  the  generally 
received  opinion  that  they  are  all  thieves,  I  never  had  a  pin's  worth  taken  from  me 
during  my  four  months' sojourn  in  Mexico. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  583 

Respectable  Mexican  ladies  do  not  go  on  the  street  unaccompanied  by  some 
other  female,  as  a  rule,  even  though  escorted  by  a  husband  or  brother,  as  people  may 
not  know  that  he  is  a  husband  or  brother.  A  duenna  accompanies  her,  or  a  female 
servant  trots  along  in  the  rear.  This  rule  is  adhered  to  very  strictly  in  the  provincial 
towns,  but  is  beginning  to  be  ignored,  to  some  extent,  in  the  City  of  Mexico;  some 
especially  strong-minded  Mexican  ladies  asserting  their  independence  of  suspicion,  by 
adopting  the  American  custom  in  this  respect. 

Upon  my  first  visit  to  a  city,  I  generally  hired  a  mozo  (male  servant)  who  would 
consider  two  reals  (twenty-five  cents)  a  day,  ample  compensation,  and  twice  that 
amount,  princely  remuneration  for  his  services,  to  go  about  with  me  for  a  day  or  two, 
to  show  me  the  way,  and  carry  my  packages,  as  the  Mexican  cities  are  like  most  of  those 
of  Europe,  not  regularly  laid  out ;  the  City  of  Mexico  itself,  however,  being  an  exception 
to  the  rule,  although  even  there,  the  names  of  the  streets,  even  when  continuous, 
change  every  two  or  three  blocks,  as  they  do  everywhere  in  Mexico,  which  increases 
the  difificulty  of  finding  one's  way  about. 

The  religion  of  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of  Mexico,  is  the  Roman  Catholic. 
It  is  pre-eminently  a  country  of  churches.  No  village,  however  small,  is  without  one, 
or  perhaps  two  or  three,  and  even  the  open  country  frequently  shows  an  isolated 
church  crowning  some  distant  hill.  Time  was  when  the  church  virtually  ruled  the 
state;  owned  about  a  third  of  the  property  in  the  whole  country,  and  at  least  a  quarter 
of  the  City  of  Mexico  itself;  was  the  banker  of  the  people;  in  fact,  was  so  powerful 
that  it  dictated  terms  to  the  government. 

Under  such  circumstances  any  institution  would  become  corrupt,  and  the  church 
was  no  exception.  In  1859,  Juarez^  then  President,  issued  a  protiunciame?ito  con- 
fiscating the  church  property,  all  except  churches  in  actual  use,  and  a  house  for  the 
priests.  This  may  strike  you  as  a  singular  provision,  but  where  there  were  so  many 
churches  (one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  in  the  City  of  Mexico  alone,  and  forty  in  the 
little  city  of  Queretaro — containing  no  more  than  forty  thousand  inhabitants),  there 
were  many  not  in  use  for  public  services.  All  convents  and  monasteries  were  sup- 
pressed, their  property  confiscated,  and  the  members  of  the  orders  compelled  to  dis- 
band or  leave  the  country.     The  Jesuits  were  banished  altogether. 

This  confiscation  of  the  church  property  to  the  people,  however,  has  not  turned 
out  well,  as  a  rule.  If  the  fine  old  convent  buildings  could  have  been  appropriated  by 
the  state,  and  transformed  into  hospitals,  schools  and  eleemosynary  institutions  gen- 
erally, it  would  have  resulted  in  saving,  to  worthy  uses,  a  vast  aggregation  of  valuable, 
and  in  many  cases,  magnificent  buildings,  which  are  fast  falling   into  decay. 

The  common  people  in  Mexico  are  generally  Catholics,  but  the  ruling  class — at 
least  the  men — are  generally  free-thinkers.  Their  wives  and  children,  however,  are, 
as  a  rule,  Roman  Catholics.  Men  in  Mexico,  as  elsewhere,  seem  to  like  to  have 
their  wives  and  children  (at  least,  female  children)  religious,  whatever  they  may  be 
themselves. 

The  Protestant  movement  has  made  considerable  headway  in  some  portions  of 
Mexico.  It  had  its  origin  in  the  State  and  City  of  Oaxaca,  for  it  commenced  in 
Mexico,  as  everywhere  else,  from  within,  and  among  pure-blooded  Indians,  an  evan- 
gelical society  having  been  formed,  with  its  president  and  secretary,  and  regular 
meetings  held  for  a  long  time  before  any  Protestant  missionary  set  foot  in  Mexico; 
but  its  converts  are  confined  almost  exclusively  to  the  so-called  lower  classes,  the 
Episcopal  Church  alone  having  made  any  progress  with  the  aristocratic  and  cultured 
classes,  and  that  only  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  where  it  owns  the  fine  old  church  of 
the  Franciscans,  a  native  minister  officiating,  and  counts  a  number  of  ex-Catholic 
priests  among  its  converts. 

The  Presbyterians,  Congregationalists  and  Baptists  have  also  made  respectable 
headway  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  as  well  as  in  some  of  the  provincial  towns. 

The  abandoned  convents  make  fine  ruins,  although  it  fills  one  with  sadness  to 
see  such  valuable  property — the  result  of  so  much  effort  on  the  part  of  man — going 


584  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

to  waste.  One  beautiful  old  convent  that  I  visited  in  Queretaro,  that  of  San  Augustin, 
had  all  of  the  arches  of  the  upper  and  lower  corridors,  surrounding  the  patio,  of 
elaborately  carved  stone.  Washwomen  were  pursuing  their  avocation  about  the  cen- 
tral fountain,  and  donkeys  wandered  in  and  out  of  the  abandoned  ground-floor  rooms; 
but  they  are  not  all  thus  deserted.  There  is  occasionally  a  convent  which  is  still  put 
to  valuable  uses.  Some  have  been  converted  into  hotels,  like  the  Hotel  del  Jardin,  in 
the  City  of  Mexico,  which  is  the  old  refectory  of  the  Franciscan  Convent,  and  built 
around  the  beautiful  old  convent  garden  which  gives  it  its  name. 

The  Hotel  Zacatecano,  at  Zacatecas,  is  another  converted  convent.  To  the  Amer- 
ican the  building  itself  is  a  most  delightful  surprise.  It  was  a  portion  of  the  church 
property  confiscated  under  Juarez  in  1859,  and  is  a  most  beautiful  specimen  of  Moorish 
architecture.  It  is  about  three  centuries  old,  having  been  begun  in  1576  and  completed 
in  1596. 

One  realizes  the  ancientness  of  these  border  cities  of  Mexico,  with  their  convents 
and  churches,  when  one  stops  to  reflect  that  Christian  church  bells  were  ringing  in 
Chihuahua  and  Zacatecas  nearly  fifty  years  before  the  Pilgrims  set  foot  on  Plymouth 
Rock;  and  not  only  in  Old  Mexico,  but  on  what  is  now  our  own  side  of  the  Rio  Grande, 
at  Yslete,  Tex.,  as  well  as  at  Santa  Fe,  N.  M.,  not  much  later,  and  long  before  the 
Pilgrims  held  their  first  Thanksgiving. 

But  to  return  to  my  convent.  It  is  built  around  an  open  court  or  patio,  entered 
from  the  street  by  means  of  an  arched  and  paved  carriage-way,  and  surrounded  on 
both  the  lower  and  upper  stories  by  arched  corridors,  open  on  the  inner  side,  around 
which  all  of  the  rooms  are  ranged,  opening  upon  it  by  means  of  great,  heavy,  wooden 
double  doors,  both  the  jambs  and  lintels  of  which  are  of  solid  stone,  with  caps  sup- 
ported by  carved  stone  brackets.  The  arches  of  the  corridors  are  the  most  beautiful 
part  of  the  structure. 

The  pillars  supporting  the  arches,  and  the  arches  themselves,  are  of  carved  stone, 
Hispano-Morisco  and  Aztec  symbols  appearing  conjointly  in  the  decorations;  pilas- 
ters, representing  the  rising  flame  of  the  Aztec  sacred  fires,  being  cut  in  relief  upon 
the  face  of  the  pillars,  with  mystic  Arabic  designs  above.  Even  in  the  City  of  Mexico 
itself  no  such  beautiful  court  as  this  exists. 

Both  court  and  corridors  are  paved  with  tile,  as  are  all  of  the  rooms  in  the  house 
as  well.  Trees,  shrubs  and  flowering  plants  of  many  kinds  are  arranged  about  the 
patio,  set  in  earthenware  vases,  tubs  and  casks,  and  an  octa.gona.\  jardi/iiere,  with  its 
shelves  similarly  filled,  rises  in  a  pyramid  in  the  middle,  crowned  with  a  statue  repre- 
senting, one  would  imagine,  the  Mexican  Minerva,  her  head  adorned  with  a  chaplet  of 
cactus  leaves,  and  a  sword  in  her  hand. 

The  roof  of  the  building  is  flat,  with  great  domes  rising  on  two  sides  and  smaller 
ones  at  the  four  corners.  The  walls  are  fully  four  feet  through,  and  the  rooms  have 
lofty  ceilings  and  are  much  larger  than  in  most  ^rst-class  American  hotels.  So  it 
seems  the  monks  were  not  cramped  for  room  when  within  the  confines  of  their  cells. 

Heavy  shutters,  made  of  some  wood  which,  like  that  of  the  doors,  is  seemingly  as 
hard  as  iron,  close  the  double  windows.  When  these  shutters  are  closed  and  barred, 
and  the  key  ( nearly  a  foot  long),  turned  in  the  rusty  lock,  which  one  is  sure  no  burglar's 
tools  can  pick,  on  account  of  the  weight  of  the  key  if  for  no  other  reason,  one  feels  as 
secure  against  intrusion  from  the  evilly  disposed  as  though  in  a  veritable  fortress.  In 
fact  these  ancient  convents  and  churches  served  a  double  purpose  in  the  old  days, 
being  places  of  refuge  for  the  people — actually  fortresses  of  defense — as  well  as  relig- 
ious retreats,  and  their  strength  was  often  put  to  the  test,  even  up  to  a  very  recent 
period. 

At  Guadelupe,  a  suburb  of  Zacatecas,  five  miles  distant,  an  old  convent  is  con- 
verted into  a  hospicio  para  ninos — an  asylum  for  boys — where  two  hundred  orphans  are 
learning  all  sorts  of  trades,  etc.,  besides  receiving  a  regular  schooling  in  text  books. 

Don  Jose  M.  Mirandi,  a  very  courtly  and  handsome  gentleman,  and  a  man  of 
great  wealth,  and  who,  as  I  understand,  acts  in  this  capacity  through  philanthropy 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  585 

alone,  is  director  of  tne  hospicio,  and  took  the  utmost  pains  to  have  me  see  the  work- 
ings of  the  institution  in  detail. 

The  pupils  of  musical  talents  have  been  formed  into  an  orchestra  and  supplied 
with  brass  instruments.  They  meet  at  four  o'clock  every  afternoon  in  a  large  hall, 
under  the  tuition  of  Don  Bernabe  Santoyo  of  Zacatecas,  director  de  miisica  del  Hos- 
picio. I  was  so  fortunate  as  to  be  present  at  this  hour,  and  to  my  mingled  surprise  and 
delight,  doubtless  by  prearrangement  of  Director  Miranda,  the  band  struck  up  "  The 
Star  Spangled  Banner  "  as  I  made  my  appearance,  in  honor  of  La  Americana,  only 
one  of  the  numerous  instances  I  witnessed  while  in  Mexico  of  the  graceful  gallantry  of 
these  charming  people.  The  boys  of  this  school  also  receive  a  military  training, 
being  divided  into  companies,  uniformed  and  supplied  with  arms. 

In  the  rear  of  all  the  buildings  are  extensive  huertas  (gardens),  where  vegetables 
and  fruits  are  raised.  It  is  said  that  this  orphanage  owns  a  barra,  or  twenty-fourth 
share  in  the  great  San  Rafael  mine,  from  which  it  derives  a  very  large  annual  income, 
sufficient  to  pay  all  of  the  expenses  of  the  institution. 

In  front  of  the  church  and  orphanage  is  a  beautiful  public  garden  filled  with  rare 
trees  and  flowers,  and  with  a  fountain  in  the  center. 

The  church  is  one  of  the  handsomest  in  Mexico,  it,  together  with  the  Colegio 
Apostolico  adjoining  (the  convent  already  referred  to),  having  been  founded  in  1707, 
but  its  splendors  pale  before  those  of  the  Capella  de  Guadelupe,  or  Chapel  of  Guadelupe, 
adjoining,  which  is  modern,  having  been  only  recently  completed  at  a  cost,  it  is  said, 
of  a  quarter  of  a  million,  and  is  the  most  beautiful  church  of  its  size  in  Mexico,  if  not 
in  the  world. 

It  was  built  by  a  rich  lady  of  Zacatecas,  since  deceased,  Senora  Dominga  Miranda, 
sister  of  Senor  Miranda,  director  of  the  hospicio  just  described,  who  spared  no  expense 
in  either  the  building  or  its  decorations,  the  best  artists  of  the  City  of  Mexico  being 
employed  for  the  latter.  It  is  built  in  the  form  of  a  Greek  cross,  with  a  dome  in  the 
center.  The  walls  are  adorned  with  the  most  beautiful  pictures  of  sacred  scenes, 
painted  directly  upon  them,  and  the  metal  work  of  the  chancel  rail  and  gates,  as  well 
as  of  the  entrance  doors,  is  of  the  most  elaborate  description,  brass  and  bronze  being 
the  materials  employed,  while  the  floor  is  inlaid  in  mosaics  of  the  richest  woods. 

Speaking  of  charitable  institutions  I  must  not  forget  the  Maternity  Hospital  at 
Pueblo.  The  Maternity  Hospital  is  very  extensive  and  perfect  in  every  detail,  embody- 
ing all  modern  improvements  in  the  way  of  sanitation  and  hygiene.  It  is  built  around 
a  very  large  court,  on  which  all  the  rooms  open  by  way  of  the  corridors.  It  cost 
S2CX),ooo,  and,  strange  to  say,  was  endowed  and  built  by  an  old  bachelor,  who  has  since 
gone  to  his  reward. 


/ 


THE  NOVEL  AS  THE  EDUCATOR  OF  THE  IMAGINATION. 

By  MISS  MAY  ROGERS. 

Edgar  Fawcett  says: 

"  We,  who  write  novels  for  existing  time, 
Should  face  our  task  with  fortitude  sublime. 
Twice  daily  now  we  hear  our  critics  mourn 
r  -.*.  The  unpleasant  fact  that  we  were  ever  born.  " 

Howells  complains  of  the  "  little  digs  "  that  an- 
noy authors,  and  he  attributes  them  to  woman's  intru- 
sion amon'g  critics.  The  most  spiteful  feminine  dig 
into  masculine  vanity  is  as  a  pin-scratch  to  a  dagger- 
thrust  in  comparison  with  the  ordeal  of  some  of  our 
women  novelists,  who  are  suspected  of  being  their 
own  heroines;  with  ruthless  disregard  of  the  rights  of 
privacy,  the  lives  of  these  authoresses  are  reviewed 
as  a  commentary  on  their  romances.  The  career  of 
the  woman  artist  is  beset  with  pain  and  peril,  between 
the  impertinent  gossip  and  the  malignant  slanderer, 
whispers  the  insinuator,  who  is  always  anonymous. 
Anyone  who  aspires  to  sit  in  critical  councils  should 
know  that  observation  and  imagination  are  essentials 
in  artistic  creation,  and  not  identical  experience. 
Criticism  should  have  the  positive  value  of  recogniz- 
ing talent  rather  than  the  negative  quality  of  defining 
limitations.  The  service  of  criticism  is  to  cultivate, 
and  as  critics,  St.  Beuve,  Arnold  and  Lowell  are  educators.  Guy  de  Maupassant 
advised  the  critic  to  say  to  the  novelist:  "  Make  us  something  beautiful  in  the  form 
which  suits  you  best,  according  to  your  own  temperament."  This  ideal  attribute  could 
be  possible  in  France,  but  the  young  English  or  American  novelist  should  early  learn 
that  the  English-reading  public  buys  translations  of  the  most  naturalistic  of  foreign 
novels,  but  it  demands  that  the  balance  of  virtue  be  sustained  by  the  conventionality 
of  fiction  originally  written  in  English.  Our  novelists  must  conform  or  be  accused  of 
immorality.  A  novelist  should  be  an  artist,  who  can  imagine  and  tell  a  story  that  will 
entertain  and  move  his  readers.  If  his  art  is  true,  the  ethical  situation  will  be  evident 
without  emphasis.  Thackeray  is  more  critical  than  psychological.  With  sardonic 
scorn  he  lashes  snobbery,  vulgarity  in  high  places,  and  human  folly.  His  incessant 
expressions  of  hate  divert  us  from  judging  the  characters  by  the  author's  sermon  about 
them.  But  in  his  historical  novel  he  leaves  the  narration  to  that  grand  gentleman, 
Henry  Esmond.  Most  English  readers  do  not  agree  with  Mr.  Taine  in  admiring  the 
constructive  art  of  Henry  Esmond  more  than  the  satire  of  Vanity  Fair.     The  difficult 

Miss  May  Rogers  is  a  native  of  Dubuque,  Iowa.  Her  parents  were  Thomas  Rogers,  of  New  York,  a  distinguished  lawyer, 
scholar  and  orator,  and  Anna  Burton  Rogers,  of  Delaware.  She  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  and  by  private  instruct- 
ors in  Greek,  Latin  and  French.  She  has  traveled  in  Europe  and  extensively  in  the  United  States,  having  lectured  in  New 
York  City,  New  Orleans,  Washington,  Cheyenne,  San  Francisco  and  Des  Moines.  Miss  Rogers  is  one  of  the  Board  of  Directors 
of  the  General  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs  and  is  a  Daughter  of  the  American  Revolution.  She  was  president  of  the 
Dnbuqne  Ladies'  Literary  Association  for  several  years.  Miss  Rogers  is  a  descendant  of  Dutch  and  Huguenot  ancestors,  who 
emigrated,  that  they  might  enjoy  religious  liberty.  Her  literary  works  are  the  Waverly  Dictionary  of  the  characters  in  Scott's 
novels,  newspaper  editorials,  lectures  and  reviews.  Her  profession  is  journalism  and  lecturing.  Her  postoffice  address  is 
No.  547  Locust  Street,  Dubuque,  Iowa. 

586 


MISS  M.4Y  ROGERS. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  587 

task  of  historical  fiction  has  never  been  better  executed,  and  since  Thackeray,  only 
Romola  and  John  Inglesart  can  be  compared  with  Henry  Esmond,  which  revivified 
the  age  of  Queen  Anne.  Emerson  felt  that  it  was  a  "jugglery"  for  a  novelist  to  com- 
bine characters  and  fortunes  fancifully  and  sensationally,  for  he  said  there  was  in 
nature  a  "magic  by  which  she  fits  a  man  to  his  fortunes  by  making  them  the  fruits  of 
his  character."  Realism  is  a  protest  against  "jugglery  "  with  the  logic  of  character. 
Mr.  Hardy  in  his  great  novel  was  guilty  of  "  jugglery  "  when  he  makes  a  betrayed  girl 
return  to  her  betrayer.  As  Cervantes  wrote  Don  Quixote  to  ridicule  the  bombastic 
tales  of  chivalry,  so  the  realistic  novel  is  a  reaction  from  the  hysteria  and  exaggeration 
of  old-fashioned  romanticism.  The  conscience  of  realistic  art  is  sincerity  .in  describ- 
ing the  facts  of  life.  Ouida  reminds  us  that  the  passion-flower  is  as  real  as  the  potato. 
The  reality  of  the  beautiful  and  the  heroic  is  as  much  in  the  province  of  realism  as  is 
the  reality  of  the  horrible  and  the  commonplace.  Truth  is  the  only  restraint  of  a  realist, 
and  whether  he  writes  of  flowers  or  potatoes  is  a  question  of  taste  and,  perhaps,  of 
vision. 

In  our  Dubuque  library  last  year,  out  of  a  circulation  of  over  twenty-five  thou- 
sand books  over  nineteen  thousand  were  juveniles  and  fiction.  The  report  of  the 
Chicago  public  library  for  1892  states  that  over  forty-two  per  cent  of  the  circulation 
was  English  prose  fiction,  and  over  twenty  per  cent  was  juvenile  literature.  The 
Nineteenth  Century  Magazine  for  June,  1893,  states  that  the  per  cent  of  fiction  in  the 
Battersea  free  libraries  of  England  was  four-fifths  of  the  circulation.  But  of  a  circu- 
lation of  five  millions  in  the  Boston  public  library,  extending  over  five  years,  four- 
fifths  of  the  books  were  juvenile  and  fiction. 

Novels  are  the  amusement  and  refreshment  of  our  practical,  overworked,  over- 
wrought age.  Even  children  tire  of  monotony  and  seek  the  fairies.  Novels  are  read 
by  those  who  read  no  other  books,  and  they  are  also  the  recreation  of  scholars  and 
thinkers,  Charles  Darwin  said  they  rested  him.  As  long  as  age  cherishes  tender 
memories,  and  as  long  as  love  is  the  dream  of  youth,  romance  will  be  the  most  fasci- 
nating literature.  A  description  of  all  the  novels  now  being  read  would  be  a  mirror 
of  the  multiform  modern  mind.  Any  human  interest  is  a  legitimate  theme  for  the 
novelist,  and  it  is  as  useless  to  dogmatize  about  the  sphere  of  the  novel  as  it  is 
useless  to  dogmatize  about  the  sphere  of  woman.  There  are  novels  for  those  who 
admire  philosophic  analysis,  and  for  those  who  want  exciting  adventures  on  land  and 
on  sea,  and  also  for  those  who  ask  that  their  love  stories  shall  give  information  about 
history,  science,  reform,  theology  and  politics.  Harriet  Martineau  wrote  Political 
Economy  in  the  story  form,  and  I  am  surprised  that  there  was  not  a  tariff  novel  dur- 
ing the  last  campaign. 

In  this  age  of  the  telegram  and  the  paragraph,  the  novelist  who  wishes  to  be  read 
must  be  brief  as  well  as  brilliant.  Tourgenefi's  method  was  to  condense  and  to  con- 
centrate. Guy  De  Maupassant  made  the  short  story  popular  in  France  by  his  genius 
in  eliminating  the  superfluous.  His  thirteen  short  tales,  published  as  the  Odd  Number, 
are  masterpieces  of  concise  but  artistically  adequate  treatment.  Our  American  novel- 
ists have  been  most  artistic  as  writers  of  short  stories,  whether  we  judge  the  result  by 
effectiveness  of  story  telling,  or  keenness  of  character  sketching  or  carefulness  in  lit- 
erary construction.  In  the  long  list  of  our  successful  writers  of  short  stories  there 
has  been  no  discrimination  against  our  sex  in  the  awards  of  honor.  Mrs.  Jewett's  art 
is  so  finished  that  Howells  compares  her  with  Maupassant,  to  her  advantage.  I  think 
Miss  Woolsen's  finest  story  is  her  short  novel,  "  For  the  Major,"  which  has  a  touch  of 
ideal  grace.  New  England  has  her  Mary  Wilkin,  and  we  in  Iowa  are  proud  of  our 
Octave  Thanet,  who  spoke  at  the  literary  congress  of  the  American  flavor  of  our  short 
stories.  International  novels  have  the  charm  of  cosmopolitan  culture,  but  they  are 
not  contributions  to  a  distinctive  national  literature,  which  must  be  written  from  an 
American  point  of  view  about  the  characteristics  of  our  people,  with  their  local  atmos- 
phere. The  late  Sidney  Lanier  delivered  a  series  of  lectures  on  the  development  of 
the  English  novel  at  Johns  Hopkins  University  in  1881.     He  believed  that  the  novel, 


588  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

modern  music  and  modern  science  are  the  simultaneous  expressions  of  the  growth  of 
individuality  in  man.  Richardson,  the  founder  of  the  English  novel,  was  born  in 
1689;  the  musician,  Sebastian  Bach,  in  1685,  and  the  scienist,  Newton,  in  1642.  Thus 
being  born  in  the  same  half  century,  he  regards  them  as  contemporary  results  of  the 
Renaissance.  He  argues  that  man's  desire  to  have  individual  knowledge  of  his  phys- 
ical environments  produced  the  scientist,  man's  desire  to  utter  his  individual  emotions 
toward  the  Infinite  gave  us  the  modern  art  and  artist  of  music;  man's  desire  to 
know  the  life  of  his  fellow-man  resulted  in  the  novel.  The  drama  was  inadequate  for 
portrayal  of  the  minute  complexities  of  modern  personalities.  The  novelist  succeeded 
the  chorus,  and  the  novel  was  evolved  out  of  the  classic  and  Elizabethan  dramas. 
Before  the  printing  press  the  multitudes  were  entertained  and  instructed  by  the  thea- 
ter. The  reading  public  of  today  studies  the  story  of  human  life.  With  the  progress 
of  the  democratic  idea  of  the  rights  of  man  has  grown  a  sense  of  the  kinship  of  men. 
In  England  the  novel  of  individual  traits,  of  manners  and  domestic  life,  with  an 
avowed  or  implied  moral  motive,  began  with  Richardson's  Pamela  in  1740,  and  in  this 
field  of  fiction  the  English  novel  is  unrivaled.  In  his  history  of  European  morals, 
Mr.  Lecky  charges  man's  intolerance  to  feeble  imagination,  which  prevents  him  from 
understanding  people  of  a  different  religion,  pursuit,  age,  country,  or  temperament 
from  his  own.  He  claims  that  men  tortured  in  the  past  and  persecute  today  because 
they  are  too  imaginative  to  be  tolerant  or  just.  What  they  can  not  realize  they  believe 
to  be  evil,  and  he  says  that  this  "  power  of  realization  forms  the  chief  tie  between  our 
moral  and  intellectual  natures."  We  think  that  only  those  who  are  intentionally 
cruel  would  continue  to  inflict  pain  if  they  knew  the  suffering  they  caused.  He  con- 
cludes that  the  "  sensitiveness  of  a  cultivated  imagination  "  makes  men  humane  and 
tolerant.  Thus  imaginative  literature  is  acivilizer  when  it  develops  tolerance  through 
sympathy. 

The  hesitancy  of  writers  in  other  branches  of  literature  to  grant  the  importance 
of  the  novel  is  due  to  their  failure  to  see  that  it  is  the  popular  educator  of  the  imag- 
ination. George  Eliot  said:  "  If  art  does  not  enlarge  man's  sympathies,  it  does  noth- 
ing morally,  and  the  only  effect  I  ardently  long  to  produce  by  my  writings  is,  that 
those  who  read  them  should  be  better  able  to  imagine  and  feel  the' pains  and  joys  of 
those  who  differ  from  themselves  in  everything  but  the  broad  fact  of  being  struggling, 
erring  human  creatures." 

What  novelists  have  done  to  help  mankind  is  incalculable.  Imprisonment  for 
debt  is  now  so  hateful  to  us  that  Dickens'  "Little  Dorrit"  seems  a  story  of  a  forgotten 
past.  Charles  Reade  struck  heavy  blows  at  abuses  in  prisons,  insane  asylums  and 
trade  unions  in  his  "  Never  Too  Late  to  Mend,"  "  Hard  Cash,"  and  "  Put  Yourself  in 
His  Place."  The  People's  Palace  in  London  is  the  result  of  Walter  Besant's  "All 
Sorts  and  Conditions  of  Men,"  and  the  sorrows  of  the  poor  and  the  oppressed  every- 
where are  told  in  our  novels.  It  is  impossible  to  measure  how  much  of  the  prepara- 
tory work  of  emancipation  was  due  to  and  done  by  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin." 

As  human  nature  is  the  inspiration  of  literature,  characters  of  a  novel  must  be 
natural  to  be  of  any  literary  value,  and  of  this  anyone  can  judge  who  has  had  the 
ordinary  experience  of  life.  There  is  so  much  fiction  written  only  for  sensational 
excitement,  and  there  are  tales  of  silly  sentimentality  which  can  justly  be  called  trash. 
Mature,  busy  people  often  feel  that  it  is  a  waste  of  time  to  read  of  phenomenally 
gifted  heroes  and  supernaturally  beautiful  heroines  who  keep  their  lovers  in  awful 
suspense  until  the  wedding  bells  of  the  last  chapter.  Novels  devoted  to  expert  testi- 
mony in  the  art  of  kissing  are  unnecessary,  and  it  will  always  be  an  experimental 
science. 

John  Morley  defines  literature  as  the  books  "  where  moral  truth  and  human 
passion  are  touched  with  a  certain  largeness,  sanity  and  attraction  of  form."  A  novel 
has  not  sanity  unless  it  is  true  to  the  probabilities  of  conduct  and  represents  the 
passions  of  love  in  its  ratio  to  the  other  interests  of  life.  The  "  attraction  of  form  " 
can  not  be  imprisoned  in  a  definition  any  more  than  a  woman's  charms  can  be  described 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  589 

by  an  adjective.  Its  presence  is  the  author's  diploma  of  style,  his  degree  of  master 
in  the  service  of  beauty.  The  French  are  the  successors  of  the  Greeks  in  the  arts,  and 
their  literary  technique  makes  their  fiction  supreme  in  the  "  attraction  of  form  "  and 
in  description  of  human  passion,  but  it  seldom  has  the  largeness  that  considers 
responsibility  as  well  as  passion.  A  novel  is  written  "  with  a  certain  largeness  "  when 
we  are  shown  passion  not  only  in  its  relation  to  individuals,  but  also  to  their  social 
environment  and  to  our  universal  humanity.  This  largeness  was  the  greatness  of 
George  Elliot. 

While  foreign  fiction  may  have  an  emotional  and  artistic  fascination,  we  cherish 
our  English  novels  for  more  reasons  than  those  of  entertainment.  It  is  the  history  of 
the  manners  and  customs  and  daily  life  of  the  English  speaking  people  here  and  in 
the  mother  country.  On  its  pages  are  recorded  all  our  current  thoughts  and  debates, 
and  all  our  dreams  and  despairs.  It  tells  of  the  happiness  of  love,  and  of  the  anguish 
of  bereavement,  of  secret  wrestling  with  temptation  and  of  the  weary  questioning  of 
the  mysteries  of  life  and  death.  It  also  reflects  the  moral  force  and  philanthropy  of 
our  race,  which  is  striving  to  make  tomorrow  nobler  than  today. 

We  are  fortunate  to  live  in  this  blessed  modern  age  when  electric  science  writes 
the  minds  of  men,  and  when  the  spirit's  subtle  sympathy  makes  us  one  in  heart.  What 
Mrs.  Browning  says  of  the  poet  is  true  of  the  novelist: 

•'Oh  delight 
And  triumph  of  the  poet,  who  would  say 
A  man's  mere  '  yes '  a  woman's  common  '  no,' 
A  little  human  hope  of  that  or  this, 
And  say  the  word  so  that  it  burns  you  through. 

With  special  revelation  speaks  the  heart 
Of  all  the  men  and  women  in  the  world." 


SAMOA— ITS  PEOPLE  AND  THEIR  CUSTOMS. 


By  MRS.  E.  J.  ORMSBEE. 

Samoa  is  the  native  name  of  a  group  of  islands  in  the  South  Pacific,  formerly 
known  as  the  Navigator's  Islands.  The  group  is  situated  in  latitude  13-14°  south,  longi- 
tude 171  °  west,  and  consists  of  eight  or  more  inhabited 
islands,  besides  several  uninhabited  ones.  It  is  a 
fifteen  days'  trip  from  San  Francisco  on  the  Austral- 
ian steamers,  which  call  at  Hawaii  for  several  hours, 
where  the  steamers  coal.  Seven  days  after  we  find 
ourselves  on  the  Island  of  Upolu,  which  is  next  to  the 
largest  island  of  the  Samoan  group,  and  is  forty  miles 
long  and  thirteen  broad.  It  has  a  range  of  mount- 
ains, densely  wooded  to  the  summit,  extending  from 
east  to  west,  sloping  to  the  shore,  which  is  encircled 
by  a  coral  reef. 

Street  or  steam  railways  are,  of  course,  unknown 
in  Samoa.  Most  of  the  traveling  is  done  by  boat  or 
on  horseback.'  While  we  were  there  the  first  carriages 
were  introduced. 

The  moon  and  stars  shine  with  unusual  bright- 
ness in  this  tropical  country,  and  it  was  a  constant 
delight  to  us  to  see  the  constellations  new  to  us,  the 
Southern  Cross  among  others. 

The  Samoan  people  interested  us  greatly.  They 
live  on  taro,  pigis,  breadfruit,  pigeons,  and,  of  course, 
fish  and  bananas,  all  of  which  they  get  without  much 
trouble,  and  certainly  without  the  necessity  of  labor.  It  is  hot  and  tropical,  and  cer- 
tainly not  of  that  character  which  would  tend  to  make  work  a  pleasure  in  itself;  and 
without  the  incentive  of  necessity,  it  is  very  easy  to  understand  that  the  people  nat- 
urally incline  to  the  idle,  open-air  life  which  they  lead. 

We  were  glad  to  learn  that  the  Samoans  were  never  cannibals.  In  war  they  still 
practice  decapitation,  but  justify  it,  so  it  is  said,  by  citing  familiar  examples  found  in 
the  Bible,  which  they  glibly  repeat  when  expostulated  with  on  the  subject  by  the  mis- 
sionaries. In  war  they  are  unquestionably  very  brave  and  fearless,  but  I  do  not  think 
it  is  true  that  they  delight  in  war;  on  the  contrary,  a  little  real  fighting  goes  a  long 
way  with  them.  In  illustration  of  one  of  their  characteristics,  notably  that  of  fair  play, 
it  is  a  well-attested  fact  that  in  more  than  one  battle  one  party  has,  under  a  flag  of 
truce,  called  for  a  cessation  of  fighting  until  they  could  replenish  their  exhausted 
ammunition,  which  request  was  granted.  Again  they  have  been  known  to  call  a  halt 
in  battle  for  the  purpose  of  a  feed,  or  a  feast,  which  they  would  indulge  in  between  the 
lines. 

The  Samoans  are  a  very  good-looking   and    a  finely-built    race,  both  men  and 
women,  with  skins  of  a  pale  brown  color,  bright  eyes,  straight  black  hair  and  beau- 
tifully white  teeth.     Physically  it  would  be  difificult  to  find  a  better  developed  race. 
Only  the  men  tattoo,  not  on  their  faces,  but  on  their  bodies  from  their  hips  to 

Mrs.  E.  J.  Ormsbee  was  born  at  Wadhame  Mills,  Essex  County,  N.  Y.  Her  parents  were  William  and  Emeline 
(Cole)  Wadhams.  She  was  educated  in  home  schools  and  afterward  in  Essex,  N.  Y.,  and  Burlington,  Vt.  She  has  traveled 
very  generally  in  her  own  country  and  in  the  Sandwich  Islands.  She  spent  one  year  in  Samoa.  Mrs.  Ormsbee  is  the  wife  of 
Gov.  E.  J.  Ormsbee,  of  Brandon,  Vt.    In  religious  faith  she  is  an  Episcopalian.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Brandon,  Vt. 

590 


MKS.    E.    J.  ORMSBEE. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  591 

their  knees,  which  gives  them  the  appearance  of  clothing.  One  frequently  sees  a 
native  with  his  name  tattooed  on  his  arm.  The  tattooing  is  compulsory,  and  the 
operation  is  said  to  be  very  painful,  taking  from  two  to  three  months,  during  which 
time  the  patient  remains  in  the  bush  or  some  retired  place.  No  youth  is  really 
respected  until  he  is  tattooed.  The  present  king,  Malietoa  Laupepa,  was  averse  to  the 
practice,  and  passed  beyond  the  prescribed  period  without  having  submitted  to  the 
painful  ordeal,  but  when  selected  or  raised  to  power  his  people  refused  to  anoint  him 
king  until  he  had  been  tattooed  in  due  form. 

The  Samoans,  as  a  people,  are  most  courteous  and  kind,  and  seem  to  be  naturally 
endowed  with  pleasant  dispositions  and  manners.  They  are  particularly  clean  and  in 
every  way  a  most  attractive  race.  Their  houses  are  suited  to  the  climate.  The  roofs 
are  of  sugar  cane,  very  neatly  thatched,  supported  on  posts,  and  the  better  class  of 
buildings  are  made  of  the  breadfruit  tree.  There  are  no  walls,  cocoanut  mats  are  let 
down  at  night  when  it  is  raining  or  during  severe  winds.  Their  native  houses  are  built 
to  be  very  strong  and  comfortable,  and  without  nail,  bolt  or  spike.  Every  part  is  tied 
with  sennit,  which  is  made  from  the  fiber  of  a  peculiar  kind  of  cocoanut,  braided  in 
three  strands.  This  fiber  is  not  more  than  a  foot  in  length,  so  that  it  has  to  be  con- 
stantly spliced.  The  old  men  make  this  sennit  when  sitting  in  council.  The  floors  of 
their  houses  are  made  of  small  stones,  four  to  eight  inches  deep,  and  covered  with 
mats.     These  mats  are  of  native  manufacture. 

Here  they  live,  sitting  and  sleeping  on  the  floor,  for  they  have  neither  chairs  nor 
beds,  using  in  their  place  mats,  and  at  night  resting  their  heads  on  a  bamboo  pillow 
raised  a  few  inches  from  the  ground.  - 

The  natives  wear  very  little  clothing,  save  the  lava-lava,  which  is  a  straight  piece 
of  cloth  or  tappa,  wound  about  the  waist,  falling  like  a  skirt  to  the  knees,  but  they 
are  never  without  that,  men,  women  or  children.  Even  the  smallest  baby  always  has 
the  lava-lava.  The  lava-lava  proper  is  made  from  their  native  cloth,  tappa,  or  for 
everyday  wear,  of  calico  which  is  of  European  manufacture,  designed  especially  for 
this  trade.  The  colors  are  generally  the  brightest,  and  the  patterns  in  many  cases  of 
the  most  wonderful  description.  One  often  sees  large  handkerchiefs  of  the  brightest 
colors  used  for  lava-lavas  on  the  smaller  boys  and  girls.  Older  natives  use  all  sorts  of 
leafy  coverings  made  from  banana  leaves,  and  from  the  many  vines  which  grow  so 
plentifully  everywhere. 

The  costume  of  a  high  official,  or  a  member  of  King  Malietoa's  Parliament,  is  a 
white  shirt  and  a  lava-lava  of  brown  tappa.  The  women,  many  of  them,  dress  in  the 
same  fashion  as  the  men,  though  they  often  wear  a  white  chemise  over  their  colored 
lava-lava.  Another  article  of  dress  seen  on  young  girls  and  offered  for  sale  at  the 
shops  at  Apia,  is  a  low-necked  and  short-sleeved  bodice,  rather  loosely  cut,  made  of 
silk,  satin  and  bright  colored  velvet,  and  trimmed  with  lace.  On  festive  occasions 
they  wear  similar  bodices  made  entirely  of  fresh  flowers  and  vines.  They  also  wear  a 
garment  that  consists  of  a  straight  piece  of  cloth,  about  one  and  one-half  yards  long, 
with  an  opening  for  the  head  in  the  center,  falling  down  a  little  below  the  waist,  both 
front  and  back,  leaving  their  arms  free  and  uncovered.  This  garment  is  not  only 
made  of  tappa,  their  native  cloth,  but  more  frequently  of  calico  put  together  in  patch- 
work style  with  white  muslin,  showing  their  fondness  for  a  variety  of  colors.  The 
women  always  wear  what  we  call  a  "  Mother  Hubbard"  dress,  when  they  attend  church 
or  mingle  with  foreigners.  I  could  tell  you  of  numberless  ludicrous  costumes  that 
one  sees  on  the  street  daily.  On  an  extremely  hot  day  one  often  sees  a  native  woman 
attempting  to  wear  a  Mother  Hubbard  with  only  one  arm  in  its  sleeve,  and  the  skirt 
on  the  other  side  brought  up  over  the  shoulder  with  the  sleeve  hanging,  leaving  this  arm 
free  and  bare,  as  they  much  prefer  their  natural  freedom  to  the  restriction  which 
European  dress  imposes.  The  missionaries  insist  that  the  women  shall  cover  them- 
selves when  in  church,  and  as  a  rule  they  do  so,  most  of  them  also  wearing  hats, 
though  one  frequently  sees  them  with  their  hats  in  their  hands  or  under  their  arms 
until  they  reach  the  church  door,  and  on  leaving  the  church  they  remove  the  hat  the 
moment  they  are  out. 


592  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Many  of  the  natives  carry  umbrellas,  for  though  they  are  almost  naked  and  bare- 
headed, they  dislike  to  get  their  hair  wet.  If  they  do  not  have  an  umbrella,  they  hold 
a  large  banana  leaf  over  their  heads,  or  make  a  cap  of  the  leaf,  or  use  a  small  mat  for 
an  umbrella. 

Both  men  and  women  are  fond  of  bleaching  their  hair  by  the  use  of  lime  that  is 
burned  from  the  coral  rock.  This  gives  the  naturally  black  hair  a  reddish  color,  which 
they  prefer.  While  this  process  is  going  on  it  is  essential  to  keep  their  hair  dry.  One 
frequently  sees  them  with  their  heads  white,  their  hair  filled  with  this  lime,  which  is 
allowed  to  remain  during  the  day,  but  is  washed  out  in  the  evening  and  renewed  in 
the  morning,  and  so  continued  until  they  are  satisfied  with  the  color.  A  flower  is 
never  more  than  a  minute  in  the  hands  of  a  native,  either  man  or  woman,  before  it  is 
transferred  to  the  hair,  or  placed  behind  the  ear,  and  when  these  white  heads  are  dec- 
orated with  bright  colored  flowers  and  leaves,  the  effect,  contrasting  with  the  dark 
skin,  is  quite  striking. 

The  Samoan  women  have  no  regular  method  of  dressing  their  hair.  It  is  arranged 
according  to  each  one's  individual  fancy,  but  all  devote  a  good  deal  of  time  to  beauti- 
fying themselves  in  this  way.  They  shave  their  children's  heads,  and  among  young 
boys  and  girls  the  fashion  is  varied.  Sometimes  a  child  is  seen  with  merely  a  narrow 
band  of  hair  running  down  the  back  of  the  head;  another  with  a  small  tuft  in  front, 
which  they  call  the  "  love-lock; "  another  with  only  a  little  crown  of  hair  on  the  very 
top  of  the  head.  Both  men  and  women  wear  wreaths  on  their  heads  and  garlands 
about  their  necks,  made  from  the  scarlet  and  green  fruit  of  the  pandanus,  and  gener- 
ally a  single  blossom  of  the  beautiful  scarlet  hibiscus  (which  grows  everywhere)  placed 
over  their  ear  or  on  the  top  of  their  head. 

Their  clothing  is  made  chiefly  of  tappa,  their  native  cloth.  Tappa  is  manufactured 
from  the  inner  bark  of  the  ua  (oo-a),  or  paper  mulberry  tree,  cultivated  for  this  pur- 
pose. This  bark  is  stripped  from  the  tree  and  soaked  for  days  in  the  river.  Then  the 
women,  sitting  on  the  stones  on  the  edge  of  the  stream  and  frequently  in  it,  lay  this 
juicy  bark  over  a  large  flat  stone  or  board,  and  with  constant  application  of  water, 
scrape  it  with  a  shell  until  the  vegetable  mucus  is  separated  from  it  and  nothing 
remains  but  the  spongy  white  material.  It  is  then  taken  to  the  house,  and  on  a 
rounded  hardwood  log  kept  for  that  special  purpose,  is  pounded  with  the  flattened 
side  of  a  heavy  wooden  club  until  the  bark  is  expanded  to  the  thinness  wanted.  Each 
piece  is  then  spread  in  the  sun  to  dry,  and  when  a  sufficient  quantity  is  ready  the 
women  stick  pieces  together  with  arrow-root  gum,  layer  over  layer,  until  a  cloth  of 
the  desired  thickness  and  size  is  manufactured.  It  is  then  painted  in  many  different 
patterns.  Their  paint  is  manufactured  from  nuts,  plants  and  flowers  which  they  find 
in  the  bush.  This  painting  is  all  done  by  the  old  women.  This  native  cloth,  when 
new,  is  not  unlike  Japanese  paper,  but  by  use  becomes  soft  and  pliable. 

The  language  of  the  Samoans  is  very  musical.  They  have  only  fourteen  letters 
in  their  alphabet— a,  e,  i,  o,  u,  f,  g,  1,  m,  n,  p,  s,  t,  v  — and  every  syllable  ends  in  a  vowel, 
with  only  three  letters  in  a  syllable.  They  have  a  Bible,  grammar  and  dictionary  in 
their  own  language;  their  children  all  attend  school;  their  churches  are  their  school- 
houses,  the  pastor  the  teacher,  and  the  Bible  the  reading-book.  I  was  present  at  one 
of  their  school  sessions  during  an  examination  in  grammar,  arithmetic  and  church  his- 
tory, at  which  the  scholars  acquitted  themselves  in  a  way  that  would  do  credit  to  many 
American  boys  and  girls. 

So  far  as  I  can  judge,  their  life,  ideas  and  practices,  with  reference  to  keeping 
the  seventh,  eighth  and  ninth  commandments,  are  not  in  keeping  with  their  seeming 
observance  of  the  fourth,  but  before  judging  them  harshly  at  this  point  there  are 
several  things  to  be  considered  in  their  favor.  They  have  no  ambition  as  a  people,  or 
aspirations  to  be  other  than  as  they  are.  They  are  happy  and  contented  to  a  degree  I 
have  not  seen  elsewhere.  They  take  or  make  little,  if  any,  note  of  time  or  space,  and 
even  the  better  informed  have  no  idea  of  their  age,  and  I  think  there  is  no  word  in 
their  language  denoting  distance,  or  by  which  it  can  be  measured.     I  also  think  the 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  593 

same  is  true  as  to  time.  They  seemingly  have  no  more  care  or  thought  of  the  morrow 
than  birds,  only  they  see  to  it  that  food  for  Sunday  is  procured  on  Saturday.  They 
are  averse  to  doing  more,  or  other,  work  than  their  wants  require,  and  this  is  but  little. 
No  one  is  overworked.  They  are  kind  to  each  other,  and  seem  to  be  as  happy  in  their 
work  as  in  their  sports,  which  is  evinced  by  the  unreserved  habit  of  singing  when  per- 
forming any  manual  labor.  They  are  much  given  to  exchanging  children,  or  adopting 
each  other's  children,  thinking  in  doing  this  that  they  strengthen  their  family  ties. 
Observation  leads  me  to  believe  that  they  are  fond  of  their  own  children,  but  are 
seemingly  as  fond  of  others  that  come  to  them  by  exchange. 

The  chief  article  of  export  is  copra,  which  is  the  kernel  of  the  cocoanut  cut  into 
small  pieces  and  dried.  Formerly  this  was  dried  in  the  sun,  but  now  they  use  large 
ovens,  though  the  natives  still  dry  in  the  sun  in  small  quantities,  of  course,  as  they 
have  to  protect  it  from  the  frequent  rains  of  that  country,  and  they  bring  this  to  the 
traders  at  Apia  and  exchange  it  for  whatever  they  need. 

You  can  hardly  imagine  the  many  uses  the  Samoans  make  of  the  cocoanut. 
Really,  the  cocoanut  tree  is  the  mainstay  of  Samoa,  for  it  is  used  for  food,  implements, 
utensils,  fans,  baskets,  combs,  brooms,  roofs,  and  innumerable  purposes.  They  serve 
you  kava,  their  native  drink,  in  a  cup  made  from  the  cocoanut,  which  is  often  highly 
polished  by  constant  use.  When  the  cocoanut  is  wanted  to  drink,  it  is  plucked  while 
the  outer  husk  is  green.  The  milk,  which  is  like  water,  is  clear,  sparkling,  slightly 
sweet,  and  very  refreshing,  the  meat  at  that  time  being  fit  to  eat  only  with  a  spoon. 
In  native  churches  fresh  cocoanut  milk  is  used  in  place  of  wine  at  the  communion 
service. 

While  these  natives  use  the  cocoanut  in  so  many  ways,  they  are  very  dependent 
upon  taro  and  bananas  for  their  chief  food.  Taro  is  their  chief  vegetable,  its  growth 
being  similar  to  that  of  our  beet.  It  comes  to  maturity  in  four  months,  and  is  planted 
continuously  all  the  year.  When  the  natives  take  up  the  taro,  they  cut  off  the  top  and 
put  it  back  into  the  ground,  and  another  root  forms  as  though  nothing  had  happened 
to  it.  They  scrape  the  root  and  bake  it  in  their  ovens.  A  native  oven  is  a  hole  in  the 
ground  lined  with  stones,  in  which  a  fire  is  built  and  loose  stones  placed.  When  a 
pig  is  to  be  roasted,  these  loose  hot  stones  are  placed  inside  the  pig,  which  is  then 
wrapped  in  banana  leaves,  and  after  the  fire  is  cleared  from  the  oven,  the  pig,  taro, 
fowls,  pigeons,  etc.,  all  wrapped  in  banana  leaves,  are  put  into  the  oven,  the  top  is 
carefully  covered  w^th  stones  and  more  banana  leaves,  and  the  whole  is  left  over 
night. 

The  soil  on  all  these  islands  is  exceedingly  rich  and  is  everywhere  covered  with 
dense  vegetation,  from  the  water's  edge  to  the  mountain  tops.  The  passai,  or  passion 
vine,  grows  there  with  great  rapidity.  Europeans  train  it  over  arbors,  but  it  grows  in 
the  bush,  climbing  trees.  The  flower,  with  which  we  are  all  familiar  in  our  green- 
houses, is  the  purple  passion  flower,  and  the  fruit  we  enjoy,  only  the  center  is  eaten, 
which  is  a  mass  of  yellow  jelly-like  seeds,  and  very  delicate,  and  is  called  grenadilla. 
The  Avoca  pear  is  also  very  delicious,  though  it  does  not  grow  in  abundance. 

KAVA  MAKING. 

Kava  is  the  national  drink,  and  is  manufactured  from  the  root  of  a  kind  of  pepper 
shrub  that  grows  luxuriantly  in  many  parts  of  these  islands,  both  in  native  and  culti- 
vated state.  It  is  used  both  green  and  dry,  though  generally  dried,  and  the  root  has 
to  be  four  or  five  years  old  to  be  good,  and  if  it  grows  ten  or  fifteen  years  it  is  much 
better  and  larger  and  will  weigh  thirty  pounds  or  so;  when  young,  only  four  or  five. 
It  will  keep  for  any  length  of  time,  and  is  bought  and  sold  in  all  the  stores  of  Apia, 
bringing  from  two  to  three  English  shillingsa  pound,  dried,  Kava  is  omnipresent  and 
indispensable.  Nothing  is  correctly  done  in  Samoa  without  kava  drinking.  You 
enter  a  native  house  to  call,  and  presently  some  native  girls  are  summoned  to  make 
kava,  for  it  is  always  made  in  your  sight,  is  expected  on  all  social  occasions  and  is 
associated  with  every  occupation.     It  follows  working-parties  in  the  bush.     The  fond- 

(38) 


594  '      THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

ness  for  it  is  not  confined  to  the  natives,  for  laboring  whites  become  fond  of  it,  and 
you  as  often  see  the  kava  bowl  with  this  class  as  with  the  natives. 

The  making  of  kava  is  quite  a  ceremony.  The  root  is  either  grated  or  pounded 
in  a  stone  mortar.  On  ceremonial  occasions  three  girls,  usually  the  taupou  (the  maid 
of  the  village,  with  her  attendants),  appear  dressed  in  their  best,  and  seat  themselves 
in  a  row  on  one  side  of  the  house,  or  on  the  grass  under  the  shade  of  the  mango,  or 
orange  trees  (if  the  gathering  is  out  of  doors),  and  the  large  kava  bowl  is  placed  in 
front  of  them.  The  girl  selected  to  make  the  kava  then  holds  her  hands  outside  the 
house  and  one  of  the  attendants  pours  the  contents  of  the  cocoanut  shell  full  of  water 
over  them,  to  assure  us  that  they  are  clean.  Then  one  of  the  girls  puts  the  pulverized 
kava  into  the  bowl,  and  the  other  pours  some  water  in  from  one  of  the  cocoanut  water- 
carriers  near  by.  The  taupou  stirs  this  vigorously  with  her  hands  for  some  minutes. 
The  water-carriers  are  always  cocoanuts  especially  prepared  for  this  purpose.  Then 
the  other  attendant  hands  the  fou  (the  strainer)  to  the  taupou;  the  strainer  is  made 
from  the  bark  of  the  fou  tree,  which  gives  it  the  name,  and  is  a  bunch  of  strings  of 
vegetable  fiber.  The  taupou  takes  the  fou  and  with  many  graceful  and  dexterous 
twists,  moves  it  about  in  the  liquid  with  great  precision;  then  she  takes  up  all  the 
particles  of  kava  on  the  strainer  that  it  will  hold,  and  after  wringing  it  dry  passes  this 
to  her  attendant  on  the  right,  who  flings  it  out  in  a  most  graceful  manner  and  returns 
it.  This  is  repeated  again  and  again  until  all  the  sediment  is  removed.  This  mixture 
is  of  a  yellowish  tint,  and  I  must  say  does  not  look  very  inviting  to  the  uninitiated 
stranger.  When  all  is  satisfactorily  concluded,  three  claps  of  the  hands  by  the  girls, 
proclaim  the  kava  ready.  You  can  hardly  conceive,  without  seeing  this  ceremony,  the 
perfect  ease  and  grace  displayed  in  serving  the  kava.  One  of  the  girls  takes  the  cup, 
presents  it  to  the  taupou  to  be  filled;  this  is  sometimes  done  by  plunging  the  fou  into 
the  liquid  and  squeezing  the  contents  into  the  cup,  or  dipping  with  another  cup  from 
the  bowl  and  pouring  it  into  the  one  presented  when  filled,  the  girl  faces  about,  and 
holding  the  cup  by  the  outer  rim,  crosses  to  the  person  named  to  be  served,  and  bend- 
ing forward,  reaches  him  the  cup  in  the  most  graceful  manner.  One  is  expected  to 
drain  the  cup.  The  taste  of  the  beverage  at  first  is  by  no  means  tempting,  but  it 
leaves  a  not  unpleasant  aromatic  taste  in  the  mouth. 

We  are  often  asked  if  kava  is  intoxicating.  We  are  told  that  the  long  continued 
excessive  use  of  it  will  produce  paralysis  of  the  lower  limbs,  while  the  head  will  be 
perfectly  clear,  but  the  patient  is  unable  to  stand  or  walk,  and  he  is  obliged  to  wait 
for  the  effect  of  his  excess  to  wear  off.  Old  foreign  residents  use  kava  equally  as 
much  as  the  natives.  Mr.  Churchward,  a  former  British  consul  in  Samoa,  says: 
"  During  my  whole  stay  in  Samoa  I  do  not  think  I  met  one  white  resident  of  more 
than  two  months'  standing  who  had  not  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  become  a  convert 
to  the  use  of  the  national  beverage."  I  must  say  that  this  was  not  our  experience, 
for  after  a  year's  residence  on  the  Island  both  my  husband  and  myself  still  found  it 
difficult  to  drain  the  cup  as  is  customary.  The  talolo  is  one  of  their  most  important  fes- 
tivities, of  which  there  are  several  kinds  observed.  The  talolo  proper,  we  were  told,  is 
the  presentation  of  food  by  a  whole  district  (which  comprises  several  villages).  The 
scene  of  operation  of  the  first  one  we  witnessed  was  at  Mulinu,  where  King  Malietoa 
lives,  surrounded  by  his  chiefs,  who  are  selected  from  the  Island  of  Upolu,  and  the 
other  islands  of  the  group.  These  gifts  were  brought  to  be  distributed  among  his 
chiefs. 

The  natives  marched  in  large  delegations  from  different  villages,  and  each  chief 
had  a  tu-la-fa-li  (or  talking  man),  as  the  chief  considers  it  beneath  his  dignity  to  speak 
in  public,  who  stepped  out  with  considerable  flourish  and  enumerated  what  his  village 
had  brought,  the  number  of  taro,  pigs,  cocoanuts,  bananas,  fowls,  etc.,  and  then  this 
was  all  carried  across  the  square  to  the  opposite  side  and  placed  on  the  grass.  (This 
square  is  always  kept  very  neat  and  clean.)  After  several  delegations  had  come  and 
been  announced,  one  came,  bearing  on  the  shoulders  of  ten  or  twelve  men  what  looked 
like  a  boat  made  of  the  branches  of  sugar-cane,  with  bright  flowers  tied  in  them,  the 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  595 

Samoan  flag  in  the  center,  and  on  each  side  of  the  boat  handkerchiefs  with  bright 
borders  were  tied  in  the  branches,  and  filled  in  between  with  boxes  of  matches,  cans 
of  meat,  biscuit,  etc.  In  the  bottom  of  the  boat  was  any  amount  of  taro,  casks  of 
beef,  large  tin  boxes  of  biscuit,  roast  pigs  and  fowls,  fish,  bananas  and  cocoanuts. 
Next  came  a  native  leading  a  handsome  white  heifer  followed  by  a  crowd  dragging 
by  ropes  two  canoes  lashed  together,  and  filled  to  the  brim  with  native  food,  ail  sing- 
ing as  they  came.  Then  came  nine  men,  followed  by  others,  bringing  on  a  kind  of 
frame  a  cooked  hog,  weighing  at  least  three  hundred  pounds.  And  so  they  came 
until  the  ground  was  covered  with  gifts.  They  said  there  were  as  many  as  one  hun- 
dred casks  of  beef,  weighing  from  thirty  to  fifty  pounds  each,  and  two  hundred  cooked 
pigs  of  different  sizes.  One  chief  alone  brought  six  hundred  taro ;  another  three  hun- 
dred taro,  seven  casks  of  beef,  yams,  etc.  After  all  had  arrived  and  been  called  off, 
the  principal  men  and  women  of  the  villages  withdrew  to  a  neighboring  bush  to  com- 
plete their  toilet  and  put  on  the  finishing  touches  to  their  gorgeous  array,  a  toilet  con- 
sisting of  the  best  which  they  can  secure  in  the  way  of  a  lava-lava  of  fine  mats  or 
painted  tappa.  The  chiefs  are  particularly  dressed  in  full  war  paint,  a  gorgeous  dis- 
play of  head-dress  of  human  hair  standing  two  feet  high  above  a  band  of  shells 
around  the  forehead.  In  the  center  of  the  hair  plume  is  fastened  a  round  mirror,  sur- 
mounted by  a  bunch  of  long  red  feathers  of  the  boatswain  bird.  Their  bodies  above 
the  waist  are  bare,  shining  with  strongly  perfumed  oil  (well  rubbed  in  by  the  women), 
the  inevitable  necklace  of  scarlet  pandanus  hanging  to  the  waist  or  below,  while  over 
the  lava-lava  is  worn  a  girdle  of  streamers  made  from  the  leaf  of  the  fou  tree.  The 
/■rt7//>^«,  or  "  village  maid  "  (always  a  girl  of  high  rank),  who  invariably  accompanies 
the  chief  of  the  village  on  state  occasions,  is,  like  the  chief  himself,  bare  to  the  waist, 
well  oiled,  her  beautifully  rounded  shoulders  shining  under  the  tropical  sun,  dressed  in 
her  finest  mats,  while  her  head-dress  is  of  distinguishing  height  and  magnificence.  At 
the  side  of  each  division  marches  and  dances  the  grotesque  funny  man,  a  cross  between 
a  clown  and  an  American  drum-major,  at  whose  antics  and  jokes  all  are  expected  to 
laugh.  The  passing  of  the  column  occupied  an  hour  or  more.  On  the  arrival  at  the 
Malie  the  chief  tu-la-fa-lt  (the  talking  man),  steps  forward,  throwing  his  fly-trap  (an 
article  used  to  drive  away  mosquitoes  and  flies,  which  are  unusually  numerous  in 
Samoa),  across  his  shoulder,  and  leaning  with  both  hands  on  his  long  staff  (which  is 
his  badge  of  office),  proceeds  to  deliver  a  lengthy  speech,  in  which  he  usually  apolo- 
gizes for  the  poverty  of  the  country,  etc.  Then  other  tu-la-fa-li  make  their  speeches 
very  similar  to  the  first,  a  proceeding  much  enjoyed  by  them,  as  all  Samoans  consider 
themselves  born  orators,  and  then  comes  the  ceremony  of  dividing  all  this  food  among 
the  different  chiefs.  How  this  is  accomplished  is  astonishing,  for  it  has  to  be  done 
with  great  care  as  to  quantity,  certain  portions  belonging  to  certain  ranks.  We  were 
told  that  some  of  their  wars  were  started  by  the  unequal  distribution  of  food  on  these 
occasions.  There  were  at  least  twenty-five  hundred  natives  at  this  ialolo,  and  it  was 
exceedingly  interesting. 

The  taupou,  or  village  maid,  is  a  peculiar  Samoan  institution.  She  is  chosen  by  the 
old  women,  and  is  generally  a  daughter  by  birth  or  adoption  of  the  chief,  and  must  be 
beautiful  and  exceptionally  attractive.  She  has  certain  responsibilities.  She  leads 
the  siva,  or  native  dance,  presides  over  the  house  provided  in  every  village  for  the  stop- 
ping place  of  visitors  from  neighboring  islands,  is  conspicuous  on  all  ceremonial  or 
state  occasions,  has  several  less  prominent  sisters  to  do  her  bidding  and  to  follow  her 
wherever  she  goes,  and  several  older  women  whose  special  dut)^  it  is  to  see  that  she  is 
not  led  astray,  for  a  taupou  must  be  perfectly  chaste  and  pure.  She  is  eligible  to 
marry  a  chief  who  seeks  her  for  her  attractions  and  dowry  of  fine  mats.  Of  late  they 
are  quite  ambitious  to  marry  a  white  man.  Suega,  a  taupou  we  knew  quite  well,  much 
prefers  to  dress  like  European  women,  and  is  very  much  averse  to  appearing  in  public 
dress  "a  la  Samoa,"  but  the  requirements  of  the  Samoans  in  that  regard  on  certain 
ceremonial  occasions  are  inexorable,  and  must  be  complied  with  in  order  to  retain 
caste  or  position. 


596  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Sunday  is  a  great  day  for  all  Samoans.  They  sing  hymns  from  early  morning 
until  late  at  night,  with- the  exception  of  short  intervals  of  sleep.  Their  first  service  is 
at  6:30  in  the  morning,  when  all  go,  men,  women  and  children.  About  half  an  hour 
before  church  they  begin  their  preparations,  and  if  there  is  not  room  to  dress  in  the 
house,  the  outside  will  do  just  as  well.  Their  best  things  are  kept  in  small  chests  at 
one  end  of  the  house,  or  rolled  in  tappa  or  mats,  and  placed  on  the  roof  beams  of  their 
houses.  The  men  high  in  rank,  as  a  rule  on  Sunday,  wear  clean  white  lava-lavas  and 
white  shirts.  They  always  carry  their  Bible  and  prayer-book  carefully  wrapped  in  a 
clean  pocket  handkerchief.  In  the  case  of  a  chief  a  boy  follows  behind,  carrying  the 
chief's  Bible.  The  native  pastor  marches  ahead,  always  carrying  a  large  umbrella  and 
a  lot  of  books,  followed  by  a  crowd  of  his  people.  He  is  usually  dressed  in  a  white 
lava-lava  and  white  coat,  bare-footed  and  bare-headed. 

In  conclusion  I  am  moved  to  say  of  the  Samoans,  as  a  people,  that  so  far  as  I  am 
able  to  judge  their  advancement  from  barbarism  to  their  present  comparatively  happy 
condition  is  due  entirely  to  the  missionaries. 

As  Samoans  they  are,  as  I  have  said,  in  a  physical  point  of  view,  good  specimens 
of  men  and  women  mentally,  while  they  are  probably  wanting  in  ability  to  expand  or 
grow  to  any  great  extent,  still  there  is  no  stupidity  in  the  Samoan.  In  other  words,  as 
Samoans,  they  may  be  said  to  be  a  success  among  the  many  races.  An  effort  to 
make  them  other  than  as  they  are,  or  to  advance  them  on  a  higher  plane,  would  in  my 
judgment  be  unsuccessful. 

Speaking  of  Samoa  as  a  race.  Sir  Robert  Stout  said:  "Their  development  must 
be  slow;  any  attempt  to  force  them,  or  to  make  them  like  Europeans,  must  end  in 
the  destruction  of  the  race.  *  *  *  Physically  they  are  a  magnificent  race.  No  one 
can  see  them  walking  without  being  struck  with  the  gracefulness  of  their  carriage 
It  is  better  than  any  race  I  have  ever  seen,  white  or  colored.  In  point  of  intelligence, 
they  are  at  least  equal  to  the  Maoris,  and  morally  their  notions  and  practices  are  such 
as  would  tend  to  their  preservation.  They  are  a  kindly  and  hospitable  people,  good 
tempered,  not  given  to  quarreling,  and  pass  their  lives  easily  and  happily.  In  my 
opinion  it  would  be  a  crime  to  allow  such  a  race  to  be  destroyed." 


THE  ART  OF  ELOCUTION.* 

By  MISS  ANNA  MORGAN. 

A  sign  of  the  times,  which  should  be  encouraging  to  all  teachers  of  elocution,  is 
the  progress  of  woman  in  public  affairs,  and  the  consequent  necessity  that  they  should 

become  proficient  in  public  speaking. 

I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  the  discussion 
of  Woman's  Progress  in  various  departments  of  art, 
and  have  been  much  pleased  with  the  natural  and 
unaffected  demeanor  of  most  of  the  ladies  who  have 
participated.  Conspicuous  among  them  has  been  the 
President  of  the  Woman's  Branch  of  the  Auxiliary — 
Mrs.  Potter  Palmer.  She  has  addressed  many  crowded 
and  distinguished  audiences  with  as  much  ease  as  if 
she  had  been  in  her  own  drawing-room.  Now,  to  con- 
vey this  impression,  she  has  been  obliged  to  use  a 
certain  measure  of  art.  It  has  been  necessary  for  her 
to  speak  with  a  fuller  volume  of  tone  than  that  used  in 
a  drawing-room,  and  she  has  accomplished  this  with- 
out appearing  strained  or  artificial.  The  great  beauty 
of  her  manner  was,  that  she  was  entirely  womanly, 
not  a  vestige  being  about  her  of  aiming  at  masculine 
methods.  It  has  been  delightful  to  me  to  see  this; 
for  I  know  it  means  a  newer  and  sweeter  fashion  than 
the  manner  which  previously  prevailed  among  certain 
woman  lecturers  and  woman  lawyers.  Several,  espe- 
cially of  the  latter  class,  I  have  heard  speak  with  the 
swelling  port  of  masculine  pomp  and  masculine  assertiveness.  In  the  woman  speakers 
of  the  future,  the  assumption  of  virile  methods  will  be  in  bad  taste. 

The  voice  of  woman  is  less  strong  than  that  of  man — a  less  perfect  instrument 
for  addressing  audiences — yet  it  may  be  made  effective  by  judicious  training.  To 
make  it  a  more  perfect  organ,  to  give  its  possessor  full  control  of  it,  will  be  the 
proud  office  of  the  art  of  elocution.  If  it  is  not  so  robust  as  the  male  voice,  we  have 
one  consolation:  In  the  laws  of  acoustics  there  is  one  which  is,  that  a  sweet  sound  is 
carried  farther  than  the  rough  and  rugged  one;  that  the  soft  and  stealing  notes  of  the 
flute  may  out-travel  on  the  wings  of  air  the  explosion  of  a  cannon.  The  penetrative 
quality  of  every  woman's  voice  may  be  improved;  every  woman  can  be  taught  to  stand 
at  ease,  to  speak  with  composure  and  to  judge  the  objectivity  of  her  own  voice,  to 
know  its  extension — in  other  words,  to  feel  within  herself  whether  she  is  clearly  and 
distinctly  heard  in  all  parts  of  the  hall.  Elocution  will  not  make  women  orators  any 
more  than  it  will  make  them  actors;  it  can  not  confer  brains,  nor  in  a  great  measure 
impart  that  good  taste  which  is  the  fragrance  of  the  individual  soul;  but  it  can  take 
that  disordered  instrument,  the  body,  and  tune  it. 

Miss  Anna  Morgan  was  born  in  Fleming,  N.  Y.  Her  parents  were  Allen  Denison  Morgan  and  Mary  Jane  Thornton 
Morgan.  She  was  educated  in  Anbnm,  N.  Y.  She  has  traveled  over  Europe  and  quite  extensively  in  America.  In  personal 
ap[>earance  she  is  commanding,  handsome  and  graceful.  Mies  Morgan  is  an  elocutionist  and  philanthropist.  Her  principal 
literary  work  is  "  An  Hour  with  Delsarte,"  published  by  Lee  &  Sbepard,  Boston.  Her  profession  is  that  of  teacher  of  elocution 
and  dramatic  expression.  Miss  Morgan  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Her  postoSice  address  is  Room  80,  Andi- 
torium,  Chicago,  111. 

*The  address  here  presented  consists  of  extracts  from  one  delivered  before  the  Woman's  Congress,  under  the  title, 
•'  Some  Modern  Tendencies  of  the  Art  of  Elocution." 

597 


.MISS  ANNA   MORGAN. 


598  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Ex- Senator  John  J.  Ingalls,  in  an  article  on  "  Oratory"  contributed  to  a  Chicago 
newspaper,  referred  to  the  art  of  elocution  in  terms  of  condemnation — terms  which 
we,  who  profess  the  art.  have  long  ago  come  to  expect  from  those  who  examine  it 
superficially  or  judge  it  by  its  failures  Said  the  ex  Senator  of  Kansas:  "  No  speaker 
eminent  at  the  bar,  in  the  sacred  desk,  or  on  the  platform,  observes  the  rules  which 
the  elocutionary  teachers  of  ambitious  and  aspiring  youth  inform  their  pupils  are 
indispensable  to  eloquence."  The  public  speakers  who  do  not  observe  the  fundamen- 
tal rules  of  elocution  are  hopelessly  bad  in  their  delivery,  and  they  are  valued  for  other 
gifts  than  that  of  expression.  These  men  do  not  ascribe  their  success  to  the  faults  that 
have  hindered  them;  they  know  that  intellect  and  imagination  have  triumphed  m  spite 
of  a  muffled  monotone,  an  indistinct  enunciation  and  a  laborious  delivery.  Their  efficacy 
as  speakers  would  have  been  greatly  increased  had  they  been  properly  trained  in  elo- 
cution. The  positive  philosophy  of  this  century  has  effected  all  the  arts,  and  particu- 
larly the  art  of  expressing  the  mind  through  the  body — the  art  of  elocution.  Look  at 
literature  in  all  its  phases,  and  literature  may  be  tersely  defined  "  the  expression  of 
life."  Both  in  our  own  country  and  Europe  the  imagination  which  creates  is  gradually 
giving  way  to  the  inquiring  scientific  mind  which  analyzes.  To  illustrate  this  idea  is 
the  purpose  of  Mr.  W.  D.  Howells'  latest  work,  "  Criticism  and  Fiction."  Realism  is 
the  direct  result  of  the  positivist  philosophy.  This  realism  is  carried  to  such  an  extent, 
especially  in  French  and  Russian  novels,  and  in  the  art  of  acting,  that  extreme  realism 
is  described  by  one  class  of  critics  as  naturalism.  I  have  no  intention  to  go  into  a 
literary  discussion,  though  literature  is  moving  on  parallel  lines  to  the  art  of  expres- 
sion. I  am  anxious,  however,  to  dwell  on  the  naturalistic  impulses  that  are  now  actu- 
ating the  world  of  acting — impulses  which  must  communicate  themselves  to  the  world 
of  elocution,  students  and  teachers;  impulses  with  which  we  ought  to  be  in  active  sym- 
pathy if  we  are  to  keep  abreast  of  the  art  progress  of  the  nations. 

"All  art,"  said  Mr.  Nelson  Wheatcroft,  "is  nature  better  understood."  A  child 
having  no  mannerism — that  is,  I  mean,  petrified  peculiarities — has  no  occasion  to  be 
taught  elocution,  especially  if  it  be  in  a  good  school  of  acting.  I  can  easily  see  that 
teaching  might  check  the  originality  of  that  child.  It  might  give  her  self-conscious- 
ness, that  unpardonable  sin  which  so  many  of  us  older  people  frequently  commit, 
that  fault  from  which  no  work  or  study  will  ever  completely  free  us.  Now,  a  child 
brought  up  on  the  stage  might  become  a  great  and  unaffected  actress,  other  things 
being  equal.  Miss  Terry,  Mrs.  Kendall,  and  several  other  of  our  actresses  were  brought 
up  in  this  way  (Joseph  Jefferson  and  Ristori  are  also  examples),  and  in  naturalness  they 
are  unsurpassable.  Signora  Duse's  life  was  like  theirs,  only  that  her  parents  and  grand- 
parents were  actors  before  her,  and  her  aptitude  for  the  boards  (not  speaking  of  her 
particular  genius)  came  as  naturally  as  a  young  duck's  inclination  for  water.  The 
teaching  of  pantomime  should  precede  the  teaching  of  elocution.  Take  a  young 
woman  of  eighteen  or  twenty;  she  can  not  speak  or  walk  or  stand  with  the  natural- 
ness of  a  child  of  six  or  seven.  Elocution  takes  her,  and  if  it  fulfills  its  duty  that 
young  woman  is  given  freedom  where  she  is  constrained,  grace  wherein  she  is  awk- 
ward, is  taught  to  breathe  instead  of  choking  herself;  she  is  not  taught  new  or  arti- 
ficial habits,  she  is  only  taught  to  rid  herself  of  false  ones.  If  she  is  a  diamond  she 
will  then  begin  to  sparkle;  if  she  happens  to  be  a  common  bit  of  clay  she  is  a  little 
better  fashioned,  but  intrinsically  not  more  valuable  than  she  was  before. 

"What  is  elocution?"  said  Miss  Cushman  to  an  aspirant  to  the  stage  who  asked 
for  advice  on  elocution.  "  I  don't  know  what  it  is,"  said  the  great  actress;  "  no  one 
ever  taught  me  elocution.  God  gave  me  a  mouth  with  which  I  can  make  a  whisper 
heard  in  the  end  of  the  largest  hall;  then  what  use  have  I  for  elocution?" 

Very  true;  elocution  had  nothing  to  teach  Miss  Cushman,  though  she  had  much, 
no  doubt,  to  teach  elocutionists;  but  how  many  actresses  in  her  profession  could  truth- 
fully repeat  her  words?  The  exception  proves,  it  does  not  disprove,  the  rule.  Blind 
Tom  needed  no  music-teacher,  but  the  number  of  music-teachers  has  not  been  dimin- 
ished since  his  phenomenal  precocity  astounded  the  world. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  599 

A  name  that  attracts  as  much  undeserved  ridicule  as  elocution  itself  is  Delsarte- 
fsm.  People  seem  to  regard  it  as  a  series  of  gymnastic  exercises.  This,  of  course,  is 
not  its  definition.  The  system  which  Francois  Delsarte  tried  to  formulate  and  left 
unfinished  was  the  expression  of  the  emotions  through  the  body.  What  Lindley 
Murray  was  to  English  grammar,  such  was  Delsarte  to  the  art  of  expression.  The 
great  Frenchman  has  revealed  to  us  much  about  the  body,  the  wonderful  complex 
organism  through  which  the  Ego  or  the  spirit  manifests  itself;  but  on  the  side  of  the 
soul  so  infinite  is  the  speculation  that  Francois  Delsarte,  even  if  he  had  lived  to  carry 
out  his  system,  would  have  been  incapable,  I  think,  of  formulating  anything  approach- 
ing an  exact  scientific  system.  The  reader  or  the  actor  who  is  educated  on  Delsartean 
principles  is  necessarily  no  more  self-conscious  than  a  writer  in  the  process  of  com- 
position is  handicapped  by  knowing  the  rules  of  syntax.  Thousands  of  good  actors 
will  live  and  do  without  bothering  about  Delsarte,  just  as  Robert  Burns  sang  without 
troubling  himself  about  grammarians,  but  this  reasoning  is  no  argument  either  against 
Lindley  Murray  or  Francois  Delsarte. 

In  nothing  was  the  naturalism  of  Signora  Duse  so  apparent  as  in  her  economical 
use  of  gestures,  which  one  would  imagine  would  be  voluminous  in  one  of  the  Latin 
temperament.  It  seems  paradoxical  to  say  it,  but  it  is  a  fact  that  this  actress  was  even 
true  to  nature  in  a  certain  awkwardness  in  moments  of  grief.  The  unimpeachable  truth 
of  the  attitude  was  their  vindication.  The  modern  tendencies  in  the  art  of  expression 
are  to  the  closest  naturalness  attainable  without  flatness,  to  suggestiveness  rather  than 
to  literal  expressiveness,  and  to  hold  to  the  exact  truth  in  preference  to  any  scheme 
of  decorative  beauty.  This  is  equivalent  to  saying  that  these  tendencies  are,  first, 
naturalness;  second,  naturalness;  and  third,  naturalness.  In  the  beginning  of  dramatic 
art  in  Greece  men  walked  on  stilts,  spoke  through  instruments  that  magnified  the  voice, 
and  wore  masks  that  exaggerated  the  human  features.  The  history  of  the  art  from 
that  day  to  this  has  been  the  gradual  approach  to  nature,  until  now  the  art  of  conceal- 
ing art  seems  almost  to  be  identical  with  nature. 

Declamation — old-fashioned  declamation — has  no  longer  any  place  in  the  artistic 
economy.  It  is  out  of  harmony  with  our  time  and  our  institutions.  Though  declaim- 
ing has  gone  out  of  fashion  the  charm  of  the  sweet  voice  of  the  accomplished  reader 
will  never  become  obsolete.  More  may  be  left  nowadaysto  the  imagination  of  the 
auditor  than  in  former  years.  It  is  now  especially  important  to  suggest  the  subtle 
beauties  of  a  poem  or  a  chapter  of  prose — those  beauties  which  would  escape  the  cas- 
ual reader,  who  voraciously  devours  the  sense. 

But  it  will  not  be  impertinent,  I  hope,  to  commend  to  teachers,  who  deal  largely 
with  the  poets,  to  take  a  course  in  prosody.  To  anyone  with  a  taste  for  rhythm  it  is  a 
knowledge  which  is  easily  and  even  pleasantly  acquired.  Many  of  us  neglect  the 
rhythm  and  the  rhyme  of  poetry.  In  reading  verse  strictly  in  accordance  with  sense 
and  punctuation  many  reciters,  destitute  of  poetical  sympathy,  commit  a  sacrilege  the 
enormity  of  which  they  can  not  appreciate.  Pity  is  that  the  reading-desk,  which  has 
done  so  much  to  refine  public  taste  and  to  minister  to  the  intellect  more  directly  and 
more  exclusively  than  did  the  stage,  should  now  be  obsolete.  Let  us  hope  that  it  is 
only  in  temporary  eclipse  of  public  favor,  and  that  when  this  day  of  follies  and  trivial- 
ities has  passed  the  reading-desk  will  once  more  emerge  to  shed  on  the  world  its  mild 
and  beneficent  influence. 


ART-ISMS. 


MISS  ANNETTE  COLE. 


By  MISS  ANNETTE  COLE. 

"Isms"  and  "idiosyncrasies"  are  not  synonymous  terms,  and  yet  for  the  past 
century,  especially  in  art  expression,  any  erratic  or  revolutionary  idea  has  received 

the  appellation  of  an  "  ism."  When  the  human  mind 
became  unshackled  in  the  great  upheaval  of  universal 
freedom,  we  find,  particularly  in  the  theological  world, 
that  thought  moves  in  concentric  circles,  animated  by 
a  strong  initial  or  projective  force,  and  this  central 
idea  was  denominated  an  "  ism."  Constant  evolution 
of  thought  changes  the  ideal  or  standard.  So  creeds 
wear  out  or  become  de  mode.  Art  canons  are  also 
very  transitory  in  their  nature  and  formula,  requiring 
very  close  observation  to  keep  pace  with  the  latest 
expression.  The  question  is  asked.  Why  should  we 
be  troubled  with  so  many  perplexing  isms?  Or  is 
there  a  logical,  historical  and  chronological  develop- 
ment, so  we  may  grasp  the  significance  of  these 
seemingly  obscure,  indefinite  terms  which,  like  the 
will-o-the-wisp,  are  ever  eluding  our  mental  grasp. 
The  reply  is  in  the  affirmative.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
go  farther  back  than  the  beginning  of  our  century  to 
compass  the  thought  or  begin  the  study  of  the  isms 
of  modernite.  We  can  not  philosophize  deeply  upon 
the  causes  which  introduced  the  new  word  Roman- 
ticism. Politically,  in  this  nineteenth  century  move- 
ment, man  asserted  his  freedom  as  an  individual  in  proportion  to  the  idea  of  his 
own  responsibility,  and  also  his  liberty  of  interpreting  life  after  his  own  methods, 
which  changed  the  whole  current  of  thought  and  action  and  revolutionized  social  and 
intellectual  life.  Hence  Individualism  is  only  another  expression  for  Romanticism. 
Germany  led  the  van  in  the  literary  world,  particularly  in  the  novel,  poetry  and 
drama.  Nerder  was  a  reformer,  but  Goethe,  influenced  by  the  subjective  philosophy  of 
Fichte,  most  emphatically  announced  the  individual.  Then  England  followed,  and 
Burns,  Scott  and  Shelley  opposed  the  classicism  of  Addison,  Pope  and  Johnson.  In 
France,  the  reign  of  Napoleon  and  the  Revolution  burst  the  bars,  and  the  people 
opposed  king-craft,  convention  and  tradition.  "Everyman  can  be  a  law  unto  him- 
self," was  the  spirit  which  now  animated  the  thinking  world.  Victor  Hugo  was  the 
great  leader  in  France,  although  Madame  de  Stael  and  Beranger  forecast  the  change. 
No  other  canon  of  criticism  was  tolerated  than  this:  "The  work,  is  it  good  or  bad?" 
Art  reflected  more  intensely  the  spirit  of  the  age  in  her  representations  and  interpre- 
tations. Romanticism  in  art  was  a  reaction  against  the  formal  and  cold  classicism  of 
the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  the  fossil  ideas  of  Mediaevalism.  In  i8i2 
the  German  artists,  Cornelius,  Overbeck,  Veit,  Schadow  and  others,  impelled  by  the 
new  impulse,  went  to  Rome  and  formed  a  brotherhood,  and  in  conscientious  isolation 

Miss  Annette  Cole  is  a  native  of  Johnstown,  N.  Y.  Her  parents  were  Frederick  S.'Coleand  Phoebe  Cole,  of  Connecticut. 
She  was  educated  in  the  Albany  Normal  School,  New  York,  and  in  Cambridge,  N.  Y.;  has  traveled  in  England  and  Scotland,  and 
extensively  on  the  Continent.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  art,  literature,  history  and  music,  devoting  twelve 
years  to  the  study  of  art,  and  firmly  believing  that  the  multitude  must  be  brought  to  art,  since  art  can  not  reach  the  multi- 
tude. She  has  written  many  works  in  manuscript.  Her  profession  is  that  of  art  teacher.  In  religious  faith  she  is  Methodist 
Episcopal.    Her  postoffice  address  is  No.  4204  Calumet  Avenue,  Chicago,  111. 

600 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  601 

remained  unshorn,  and  thus  received  the  title  of  Nazarenes.  They  were  also  called 
"The  Church  Romantic  Painters"  and  "The  Old  School."  They  even  donned  their 
kitchen  aprons  to  attend  to  the  culinary  department.  In  their  art  labor  they  wrought 
diligently.  For  what?  To  purify  art  by  drawing  their  inspiration  from  the  revered 
old  masters  of  Italy;  and,  returning,  they  transplanted  the  seed  in  the  soil  of  the 
fatherland,  and  not  only  revealed  to  it  the  significance  of  natural  life,  but  imbued  it 
with  a  moral  element  which  still  dominates  German  art.  This  religious  phase  of 
Romanticism  found  expression  in  England  under  the  name  of  pre-Raphaeliteism, 
which  was  a  conscientious  striving  after  truth  and  purity  of  conception.  Entirely 
idealistic  in  aim  but  realistic  in  method,  evincing  absolute  fidelity  to  detail.  But  the 
strong  individuality  or  personality  of  Millais,  Rosetti,  CoUinson,  and  one  or  two  others, 
did  not  allow  them  to  remain  many  years  an  organized  brotherhood.  Who  shall  say 
pre-Raphaeliteism  has  not  served  to  perpetuate  sincerity  and  a  nobler  aim  in  art,  and 
also  a  more  thorough  mastery  of  technic? 

With  one  notable  exception,  we  must  go  to  Europe  to  study  the  master-pieces  of 
that  noted  group  and  their  followers.  In  France,  Gericault  and  Delacroix  were  the 
exponents  of  the  heroic  phase  of  Romanticism,  while  Scheffer  alone  represented  the 
religious.  Delacroix  was  the  most  strongly  individual  and  dramatic  in  his  concep- 
tions. He  drew  his  inspiration  from  Dante,  Byron,  Scott  and  Shakespeare.  The 
school  of  Fontainebleau  or  Barbizon  is  another  marked  phase  or  illustration  of  Ro- 
manticism. We  all  know  how  sincerely  Diaz  Dupre,  Daubigny,  Corot,  Rosseau  and 
Millet  sought  to  reinvest  landscape  with  truth  and  feeling,  and  if  we  carefully  study 
their  pictures  we  can  not  fail  to  observe  how  marvelously  each  has  impressed  his  own 
individuality  and  character  upon  his  work.  But  now  the  vision  of  the  artist  grows 
more  sensitive  and  acute,  and  he  says,  "This  world  is  visible  to  me  only  in  proportion 
as  I  annihilate  myself  and  seek  to  interpret  life  just  as  I  find  it,"  and  thus  we  have 
Realism.  Themes  may  be  chosen  from  life,  and  the  whole  aim  may  be  to  render 
objectively,  but  how  can  an  artist  sever  his  individuality  and  his  art?  Contrast  Cour- 
bet  with  Meissonier,  Morot  with  Fhermitte,  LePage  with  Bonnot,and  decide  as  to  the 
possibility  of  the  proposition.  After  due  consideration  is  Realism  more  than  a  training- 
school  for  Idealism?  Many  critics  of  the  present  time  think  we  ought  not  to  employ 
the  word  "  idealism,"  arguing  that  there  is,  and  never  was,  but  one  true  ideal,  and  that 
is  in  Greece.  This  is  philosophically  true;  yet  every  age  has  its  ideal,  or  may  have. 
There  are  artists  gifted  with  strong  imagination,  their  minds  teeming  with  poetic  con- 
ceptions and  subjectively  must  find  utterance.  If  art  is  imagination,  then  it  is  the 
province  of  the  idealist  to  create  ideal  standards  of  excellence,  beatific  visions  of  truth 
and  goodness.  Quite  relevant  to  this  thought  is  the  present  innovation  upon  the  usual 
conventional  manner  of  representing  Christ.  Is  it  sacrilegious  to  represent  the  Re- 
deemer of  the  world  as  a  Son  of  Man,  clad  in  ordinary  garments,  walking  and  living 
among  men?  We  will  not  assume  the  responsibility  of  approbation  or  condemnation. 
Every  heart  must  pronounce  its  own  dictum.  Perhaps  Skredsvig,  the  Norwegian  artist, 
in  his  work,  entitled  "The  Son  of  Man,"  has  struck  a  keynote  to  a  chord  which 
shall  long  vibrate  in  the  heart  of  mankind.  W^hat  is  more  pathetic  than  the  absorbing 
devotion  of  the  woman  who  feign  "  would  lay  all  at  her  Master's  feet,"  expressed  in  the 
act  of  bringing  her  rugs  and  adjusting  them  with  the  utmost  care,  and  then  bordering 
the  way  His  feet  must  pass  with  vases  of  precious  flowers.  Yes,  the  simple  faith  of  those 
humble  people  is  sure  of  a  benediction.  Idealism  should,  we  believe,  receive  not  only 
the  sanction  but  the  enthusiastic  approval  of  all  who  sincerely  desire  the  elevation  of 
mankind. 

What  about  Impressionism,  called  in  playful  derision  the  "  new  lavender  school?" 
It  is  often  abused  and  misunderstood  as  an  appellation.  This  is  a  scientific  age,  and 
many  artists  are  only  endeavoring  to  grasp  heretofore  unsolved  problems  in  light  and 
atmosphere.  They  claim  no  moral  purpose  and  surely  we  find  none.  Yet  if  consci- 
entiously they  are  with  keener  vision  penetrating  deeper  into  the  realms  of  nature,  to 
render  more  subtle  and  evanescent  beauty,  giving  us  glimpses  of  the  intangible,  who 


602  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

should  say  their  aim  is  an  ignoble  one?  We  can  not  but  think  the  exploitation  has 
been  made  too  public.  Many  of  the  experiments  upon  canvas  should  have  been  left 
in  the  atelier,  "  face  to  the  wall." 

Mr.  George  Moore,  the  new  English  critic,  may  throw  some  light  upon  this  sub- 
ject. His  definition  of  Impressionism  in  the  most  modern  sense  is  "  a  rapid  noting  of 
illusive  appearance."  Therefore,  be  sure  to  seek  illusions.  Then  there  is  a  theory 
that  whatever  the  artist  is  painting,  his  retina  must  still  hold  some  sensation  of  the 
place  it  has  left.  For  instance,  if  a  person  leaves  a  brilliantly  lighted  salon,  going  out 
of  yellow,  he  would  see  the  other  primary  colors,  blue  and  red;  in  other  words,  he 
would  see  violet.  This  theory  happily  furnishes  a  solution  to  the  mysterious  ultra 
violet  shadows  seen  in  Besnard's  "Two  Ponies  Harnessed  by  Flies,"  and  Tarbell's 
"Girl  and  Horse."  These  artists  had  been  for  a  long  time  rambling  in  the  fields  in 
the  golden  sunlight  of  an  October  day,  and  were  true  to  the  impressions  left  upon  the 
retina  when  they  painted  the  shadows.  The  transmutation  is  not  complete  in  Dannat's 
"Spanish  Girl."  "The  Iphigenia,"  in  the  harbor  of  Toulon,  painted  by  the  Parisian 
artist,  Eugene  Dauphin,  is,  we  think,  the  most  exquisite  example  of  Impressionism  in 
the  P>ench  section  or  in  the  Art  Palace. 

But  the  great  pendulum  of  this  ism  is  now  swung  to  the  utmost  limit  of  the  real- 
istic arc,  and  already  we  hear  ominous  sounds  from  afar. 

The  Independents,  Incoherents  and  Les  Inquiets  claim  attention.  Allow  me  to 
offer  just  one  word  of  consolation  to  the  earnest  artseer.  When  the  "  ism"  is  not 
obvious,  call  it  Incoherentism  or  Inquietism,  and  you  will  be  a  la  tnode. 

We  sincerely  hope  that  this  grand  reunion  of  international  artistic  effort  will  have 
a  tendency  to  obliterate  or  converge  all  lines  or  isms,  including  American  Alienism, 
into  one  broad  Loyalism.  This  is  the  great  hope  for  American  art.  Is  there  a  lack  of 
patriotism?     No! 

Have  not  our  artists  quick  appreciation  and  adaptation?  There  are  doubtlessly 
now  living  artists  whose  keen  artistic  sensibilities  and  powers  will  enable  them  to 
mount  on  eagles'  wings  of  sublime  genius.  Circumstances  have  compelled  many  to 
meet  commercial  demands,  or  they  have  sought  an  artistic  atmosphere  away  from  the 
feverish  existence  of  American  life.  Art  has  been  considered  too  much  a  diversion 
or  a  luxury  of  the  rich.  Artists  need  more  than  the  necessary  commission;  they 
require  appreciation  to  stimulate  them  to  their  best  efforts.  Loyalism  must  permeate 
our  picture  markets.  Art  study  must  form  part  of  the  curriculum  of  more  of  our  col- 
leges and  universities.  Kindergarten  must  teach  lisping  lips  to  revere  the  names  of 
our  Turner,  Johnson,  Homer,  Millet,  Gifford,  Vedder,  Richards,  Melcher,  Sargent  and 
Whistler.  All  our  artists'  names  should  become  household  words.  Then  with  an 
unswerving  loyalty  to  truth,  beauty  and  lofty  ideals  as  a  centrifugal  force,  and  a  con- 
scientious striving  after  perfect  technic  as  a  centrifugal  force,  art  in  America  will  rise 
Phcenix-like  from  its  aspersions  and  become  not  only  a  grand  conservative  element 
of  peace  and  prosperity  in  our  glorious  Republic,  but  will  hasten  the  day  when  the 
kingdoms  of  this  earth  shall  acknowledge  but  one  ruler — the  Eternal  One,  the  Cre- 
ator of  all  that  is  good,  true  and  beautiful. 


LINCOLN  AND  FARRAGUT. 


By  MRS.  VINNIE  REAM  HOXIE. 

When  you  so  kindly  invited  me  to  speak  upon  myself,  my  work,  and  my  illus- 
trious subjects,  Lincoln  and  Farragut,  you  opened  to  me  so  wide  a  field  that,  even  if 

I  did  not  stray  from  it,  I  might  wander  very  far.  As 
for  myself,  my  work  was  ever,  and  is  now,  most  fasci- 
nating to  me.  It  has  never  lost  any  of  its  charm,  and 
I  can  not  see  a  block  of  marble  or  the  modeling  clay 
without  a  quicker  throb  of  the  heart.  When  the  war 
commenced  I  was  away  down  south  on  the  Louisiana 
line,  and  after  its  lurid  fires  lit  up  the  whole  country 
my  dear  mother,  with  great  difficulty,  made  her  way 
through  the  lines  and  brought  her  children  to  Wash- 
ington. My  father,  although  much  of  an  invalid  from 
rheumatism,  was  one  of  the  improvised  guard  around 
the  Capitol,  and  from  its  commanding  dome,  where  I 
had  so  often  climbed  to  see  the  rosy  sunrise,  the 
"  smoke  of  the  battle  afar  off"  was  to  be  seen  rising 
from  the  Virginia  valleys,  and  the  cannonading  from 
"  Bull  Run"  resounded  through  the  air.  Time  rolled 
along,  the  horrors  of  war  developing  each  day,  when 
a  few  months  before  its  close,  as  I  was  walking  along 
Pennsylvania  avenue,  I  met  Major  James  S.  Rollins, 
of  Columbia,  Boone  County,  Mo.,  who  represented 
that  district  in  Congress,  in  which  I  had  formerly 
attended  school,  saying  that  he  had  been  looking  for 
me  and  had  promised  the  president  of  Christian  College  to  send  him  a  picture  of  his 
little  pupil,  Vinnie  Ream.  He  walked  with  me  to  our  home,  and  there  arranged  that 
my  mother  and  myself  should  go  with  him  to  Clark  Mills'  studio  at  the  Capitol,  where 
a  bust  should  be  made  of  me  to  send  to  Christian  College.  As  soon  as  I  saw  the 
sculptor  handle  the  clay,  I  felt  at  once  that  I,  too,  could  model  and,  taking  the  clay, 
in  a  few  hours  I  produced  a  medallion  of  an  Indian  chief's  head,  which  so  pleased  the 
major  that  he  carried  it  away  and  placed  it  on  his  desk  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. It  attracted  the  attention  of  Reverdy  Johnson,  Thaddeus  Stevens,  General 
Morehead  and  many  other  of  his  colleagues,  who,  learning  from  him  that  it  was  mod- 
eled in  a  few  hours  by  a  young  girl  who  had  never  been  in  a  studio  before,  generously 
encouraged  me  to  try  again — Senator  Nesmith,  of  Oregon,  being  my  first  subject.  In 
rapid  succession  I  modeled  likenesses  in  clay  of  Senator  Yates,  Senator  Sherman,  Sen- 
ator Voorhees,  General  Morehead,  Parson  Brownlow,  General  Custer,  Thaddeus 
Stevens  and  the  venerable  Frank  P.  Blair.  These  kind  men  became  my  friends,  and 
warmly  interested  in  my  progress.     As  a  plant  thrives  beneath  the  sunlight,  so   I 

MrB.  Vinnie  Ream  Hozie  was  born  in  Madison,  Wis.  Her  father  was  Robert  L.  Ream,  her  mother  Lavinia  McDonald 
Ream.  At  an  early  age  she  showed  such  marked  ability  as  a  sculptor  as  to  attract  public  attention,  and  her  parents  were 
induced  to  give  her  special  training.  She  miide  striking  pictures  of  many  of  the  public  men  of  the  day,  among  them  Presi- 
dent Lincoln,  who  gave  her  sittings  only  a  few  months  before  his  assassination.  This  model  was  transferred  to  marble  and 
now  stands  in  the  Capitol  at  Washington.  She  studied  in  Paris,  Rome  and  Munich,  where  she  received  marked  attention 
from  many  noted  men.  Spurgeon,  Cardinal  Antonelli  and  Lizt  each  gave  her  sittings  for  likenesses.  Her  three  marbles, 
"America,"  "The  West"  and  "Miriam,"  were  exhibited  in  the  Woman's  Building  at  the  Columbian  Exposition  as  an  Arkan- 
sas exhibit,  she  having  spent  many  years  of  her  life  in  that  state,  where  she  has  many  friends  and  admirers.  Postoffice 
address  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  care  of  Captain  Huxie,  United  States  Engineer  Office. 

603 


MRS.   VINNIE   REAM   HOXIE. 


604  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

throve  under  their  generous  influence,  and  worked  early  and  late  that  they  should  not 
be  disappointed  in  their  little  protegee.  They  decided  to  give  me  an  order  for  a  bust 
in  marble,  and  I  chose  President  Lincoln  for  my  subject.  Senator  Nesmith,  General 
Morehead  and  Reverdy  Johnson  called  upon  the  President,  asking  him  to  sit  to  me. 
At  first  he  positively  declined,  saying  he  "  was  tired  sitting  for  his  likeness,  and  he 
couldn't  imagine  why  any  one  wanted  to  make  a  likeness  of  such  a  homely  man." 
Finding  him  firm  in  his  refusal  they  arose  to  leave.  Senator  Nesmith  remarking,  "  This 
will  be  a  disappointment  to  the  young  artist  who  selected  you  as  her  subject.  She  is 
a  little  western  girl,  born  in  Wisconsin.  She  is  poor,  and  has  talent,  and  we  intend 
to  encourage  her  in  this  work,  in  which  we  feel  she  will  excel,  by  giving  her  an  order 
for  a  bust  in  marble."  Almost  before  Senator  Nesmith  had  finished.  President  Lincoln 
turned  abruptly,  and  in  a  high  key  exclaimed: "  She  is  poor,  is  she?  Well,  that's  noth- 
ing against  her.  Why  don't  you  bring  that  girl  up  here?  LU  sit  to  her  for  my  bust;  " 
and  so  it  was,  the  great  heart  which  vanity  could  not  unlock  opened  with  the  sym- 
pathy that  recalled  to  him  his  own  youth;  his  battle  with  poverty;  his  ambition;  his 
early  struggles.  So  it  was  that  I,  a  little  unknown  sculptor,  born  in  Wisconsin,  and  a 
stranger  to  fame,  was  allowed  the  privilege  of  modeling  from  life  the  features  of  this 
great  man.  When  these  gentlemen  took  me  to  the  White  House  and  presented  me  to 
Mr.  Lincoln,  his  kind  face  lighting  up,  he  exclaimed:  "Why,  this  is  the  very  same 
little  girl  who  came  to  me  last  week  and  received  permission  from  me  to  visit  her 
rebel  relative  at  the  Old  Capitol  Prison!  Why,  we  are  old  friends.  Now,  let's 
measure  and  see  which  is  the  tallest;  "  and  it  was  thus  I  was  welcomed.  Sometimes  at 
these  sittings  his  face  wore  that  look  of  anxiety  and  pain  which  will  come  to  one 
accustomed  to  grief.  At  other  times  he  would  have  that  far-away,  dreamy  look, 
which  seemed  to  presage  the  tragic  fate  awaiting  him;  and  again,  those  quiet  eyes 
lighting  up,  a  radiance  almost  Divine  would  suffuse  the  sunken  cheeks,  and  the  whole 
face  would  be  illuminated  with  the  impulse  of  some  Divine  purpose.  Often  he  would 
go  to  the  south  window  and,  seated  there,  remain  a  long  time  with  his  face  turned 
away;  then,  hastily  brushing  away  the  tears  from  his  eyes,  he  would  say,  "  I  was 
thinking  of  Willie."  He  was  still  suffering  from  the  blow  of  that  child's  death,  while 
great  affairs  convulsed  the  nation,  and  he  hardly  dared  to  take  the  time  for  personal 
grief. 

So  lately  had  I  seen  and  known  President  Lincoln,  that  I  was  still  under  the  spell 
of  his  kind  eyes  and  genial  presence  when  the  terrible  blow  of  his  assassination  came 
and  shook  the  civilized  world.  The  terror,  the  horror,  that  fell  upon  the  whole  com- 
munity has  never  been  equaled.  Terrible  as  this  was,  who  can  say  that  it  was  not  the 
best  for  Lincoln's  fame  that  he  died  just  then,  for  its  measure  was  full?  Yet  in  the 
trying  years  that  followed  he  was  sorely  needed.  Maturing  late  in  life,  he  was  at  his 
best  when  struck  down,  and  had  in  his  heart  and  mind  great  reservoirs  of  usefulness. 
His  hand  of  steel  and  heart  of  kindness  had  guided  us  safely  so  far  through  the  dark 
waters,  and  our  ablest  mediator,  he  might,  from  his  gentle,  forgiving  and  humane 
nature,  have  evolved  plans  of  peace  and  reconciliation  which  would  have  more  quickly, 
more  firmly  and  more  closely  bound  the  estranged  ones  together.  But  God  planned 
this  Universe,  and  "  He  doeth  all  things  well,"  though  the  Nation's  leader  and  the 
South's  best  friend  iiad  been  slain.  He  lay  there,  dead,  in  the  rotunda  of  the  Capitol, 
with  white  face  and  speechless  lips,  but  mightier  in  death  even  than  in  life!  The 
Nation  bowed  its  head  and  wept!  The  voice  of  those  who  had  maligned  him  was 
silent.  A  spell  was  laid  upon  the  lips  of  men  to  do  him  reverence.  He  had  been  the 
best  friend  of  the  Noith  and  the  best  friend  of  the  South.  His  zeal  had  been  unflagging, 
his  patriotism  exalted  above  all  thought  of  self.  His  power  had  been  almost 
unbounded,  and  how  had  he  used  it?  "With  charity  for  all,  with  malice  toward 
none."  He  had  sworn  to  protect  the  honor  of  the  Government,  and  history  will  tell 
how  well  he  kept  that  oath;  and  yet  while  he  guarded  the  sanctuary  of  its  honor  with 
fire  and  with  sword,  he  wept  that  any  should  suffer. 

When,  soon  after.  Congress  appropriated  money  to  erect  a  marble  statue  of  the 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  605 

martyred  President  in  the  Capitol,  it  never  occurred  to  me,  with  my  youth  and  my 
inexperience,  to  compete  for  that  great  honor;  but  I  was  induced  to  place  my  likeness  of 
him  before  the  committee  having  the  matter  under  consideration,  and,  together  with 
many  other  artists — competitors  for  this  work — I  was  called  before  this  committee.  I 
shall  never  forget  the  fear  that  fell  upon  me,  as  the  chairman  (the  Hon.'John  H.  Rice,  of 
Maine,  who  had  a  kind  heart,  but  a  very  stern  manner)  looked  up  through  his  glasses, 
from  his  seat  at  the  head  of  the  table,  and  questioned  and  cross-questioned  me  until  I 
was  so  frightened  that  I  could  hardly  reply  to  his  questions:  "How  long  had  I  been 
studying  art?"  and  had  I  "  ever  made  a  marble  statue?"  My  knees  trembled  and  I 
shook  like  an  aspen,  and  I  had  not  enough  presence  of  mind  even  to  tell  hini  that  I 
had  made  the  bust  from  sittings  from  life.  Seeing  my  dire  confusion,  and  not  being 
able  to  hear  my  incoherent  replies,  he  dismissed  me  with  a  wave  of  his  hand,  and  a 
request  to  Judge  Marshall,  of  Illinois,  to  kindly  see  the  young  artist  home!  Once 
there,  in  the  privacy  of  my  own  room,  I  wept  bitter  tears  that  I  had  been  such  an  idiot 
as  to  try  to  compete  with  men,  and  remembering  the  appearance  before  that  stern 
committee  as  a  terrible  ordeal  before  unmerciful  judges,  I  promised  myself  it  should 
be  my  last  experience  of  that  kind. 

Judge  then  of  my  surprise  and  delight  when  I  learned  that,  guided  by  the  opin- 
ion of  Judge  David  Davis,  Senator  Trumbull,  Marshal  Lamon,  Sec.  O.  H.  Browning, 
Judge  Dickey,  and  many  others  of  President  Lincoln's  old  friends,  that  I  had  pro- 
duced the  most  faithful  likeness  of  him,  they  had  awarded  the  commission  to  me — the 
little  western  sculptor.  The  Committee  on  Mines  and  Mining  tendered  me  their 
room  in  the  Capitol,  in  which  to  model  my  statue,  because  it  was  next  to  the  room  of 
Judge  David  Davis,  and  he  could  come  in  daily  and  aid  me  with  his  friendly  criticisms. 
His  comfortable  chair  was  kept  in  readiness.  He  came  daily,  and  suggesting  "  a  little 
more  here — a  little  on  there — more  inclining  of  the  bended  head — more  angularity 
of  the  long  limbs,"  he  aided  me  in  my  sacred  work  by  his  encouraging  words  and 
generous  sympathy.  I  had  approached  it  with  reverence,  and  with  trembling  hands 
had  taken  the  proportions  of  the  figure  from  the  blood-stained  garments  President 
Lincoln  had  worn  on  that  last  and  fearful  night;  and  Judge  Davis,  a  man  whose  heart 
was  as  great  as  his  stature,  v/as  deeply  interested  in  the  statue  of  Lincoln,  whose 
memory  he  loved.  Friends  flocked  around  Judge  Davis.  He  was  the  lode-star  that 
drew  them  to  my  studio.  During  those  years  which  I  spent  in  the  Capitol,  modeling 
the  statue,  I  was  thus  thrown  constantly  with  men  prominent  in  public  life.  With 
Judge  Davis  as  the  central  figure,  many  were  the  brilliant  and  gifted  men  who  clustered 
around.  Senators  McDougall,  Trumbull,  Yates,  Conness,  Nesmith,  Morton  (of  Indi- 
ana), Proctor  Knott,  Ebon  C.  Ingersoll,  Samuel  J.  Randall,  Mr.  Windom,  and  indeed 
almost  all  of  the  senators  and  members  were  deeply  interested  in  the  statue  of  Lin- 
coln, and  were  constant  visitors  at  the  studio.  Friend  and  foe  gathered  there  with  a 
common  interest — the  success  of  the  work.  Old  feuds  were  forgotten,  and  they  met 
on  neutral  ground — some  on  friendly  terms  who  had  not  spoken  to  each  other  for  years. 
What  good  friends  they  were  to  me!  How  true!  Only  for  their  sympathetic  kindness,  I 
would  never  have  had  the  heart  to  take  up  and  carry  on  the  work,  which  was  herculean 
for  my  fragile  shoulders.  Time  has  not  dimmed  the  memory  of  their  kindness,  and  I 
lay  this  tribute  of  gratitude  at  their  feet. 

In  the  bright  and  rambling  discussions  of  men  and  things  which  took  place  in  my 
studio  there  were  told  many  tales  of  the  war — its  privations,  its  hardships  and  suffer- 
ings— by  the  gallant  soldiers  who  came  to  see  how  the  statue  was  developing.  Some 
came  on  crutches,  and  told  of  how  father  and  son,  brother  and  brother,  had  met  upon 
the  battle-field,  only  to  die  in  each  other's  arms.  I  heard  stories  of  prison  life,  of  men 
who  were  shot  to  the  heart  at  Shiloh  or  perished  in  the  Wilderness;  of  men  who  went 
down  at  Antietam,  fell  at  Winchester,  or  marched  with  Sherman  "  from  Atlanta  to  the 
Sea."  Gettysburgh  was  often  mentioned,  and  then,  like  a  sacred  poem  intoned  upon 
the  organ,  came  the  memory  of  Lincoln's  inspired  words  upon  that  blood-stained 
field.     The  studio,  with  its  circular  walls  and  high  arched  ceilings,  was  lighted  up  by  a 


606  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

huge  fire-place,  the  last  one  left  at  the  Capitol  of  the  olden  time.  Alas !  now  unfortunately- 
destroyed.  It  occupied  one  entire  side  of  the  room,  and  was  kept  blazing  with  great 
logs,  six  feet  or  more  in  length.  It  was  supported  on  each  side  by  marble  statues,  and 
so  fascinating  that  no  wonder  the  old  soldiers  lingered  there.  It  was  their  camp-fire, 
and  as  the  glow  from  the  blazing  hearth  lighted  up  the  clay  image,  they  remembered 
with  emotion  the  shout  that  went  up  from  the  mountains  and  rang  in  the  valleys  as 
they  responded  to  his  call,  "We  are  coming.  Father  Abraham."  He  had  been  a  father 
to  them  all,  and  they  mourned  him  not  only  as  a  great  man  and  wise  ruler,  but  as  a 
friend  and  father.  Cabinet  ministers  and  diplomats,  journalists  and  authors  all  gath- 
ered there;  such  men  as  Chase  and  Holt,  Blaine  and  Stockton,  Field  and  Miller,  Crosby 
S.  Noyes  and  Gen.  Lew  Wallace,  Deems  and  Sunderland,  Sheridan  and  Sherman, 
Grant  and  Farragut. 

I  was  generally  a  silent  listener  as  these  men  conversed,  but  what  they  said  made 
deep  impression,  for  ever  on  their  lips  was  the  name  of  Lincoln.  Many  stories  touched 
me  deeply,  but  none  like  the  story  of  his  life.  Oh, the  pain,  the  pathos  of  it  all!  You 
are  all  familiar  with  this  story — I  have  told  you  how  it  came  to  me. 

The  model  finished,  I  went  to  Italy  with  my  parents  to  transfer  it  to  marble.  We 
remained  some  time  in  London,  and  much  enjoyed  the  sessions  of  the  House  of  Parlia- 
ment, where  we  heard  John  Bright  speak.  At  Paris  we  remained  three  months,  and 
there  I  had  the  great  privilege  of  daily  instruction  in  drawing  from  Leon  Bonnat,  the 
eminent  French  painter.  Gustave  Dore  became  my  warm  friend,  and  presented  me 
with  a  painting  by  his  own  hand,  writing  the  dedication  upon  the  margin:  "  Offert  a 
Miss  Vinnie  Ream  de  la  part  de  son  affectionne  CoUegue  G.  Dore."  Mr.  Washburn 
was  our  Minister  there  and  showed  us  every  attention.  Pere  Hyacinthe  became  our 
friend,  and  we  had  the  pleasure  of  again  meeting  General  and  Mrs.  Fremont.  Journey- 
ing on  through  Switzerland,  we  enjoyed  together  its  snowy  mountain  peaks  and  charm- 
ing valleys.  At  Munich  we  became  acquainted  with  Germany's  great  painter,  Kaul- 
bauch,  who  was  even  then  passing  away  from  the  people  he  had  so  endeared  to  him  by 
his  genius.  We  sailed  together  up  the  Rhine  and  around  the  Lake  of  Lucerne,  by 
the  Lake  of  Como,  we  visited  the  Castle  of  Challou,and  paid  our  tribute  to  England's 
son  of  genius.  At  Venice  we  floated  over  the  Lagoons  together  and  wandered  through 
the  galleries,  and  by  the  great  Square  of  St.  Mark,  to  see  the  pigeons  fed.  At  Florence 
we  lingered  long  among  its  priceless  gems  of  art,  and  then,  journeying  on  to  Rome, 
rented  a  piano,  a  floor  in  an  old  palace,  and  went  to  keeping  house.  It  was  in  the 
Vicola  Marsomti,  and  a  studio  for  myself  was  selected  on  the  Via  San  Basilio,  adjoin- 
ing the  studio  of  my  good  friend — the  gifted  painter — George  P.  Healey.  Oh,  those 
hours  in  Rome!  Those  days  in  Rome — those  sunny  days  on  the  Campaigna!  Those 
golden  hours  when  we  made  pilgrimages  to  the  picturesque  and  historical  towns  which 
make  all  Italy  a  gallery.  I  can  hear  those  laughing  waters  that  come  down  the  steeps, 
and  see  the  gloomy  catacombs,  the  sunny  slopes,  the  ancient  aqueducts  and  frown- 
ing ruins — the  peasant  homes  and  princely  palaces.  They  were  with  me — my  parents 
— oh,  happy  thought,  and  what  pleasant  memories  dwell  amid  the  scenes  of  our 
wanderings!  They  are  fresh  in  my  memory — the  Falls  of  Trivoli,  the  blue  waters  of 
the  Bay  of  Naples,  the  ruins  of  Pompeii,  and  the  crater  of  Vesuvius.  I  can  never  for- 
get those  charmed  days  with  their  precious  associations. 

Through  Bishop  Domenec,  the  Bishop  of  Pittsburg,  we  presented  our  letters  to 
Cardinal  Antonelli.  We  were  granted  an  audience  with  the  Pope,  and  his  blessing; 
and  when  Cardinal  Antonelli  found  that  I  was  making  the  statue  of  Abraham  Lincoln 
for  my  government,  he  became  my  warm  and  devoted  friend,  corresponding  with  rne 
constantly  after  I  returned  to  this  country  until  his  death.  He  sat  to  me  in  my  studio 
for  his  likeness,  and  when  I  left  Rome  presented  me  with  three  large  and  handsome 
stone  cameos— one  the  head  of  Christ,  and  the  others  heads  of  the  Virgin  Mary— all 
three  exquisitely  cut,  rare  and  valuable  works  of  art  set  in  etruscan  gold;  all  made  in 
the  workshop  of  the  Vatican.  Healey  painted  a  picture  of  myself  in  peasant  costume, 
which  he  presented  to  my  mother,  and  many  were  the  lovely  and  valuable  souvenirs 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  607 

with  which  our  friends  in  Rome  enriched  us.  As  soon  as  I  arrived  in  Rome  and  selected 
my  studio,  I  had  my  model  of  Lincoln  placed  at  the  proper  height,  and,  draping  the 
wall  behind  with  two  large  national  flags,  invited  the  artists  in  Rome  to  see  it.  Among 
the  visitors  who  came  were  Sig.  Luigi  Majoli,  the  most  gifted  of  the  Italian  sculptors, 
and  Sig.  Pietro  Regnoli,  his  friend,  a  brilliant  man  of  letters.  They  became  my  warm 
friends,  and  were  really  brothers  to  me  in  that  far  off  land.  The  gentle  Emelie  Regnoli 
became  my  sister,  and  my  parents  loved  them  all.  All  the  artists,  American  and  for- 
eign, received  me  kindly,  among  them  Randolph  Rogers  and  Mr.  Storey.  Harriet  Hos- 
mer,  who  was  the  pioneer  among  women  sculptors,  was  most  generous.  The  painter, 
Healey,  was  my  neighbor  and  my  friend,  and  as  the  golden  days  passed  by,  and  the 
shadows  lengthened,  when  it  became  too  dark  in  my  studio  to  work  I  would  leave  my 
modeling  and  go  to  his  studio,  and  after  helping  him  wash  his  brushes  and  put  away 
his  things,  we  would  wend  our  way  homeward  together  through  the  Italian  twilight. 
Rossetti  and  Tadoline,  the  Italian  sculptors,  were  my  good  friends,  and  Buchanan  Reed 
the  poet-painter,  kindly  dedicated  some  verses  to  me. 

Through  some  letters  of  introduction  given  me  by  Mrs.  Cleveland  (the  sister  of 
Horace  Greeley)  I  met  many  young  priests,  among  them  one  who  was  a  favorite 
pupil  of  Liszt.  When  I  told  him  I  envied  him  his  opportunity  of  knowing  so  inti- 
mately such  a  man  of  genius,  he  exclaimed:  "You,  too,  shall  know  him.  Come  with 
me — your  parents  and  yourself.  He  plays  this  afternoon  at  the  old  convent  place 
where  he  now  lives.  Come!  "  We  were  soon  ready,  and  when  we  reached  the  convent 
grounds  found  the  street  in  front  crowded  with  carriages.  As  we  entered  the  vast  saloon 
every  available  place  seemed  filled  with  people  who  had  gathered  there  to  hear  him 
play.  At  the  far  end  of  the  room  Liszt  was  seating  himself  at  the  piano — a  picture  he 
was  indeed,  with  his  fine  features  and  slender  figure,  long  black  robe  and  snowy  locks. 
Tiptoeing  softly,  we  followed  Don  Zeferino,  our  young  guide,  and  disappearing  for  a 
moment,  he  returned,  bringing  from  some  hidden  recess  seats  for  my  parents,  and 
then,  motioning  me  to  follow  him  he  placed  a  chair  almost  immediately  back  of  the 
piano  at  Liszt's  right  hand.  The  wonderful  magician  swept  his  slender  hands  over  the 
keys,  fascinating  all  who  heard,  and  with  tremulous  vibrations  touched  some  tender 
chords  with  such  a  spell  that  I  was  deeply  affected.  The  tears  which  I  could  not 
repress  rose  to  my  eyes,  and  being  so  near,  and  fearful  of  making  the  slightest  inter- 
ruption, I  dared  not  raise  my  hand  to  brush  them  away.  The  great  artist  had  felt  the 
spell  he  was  exercising  over  me.  He  noticed  my  emotion,  and  playing  softly  with  the 
left  hand,  he  reached  his  right  hand  over  and  laid  it  for  an  instant  tenderly  on  mine. 
We  needed  no  introduction.  We  understood  each  other,  and  when  he  had  finished 
playing  and  all  rushed  up  to  congratulate  him  and  thank  him,  I  waited  silently  by  to 
try  and  speak;  but  he  offered  me  his  arm,  and  as  we  promenaded  with  the  rest  down 
the  old  convent's  halls,  he  said,  "  You  need  not  speak.  I  understand  you  and  you 
understand  me,"  and  during  all  my  stay  in  Rome  this  great  master  was  a  constant 
visitor  at  my  studio,  and  my  warm  and  devoted  friend. 

All  the  while  my  work  went  on,  and  several  ideal  pieces,  among  them  "  The 
West"  and  "America,"  were  under  way.  The  day  from  early  morning  was  given  to 
work,  hard  work,  and  at  4  o'clock  sometimes  my  Italian  friends — the  sculptor  Majoli, 
and  the  scholar  Regnoli,  with  the  ladies  of  Signor  Regnoli's  family,  would  come,  and 
gathering  up  my  parents  and  myself,  take  us  with  them  to  the  open-air  theater  or  to 
some  one  or  other  of  the  numberless  places  of  interest  in  and  about  the  great  city 
whose  every  inch  is  filled  with  monuments  and  memoirs  of  the  illustrious  dead. 

These  memorable  days  flew  by  on  golden  wings,  and  the  time  came  for  us  to 
tear  these  new  ties  apart  and  sail  for  home.  When  the  Lincoln  statue  in  marble 
arrived  in  Washington,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  accompanied  by  Judge  David 
Davis,  Senator  Trumbull,  and  other  old  friends  of  President  Lincoln,  inspected  and 
accepted  the  statue  on  behalf  of  the  United  States  Government.  The  day  was  then 
set  for  its  formal  unveiling  in  the  rotunda  of  the  Capitol.  The  ceremony  took  place 
at  night  and  the  whole  Capitol  was  brilliantly  illuminated,  the  rotunda  gayly  decor- 


608  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

ated  from  floor  to  dome  with  the  flag  Lincoln  had  loved  so  well.  All  the  officers  of 
the  government,  its  generals  and  ministers,  appeared  in  full  dress  to  do  honor  to  the 
occasion.  The  marble  statue  was  elevated  to  a  proper  height  and  surrounded  with  a 
platform  draped  with  flags,  for  the  President,  the  speakers  and  the  families  of  those 
most  nearly  interested.  The  statue  was  completely  enveloped  in  a  great  silk  flag,  and 
when  Judge  Davis,  Lincoln's  friend,  drew  the  golden  cord  which  confined  it,  unveiling 
the  statue  to  public  view  amid  the  waving  of  banners  and  the  sound  of  trumpets,  a 
great  shout  went  up  from  the  multitude.  Then  glowing  tributes  to  President  Lincoln 
fell  from  the  eloquent  lips  of  Senator  Matt  Carpenter,  Senator  Cullom  of  Illinois, 
and  "the  other  distinguished  orators  who  had  been  selected  to  speak.  The  great  dome 
rang  with  his  praises,  and  thrilled  by  the  eloquence  and  passion  of  some  of  these 
utterances,  sobs  sometimes  broke  upon  the  air,  and  wails  of  sorrow.  When  the  cere- 
mony was  over,  the  audience  thought  of  the  artist,  and  called  for  her.  Senator  Matt 
Carpenter  made  his  way  to  my  seat  upon  the  platform,  and  taking  my  hand,  led  me 
out  before  them,  but  I  could  only  bow  my  thanks,  my  voice  was  too  full  of  tears  to 
speak  in  recognition  of  the  cheers  and  flowers  that  greeted  me.  And  so  the  people 
and  the  old-time  friends  of  Abraham  Lincoln  expressed  their  satisfaction  with  my 
work. 

It  had  been  indeed  a  labor  of  love,  not  without  its  trials,  but  well  rewarded  by  its 
final  triumph.  How  this  verdict  was  afterward  confirmed  in  giving  into  my  hands  the 
commission  for  a  statue  of  the  immortal  Farragut,  I  would  like  to  tell  you,  but  there 
is  not  the  time  now.  This  night  when  the  Lincoln  statue  was  unveiled  in  the  rotunda 
of  the  Capitol  was  the  supreme  moment  of  my  life.  I  had  known  and  loved  the  man! 
My  country  had  loved  him  and  cherished  his  memory.  In  tears  the  people  had 
parted  with  him.  With  shouts  of  joy  and  acclamations  of  affection  they  had  received 
his  image  in  the  marble.  Upon  the  very  spot  where  a  few  years  before  they  had 
gathered  in  sorrow  to  gaze  upon  his  lifeless  body  lying  there  in  state  while  a  nation 
mourned,  they  had  gathered  again  to  unveil  his  statue.  "  The  marble  is  the  resur- 
rection," say  the  old  sculptors,  and  now  the  dead  had  arisen  to  live  forever  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people  whom  he  loved  so  well. 


WOMAN  AND  HOUSEHOLD  LABOR. 


By  MRS.  MARY  HESS  HULL. 

Labor  is  getting  thoughts  into  things;  subduing  the  earth;  gaining  dominion  over 
matter.     The  commission  to  do  this  was  given  to  man — male  and  female.     God  labored; 

at  least  brought  forth,  produced  the  earth  about  us. 
He  then  gave  it  to  us  to  be  completed  by  "  the  sweat 
of  the  brow."     The  brute  labors,  but  it  is  by  instinct, 
or  when  harnessed  to  man's  thought.    The  brute  works 
without  thought.     But  man's  labor,  to  be  real  labor, 
must  be  intelligent    and  it    must  be   free.     It   must 
be   skilled    and   wise    and    true;    differing  in  kind, 
as  individuals    differ,  as    nations  and    sexes    differ. 
The  home   has  done  everything  for  the  world  and 
its    civilization     and    industry,    but     somehow     the 
working    powers  of    the   home    have    not    received 
their  share  of  attention  from  either  man  or  woman. 
It  has,  however,  held  its  own,  and  proved  its  mighty 
right  to  life  through  wars  and  pestilence,  famine  and 
neglect.     But  its  running  machinery  is  all  out  of  keep- 
ing with  the  times.     The  burden  is  simply  immense, 
and  "  will  not  down."    It  can  upset  all  the  tranquillity 
and  power  and  the  blessing  of  the  home.     We  want 
to    entertain    our    friends,    we   want    to    enjoy   our 
books,  we  want  to  eat  our  food  under  spiritual  social 
artistic  conditions,  but  it  all  costs  labor,  skilled  labor, 
real  labor,   yet  there  seems  to  be  no   real  place  for 
it;  no  time  for  it;  nobody  wants  to  do  it;  and  today  it  is  the  only  labor  in  all  the 
wide  world  of  industry  that  goes  begging.     Every  other  field  is  overcrowded,  while 
men  and  women  are  begging  for  work.     Somehow  there  is  friction,  lack  of  skill,  no 
right  division  of  housework,  no  regular  hours;  it  is  not  a  profession,  it  has  no  name, 
not  even  a  trade.     It  is  really  the  only  labor  left  over  from  barbarons  times  which  is 
done  by  so-called  "  servants"  instead  of  laborers. 

All  American  life,  all  true  life,  is  or  should  be  a  service  from  the  President  down, 
but  we  speakof  street-car  drivers,  diggers,  statesmen,  coach  men,  teachers  or  preachers, 
but  "servants"  in  household  labor.  Somehow  this  is  all  wrong;  it  seems  there  ought 
not  to  be  any  housework  at  all;  we  don't  like  to  see  it,  nor  hear  of  it,  nor  do  it;  a  man 
or  woman  can  work  in  a  shop  or  in  the  field,  and  not  feel  the  same  friction  and  worry 
and  pinch  that  he  does  at  real  work  in  the  home.  Home  seems  to  be  the  one  place 
to  love  and  live  in;  is  this  why  work  is  an  intruder?  Husband  and  children  do  not 
like  to  have  mother  forever  at  work;  hence  the  rule  has  been  for  her  not  only  to  be 
sure  to  do  it  and  to  do  it  all,  but  also  not  to  annoy  others  with  it.  She  must  always  have 
it  out  of  the  way,  and  her  slippers  and  smiles  on,  and  by  some  magic  appear  unto  men 
not  to  fast  or  to  suffer,  nor  to  be  tired  or  worried  like  other  folks.     There  must  be  some 

Mrs.  Mary  HesR  Hall  is  a  native  of  Ohio.  She  received  her  edncation  in  a  Young  Ladies'  Academy.  Under  the  direc- 
tion of  an  educated  Scotchman  she  studied  and  read  extensively.  She  married  young  and  is  the  mother  of  six  children,  to 
■whom  she  is  a  close  companion  and  a  devoted  mother.  Her  special  work,  outside  of  her  home  life,  has  been  in  the  interest  of 
temperance  and  purity.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  "  Columbus  and  What  he  Found,"  for  children,  and  "  Lectures  and 
Studies  in  Robert  Browning's  Poetry."  She  is  director  of  the  Department  of  Domestic  Arts  in  Armour  Institute,  in  Chicago, 
where  she  hopes  to  solve  some  of  the  domestic  and  social  problems  of  the  times.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
Church.    Her  address  is  Armour  Institute,  Chicago.  111. 

(39)  609 


MRS.   MARY  HESS   HULL. 


610  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

way  to  overcome  all  this  friction.  The  same  science  and  thought  must  be  brought  to 
bear  upon  this  peculiar  problem  that  is  brought  to  bear  upon  other  problems. 

Women  are  in  need  of  training;  they  have  been  drudges  and  slaves  from  time 
immemorial,  but  they  have  never  been  laborers,  skilled  and  respected  as  men;  that 
time  is  only  at  hand.  Women  will  find,  as  men  have,  that  the  v^ery  best  way  to  get 
work  out  of  the  way  is  .to  do  it  in  the  very  best  way,  and  before  we  know  it,  the  very 
doing  of  it  in  the  best  spirit,  we  have  grown  in  wisdom  and  in  stature.  We  have  become 
educated  in  body,  soul  and  spirit — "we  kiss  the  rod  "  and  thank  God  and  work.  How 
familiar  that  man  of  Nazareth  was  with  the  smallest  details  of  labor  in  the  house,  and 
out  of  it.  How  well  he  knew  the  miracle  of  the  yeast,  the  leaven  in  the  lump.  He 
knew  the  light  of  the  house  couldn't  shine  if  it  was  under  a  bushel,  or  any  other 
sort  of  a  smothering  lamp-shade,  but  instead  it  must  be  on  top  of  things  and  shine  out. 
There  was  the  salt,  worthless  if  it  had  lost  its  savor;  there  was  the  garment  not  worth 
patching,  and  the  wine  bottles  too  old  to  be  used. 

And  hovv  the  daily  bread  problem  must  have  pressed  upon  this  family  of  Naza- 
reth! There  was  the  carpenter's  bench  which  must  have  helped  that  out.  How 
strange  to  think  of  how  this  Master  of  material  things  so  conquered  that  He  brought 
the  very  kingdom  of  Heaven  into  them.  There  was  ministry  and  service  and  capa- 
bility, and  love  in  labor,  not  that  which  must  be  ministered  unto.  Only  Mary  can 
ever  know  all  that  must  have  taken  place  in  that  wonderful  home.  So  dignified  was 
the  patient  labor  of  love  there  that  our  homes  can  never  be  the  same  since  the  labor 
problem  was  taken  up  by  this  Son  of  Man,  and  conquered.  Christian  civilization  has 
brought  more  labor  into  our  homes  than  it  has  taken  out.  According  to  short-sighted 
people,  it  would  seem  as  though  so  much  had  gone  out  that  our  homes  ought  to  be 
eased  of  much  of  their  labor.  Spinning,  weaving,  threadmaking,  grinding  of  wheat, 
tailoring,  have  all  had  birth  in  the  home,  and  gone  out,  and  it  would  seem  that  the 
home  might  be  thus  relieved.  Life  and  industry  are  alike,  always  begetters  of  more 
and  more  of  their  kind.  The  object  of  life  is  more  life,  and  so  it  is  with  industry.  The 
home  has  been  the  cradle  of  almost  every  industry,  and  it  does  not  seem  as  though 
the  cradle  was  as  yet  ready  for  the  garret.  'Industry  and  trade  grow  and  thrive  on 
the  wealth  of  the  human  wants,  and  we  must  get  away  down  into  the  "  whys  "  and 
"  wherefores  "  of  the  present  day  life  before  we  can  begin  to  understand  what  most 
troubles  us  as  women  and  as  housekeepers. 

See  the  good  man  of  today;  nothing  so  burdens  him  as  his  wife's  housework. 
He  stands  by  like  a  great  gentle  animal  ready  to  lay  down  his  life,  pocket-book  and 
all,  on  the  altar  of  the  labor  problem  of  the  home;  he  has  the  greatest  task  in  the 
world  on  his  hands,  and  it  is  killing  him  as  well  as  her.  See  the  difference  between 
any  butcher's  shop  and  his  home.  The  husband  superintends  one  and  the  wife  the 
other.  The  labor  of  one  is  systematically  arranged,  every  sort  of  convenience  put  in 
it;  it  is  made  attractive  in  every  way,  the  best  tools  are  in  it,  and  pleasantness  and 
order  reign.  Why?  Because  of  the  money  there  is  in  it.  The  home  is  not  system- 
atically arranged,  every  sort  of  convenience  is  not  put  into  it;  order  and  pleasantness 
does  not  reign,  for  the  woman  is  doing  a  hundred  different  things,  and  none  of  them 
thoroughly,  skillfully.  Why?  Because  there  is  no  money  in  it,  nothing  is  to  be  made 
out  of  it.  The  wife's  work  and  care  is  looked  upon  as  being  a  sort  of  nonentity;  it  is 
a  small  business;  the  sermons  are  all  preached  at  him,  not  her.  The  work  is  not  con- 
sidered a  trade  or  a  profession;  it  has  no  commercial  value,  it  has  no  name.  If  she 
signs  her  name  to  anything  which  asks  her  even  what  her  occupation  is,  she  has  none, 
though  we  know  she  has  worked  fourteen  or  fifteen  hours  every  day  and  Sunday 
since  she  has  been  homekeeping,  so  it  goes,  and  what  is  to  be  done?  The  first  thing 
to  do  is  to  elevate  the  work  and  in  order  to  elevate  it,  it  must  be  done  well.  In  order 
to  do  it  well,  we  must  think  well.  The  best  methods  invented  by  you  or  me,  or  by  our 
grandmothers  or  by  men,  must  come  to  the  surface.  Mr.  Atkinson,  the  inventor  of 
the  Aladdin  oven,  says  he  spends  most  of  his  time  overcoming  "the  inertia  of  women 
in  using  any  new  device."     She  blindly  refuses  to  do  anything  but  obey  the  old  way, 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  611 

even  when  somebody  thinks  it  up  for  her.  But  it  is  fast  changing;  woman  can  think, 
and  she  is  going  slowly  to  get  about  it.  Freedom  and  responsibility  go  hand  in  hand. 
Our  liberty  is  going  to  cost  us  something.  "  We  must  work;  we  must  get  the  order  of 
work;  we  must  love  the  law  of  labor.  Labor  is  the  law  of  development,  the  law  of 
progress,  and  we  must  work  freely,  without  let  or  hindrance  from  any  mortal  source. 
This  ugly  labor  problem  in  our  sacred  institution  the  home,  is  perhaps  our  first  great 
problem.  It  ties  us  hand  and  foot — just  now — we  must  first  learn  the  great  lesson  of 
labor,  its  laws,  its  base  of  energies  and  its  productive  nature,  its  blessedness,  and  its 
mission  to  us. 

We  must  capture  its  life,  appropriate  its  strength  by  overcoming  it;  we  must  mas- 
ter it,  make  it  a  joy,  reduce  it  to  order  and  system.  This  takes  study  and  time  and 
opportunity,  but  every  one  of  us  can  have  a  hand  in  it,  each  in  her  own  way,  in  her 
own  life.  Think,  plan,  experiment,  invent,  investigate,  get  the  best  method.  Support 
and  organize  training  schools.  Make  our  work  what  other  work  in  the  world  is,  a 
science  and  an  art.  There  is  a  law  and  order  method  in  housekeeping.  It  is  a  mark 
of  most  joyous  hope  for  our  future  that  what  Frances  Power  Cobb  said  some  years 
ago  is  fast  coming  true.  Said  she:  "It  is  not  high  genius,  but  feeble  inability  to  cope 
with  domestic  government,  which  generally  inspires  the  women  who  wish  to  abdicate 
the  throne  of  home  and  take  to  the  homeless  American  boarding  house,  or  to  the 
continental  pension."  Our  women  of  genius  are  not  abdicating  home,  and  our  most 
highly  educated  women  are  the  ones  who  are  awakening  to  these  facts.  They  study 
to  make  housework  not  a  thing  of  drudgery,  but  the  sacred  intelligent  foundation  of 
all  other  arts,  and  that  it  is  the  "houseband"  that  keeps  the  home  together.  Home 
arts  succor  nourish,  and  bless  mankind  in  every  way. 

The  Sweetest  Lives. 

The  sweetest  lives  are  those  to  duty  wed. 

Whose  deeds,  both  great  and  small, 
Are  close-knit  strands  of  an  unbroken  thread 

Where  love  ennobles  all; 
The  world  may  sound  no  trumpets,  ring  no  bells, 
The  Book  of  Life  the  shining  record  tells. 

Thy  love  shall  chant  its  own  beatitudes 
After  its  own  life-working.     A  child's  kiss 
Set  on  thy  sighing  lips  shall  make  thee  glad; 
A  poor  man  served  by  thee  shall  make  thee  rich; 
A  sick  man  helped  by  thee  shall  make  thee  strong; 
Thou  shalt  be  served  thyself  by  every  sense 
Of  service  which  thou  renderest. 

— Mrs.  Browning. 


THE  HOME  AND  ITS  FOUNDATIONS. 


By  REV.  ANNIS  FORD  EASTMAN. 

We  can  afford  to  lose  all  but  the  ideal;  to  part  with  all  that  we  have  if  only  there 
be  left  to  us  that  which  we  have  not,  which  fills  us  with  such  longing  as  the  poet  hints 

may  help  to  make  us  immortal.  Not  that  which  is  of 
most  value  to  man,  but  that  which  ought  to  be  and  so 
is  to  be — becoming  the  star  of  promise  that  goes 
before  all  seekers  of  the  ideal.  It  is  fancy  and  not 
fact,  such  fact,  perhaps,  as  Browning  calls  "  facts' 
essence,"  that  rules  in  the  poet  and  prophet's  world, 
the  only  world  worth  living  in. 

The  worship  of  the  Real  has  neither  poet  nor 
prophet.  Literature,  religion,  art,  song — these  all 
are  gifts  of  the  ideal.  Song  dies  and  languishes  in 
the  realm  of  that  which  is  for  want  of  atmosphere. 
Civilization  itself  is  the  gift  of  the  ideal,  if  it  be  as 
one  has  declared,  the  sum  of  those  institutions  which 
are  shaped  out  of  the  best  inspirations  of  mankind. 
Because  this  is  so,  I  afifirm  that  we  might  well 
afford  to  loose  all  the  rich  heritage  of  knowledge 
which  scientific  investigations  have  given  us  in  the  last 
fifty  years;  we  might  dispense  with  all  the  inventions 
and  appliances  which  make  human  life  safer,  more 
comfortable,  more  varied  in  resources  for  pleasure; 
all  that  skill  in  medicine  and  surgery  which  has  taught 
man  how  to  resist  for  a  lengthening  term  of  years  the 
foes  of  the  body;  all  the  marvelous  achievements  of  man's  intellect  and  the  triumphs 
of  his  handiwork  which  make  of  this  generation  the  most  knowing,  most  skillful  and 
most  luxurious  that  this  old  planet  has  ever  borne  upon  her  bosom — all  these  things 
might  better  fall  away  from  us  than  that  we  should  lose  the  vision  of  the  ideal  in 
human  life  and  destiny,  which  is  the  very  life-breath  of  progress.  The  question  is 
still  as  pertinent  as  when  it  fell  from  the  lips  of  the  Great  Teacher,  "  What  shall  it 
profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  himself?  ' 

I  need  hardly  say  that  I  would  speak  of  home,  not  as  it  has  been  or  is,  but  as  it 
may  be,  ought  to  be,  as  you  and  I  may  help  to  make  it.  The  homage  we  shall  pay 
to  the  ideal  home  is  not  at  all  incompatible  with  a  brave  look  at  the  actual  home  upon 
which  it  is  based  in  its  origin.  The  family  relations  which  make  the  home  have  a 
physical  basis — "  first,  that  which  is  natural;  afterward,  that  which  is  spiritual."  This 
fair  flower  which  is  at  once  the  perfect  fruit  and  the  life-bearing  seed  of  civilization, 
finds  its  root  in  that  dependence  of  the  sexes  upon  each  other  for  completion  of  life 
which  runs  through  all  the  forms  of  life,  animal  and  even  vegetable.  Marriage  is  the 
foundation  of  home,  marriage  and  the  long  continued  infancy  and  helplessness  of  man. 
In  the  lair  of  the  beasts,  the  hive  of  the  bees,  the  nests  of  the  birds,  home  had  its 
beginning.     We  see  it  struggling  up  through  the  promiscuous  and  temporary  unions 

Annis  Ford  Eastman  is  a  native  of  Peoria,  111.  She  was  born  April  24, 1852.  Her  parents  were  George  and  Catherine 
Stehley.  She  was  educated  in  high  schools  and  in  Ol(frlin  College.  She  is  the  wife  of  Rev.  Samuel  E,  Eastman,  and  is  her- 
self a  minister  of  the  Gospel.  In  religious  faith  she  claims  to  be  an  undenominational  Christian.  She  is  a  member  and  the 
pastor  of  a  Congregational  Church,  and  is  a  zealous,  earnest  woman  of  ability  and  great  strength  of  character,  and  is  doing 
a  noble  work  in  the  world.    Her  ptermanent  postoffice  address  is  West  Bloomfield,  N.  Y. 

612 


REV.   ANNIS  FORD  EASTMAN. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  613 

of  savage  men,  evolving  slowly  and  painfully  one  form  after  another  of  sexual  rela- 
tionship, until  at  last  some  form  of  marriage  grew  stable  enough  to  determine  relation- 
ship with  at  least  one  of  the  parents.  That  was  the  birthday  of  civilized  society. 
From  this  time  the  family  struggles  up  through  the  miasmatic  regimes  of  polygamy  and 
polyandry  in  their  various  forms  until  the  ideal  form  of  a  monogamous  marriage 
emerges,  that  ideal  which  is  still  so  poorly  realized  among  the  most  cultivated  nations. 

These  considerations  move  us  not  only  to  gratitude  for  our  heirship  of  the  ages, 
but  lead  us  also  to  ask  whether  the  family  relations,  as  we  have  them  today,  are  not 
capable  of  further  improvement  at  our  hands  and  those  of  future  generations.  Some 
claim  that  the  family  as  we  know  it  is  a  fleeting  form  of  human  development,  a  pass- 
ing lesson  in  the  divine  art  of  living  together.  Nobody  can  claim  this  unless  he  is 
able  to  forecast  the  future  and  declare  what  shall  be.  There  is  a  wonderful  reach  in 
Christ's  teaching  on  this  point  when  He  challenges  the  claims  of  His  family  upon  Him 
thus,  "  Who  is  my  mother  and  my  brethren?  For  whosoever  shall  do  the  will  of  God, 
the  same  is  my  brother  and  sister  and  mother."  Did  He  mean  to  teach  that  spiritual 
relationships  are  the  only  real  and  enduring  ones — that  oneness  of  spirit  and  purpose 
is  a  stronger  tie  than  that  of  blood?  It  is,  however,  beyond  our  purpose  to  speculate 
as  to  the  future  form  of  human  society.  The  foundation  of  the  family,  as  we  know  it 
today,  is  monogamous  marriage,  and  home  is  the  result  of  the  long  continued  infancy 
and  helplessness  of  the  young  of  man.  When  childhood  had  come  to  extend  over  a 
period  of  a  dozen  years,  a  period  more  than  doubled  where  several  children  were  born 
in  succession  to  the  same  parents,  then  the  blessed  relationship  of  the  home  grew  up. 
"A  little  child  shall  lead  them." 

This  is  the  historical  foundation  of  the  family.  Has  it  an  ethical  foundation? 
Does  it  subserve  the  highest  ends  of  society?  Is  it  in  line  with  progress,  and  is  it  cap- 
able of  producing  a  higher  type  of  man?  It  can  not  be  doubted  that  a  single  affection 
and  a  life  union  of  man  and  woman  has  borne  thus  far  the  best  fruits  of  civilization, 
has  given  the  highest  and  purest  pleasure  to  mankind,  and  has  afforded  the  best  prep- 
aration of  the  young  for  life  and  for  service  to  the  race.  How  shall  the  coming  gen- 
eration actualize  this  ideal  so  as  to  make  it  yield  greater  blessings  to  humanity?  I 
will  indicate  a  few  lines  in  which  progress  may  be  sought. 

First.  The  recognition  of  the  entire  equality  of  man  and  woman  as  complement- 
ary parts  of  humanity — of  one  humanity.  The  complete  dependence  of  man  and 
woman,  and  their  entire  inter-dependence.  This  would  mean  equal  opportunities  for 
education  on  all  lines  to  both  sexes;  the  free  use  and  development  of  all  their  powers; 
the  sharing  of  by  men  and  women  in  the  great  labor,  in  the  results  of  which  they  have 
an  equal  interest,  of  framing,  interpreting  and  executing  the  laws  of  society;  equal 
advantages  and  protection  under  these  laws,  and  equal  representation  in  the  govern- 
ment. 

Second.  The  recognition  of  manhood  and  womanhood  as  more  excellent  than 
fatherhood  and  motherhood.  How  all  chivalric  souls  of  men  leap,  to  declare  that 
these  things  are  done.  Done  in  them,  perhaps,  done  ideally,  sentimentally,  but  not 
actually.  Not  yet  has  the  world  at  large  acknowledged  the  woman's  right  to  a  life  as 
large  as  her  talents,  an  education  which  shall  take  account  of  her  natural  bent,  and  a 
financial  prosperity  commensurate  with  her  ability  and  her  labors.  Not  ten  years  ago 
a  learned  theologian  said:  "God  foreordained  man  for  the  field  and  woman  for  the 
hearth."  This  is  the  free  translation:  "God  has  foreordained  man  to  breathe  oxygen 
and  woman  carbonic  acid  gas."  The  man  for  the  harvest  field,  the  orchard  and  the 
vineyard,  and  woman  for  the  laundry  and  the  kitchen.  From  the  opposite  pole,  the 
setter  of  this  world's  fashions,  the  fiat  went  forth:  "  It  must  be  every  woman's  supreme 
aim  to  be  beautiful."  Out  of  this  low  ambition  have  grown  the  tortures  of  the  body 
for  women  in  all  ages  and  in  all  climes.  Lord  Bacon  says  that  true  friendship  is  only 
possible  between  equals.  How  much  more  true  this  is  of  the  close  friendship  of  mar- 
riage— of  married  companionship,  intelligent,  sympathetic  companionship  in  all  the 
varied  interests  of  life,  in  the  highest  joy  of  existence;  this  companionship  is  only 
possible  between  equals  in  culture  and  opportunity. 


614  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Who  is  to  blame  that  this  equality  of  the  sexes  is  not  attained?  Nobody,  This 
is  one  of  the  hardest  truths  for  human  nature  to  accept.  Given  an  evil,  an  abuse, 
something  contrary  to  present  light,  and  the  mind  takes  this  as  a  challenge  to  find 
somebody  to  blame;  and  when  the  curse  is  rolled  off,  even  on  to  a  serpent,  the  mind 
experiences  a  sense  of  relief,  just  as  when  the  unknown  quantity  in  an  algebraic  prob- 
lem is  found.  Nobody  is  to  blame.  This  is  one  of  the  problems  to  be  worked  out;  it 
is  a  stage  in  the  evolution  of  the  spiritual  man.  Men  are  as  much  interested  in  it  as 
women.  The  complete  emancipation  of  women  will  be  as  one  has  said,  the  regenera- 
tion of  man. 

Nothing  is  more  unw  orthy  of  us,  in  the  working  out  of  this  problem,  than  an 
appeal  to  the  conduct  of  life  in  the  orders  of  animals  below  man,  to  prove  either  the 
equality  or  the  inequality  of  male  and  female  in  humanity.  We  know  the  argument: 
The  male  bird  sings  louder  and  sweeter  than  the  female;  therefore  woman  can  not  be 
a  poet.  In  most  mammals  the  male  is  stronger,  more  vigorous,  more  beautiful,  and 
the  female  has  the  chief  care  of  the  young;  therefore  a  woman  can  not  understand 
politics.  Why  not  collect  data  on  the  opposite  side?  The  male  of  the  American 
ostrich  sits  on  the  eggs,  hatches  them  out  and  takes  principal  charge  of  the  young.  A 
species  of  spider  has  been  discovered  of  which  the  female  devours  her  consort  when 
he  is  of  no  further  use  to  her.  These  things  prove  nothing.  Our  progress  is  away 
from  nature.     What  is  natural  in  this 'sense  is  not  the  best. 

When  women  are  wholly  persons  and  not  property,  when  they  seek  freely  the 
development  of  all  their  gifts  and  powers,  then  marriage  will  not  be  barter  and  home 
will  not  be  a  place  of  escape  from  the  world  to  the  woman,  but  it  will  be  the  highest 
product  of  men  and  women  at  their  best  and  purest. 

I  have  emphasized  the  rights  of  women  in  this  ideal  family,  but  there  is  a  right  of 
man  which  needs  a  fuller  recognition  from  this  generation — the  right  of  a  man  to  be  as 
virtuous  as  a  woman. 

I  deprecate  the  emphasis  laid  today  upon  woman's  work,  woman's  faith  and 
woman's  enthusiasm  for  humanity.  Does  it  not  point  to  a  day  when  the  sexes  may 
be  arrayed  against  each  other,  not  on  the  old  basis  of  strength  versus  subtility,  of 
brains  versus  no  brains,  but  on  the  basis  of  religion  versus  materialism,  of  spirituality 
versus  animalism.  If  the  old  order,  the  pagan  ideal,  of  such  antagonism  between  the 
sexes  as  made  of  the  man  a  tyrant  and  of  the  woman  a  toy,  a  slave,  was  fundamentally 
wrong,  and  held  the  race  down,  surely  an  antagonism  which  makes  of  the  woman  a 
worshiping,  spiritual  being,  and  of  the  man  a  money-making,  prayerless  machine,  is 
equally  fatal  to  the  hopes  of  that  crowning  race  which  shall  arise  when  the  ideal  man 
shall  be  mated  with  the  ideal  woman,  like  perfect  music  set  to  noble  words.  Have  I 
over-stated  the  danger?  In  whose  hands  are  the  benevolences  of  our  churches,  their 
missionary  work,  their  prayer-meetings?  We  talk  timidly  of  giving  woman  the  ballot. 
Let  us  beware  lest  she  monopolize  all  that  makes  human  affairs  worth  voting  about. 
There  is  no  man's  cause  that  is  not  woman's;  there  is  no  woman's  cause  that  is  not 
man's.  "  If  either  be  small,  slight  natured,  miserable,  how  shall  the  race  grow?  "  It 
is  time  for  men  and  women  to  realize  that  the  home,  the  church,  the  state  and  the 
world  are  theirs,  that  they  must  rise  or  sink  together,  "  dwarfed  or  godlike,  bond  or 
free."  The  children  of  the  ideal  home  must  not  only  boast  of  the  precepts  of  a  godly 
mother,  but  of  the  example  of  a  godly  father.  To  this  end  the  ideals  of  manhood 
must  be  made  high  like  those  of  womanhood.  There  must  not  be  two  standards  of 
conduct  in  the  home — one  seemly  for  the  little  boy,  unseemly  for  the  little  girl.  The 
same  social  verdict  must  be  pronounced  against  sinners,  against  purity,  man  and  woman, 
closed  doors  to  vice  in  either  sex,  open  doors  of  help  to  repenting  sinners  of  either 
sex. 

But  the  last  and  best  characteristic  of  the  ideal  home  will  be  the  realization  by 
its  makers  and  members  that  it  is  not  an  end  in  itself.  The  fire  of  the  family  life,  the 
soul-culture  gained  in  the  duties  and  affections  of  the  home,  these  must  be  as  fuel  to 
the  flame  which  is  kindled  on  the  hearthstone  to  give  light  and  heat  to  the  darkness 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  615 

and  cold  of  the  world  without.  There  is  no  fire  for  the  warming  of  a  home  like  the 
fire  of  zeal  for  the  service  of  humanity.  A  family  bound  together  by  mutual  love, 
levying  a  tax  upon  the  bounties  of  nature  and  the  arts  of  man  to  make  the  abode  beau- 
tiful, delighting  in  one  another's  peace  and  comfort,  but  with  no  thought  or  hope  or 
effort  for  the  world  outside,  is  a  case  of  arrested  development.  It  is  just  here  that  so 
many  of  us  make  our  fatal  mistakes.  We  imagine  that  personal  happiness  is  large 
enough  as  an  aim  for  beings  created  in  the  image  of  God — the  Eternal  Giver. 

The  supreme  essential,  then,  for  the  attainment  of  the  ideal  home,  is  the  serving 
of  some  large  ideal  for  the  world.  This  is  the  characteristic  of  the  ideal  which  we 
can  ingraft  upon  the  actual  in  our  hands.  We  can  not  bring  about,  in  a  moment,  the 
changes  in  the  minds  of  men  and  women  which  will  give  women  equal  opportunities 
with  men  in  the  culture  and  use  of  their  powers,  nor  compel  men  to  receive  those 
ideals  of  personal  purity  which  shall  issue  in  a  nobler  type  of  manhood;  but  the  great 
aim,  the  service  of  the  world,  this  is  for  us  all.     Make  your  home  great  by  great  aims. 

The  family  is  the  most  important  social  institution  of  mankind  only  because  it 
affords  the  finest  opportunities  for  the  production  and  rearing  of  a  higher  social  being, 
who  shall  be^able  to  nobly  discharge  his  duty  as  a  responsible  member  of  the  social 
body. 

Home  is  the  gift  of  the  child  to  civilization.  Shall  not  the  home  return  the  gift 
to  the  race  by  sending  forth  men  and  women  who  have  learned  the  art  of  living 
together  in  so  Divine  a  fashion  that  they  shall  be  able  to  practice  it  in  the  school,  the 
shop,  the  market,  the  nation  and  the  world? 


CHICAGO. 


By  MISS  MARION  COUTHOUY  SMITH. 

The  poem  which  I  shall  have  the  honor  of  reading  to  you  today,  was  published  in 

the  "  Century"  magazine,  in  March,  1893.    It  represents  Chicago  before  the  Exposition, 

during   the   time   of   preparation   and    may   now   be 
regarded  as  a  prophecy  fulfilled. 

Among  the  newspaper  comments  upon  this  poem 
was  one  which  amused  me  greatly,  and  pleased  me 
also,  because  of  its  unintentional  praise.  The  critic 
said  of  me:  "She  evidently  lives  in  Chicago."  I  am 
a  native  of  Philadelphia,  and  now  live  just  across  the 
river  from  New  York.  I  never  saw  Chicago  until  last 
week,  but  I  felt  her;  and  I  was  glad  to  be  so  identi- 
fied with  her,  even  in  the  mind  of  a  would-be  satirical 
critic,  at  a  time  when  every  sympathetic  spirit  in  the 
land  was  touched  with  the  thrill  of  her  heroic  en- 
deavor and  her  magnificent  achievement. 

Philadelphia  did  her  best  in  '76;  but  the  great 
wave  of  artistic  impulse  which  has  since  swept  over 
the  world  was,  at  that  time,  only  beginning  to  gather. 
It  remained  for  Chicago  to  ride  the  crest  of  that 
wave,  and  to  show  to  the  world — in  this  magical 
White  City — the  very  utmost  that  art  can  achieve — 
art,  which  is  man's  vision  of  God's  reality.  Here  it  is 
manifested  that  Imagination,  noblest  of  human  facul- 
ties, has  survived  the  intense  realism  of  our  century. 

For  there  is  nothing  sordid  about  this  work;  that  is  the  joy  of  it.     It  is  "all  for 

glory  and  for  beauty." 

So  last  year  I  saw  Chicago  as  in  a  vision;  and  now  that  I  have  beheld  the  result 

of  her  labor  and  her  munificence,  I  rejoice  that  my  little  song  can  be  added  to  the 

great  chorus  of  praise. 

The  poem  is  simply  entitled,  "Chicago." 

Chicago. 

The  blue  lake  ripples  to  her  feet, 

The  wind  is  in  her  hair; 
She  stands,  a  maiden  mild  and  sweet, 

With  sinewy  form  and  fair. 

No  stress  o.f  age  her  hope  restrains. 

Nor  checks  its  high  emprise; 
The  blood  of  youth  is  in  her  veins. 

Youth's  challenge  in  her  eyes. 

Miss  Marion  Coathouy  Smith  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  October  22,  1853.  Her  parents  were  Henry  Pratt,  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  Maria  Conthony  Williams,  of  Boston.  She  was  educated  at  Miss  Anable's  School  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.  Her 
principal  literary  works  consist  of  magazine  articles  and  poems  contributed  to  the  "Century,"  "Atlantic  Monthly,"  "  The 
New  England  Magazine,"  and  other  publications ;  also  a  booklet  entitled  "  Chorister  No.  13."  Though  retarded  in  her  work 
by  ten  years  of  ill  health,  yet  she  has  demonstrated  her  ability,  and  a  novel,  published  as  a  serial  in  "  The  Living  Church," 
Chicago  (which  won  a  one  hundred  dollar  prize)  entitled  "A  Working  Woman,"  accords  to  her  talent  of  a  superior  order. 
In  religioas  faith  Miss  Smith  is  an  Episcopalian.    Her  postoifice  address  is  No.  38  Walnut  Street,  East  Orange,  N.  J. 

616 


MISS  MARION  COUTHOUY  SMITH. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  617 

She  seized,  with  movement  swift  as  light, 

The  hour's  most  precious  spoil; 
Now,  glowing  with  her  promise  bright, 

Her  strength  makes  joy  of  toil. 

With  dextrous  hand,  with  dauntless  will, 

Her  pearl  white  towers  she  rears — 
The  memory  of  whose  grace  shall  thrill 

The  illimitable  years. 

O'er  leagues  of  waste,  in  sun  and  storm. 

Their  proud  pure  domes  shall  gleam, 
The  substance,  wrought  in  noblest  form. 

Oft  Art's  imperial  dream. 

Here  shall  she  stand,  the  Old  World's  bride, 

Crowned  with  the  Age's  dower; 
Toward  her  shall  set  the  abounding  tide 

Of  life's  full  pomp  and  power. 

She  hears  the  nations*  coming  tread, 

The  rushing  of  the  ships; 
And  waits  with  queenly  hands  outspread, 

And  welcome  on  her  lips. 

The  races,  'neath  her  generous  sway. 

Shall  spread  their  splendid  mart; 
And  here,  for  one  brief  perfect  day. 

Shall  beat  the  World's  great  heart. 


THE  ''TURKISH  COMPASSIONATE  FUND." 


By  MLLE.  CARICLEE  ZACAROFF. 

The  Turkish  Compassionate  Fund  was  established  by  the  Baroness  Burdett 
Coutts,  in  the  winter  of  1877-78,  as  a  relief  fund  for  the  Mohammedan  victims  of  the 

Turko-Russian  war,  who,  driven  out  of  their  homes, 
sought  refuge  in  Constantinople,  the  capital  of  their 
monarch,  the  sultan. 

The  unparalleled  distress  throughout  the  Turkish 
provinces  in  the  districts  north  and  south  of  the 
Balkans,  the  burning  homes,  the  thousands  of  starv- 
ing and  naked  refugees  in  their  mad  struggle  to  reach 
the  metropolis,  can  find  no  more  pitiful  example  in 
the  history  of  any  war.  Hundreds  succumbed  on  the 
way,  unable  to  withstand  the  terrors  of  cold  and  hun- 
ger. Thousands  arrived  in  Constantinople  before 
organized  assistance  could  be  given. 

In  one  of  his  letters  Sir  Francis  de  Winton  says: 
"  One  can  give  no  idea  of  the  painful  scenes  which 
have  occurred,  nor  the  intensity  of  suffering  which 
these  poor  people  are  undergoing,  and  they  are  nearly 
all  women  and  children.  One  woman  went  mad;  more 
than  one  was  confined  on  the  journey;  several  per- 
ished from  cold,  and  little  children  were  thrown  from 
the  trucks  as  they  passed  the  bridge  into  the  river 
Maritza,  their  mothers  trusting  rather  to  its  waters 
ending  the  sufferings  of  their  little  ones  than  prolong 
them  and  the  cruel  horror  of  their  dreadful  journey." 

The  sympathy  of  the  British  public  was  aroused,  thanks  chiefly  to  the  combined 
efforts  of  Sir  Henry  Layard,  ambassador  in  Constantinople  at  the  time,  and  his  wife. 
Lady  Layard.  Help  poured  in  from  many  quarters.  The  Baroness  Burdett-Coutts 
headed  a  relief  fund,  which,  commissioned  by  Mr.  Ashmead  Bartlett  Coutts  and  Sir 
Francis  de  Winton,  the  African  explorer,  carried  extensive  aid  into  the  localities,  and 
in  the  form  most  needed.  This  Turkish  Compassionate  Fund  was  a  gigantic  charity, 
organized  on  a  large-hearted  and  judicious  plan,  and  supplying  the  necessities  of  life 
for  many  months  to  thousands  of  perishing  human  beings.  No  one  concerned  then 
thought  that  it  was  one  day  to  develop  into  the  beautiful  industry  which  should  con- 
tinue for  years  to  provide  honorable  employment  dnd  self-respecting  support  to  many 
hundreds  who  had  been  recipients  of  its  bounty  only. 

To  Mrs.  Arthur  Hanson,  an  English  resident  of  Constantinople,  a  lady  of  high 
social  standing,  is  entirely  due  the  credit  of  the  development  of  the  Turkish  Com- 
passionate Fund  into  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  practical  industries  of  Turkey 
or  of  any  other  country.  She  first  discovered  the  wonderful  talent  of  these  Mohamme- 
dan women  for  needlework  of  a  phenomenal  character.  From  the  first  to  the  last 
days  of  their  "tribulation,"  and  indeed  up  to  this  present  moment,  this  noble  woman 
has  worked  among  them;  has   devoted  her  talents,  her  energies,  and  her  fortune  to 

Mile.  Cariclee  Zacaroff  was  born  in  Constantinople,  Turkey,  of  Greek  nationality,  and  educated  in  England.  She  is  a 
resident  of  Paris,  France,  and  belongs  to  the  Greek  Church.  She  has  devoted  her  services  principally  to  the  interests  of  the 
Turkish  Compassionate  Fund.  Her  home  is  at  No.  3  Rue  Treilhard,  Paris.  Her  present  American  and  perm»»nent address 
is  No.  20  East  Thirty-third  Street,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

618 


MLLE.  CARICLEE  ZACAROFF 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  619 

them;  has  learned  to  know  and  love  the  gentle,  simple  creatures  to  whom  she  soon 
became  an  object  of  grateful  worship.  It  was  Mr.  Hanson  who  first  realized  that 
these  strong,  able-bodied  women  of  magnificent  physique  could  not  long  continue 
paupers  on  any  bounty — that  with  health  and  strength  must  return  also  the  necessity 
to  work  and  provide  for  themselves.  In  time  many  returned  to  their  former  homes, 
or  were  scattered  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  to  join  their  husbands,  brothers, 
and  fathers  in  following  their  different  callings.  But  many  hundreds  still  remained 
who  had  no  homes  to  return  to. 

With  the  last  two  hundred  dollars  left  from  the  relief  fund  Mrs.  Hanson  bought 
materials  and  distributed  them  among  the  more  eager  workers.  With  the  small 
means  at  hand  it  was  impossible  to  satisfy  all.  They  would  come  on  regular  days  to 
Mrs.  Hanson's  country  home,  and  not  having  a  supply  for  all,  their  kind  and  wise 
friend  would  place  them  indiscriminately  in  a  row  and  give  a  piece  of  work  to  every 
tenth;  the  fortunate  ones  would  go  away  happy;  the  rest  would  pray  that  better  luck 
should  fall  to  their  lot  next  time. 

The  work  grew.  Not  a  large  variety  of  articles  was  made.  Doilies  were  fin- 
ished by  the  hundreds  and  thousands — the  many  little  things  providing  work  to  the 
largest  numbers.  Many  ladies  in  England  still  continued  to  take  an  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  these  poor  exiles,  and  the  work  done  was  sent  to  them  for  disposal  and 
sale.  Chief  among  these  was  Lady  Charlotte  Schreiber,  and  for  many  years  she  con- 
tinued an  indefatigable  co-laborer  with  Mrs.  Hanson.  These  articles  at  first  produced 
fancy  prices;  the  money  flowed  into  Mrs.  Hanson's  eager  hands;  more  combinations 
and  varieties  were  created;  rich  materials  bought;  orders  of  every  description  taken, 
and  for  several  years  hundreds  of  willing  women  were  kept  busy.  Their  condition 
rapidly  changed  for  the  better;  the  object  of  the  "Turkish  Compassionate  Fund" 
seemed  to  have  been  attained — work  for  the  able-bodied,  alms  only  for  the  sick,  the 
aged  and  infirm.  The  organization  was  entirely  self-supporting,  and  had  even  amassed 
no  small  amount  of  capital. 

Particular  and  grateful  mention  is  here  made  of  the  "  Liberty  "  firm  in  London. 
At  a  time  when  there  was  but  little  demand  for  our  work  they  gave  large  orders,  and 
paid  for  them  generously. 

But  so  extensive  a  work  as  this  had  become  was  too  much  for  a  few  women,  no 
matter  how  devoted,  to  carry  on  to  a  lengthened  success.  In  Constantinople,  after 
the  first  few  months,  Mrs.  Hanson  was  almost  unassisted  in  her  labors.  In  a  few  years 
(there  being  no  organized  system  of  renewal),  those  mostly  interested  in  England 
commenced  to  drop  off;  purchasers  wearied  of  the  same  designs  and  combinations, 
and  wanted  change  and  variety;  much  expensive  stock  remained  unsold  in  the  hands 
of  benevolent  ladies  in  various  parts  of  the  world.  Work  continued  to  be  given  out, 
but  as  the  sales  were  slow,  it  was  simply  a  drain  on  the  capital,  which  diminished 
rapidly;  and  finally,  in  1888,  it  was  decided  to  wind  up  the  affairs  of  the  Turkish 
Compassionate  Fund,  reserving  the  small  remaining  capital  for  assistance  in  cases  of 
extreme  emergency  among  the  women,  rather  than  spend  it  on  materials  for  work. 

In  June,  1888,  Mrs.  Arthur  Hanson,  whom  I  had  known  and  admired  when  in 
Constantinople,  asked  me  to  interest  myself  in  the  work,  and  see  what  I  could  do  in 
France. 

I  showed  our  embroideries  to  the  heads  of  various  large  firms  in  Paris.  They 
marveled  at  the  execution  and  coloring,  but  would  have  none  of  our  materials  and 
combinations.  For  a  year  or  more  Mrs.  Hanson  labored  hard,  at  great  expense,  to 
carry  out  the  ideas,  designs  and  coloring  suggested  by  the  French  artists.  Money 
was  not  made — on  the  contrary,  a  great  deal  was  expended — but  at  the  end  of  twelve 
months  the  production  of  the  Turkish  Compassionate  Fund  had  undergone  a  great 
change.  Marvelous  effects  of  color  and  design  were  obtained  on  the  beautiful  French 
materials,  which  added  to  the  wonderful  technique  of  our  women,  and  made  of 
their  embroideries  "  dreams  of  beauty  "  indeed.  The  French  pointed  out  to  us  the 
boundless  capacity  of  such  skill,  and  showed  us  that  nothing  was  impossible  to  eyes 


620  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

that  could  "  count  threads  in  a  cobweb,"  and  fingers  that  could  "work  gold  into  a 
butterfly's  wang."  For  one  firm  ball-dresses  on  crepe-de-chine  and  mousseline  soie 
were  made  that  were  the  wonders  of  that  year's  fashions.  Alas!  they  were  soon 
copied  and  imitated  by  machinery.  These  imitations  were  not  to  be  compared  with 
the  originals,  but  they  were  produced  at  considerably  less  cost,  and  at  first  sight 
appeared  similar.  Numerous  other  combinations  and  effects  were  obtained,  with  the 
same  results.  We  have  embroidered  bonnet  crowns  for  the  first  millinery  houses  in 
Paris — entire  velvet  cloaks  and  mantles,  trimmings  for  dresses,  etc.,  but  in  turn  each 
branch  was  imitated  and  forced  to  pass  out  of  our  hands.  The  ideas  for  some  of  the 
most  beautiful  French  creations  of  late  years  have  been  borrowed  from  originals 
executed  by  the  Turkish  Compassionate  Fund. 

This  explains  why  no  pecuniary  profits  remained  to  the  Fund  from  the  work 
made  for  Paris,  though  its  introduction  there  was  of  great  benefit  in  increasing  the 
beauty  of  the  embroideries,  and  proving  what  could  be  done  with  such  skill  as  was  at 
our  disposal. 

EMBROIDERIES    OF    THE    "TURKISH    COMPASSIONATE    FUND"    INTRODUCED    INTO    AMERICA. 

During  the  first  few  years  of  its  existence  the  Turkish  Compassionate  Fund 
had  obtained  friends  and  well-wishers  in  most  European  countries,  as  also  in  America. 
Benevolent  ladies  sold  our  embroideries  and  sent  the  money  to  Mrs.  Hanson  almost 
entirely  through  the  bankers  of  the  Fund,  Messrs.  Coutts  &  Co.,  London.  Mrs.  Josephine 
Heap,  wife  of  the  former  American  consul  at  Constantinople,  sold  largely  among 
her  friends  in  Washington,  D.  C,  and  elsewhere.  Still  the  stock  accumulated,  and 
when,  in  1889,  it  was  gathered  together  from  all  parts  of  the  world  and  sent  to  Paris 
to  be  sold,  the  total  amount  realized  was  not  one-twentieth  part  of  its  cost  of  pro- 
duction. 

That  same  year  I  was  persuaded  by  an  American  gentleman,  Mr.  William  H. 
Brown,  a  brother  of  Mrs.  John  Wanamaker,  who  had  seen  and  admired  our  work  in 
Paris,  to  try  the  fortunes  of  the  Turkish  Compassionate  Fund  in  America,  that  land 
of  promise  for  all  beautiful  things,  the  encouragement  of  all  noble  charities. 

After  a  trial  visit  of  inspection,  the  reports  of  which  were  favorably  received  by 
our  authorities,  an  agency  was  established  November  24,  1890.  For  the  past  two 
years  we  have  had  a  pleasant  little  apartment  at  No.  20  East  Thirty-third  Street, 
New  York,  on  a  second  floor,  charming  and  comfortable,  but  too  secluded  to  admit  of 
a  hope  that  the  general  public  will  ever  find  out  our  existence.  Our  rooms  in  New 
York  are  open  all  the  year  round,  but  once  each  year  I  visit  several  of  the  large  cities 
of  the  United  States.  Our  most  beautiful  creations  have  been  sold  in  New  York, 
Boston  and  Philadelphia  I  have  visited  California  and  Florida.  By  the  kind  courtesy 
of  Mr.  H.  M.  Flagler,  our  embroideries  are  the  only  articles  admitted  into  the  mag- 
nificent "Ponce  de  Leon"  Hotel.  From  the  spring  of  1890,  when  commenced  the 
first  preparation  for  American  markets,  up  to  the  present  time,  from  eighteen  hun- 
dred to  two  thousand  of  our  poor  women  have  been  kept  in  constant  employment. 
They  have  been  paid  in  ready  money  for  every  article  of  needlework  which  has 
passed  through  their  hands,  and  they  call  down  blessings  upon  the  American  people 
among  whom  such  a  field  has  been  opened  for  them. 

Mrs.  Hanson  relates  many  touching  anecdotes  of  their  surprise  and  joy  at  seeing 
the  work  pour  in  upon  them  after  the  comparatively  dull  season  of  unremunerative 
labor,  in  the  years  between  1886  and  1889;  how  the  American  letters  were  eagerly 
expected;  how  the  women  and  children  would  kiss  her  skirts  with  gratitude  as  she 
announced  new  orders;  how  they  would  turn  sadly  away  when  there  were  none  and 
pray  "  Allah"  for  better  news  next  mail. 

And  here  I  would  like  to  give  a  short  account  of  the  character,  life  and  habits  of 
these  Mohammedan  women,  in  whose  behalf  I  am  trying  to  interest  you. 

They  are  of  good,  strong  physique,  and  rare  beauty  is  by  no  means  an  exception 
among  them;  their  bearing  is  gentle  and  dignified — in  fact,  vulgarity  is  a' term  that 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN  621 

could  never  be  applied  to  the  lowest  of  them.  They  lead  a  simple,  domestic  life,  and 
their  habits  are  unusually  frugal.  They  are  timid  by  nature,  or  rather,  by  training;  are 
very  sensitive  of,  and  grateful  for,  the  smallest  favor.  Naturally  indolent,  they  can 
still  apply  themselves  steadily  to  work  when  there  is  any  incentive  of  love  or  a  prom- 
ise of  reward.  For  love  of  Mrs.  Hanson  they  will  accomplish  what  neither  threats  nor 
gain  could  make  them  do.  What  is  still  more  astonishing,  in  a  race  to  whom  exacti- 
tude and  punctuality  are  qualities  unknown  (time  being  of  no  count  with  them),  they 
will,  as  a  rule,  keep  their  promises  to  her,  as  regards  date  of  returning  their  finished 
work.  Their  cleanliness  would  put  to  shame  many  cultivated  Christians.  "  With  a 
Turk  cleanliness  is  not  next  to  Godliness,  but  part  and  parcel  thereof."  It  is  difficult 
to  conceive  that  these  exquisite  embroideries,  on  the  most  delicate  materials  and 
colors,  covered  with  fine  embroidery  requiring  weeks  and  months  to  complete,  should 
be  worked  in  a  small  room,  where  the  members  of  a  family  are  born,  live  and  die. 
Their  work  is  stretched  on  a  low  frame,  before  which  they  sit  cross-legged  on  the  floor; 
and  this  frame,  containing  the  embroidery  they  are  working  upon,  is  an  object  of 
reverent  care.  In  cases  of  fire,  which  is  by  no  means  unfrequent  among  their  poorly- 
built  frame  dwellings,  it  has  often  happened  that  when  not  a  thing  besides  has  been 
saved,  the  work  attached  to  the  frames  has  been  found  spotless  and  having  been 
removed  to  a  place  of  safety  before  anything  else  was  thought  of. 

Age  makes  but  little  difference  in  their  deftness.  A  small  child  of  seven  or  eight 
years  makes  as  perfect  work  as  a  grown  woman,  and  there  are  great  numbers  among 
them,  seventy  and  seventy-five  years  of  age,  who  still  do  the  finest  drawn-thread 
work — in  fact,  there  are  some  kinds  of  the  old  Persian  work  in  which  the  old  ladies 
are  the  greater  adepts.  They  do  not  take  as  kindly  to  innovations  as  the  younger 
ones,  and  they  despise  all  work  which  is  not  exactly  the  same  on  both  sides.  The 
test  of  perfection  is,  that  none  shall  be  able  tell  on  which  side  the  eyes  gazed  when  the 
piece  was  being  embroidered. 

Many  of  you  may  some  day  go  to  Constantinople.  I  would  ask  you  to  find  out 
Mrs.  Arthur  Hanson,  living  in  the  village  of  Candilli,  on  the  Asiatic  coast  of  the  Bos- 
phorus,  and  be  present  on  her  reception  days  when  the  work  is  given  out,  the  silk 
and  gold  weighed,  the  design  and  coloring  of  each  piece  explained,  words  of  encourage- 
ment and  advice  given,  medicine  for  a  sick  child,  a  reward  for  a  specially  good  piece 
of  work,  a  gentle  reprimand  for  carelessness,  inexactitude,  or  an  unfortunate  stain;  the 
language  carried  on  between  Mrs.  Hanson,  her  lovely  daughters,  her  assistants  and 
these  women,  being  a  mixture  of  English,  French,  Turkish  and  Greek,  A  veritable 
Volapuk,  unintelligible  to  the  outsider. 

I  can  only  touch  briefly  on  our  preparation,  to  exhibit  at  the  World's  Columbian 
Exposition.  For  many  months  we  were  in  doubt  as  to  the  possibility  or  practicability 
of  doing  this.  It  was  certain  that  we  could  not  exhibit  for  "glory"  only.  The 
Baroness  Burdett-Coutts  graciously  allowed  us  to  use  the  "  reserve  "  fund,  on  condi- 
tion that  we  should  return  it  as  soon  as  possible.  Finally,  after  an  interview  with 
Mrs.  Potter  Palmer,  at  the  Holland  House,  New  York,  the  last  days  of  November, 
1892,  word  was  cabled  "start — "  weeks  before  our  material  had  been  chosen  in  Paris, 
our  designs,  colors  and  combinations  prepared  by  Mrs.  Hanson.  An  adequate  descrip- 
tion can  never  be  given  of  the  difficulties  to  be  surmounted  in  so  short  a  space  of  time 
(but  four  months  remained,  if  we  were  to  have  the  work  in  America  by  April,  and  be 
ready  in  Chicago  by  May  1st). 

Everything  arrived  in  time,  and  our  beautiful  exhibit  was  ready  in  the  north  wing 
on  the  main  floor  of  the  Woman's  Building,  in  the  first  days  of  May. 

The  "  Turkish  Compassionate  Fund"  had  risked  its  existence  on  this  effort.  Every- 
thing it  possessed  was  in  the  stock.  But  for  nearly  the  first  four  months  our  hopes  of 
pecuniary  success  seemed  doomed  to  disappointment.  From  first  to  last  little  was 
done  in  the  Exposition  proper,  but  regular  sales  were  conducted  in  some  of  the 
principal  hotels  in  Chicago.  Our  embroideries  were  the  wonder  and  admiration  of 
wealthy  visitors  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  during  the  last  ten  weeks  of  the 


622  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Exposition  our  sales  were  very  large.  We  can  not  say  that  we  have  achieved  a  brilliant 
success,  because  we  had  hoped  and  were  prepared  to  sell  extensively  from  first  to 
last.  The  "  reserve  "  has  been  returned  to  the  baroness,  and  good  things  may  yet  be 
in  store. 

We  ask  for  no  subscriptions.  From  the  time  the  "  Turkish  Compassionate  Fund" 
became  an  industry,  every  cent  that  has  passed  into  Mrs.  Hanson's  hands  has  been 
given  as  an  equivalent  for  value  received.     Our  motto  is:  "  Not  alms,  but  work." 

Many  forlorn  hopes,  many  institutions,  many  charities,  have  turned  to  America 
for  salvation.  May  the  eager,  longing  desire  of  our  poor  women  for  work,  for  work 
only,  not  remain  unfulfilled!  And  we  pray  you  to  give  it  to  them.  The^exchange  they 
will  give  will  be  art  and  beauty  beyond  words  to  describe. 


LAW  AND  WOMEN. 


By  MRS.  MARIA  P.  PECK. 

Law,  said  Burke,  is  beneficence  acting  by  rule.  As  an  abstract  principle  or  theory 
human  wisdom  could  hardly  invent  a  more  beautiful  definition.     In  it  is  implied  a 

system  of  ethics  stripped  of  the  barbarous  element  of 
might,  purged  of  the  discordant  factors,  cruelty,  injus- 
tice, dishonesty  and  harshness,  leaving  only  the  har- 
monies so  combined  as  to  render  it  perfect.  It  is, 
possibly,  what  the  law  might  be  if  men  were  angels 
and  earth  a  paradise.  But  with  the  constantly  increas- 
ing struggles  of  conflicting  interests,  in  its  applica- 
tion to  the  affairs  and  conduct  of  men,  the  beneficent 
quality  of  law  is  many  times  conspicuous  only  by 
its  absence.  So  true  is  this  that  it  has  become  an 
accepted  rule,  that  in  law  there  is  nothing  certain 
except  expense. 

How  then  to  avoid  becoming  entangled  in  its  treach- 
erous meshes,  how  to  invest  securely  and  manage 
property,  how  to  conduct  the  ordinary  transactions  per- 
taining to  the  concerns  of  every-day  life  without  run- 
ning the  risk  of  disastrous  loss,  are  some  of  the  things 
worthy  of  the  serious  study  of  women  in  this  age  and 
generation,  when  fortunes  large  and  small  are  rapidly 
falling  into  their  hands  either  by  inheritance  or  ac- 
quisition. It  is  the  universal  testimony  of  lawyers 
that  ignorance  is  one  of  the  most  prolific  sources  of 
troubles  that  eventually  find  their  way  into  the  courts  for  adjustment. 

At  least  it  is  a  fact  worthy  of  consideration  that  lawyers  as  a  rule  do  not  go  to  law, 
any  more  than  doctors  take  their  own  medicine.  However  unsuccessful  a  lawyer  may 
be  in  the  practice  of  his  profession,  or  whether  he  knows  much  or  little  of  the  great 
science,  he  has  by  the  time  he  is  admitted  to  the  bar  learned  enough  to  avoid  litiga- 
tion in  his  own  behalf.  This  want  of  knowledge  on  the  part  of  laity  is  not  at  all  sur- 
prising, when  it  is  understood  that  the  law  in  all  its  various  and  multifarious  ramifica- 
tions is  now  contained  in  upward  of  twenty  thousand  bulky  volumes  of  the  common 
or  unwritten  law,  and  in  this  number  is  not  included  the  works  on  statute  or  written 
law.  And  in  all  this  mass  of  material  the  language  used  is  so  overburdened  with  ver- . 
biage  and  technical  phraseology,  often  obscuring  the  meaning  to  such  an  extent  as  to 
baffle  the  understanding  of  those  trained  in  the  profession. 

The  occurrences  are  by  no  means  rare  when  the  most  eminent  jurists  disagree  as 
to  the  construction  and  application  of  the  law  in  important  cases.  But  even  if  the 
language  were  clear,  concise  and  so  comprehensive  that  those  that  run  may  read,  the 
requisite  amount  of  accurate  knowledge  to  guard  against  business  blunders  that  may 
prove  expensive  and  troublesome,  or  the  rule  that  establishes  the  rights  of  one  indi- 

Mre.  Maria  P.  Peck  is  a  native  of  New  York.  She  is  the  danghter  of  Hon.  Merritt  Pnrdy,  of  Western  New  York,  who 
was  of  Dntch  origin.  Both  his  father  and  mother  belonged  to  the  well  known  Datch  families  of  Albany,  N.  Y.  Mrs.  Peck's 
early  education  was  under  her  father  as  tutor,  afterward  in  an  academy.  She  has  traveled  in  Europe  and  quite  extensively  in 
our  own  country.  She  married  Dr.  W.  L.  Peck,  an  eminent  physician,  practicing  in  Iowa.  They  moved  to  Davenport  in  1865. 
Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  her  home  and  family.  She  is  a  graceful  writer  and  frequent  contributor  to 
leading  magazines.    Her  postoifice  address  is  Davenport,  la. 

623 


MRS.  MARIA   P.   PECK 


624  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

vidual  without  infringing  upon  those  of  others,  is  not  to  be  found  in  any  one  of  these 
books,  or  in  any  few.  So  that,  practically,  the  wisdom  concerning  the  laws  and  their 
operations  that  are  a  constant  menace  to  those  controlling  large  business  interests,  is 
inaccessible  to  the  multitude,  except  as  it  is  gained  in  that  great  democratic  free  school, 
experience,  which  numbers  many  sorrowing  graduates. 

If  a  lawyer  may  be  considered  fully  educated  and  equipped  for  his  work  when  he 
has  mastered  enough  legal  lore  to  know  where  to  find  the  information  that  he  is  in 
quest  of  at  the  right  time  and  moment,  what  can  be  expected  of  those  without  any 
special  training?  And  in  none  of  the  affairs  of  life,  affecting  our  material  interests  is 
the  maxim  that  half  knowledge  is  worse  than  ignorance  so  applicable  as  in  law. 

With  the  importance  which  is  now  accorded  to  women  in  the  financial  as  well  as 
the  social  world,  an  importance  which  establishes  a  distinct  and  separate  individuality 
in  the  body  politic  from  a  business  and  legal  standpoint,  a  most  perplexing  problem 
with  regard  to  her  signature  has  arisen.  It  can  not  then  be  repeated  too  often  that 
the  signature  of  a  woman,  whether  plain,  simple  or  complex,  in  all  business  and  legal 
transactions,  from  the  signing  of  a  communication,  a  check,  a  deed  or  a  mortgage  to 
the  signing  of  a  will,  should  be  written  plainly  and  fully,  and  with  nothing  added  to 
or  taken  from.  The  addition  or  omission  of  a  single  letter,  the  changing  from  full 
name  to  initials,  or  substituting  the  husband's,  causes  confusion  and,  in  cases  of  real 
estate  transfers,  may  work  harm. 

Women  in  business  affairs  maybe  divided  into  three  classes:  the  over-credulous 
and  improvident,  the  over-suspicious  and  miserly,  with  a  small  surplus  or  remnant  of 
conservatives,  with  clear  business  heads  and  quick  insight  that  render  their  judgment 
almost  unerring,  that  may  be  called  the  saving  grace. 

Col.  Mullberry  Sellers  is  a  typical  American  character,  and  flourishes  more  or 
less  fully  developed  in  all  our  communities.  The  number  of  schemes  that  are  con- 
tinually being  hatched  by  these  fertile  financial  geniuses  for  splendid  gains  on  a  small 
amount  of  invested  capital  would  be  amusing  if  they  did  not  in  so  many  instances 
draw  hard  earned  dollars  into  the  vortex  of  destruction. 

The  members  of  the  second  class  have  no  confidence  in  money-making  schemes 
of  any  kind,  and  are  never  caught  in  any  of  the  delusive  snares.  They  are  afraid  of 
real  estate  investments;  banks  they  are  morally  certain  are  not  safe,  and  the  tradi- 
tional stocking  becomes  the  place  of  deposit  for  many  of  these  cautious  souls  until 
some  friend  or  acquaintance,  in  whom  they  have  perfect  confidence,  is  found,  who 
will  undertake  the  management  of  their  savings,  thus  relieving  them  of  further 
anxiety.  Who  can  estimate  the  tears  that  have  been  shed,  the  bitter  anguish  that  has 
been  caused  to  thousands  of  confiding  women  after  finding  that  their  little  savings 
have  been  swallowed  up  in  hazardous  speculations,  or  swept  away  by  dishonest  prac- 
tices, leaving  them  absolutely  without  redress. 

The  members  of  the  third  or  remnant  class,  however,  conduct  their  business  on 
the  same  business  principles  that  successful  men  do.  They  are  not  afraid  of  banks, 
because  they  know  that  their  soundness  or  unsoundness  depends  upon  the  business 
capacity  of  the  men  who  manage  them.  Before  investing  in  stocks  or  making  large 
deposits  in  any  one  of  them,  they  will  investigate  its  condition,  its  resources,  its  man- 
agement, and  then,  when  a  panic  is  threatened,  will  not  precipitate  it  by  withdrawing 
their  deposits.  They  know  that  there  is  no  more  safe  or  satisfactory  way  of  making 
investments  than  upon  farm  mortgages,  but  they  will,  before  making  a  loan  upon  such 
security,  take  the  precaution  to  examine  the  title  to  the  property  under  consideration 
to  see  that  no  cloud  hangs  over  it,  and  they  will  inquire  into  the  character  and  stand- 
ing of  the  local  agent  with  whom  they  are  dealing.  They  will  further,  if  the  loan  is 
made  in  a  state  remote  from  the  one  in  which  they  live,  ascertain  all  the  law  govern- 
ing such  transactions  in  the  particular  state,  for  in  some  they  are  specially  favorable 
to  the  debtor.  Then  if  the  loan  is  made  only  up  to  the  one-half  or  two-thirds  stand- 
ard of  value,  nothing  worse  can  happen  than  to  come  into  possession  of  the  land, 
which  does  not  burn  and  can  not  be  spirited  away. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  625 

These  women  know  when  to  make  a  written  contract  and  when  a  verbal  one  will 
be  binding;  they  never  sign  a  paper  without  understanding  exactly  its  purport  in  all  its 
bearings,  and  never  give  unlimited  power  of  attorney  to  an  agent.  That  so  many 
women  are  disqualified  for  ordinary  business  transactions  requiring  exactness  and 
judgment  is  not  so  much  because  of  mental  incompetence  as  lack  of  training. 

Rastus  S.  Ransom,  Surrogate  of  New  York  County,  in  an  article  in  the  North 
American  Reviezu,  June,  1893,  "  How  to  Check  Testamentary  Litigation,"  makes  some 
unwelcome  statements  about  women.  He  says:  "Many women  are  named  as  execu- 
tresses  of  wills,  and  it  is  my  experience  that  they  know  little  or  nothing  of  business, 
rely  largely  upon  their  emotions  and  intuitions,  and  fall  an  easy  prey  to  the  ever-ready 
and  always  convenient  sharper.  My  judgment  is  that  women  should  never  be  com- 
pelled or  permitted  to  undergo  the  labor  and  responsibility  of  these  positions." 

It  is  only  fair  to  assume  that  Mr.  Ransom,  in  giving  expression  to  an  opinion  of 
this  sort,  is  not  speaking  from  prejudice  of  the  sex,  but  is  givinghis  honest  convictions 
founded  upon  association  and  experience.  It  is  a  matter  of  record  that  all  the  prop- 
erty of  the  United  States  passes  through  the  probate  courts  once  in  thirty  years.  By 
the  appointment  of  persons  largely  interested  as  administrators  or  executors  the  per- 
centage allowed  for  such  services  is  saved  to  the  estate.  Now  if  women  are  to  be 
debarred  from  acting  in  such  capacity  because  of  incompetence  much  that  would 
come  to  them  from  this  source  must  go  to  strangers.  This  state  of  affairs  is  certainly 
deplorable  and  must  result  in  loss  to  women,  whether  they  do  or  do  not  act  as  execu- 
tresses  of  the  estates  in  which  they  are  chiefly  interested. 

One  more  quotation  from  the  same  paper:  "  Many  intelligent  persons  do  not 
realize  the  absolute  right  both  in  morals  and  in  law  of  a  man  to  dispose  of  all  his  prop- 
erty in  his  lifetime,  to  take  effect  only  at  his  death,  and  which  is  defined  to  be  his  last 
will  and  testament.  His  right  so  to  dispose  of  his  property  is  as  certain  and  sacred  as 
his  right  to  dispose  of  it  by  sale  or  gift  during  his  life." 

Embodied  within  this  declaration  of  the  law,  as  made  by  Mr.  Ransom,  there  are 
many  perplexing  questions  that  are  intimately  connected  with  the  rights  and  interests 
of  women,  especially  wives.  Believing  that  one  instance  drawn  from  actual  observa- 
tion is  more  valuable  than  a  dozen  hypothetical  cases,  I  will  take  one  under  my  notice 
at  the  present  time  to  illustrate  this  absolute  right  of  man,  both  in  a  legal  and  moral 
sense,  that  Mr.  Ransom  so  emphatically  proclaims  and  so  fearlessly  maintains  to  be 
just  and  even  sacred. 

Mr.  S,  living  a  short  distance  from  my  home  in  Davenport,  Iowa,  owns  four  acres 
of  land  on  which  he  is  now  living  with  his  wife.  Every  dollar  that  was  paid  for  this 
property,  which  is  valued  at  $1,500,  was  earned  by  the  wife,  who  is  now  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  sixty-five  years  of  age  and  partially  crippled  from  an  accident.  At  present 
she  works  in  the  fields,  makes  the  garden,  milks  the  cows  and  makes  the  butter;  she  har- 
nesses her  own  horse,  drives  to  town  and  sells  her  chickens,  vegetables,  butter  and 
eggs,  buttermilk  and  smearkase,  and  takes  home,  when  she  can  get  them,  chairs  to 
re-seat  at  odd  moments,  besides,  in  cases  of  illness  in  the  neighborhood,  acting  as 
nurse.  The  husband,  too  fine  a  gentleman  for  this  sort  of  work,  leads  a  life  of  com- 
paratively luxurious  ease,  and  never  contributes  a  dime  to  the  domestic  treasury. 

Now  Mr.  S  has,  unquestionably,  the  legal  right,  and  according  to  Mr.  Surrogate 
Ransom  the  moral,  to  make  a  will  disposing  of,  in  any  way  to  suit  himself,  all  but  one- 
third  of  this  property  at  his  death.  If  he  should  not  survive  his  wife,  whether  he 
makes  a  will  or  not  the  court  would  take  possession  of  this  property,  and  from  what 
is  left  after  the  settlement  of  the  estate  the  wife  would  receive  one-third;  the  balance 
would  go  to  the  eight  grown  children  all  away  from  home. 

That  so  many  men  are  better  than  this  infamous  law  is  the  only  reason  that  it  is 
permitted  to  disgrace  the  statute  books  in  so  many  of  our  states  today.  In  all  our 
broad  land  there  is  only  one  state,  and  that  is  California,  that  has  righteously  con- 
sidered the  wife  in  the  disposition  of  property. 

Respect  for  the  law  has  so  long  been  considered  one  of  the  cardinal  virtues,  that 

(40) 


626  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

women  meekly  acquiesce  in  those  that  discriminate  against  their  interests,  when  by 
open  rebellion  a  change  could  be  effected.  It  is  plainly  a  woman's  duty  not  only  to 
know  what  the  law  is  respecting  her  rights,  but  also,  what  the  law  should  not  be. 

Many  women  are  unable  to  comprehend  the  principle  that  capital  is  labor,  or 
that  upon  this  principle  rests  its  only  equitable  foundation;  not  physical  labor  alone, 
but  mental  labor  also.  It  is  only  wealth  that  is  accumulated  without  effort  that  is 
lightly  esteemed  by  either  sex. 

This  is  so  true  that  it  has  grown  into  a  proverb  that  one  generation  by  labor  and 
frugality  accumulates  wealth,  the  second  enjoys,  spends  or  dissipates,  and  the  third 
begins  the  struggle  for  existence  in  poverty  again.  We  are  living  in  a  transitional 
period,  and  possibly  it  is  not  so  much  what  our  rights  are,  or  what  our  duties  to  our- 
selves and  to  society  with  respect  to  property  are  today,  as  what  they  will  be  in  the 
future,  when  justice,  upon  which  all  law  is  founded,  invests  woman  with  greater  author- 
ity and  responsibility  by  conferring  upon  her  the  law-making  power. 

Does  justice,  though,  which  has  been  beautifully  defined  as  the  soul  of  the 
universe,  peacefully  confer  its  blessings?  No,  all  the  law  in  the  world  tending  toward 
the  amelioration  of  mankind  has  been  born  of  agitation  and  contest;  every  principle 
is  a  victory  gained  over  an  inimical  force.  And  so  the  pathway  traversed  by  all 
great  reforms  has  been  paved  with  long-continued  human  effort,  and  in  many 
instances  cemented  with  blood.  It  is  most  fitting,  then,  that  the  symbols  of  justice 
should  be  the  scales  and  the  sword.  The  scales,  so  sensitively  adjusted  that  the  slight- 
est variation  causes  vibration,  are  used  to  determine  what  is  just;  the  sword  the  power 
to  enforce  its  execution. 

Law,  with  all  its  cumbrous  machinery,  is  a  plant  of  slow  development  but  of  con- 
tinuous growth.  The  seeds  were  sown  far  back  in  the  ages  when  the  complex  rela- 
tions growing  out  of  differing  wants  and  conditions  of  men  began  to  be  considered. 
Customs  arising  from  associations  became  crystallized  into  rules,  rules  established  by 
usage,  by  legislative  enactments,  became  laws.  The  Romans  legalized  their  robberies 
of  land  and  laid  the  foundation  of  all  our  law  governing  property.  The  Venetians 
traded  on  the  Rialto,  and  upon  their  operations  the  basis  of  our  commercial  law  rests. 
"The  law,"  says  an  eminent  authority,  "can  renew  its  youth  only  by  breaking  with 
its  past." 

What,  with  all  the  weight  of  a  century  or  more  of  usage  added  to  a  law,  does  this 
breaking  with  its  past  mean?  New  conditions  and  new  demands  may  have  arisen 
that  render  it  odious  to  a  large  majority,  yet  with  its  existence  the  rights  and 
interests  of  individuals  and  classes  have  necessarily  become  identified  and  it  can  not 
be  overthrown  without  a  struggle;  witness  our  tariff  laws  today  in  proof  of  this  state- 
ment. Who  of  our  statesmen  living  today  that  advocated  the  Fifteenth  Amendment 
to  our  Constitution  would  do  the  same  thing  again? 

If,  then,  when  a  law,  either  good  or  bad,  is  once  enacted  and  becomes  a  part  of 
the  working  machinery  of  the  system,  if  it  is  so  difificult  and  even  dangerous  to  repeal 
it,  it  is  not  surprising  that  conservative,  conscientious  men  are  slow  to  accept  new 
theories  which,  when  incorporated  into  law,  admit  a  new  and'untried  element  to  the 
already  too  great  body  of  law-makers. 

Allegorically  woman  may  hold  the  scales  in  one  hand  and  the  sword  in  the  other 
as  the  personification  of  Justice,  but  actually  she  is  without  power,  except  as  a  bene- 
ficiary of  man,  to  defend  her  own  rights  of  property.  The  ample,  floating  drapery 
may  envelop  her  fair  form  emblematically,  but  no  ermined  robes  of  state  or  bench 
belong  to  her  wardrobe.     She  is  judged,  but  she  can  not  judge. 

This  is  true  today;  what  will  be  tomorrow? 

The  history  of  all  conflicts  in  which  human  rights  are  involved  proves  that  when 
the  wave  of  reform  has  once  been  set  in  motion  it  never  recedes  until  it  reaches 
the  further  shore.  The  demand  for  the  ballot  for  woman  has  been  made;  it  is  founded 
upon  a  principle  of  right  and  justice  that  can  not  be  denied,  though  it  may  be  delayed. 
Indifferent,  indolent  women  may  oppose;   Susan  B.  Anthony  may  never  lift  up  her 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  627 

voice  again  in  behalf  of  the  cause;  the  Suffrage  Association  may  cease  to  labor  or  to 
exist,  and  the  principle  upon  which  the  demand  is  founded,  enshrined  in  the  hearts  of 
millions  not  openly  connected  with  the  movement,  will  be  carried  on  to  a  successful 
issue. 

The  time  may  not  be  near,  nor  is  it  very  distant,  when  women,  whether  as  a  whole 
they  desire  it  or  not,  will  become  as  important  factors  in  the  law-making  power  of 
this  country  as  men.  What  then  is  the  duty  of  women  today — not  a  few  clever  women, 
but  all  intelligent,  thinking  women?  Is  it  not  that  they  shall  use  this  probationary 
period  in  preparation  to  meet  the  responsibilities  that  the  new  conditions  will  thrust 
upon  them? 

The  progress  of  humanity  in  its  march  toward  a  state  of  ideal  perfection  has 
ever  been  slow,  and  the  ballot  placed  in  the  hands  of  women  may  not  inaugurate  a 
millennium,  but  it  certainly  should  not  be  retarded  by  it.  Give  woman  the  ballot  by 
all  means;  but  first  give  her  a  rational  understanding  of  the  complex  system  of  our 
laws  and  our  government. 


WOMAN   IN  AN  IDEAL  GOVERNMENT.* 


By  MRS.  K.  V.  GRINNELL. 

One  of  the  most  notable  things  said  at  the  great  congress  of  women  in  Washing- 
ton in    1888,  was  the  remark  of  the  Rev.  Anna  Shaw  that  "every  reformer  had  a. 

vision  before  he  entered  the  work  of  reform. 

Doubtless  many  a  heart  in  her  audience  thrilled 
in  response,  in  memory  of  the  sublime  experiences 
which  opened  the  spiritual  eyes  to  a  perception  of  the 
interior  forces  and  principles  at  work  within  and  upon 
human  society.  For  many  years  my  mind  has  been 
searching  for  these  ultimate  principles. 

The  imperious  demand  of  my  spirit  at  last  forced 
open  the  gateways  that  lead  to  the  inner  realms,  and 
compelled  its  hidden  meanings  to  be  made  plain  to 
my  comprehension.  "  The  kingdom  of  heaven  suffer- 
eth  violence,  and  the  violent  take  it  by  force,"  said 
Jesus  truly. 

In  answer  to  my  persistent  inquiry  and  demand 
in  the  supreme  struggle  of  my  soul,  was  my  vision 
opened  to  see  and  understand  the  great  idea  and 
underlying  principles  of  human  life,  of  social  and 
governmental  order,  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  in  other 
words.  These  are  expressed  in  the  twelve-tribed 
nations  of  Israel,  and  symbolized  in  the  magnificent 
vision  of  the  new  Jerusalem. 

In  a  vague  and  undefined  way  the  thoughts  and 
sentiments  connected  with  the  idea  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  or  of  the  millennium,  have 
always  been  cherished  by  the  human  heart.  Its  approach  has  been  foretold  these 
fifty  years  or  more.  The  cry  of  the  angel  with  one  foot  on  the  sea  and  one  on  the 
land,  that  the  time  of  the  end  of  the  old  dispensations  had  come — remembering  not 
that  the  Kingdom  is  first  within. 

The  greatest  miracle  that  can  happen,  the  greatest  sign  that  can  be  given,  is  the 
"  sign  of  the  Son  of  Man." 

The  spirit  must  truly  desire  the  truth  before  it  can  perceive  and  receive  the  stu- 
pendous fact  that  the  earth  is  to  be  the  arena  of  all  that  has  been  foretold  concerning 
the  destiny  of  the  human  race.  The  Kingdom  of  God  is  a  political  kingdom,  if  you 
please,  governed  by  spiritual  laws.  That  is,  it  is  based  upon  both  the  mental  and  spir- 
itual laws  of  man's  nature,  which  is  a  copy  and  reflex  of  the  nature  of  God.  It  has 
definite  organization  and  form  of  government.  It  is  not  a  phantasmagora  nor  a  mere 
sentiment,  but  is  a  real  and  human  fact,  involving  human  beings  in  their  social  and 

Mrs.  Kathemi  Van  Grinnell  was  born  in  New  York  in  1839.  Her  parents  were  religions,  enterprising  and  public 
spirited.  They  spared  no  pains  to  educate  their  children  to  become  valuable  members  of  society.  She  married  Graham  G. 
Grinnell  of  New  York,  a  gentleman  of  culture,  and  has  five  children,  three  daughters  and  two  sons,  who  are  a  crown  of 
rejoicing  to  her.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  a  new  social  order  which  will  give  place  to  every  interest  of 
society  in  systematic  form,  and  place  woman  in  her  right  position  as  helper  of  man  in  every  department  of  society.  Her 
principal  literary  works  are  scientific  essays  and  a  monthly  magazine.  The  character  of  Mrs.  Grinnell  is  marked  by  a  singu- 
lar openness  to  truth  in  its  exactness  of  detail  and  fidelity  to  her  perceptions  and  convictions.  Her  postoflBce  address  is 
Mayfair,  111. 

*Thi8  article  is  an  extract  from  an  address,  the  full  title  of  which  is,  "  Woman's  Position  in  an  Ideal  Government." 

628 


MRS.  KATHERNI   VAN  GRINNELL. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  629 

governmental  relations.  It  is  the  reign  of  law  in  every  faculty  of  the  human  mind,  and 
in  every  department  of  human  society.  All  that  we  have  known  before  about  the 
Kingdom  we  have  found  in  the  Bible.  From  this  book  we  read  of  the  first  inception 
of  the  idea,  and  the  historical  fact  of  a  nation  founded  to  realize  it  in  their  government 
and  personal  life.  This  was  the  Israelitish  nation,  and  it  was  founded  under  the  direct 
influence  of  Jehovah,  who  promised  that  it  should  be  a  "  holy  nation."  Its  history  is 
one  of  extreme  interest,  and  has  a  singular  fascination  for  the  devout  and  spiritual 
mind,  and  yet,  so  strangely  have  its  history  and  prophecies  been  ignored,  that  Chris- 
tians generally  are  almost  ignorant  of  its  annals,  and  wholly  ignorant  of  its  import  as 
a  factor  in  the  evolution  of  the  race. 

They  miss  entirely  the  purpose  and  intention  of  the  book;  and  this  notwithstand- 
ing their  faith  in  the  plenary  inspiration  of  the  Bible,  and  notwithstanding  that  they 
think  their  whole  claim  to  eternal  life  lies  in  its  pages. 

Moses,  during  the  memorable  forty  days  that  he  was  in  the  mountain  with 
Jehovah,  received  the  instructions  which  he  afterward  incorporated  in  what  is  known 
as  the  Mosaic  law,  which  today  stands  superior  to  any  other  system  of  laws  among 
ancient  or  modern  nations.  For  this  law  was  not  only  the  expression  of  the  will  and 
wisdom  of  Jehovah,  but  of  the  internal  necessities  of  the  people.  It  was  suited  to  the 
people  of  that  child  age.  But  we  have  come  now  to  a  more  mature  age,  when,  instead 
of  commands  as  to  children,  we  need  a  scientific  statement  of  the  laws  of  the  mind, 
as  well  as  of  the  physical  laws.  Law  is  the  mode  of  action  of  internal  forces.  It  is 
never  imposed  on  man  against  his  nature,  but  in  accordance  with,  and  as  a  part  of,  the 
fundamental  principles  of  his  nature.  Indeed,  when  Moses  finished  the  delivery 
of  the  law,  he  gave  this  as  its  binding  force  and  reason.  It  was  so  natural  that  they 
needed  no  teacher,  even  from  the  heavens,  to  teach  them  how  to  obey. 

Indeed  it  is  now  well  known  that  their  history  and  wanderings  have  been  traced 
by  unmistakable  signs  until  their  identity  with  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  of  which  we  are 
a  part,  is  fairly  well  established. 

This  brainy,  energetic,  practical,  but  spiritual  people,  then,  are  the  veritable  "  lost 
tribes  "  of  Israel.  I  do  not  propose,  however,  to  enter  into  the  details  of  this  account. 
I  only  wish  to  trace  the  line  of  history  to  show  our  ancestry  from  whom  we  receive 
•our  inheritance  of  mental  and  spiritual  power.  This  race  is  best  adapted  to  the  work 
of  completing  a  true  social  and  governmental  order,  based  upon  scientific  principles. 
In  their  characters  and  in  their  prophecies  were  the  most  complete  types  and  symbols 
of  the  new  order,  which  is  the  final  outgrowth  of  our  historic  ages.  All  these  symbols 
and  types  find  their  key  in  the  nature  of  man. 

Each  tribe  was  marked  by  distinct  characteristics,  and  each  stood  for  a  basic 
truth  and  fundamental  part  of  society.  This  was  why  God  chose  them  to  lead  in  the 
development  of  the  Divine  principles  of  life. 

The  Jews,  whom  we  know  as  a  distinct  people  today,  have  come  to  consider  them- 
selves, and  to  be  considered,  as  the  only  representatives  on  earth  of  this  historic  peo- 
ple. But  the  Jewish  people  comprise  only  a  small  portion  of  the  nation  of  Israel, 
being  the  descendants  of  only  two  out  of  the  twelve  tribes.  Ten  of  the  tribes  revolted 
and,  choosing  a  king,  set  up  an  independent  nation. 

This  was  known  as  the  House  or  Kingdom  of  Israel,  but  was  also  called  Ephraim, 
because  this  half  tribe  led  in  the  revolt.  The  tribes  who  remained  loyal  to  Solomon's 
son  were  known  as  the  Kingdom  of  Judah,  from  which  come  the  Jews.  After  a  few 
hundred  years  of  almost  incessant  warfare  between  these  divided  nations,  the  Israel- 
ites were  captured  by  the  King  of  Assyria  and  carried  away  into  captivity,  from  which 
they  have  never  returned.  From  that  time  they  have  been  known  by  the  descendants 
of  Judah,  and  all  readers  of  their  history,  as  the  "  lost  tribes."  But  the  burden  of  the 
ancient  prophecies  is  the  restoration  of  these  two  nations  under  the  tribal  order,  and 
of  their  becoming  reunited  to  form  one  nation  again  under  one  King  David  "  whom  I 
will  raise  up." 

At  a  culminating  period  in  the  age  of  this  people  came  or  was  sent  Jesus.     He 


630  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

offered  to  the  Jews  the  opportunity  of  again  restoring  this  ancient  nation;  not  by  war- 
like prowess,  but  by  the  simple  observance  of  the  spiritual  principles  of  life.  He  sent 
His  disciples  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  House  of  Israel,  for  He  well  knew  that  the 
twelve  tribes  must  all  be  represented  to  complete  the  nation.  History  tells  us  how 
He  was  rejected,  and  how  the  Jews  immediately  lost  what  little  power  remained  to 
them.  For  the  rejection  or  acceptance  of  great  and  universal  principles  of  truth  by 
the  people  affects  the  race  universally  for  good  or  evil  during  the  ages  that  follow. 

After  Jesus,  appeared  another  great  prophet  who  had  been  one  of  His  disciples. 
He  wrote  a  new  revelation,  mostly  in  symbols.  Its  symbolism  concealed  its  interior 
meaning  from  the  people,  until  the  time  should  come  when  the  human  mind  would  be 
able  to  perceive  the  principles  involved  and  the  possibility  of  their  application  to 
earthly  affairs  and  institutions.  This  is  the  order  of  evolution.  The  burden  of  this 
prophecy,  which  culminates  in  our  day,  is  the  sealing  of  one  hundred  and  forty-four 
thousand  of  the  people  in  tribes,  under  the  name  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel;  after- 
ward of  a  multitude  which  no  man  can  number.  John  saw  that  "  Holy  City,"  the 
New  Jerusalem,  coming  down  from  God,  out  of  Heaven,  prepared  as  a  bride  for  her 
husband,  "  having  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  light  was  like  unto  a  stone,  most  precious, 
even  like  a  Jasper  stone,  clear  as  crystal."  It  had  twelve  gates,  and  at  the  gates 
twelve  angels,  and  names  written  thereon,"  which  are  the  names  of  the  twelve  tribes 
of  Israel.  Have  we  a  right  to  treat  this  as  a  beautiful  but  meaningless  fancy?  The- 
ologians have  sought  in  vain  for  its  solution,  and  make  no  attempt  to  explain  it.  But 
science  has  entered  the  domain  of  religion,  and  gives  a  real  theology  and  a  clear 
explanation  of  these  symbols. 

The  New  Jerusalem  is  called  a  bride  and  seems  most  distinctly  feminine,  because 
here  woman's  special  forces  and  functions  find  their  first  recognition  and  place  in  gov- 
ernment, and  in  all  the  great  activities  of  society.  And  this  place  is  perceived  and 
stated  first  through  the  discoveries  of  science. 

It  forever  fixes  woman's  place  and  shows  her  to  be  an  equal  factor  with  man  in 
all  the  departments  of  government  and  of  society. 

She  has  already  begun  to  perceive  this  in  a  limited  way,  and  is  seeking  recogni- 
tion in  politics  as  a  necessary  expression  of  her  natural  right  and  as  a  tardy  act  of 
justice  on  the  part  of  men  toward  her.  But  she  needs  to  have  a  more  definite  idea 
of  her  place  in  politics  and  in  government  before  she  will  be  able  to  induce  man  to 
grant  her  this  right. 

But  right  here  is  where  Science  has  achieved  her  most  splendid  victory,  by  giving 
an  exact  analysis  of  the  faculties  of  the  human  brain  and  their  modes  of  action  in 
individual,  social  and  governmental  life.  Thus  we  find  the  law  of  the  tribes^ 
which  I  promise  to  give  to  you. 

The  brain  is  a  wonderful  organ.  The  secret  of  its  action  has  been  slow  of  dis- 
covery. Strange  that  this  organ  and  instrument  of  the  mind,  which  measures  all 
things  in  the  heavens  and  earth,  should  have  been  so  tardy  of  discovering  the  laws 
and  process  of  its  own  action,  or  so  lately  analyzed  its  own  faculties. 

"The  human  brain  is  constructed  upon  the  mathematical  plan  of  the  ellipse, "^ 
says  the  Book  of  Life.  A  circle  has  a  single  center  of  force,  but  an  ellipse  has  two 
centers  of  force.  A  circle  with  its  single  center  has  no  internal  power  or  movement 
of  life.  An  ellipse  with  its  two  centers  has  internal  power  or  movement  and  of  life. 
These  two  centers  are  polar  to  each  other.  All  physiologists  agree  in  saying  this: 
"Polarity  involves  the  concert  of  opposite  tendencies — the  attractive  and  the  repul- 
sion; receptive  and  positive;  masculine  and  feminine." 

"The  brain  is  the  seat  of  all  animal  life;  every  bodily  function  receives  its  power 
to  act  from  the  brain,"  says  one  scientist.  The  brain  is  the  seat  also  of  spiritual  life. 
From  and  through  these  centers  of  spiritual  force  every  faculty  of  the  human  mind  or 
spirit  receives  its  power  to  act.  They  are  not  only  the  centers  of  organizing  power 
in  forming  the  body,  but  of  all  thought.  There  could  be  no  activity  or  power  to 
create  thought  or  being  but  for  these  polar,  responsive  and  co-operative,  masculine 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  631 

and  feminine  forces,  which  center  in  the  human  brain.  Let  me  emphasize  this.  As 
in  the  physical  organization  of  the  brain,  the  structural  fibers  center  here;  so  in  the 
mental  organization.  There  are  twelve  groups  of  faculties  which  also  center  in  these 
brain  centers.  The  faculties  have  each  a  distinctive  location  in  the  brain,  the  result  of 
the  operation  of  a  mathematical  law.  The  special  traits  and  characteristics  of  each 
group  of  faculties  characterized  one  of  the  tribes  of  Israel. 

This  fact  was  observed  and  stated  by  the  great  historians,  Kitto,  Evald  Milmann 
and  other  historians  of  the  Jews. 

The  names  of  the  twelve  groups  of  faculties  are:  Art,  which  characterized  the 
tribe  of  Simeon;  science,  which  characterized  the  tribe  of  Asher;  letters,  which  char- 
acterized the  tribe  of  Gad;  culture,  which  characterized  the  tribe  of  Naphtali;  religion, 
which  characterized  the  tribe  of  Levi;  marriage,  which  characterized  the  tribe  of 
Judah;  familism,  which  characterized  the  tribe  of  Reuben;  home,  which  characterized 
the  tribe  of  Zebulon;  rulership,  which  characterized  the  tribe  of  Joseph;  labor,  which 
characterized  the  tribe  of  Dan;  wealth,  which  characterized  the  tribe  of  Benjamin; 
commerce,  which  characterized  the  tribe  of  Isaacher.  Each  group  is  subdivided  into 
faculties.  The  functions  of  each  group  are  dual,  or  masculine  and  feminine;  the  mas- 
culine quality  dominating  in  man  and  the  feminine  in  the  woman,  for  both  elements 
have  entered  into  every  part  of  each  organism  through  the  united  forces  of  the 
parents. 

I  will  now  give  the  primary  or  dual  division  of  the  faculties,  the  first  in  each 
group  being  masculine,  the  second  feminine: 

Culture,  subdivided  into  amity  and  reform;  religion,  subdivided  into  faith  and 
love;  rulership,  subdivided  into  dignity  and  laudation;  science,  subdivided  into  reason 
and  inspiration;  marriage,  subdivided  into  devotion  and  mating;  labor,  subdivided 
into  justice  and  industry;  letters,  subdivided  into  memory  and  attention;  familism, 
subdivided  into  parentity  and  reverence;  wealth,  subdivided  into  defense  and  economy; 
art,  subdivided  into  form  and  color;  home,  subdivided  into  appetite  and  feeling;  com- 
merce, subdivided  into  locomotion  and  aversion. 

These  form  the  different  departments  of  society  and  government  in  a  complete 
organization.  We  readily  recognize  that  in  each  of  the  faculties  the  masculine  faculty 
dominates  in  man,  and  the  feminine  in  woman.  Every  brain  organ  or  faculty  pro- 
duces a  distinctive  kind  of  want  that  has  a  natural  right  to  a  means  of  satisfaction  or 
expression. 

A  government,  to  be  truly  representative,  must  not  only  represent  human  beings 
as  a  mass;  but  as  each  class  of  wants  in  society  has  its  distinct  or  producing  cause  in  a 
mental  faculty,  this  faculty  must  be  represented  in  government  by  an  officer. 

In  the  Hebrew  language,  the  language  of  Israel,  in  which  Jehovah  gave  his  name 
to  Moses,  each  letter  has  a  number  which  determines  its  meaning.  The  number  of  the 
name  Jehovah  is  twenty-six  (26),  but  none  of  the  rabbis  have  ever  been  able  to  deter- 
mine its  meaning.  It  has  always  remained  the  mystery  of  God.  However,  they  have 
always  had  a  belief  that  it  would  be  revealed  in  the  day  or  age  when  Israel  should  be 
restored.  John,  in  his  revelations,  foretells  the  time  as  being  one  of  the  events  which 
we  perceive  is  culminating  in  our  day,  when  "the  mystery  of  God"  shall  be  "finished." 
In  the  vision  of  St.  John,  he  says:  "A  throne  was  set  in  Heaven,  and  (one)  sat  on  the 
throne,  and  he  that  sat  was  to  look  upon  like  a  Jasper  and  a  Sardine  stone."  The  word 
"one"  in  the  sentence  is  an  interpolation,  and  the  colors  of  the  Jasper  and  Sardine 
stones  are  masculine  and  feminine;  for  the  law  holds  good  among  the  colors  that  pre- 
vail in  every  realm  of  nature.  It  is  a  well-known  scientific  fact  that  colors  are  mascu- 
line and  feminine  to  each  other.  This,  John  said,  was  a  vision  of  that  time  that  was  to 
be  hereafter,  and  although  it  was  represented  as  being  in  Heaven,  and  was  undoubtedly 
an  actual  vision  of  Jehovah  and  the  officers  of  the  Celestial  Government,  it  represented 
the  form  of  government  which  is  to  be  the  center  and  model  of  all  earthly  governments, 
because  it  is  based  upon  the  nature  of  God  and  of  man,  and  for  this  reason  is  a  subject 
of  prophecy. 


632  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

The  capital  city  will  be  at  Jerusalem,  "  for  the  law  shall  go  forth  from  Zion,"  and 
a  new  city,  the  form  and  architecture  of  which  will  be  based  upon  the  laws  of  the  Divine 
and  human  mind,  will  be  built  upon  the  site  of  the  ancient  city  of  historic  fame.  This 
is  what  is  meant  by  the  New  Jerusalem — not  a  phantom  city  in  the  skies,  but  an  earthly 
— expressing  in  its  external  form  and  its  internal  harmony  the  laws  of  the  Divine  and 
human  mind.  But  here  we  find  that  the  equality  of  woman  with  man  as  an  associate 
ruler  was  foretold  or  foreshadowed  in  the  ancient  days.  David,  in  his  prophetic  psalm, 
picturing  the  beauties  of  the  Messianic  age,  says:  "Upon  the  right  hand  did  stand  the 
queen  in  gold  of  Ophir."  These  two  central  rulers  or  ofificers  will  administer  the  Divine 
government,  not  as  autocrats,  but  as  elected  rulers  by  virtue  of  their  eminent  fitness, 
representing  the  functions  of  the  brain  centers,  which  are  called  by  physiologists  the 
"throne  of  the  brain."  A  man  and  woman  representing  each  tribe,  and  also  each  dual 
group  of  faculties  as  manifested  in  the  departments  of  society,  will  be  associated  ofificers 
in  each  department  of  government,  the  male  officers  representing  and  exercising  the 
masculine  functions,  and  the  female  officers  the  feminine  functions.  This  makes  the 
twenty-four  rulers  which  John  saw  around  the  throne,  and,  with  the  two  central  male 
and  female  officers  which  represent  the  throne  of  the  brain,  makes  the  significant 
number  twenty-six,  the  number  of  the  name  of  Jehovah,  the  finished  mystery  of  the  ages. 

It  is  not  in  the  smallest  degree  necessary  for  woman  to  establish  her  ability  to  do 
precisely  the  same  kind  of  work  that  man  does,  or  has  done.  The  sphere  of  woman 
is  equal  to  that  of  man,  and  is  as  important.  The  natures  of  the  two  are  so  linked  and 
interwoven  and  so  equal  in  necessity  that  there  should  be  no  quarrel  between  them  as 
to  supremacy.  It  is  only  a  question  of  defining  accurately  the  differences  between 
them  and  the  functions  each  shall  fill,  not  only  in  politics  and  government,  but  in  all 
the  social  and  industrial  activities  of  life.  This  is,  I  have  stated  and  partly  demon- 
strated, the  office  of  Science.  All  the  employments  of  society  are  dual;  that  is,  each 
has  its  masculine  and  feminine  side,  as  well  as  the  offices  of  government;  that  is,  one 
side  of  it  is  more  suited  to  the  distinct  characteristics  of  man,  and  another  to  that  of 
woman. 

By  organizing  society  and  government  upon  a  purely  scientific  basis,  we  can 
secure  opportunity  for  the  full  exercise  of  all  the  faculties  of  both  man  and  woman, 
without  the  functions  of  one  interfering  with  the  functions  of  the  other.  But  by  their 
co-operation  in  orderly  ways,  the  work  of  the  world  will  be  accomplished  harmoniously, 
and  the  currents  of  human  life  be  united  and  blended  with  the  central  forces  of  the 
Universe,  and  the  Divine  order  and  harmonies  become  established  upon  earth. 

Let  woman  but  proclaim  this  law  of  universal  right  and  fundamental  principle, 
and  like  the  army  of  Joshua  before  Jericho,  so  shall  the  walls  of  prejudice,  supersti- 
tion and  weakness  which  now  hedge  her  in  fall  like  those  ancient  walls  of  stone,  and 
she  shall  enter  into  her  eternal  possessions,  and  so  shall  come  the  Kingdom  of  Woman. 
Of  woman,  I  say,  not  because  of  her  dominance,  except  during  her  period  of  gestation 
or  organization,  but  because  here  alone,  after  all  the  ages  of  the  dominion  of  man,  the 
functions  of  woman  find  their  complete  exercise  as  the  real  companion  of  man. 

As  an  evolutionary  step,  I  would  suggest  that  women  organize  themselves  into 
one  great  party,  elect  their  leaders  among  women  who  have  proven  themselves  fit  for 
such  grave  responsibilities,  study  these  scientific  principles  of  life  and  government, 
•and  apply  them  as  far  as  possible  by  forming  departments  which  shall  represent  the 
twelve  groups  of  faculties  of  the  mind.  In  this  way  you  will  necessarily  create  the 
distinctive  feminine  offices  and  positions  where  woman  can  make  herself  an  effective 
power  which  man  will  gladly  recognize  and  seek  to  co-operate  with  her,  and  so  shall 
cease  the  humiliating  struggle  for  recognition  which  is  so  painful  to  the  soul  of  the 
true  woman,  and  her  suffrage  will  be  practically  accomplished  to  her  honor,  and  gen- 
erations of  futile  labor  be  saved. 

May  the  grace  and  intelligence  of  the  divine  beings  adorn  and  illuminate  the 
human  mind,  perfect  the  human  character,  and  guide  the  nations  of  the  earth  to  the 
supreme  fulfillment  of  their  destiny— the  establishment  of  that  great  and  perfect 
system  of  life  and  government,  the  Kingdom  of  God. 


MEMBERS  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  LADY  MANAGERS. 


1.  Mrs.  A.  K.  Oelaney. 

Alaska. 


2.  Miss  Isabella  J.  Austin, 

A laska. 


8.    Mrs.  Thomas  J.  Butler, 

Arizona. 


4.  Miss  Laarette  Lovell,  r>,  Mrs.  Franc  Lnse  Albright,  6.    Mrs.  Eklward  L.  Bartlett, 

Arizona.  A ew  Mexico.  New  Mexico. 


7.  Mrs.  Marie  P.  Harmon  Beeson,  8.  Mrs.  Genevieve  Guthrie, 

Oklahoma.  Oklahoma. 


9.    Mrs.  Thomas  A.  Whalen, 

Utah. 


10.  Mrs.  Margaret  Blaine  Salisbury,        11.  Mrs.  John  A.  Logan,  12.    Mrs.  Beriah  Wilkins, 

Utah.  District  of  Columbia.  District  of  Columbia. 


LANDMARKS. 


By  REV.  ANTOINETTE  BROWN  BLACKWELL. 

The  earth  has  its  green  valleys,  its  lofty  mountains,  its  fertile  plains  and  its  stony 
hills;  but  the  elevations  become  the  conspicuous  landmarks.     The  higher  they  rise, 

the  greater  distance  they  overlook,  the  more  noted 
are  they  as  objects  of  remote  interest  and  observation. 
Today  we  are  to  consider  character  as  offering  mental 
and  ethical  landmarks.  Fifty  years  ago,  with  few 
exceptions,  the  womanhood  of  Christendom  was 
restricted  to  a  few  carefully  graded,  nearly  dead- 
levels  of  commonplace.  The  terraces  upon  which 
woman  stood  had  several  elevations  which  were 
largely  conventional,  artificial.  They  differed  in  rank, 
in  position,  in  wealth,  in  influential  connections 
which  gave  distinction;  notably  they  differed  little  in 
cultivation  or  in  obvious  personal  ability.  In  a  ter- 
raced vineyard,  the  vines  on  a  lower  level  may 
be  more  thrifty  and  beautiful  than  those  higher 
up.  In  the  old  days  middle-class  womanhood,  and 
that  at  the  very  foot  of  all  the  other  social  terraces, 
was  liable  to  achieve  more  real  ihdividual  merit,  and 
the  distinction  which  that  confers,  than  the  appar- 
ently much  more  favorably  situated.  This  was  largely 
because  it  was  not  thought  proper  or  ladylike  to  be 
miscellaneously  recognized  for  anything  personal  or 
conspicuous.  Every  woman  thrust  into  one  world  of 
the  modest  violet  order,  could  bloom  and  beautify  the  one  private  niche  which  had 
appropriated  her,  but  she  herself  and  all  of  her  friends  believed  that  it  would  be  little 
less  than  desecration  to  lavish  this  brightness  and  loveliness  upon  the  unappreciated 
public.  We  have  learned  that  a  woman  need  not  lose  her  modesty,  her  private  worth 
or  her  homely  virtues  because  she  has  gained  a  wider  outlook,  and  because  she  has 
learned  that  her  field  of  work  may  be  as  broad  and  helpful  as  she  can  make  it  in  the 
service  of  any  human  interest.  It  used  to  be  said  that  women  were  not  entertaining 
to  each  other,  the  staple  of  conversation  was  too  limited.  Were  such  women  enter- 
taining to  men,  except  in  flirtation  or  as  admiring  listeners  to  liberal  outpourings  of 
masculine  wisdom?  I  would  not  depreciate  earlier  serene  and  beautiful  days.  Thou- 
sands of  admirable  women  were  unselfish  in  life,  gracious  in  hearing,  long  suffering  in 
sweet  and  patient  amiability,  but  we  can  no  more  return  to  their  surroundings,  pursue 
their  work,  or  assume  their  character  than  a  full-grown  chestnut  tree  can  put  itself 
back  into  the  chestnut  burr  in  which  it  was  once  inclosed.  But  we  of  our  generation 
are  not  the  full-grown  tree.  We  are  still  in  the  green  and  juicy  state  of  the  young 
twig,  easily  bent  away  and  made  to  grow  into  deformity.  Wood,  brick  and  mortar 
may  be  oddly  jumbled  into  the  misshapen  hollow  blocks  which  we  christen  houses; 
these  may  have  utility,  and  some  beauty.     They  are  landmarks,  but  if  enough  of  them 

Kev.  Antoinette  Brown  Blackwell  is  a  native  of  New  York.  She  was  bom  March  20, 182.5.  Her  parents  were  Joseph 
Brown  and  Abby  Morse,  both  of  New  England.  She  was  edacated  at  Oberlin,  Ohio,  graduated  in  literary  course  in  1847  ;  in 
theology  in  1850,  and  was  ordained  an  Orthodox  Congregationalist  in  1858.  She  has  traveled  as  a  lecturer  for  a  number  of 
years.  She  married  in  IS.'iB  Samuel  C.  Blackwell.  Her  family  consists  of  five  danphters.  Mrs.  BlackweU  is  a  minister, 
lecturer  and  author  of  much  popularity.    Her  postoSice  address  is  Elizabeth,  N.  Y. 

633 


REV,  ANTOINETTE  BROWN   BLACKWELL. 


634  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

are  scattered  nearly  at  random  over  the  country,  each  largely  a  copy  of  its  neighbor, 
they  all  become  commonplace.  Why  need  we  each  adopt  the  far  from  perfect  cur- 
rent manners,  customs  and  opinions  of  our  nearest  surroundings  as  resignedly  as  chil- 
dren accept  mumps,  whooping-cough  and  measles;  as  rapidly  as  the  tree  toad  takes 
on  the  color  of  the  surface  upon  which  it  happens  to  rest  ?  Why  should  our  prejudices, 
our  politics  and  our  religion  follow  as  closely  in  the  wake  of  our  fathers  as  sea  foam 
follows  in  the  wake  of  the  ship?  We  inherit  features,  tendencies;  no  one  can  inherit 
characters.  It  is  time  women  make  that  a  deliberate  personal  formation.  To  be 
shaped  and  molded  without  our  consent  has  no  better  justification  than  Aaron's 
apology  for  helping  to  make  the  golden  calf.  He  explains:  "  They  saith  unto  me, 
make  us  gods  which  shall  go  before  us,  for  as  for  this  Moses,  the  man  that  brought 
us  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  we  wot  not  what  has  become  of  him.  Then  I  cast  it 
(the  gold)  into  the  fire  and  there  came  out  this  calf."  In  the  midst  of  a  great  clamor 
of  opinions  women  cast  their  brightest  jewels — the  power  of  testing  and  proving  all 
things  for  themselves — into  the  fire  which  tries  all  opinions;  but  to  each  there  gener- 
ally comes  out  the  traditions  nearest  to  her  hand.  The  real  test  is  evaded.  Thus  if 
the  man  have  eaten  sour  grapes  it  is  the  woman's  teeth  which  are  set  on  edge.  In 
every  heart  there  are  ideals  which  wait  to  be  realized.  Like  gold  tarnished  and  dim, 
these  ideals  are  often  wrapped  in  a  dark  mind-rust.  They  are  so  obscured  that  they 
are  quite  unknown  to  their  possessor.  If  another  will  burnish  them  with  the  light 
of  his  vivid  perceptions,  the  possessor  is  amazed  to  find  such  rare  gems  hidden  in  the 
forgotten  chambers  of  his  being.  He  knows  little  about  his  untold,  unmeasured 
wealth. 

Every  human  being  is  an  undeveloped  wonder.  There  is  no  other  like  him  in  the 
universe.  Whoever  will  make  it  the  end  of  life  to  embody  the  vast  wealth  of  hope, 
truth,  beauty  and  goodness  which  he  can  find  within  himself,  to  give  form  and  expres- 
sion to  his  own  highest  ideals,  such  a  one  will  become  a  glorious  landmark  at  which 
many  will  gaze  reverently  with  admiration  and  emulation. 

How  pitiable,  then,  that  women  who  are  but  just  learning  what  some  one  assured 
the  poor  little  Hindoo  widows — that  the  world  was  made  for  women,  too — are  still 
content  to  be  so  largely  the  weak  imitators  of  the  more  than  questionable  methods 
already  too  prominently  in  vogue!  Successful  men  and  women  are  taken  as  models 
to  be  imitated  both  in  their  lines  of  work  and  in  their  manner  of  work.  Imitation 
leaves  only  a  dim,  weak  copy.  Its  defects  are  as  glaring  as  those  of  the  multiples  of 
a  good  solid  handwriting  imprinted  on  poor  thin  paper  by  machine  pressure.  Such 
reproductions  of  merely  verbal  documents  are  convenient,  but  for  any  human  being  to 
ape  another  instead  of  bringing  out  the  best  genuine  character  still  undeveloped 
within  himself  is  suicidal.  Nature,  who  makes  no  two  leaves  nor  two  blades  of  grass 
precisely  alike,  has  given  also  to  every  woman  her  own  strength,  her  own  symmetry 
of  possibilities.  If  these  can  be  steadily  unfolded  from  within,  a  sweet,  wholesome 
and  useful  character  will  certainly  be  evolved.  Such  a  one  may  not  develop  into  a 
high  or  striking  landmark;  she  will  become  an  altogether  admirable  one  toward  which 
every  eye  will  turn  with  approval. 

"  Men  have  craved  greatness  where  the  fates  withstood, 
Not  in  this  life  can  all  be  greatly  wise; 
But  all  who  strive  to  may  be  greatly  good, 
For  in  the  effort,  the  attainment  lies." 

The  fable  of  the  birds  who  agreed  that  whoever  could  fly  the  highest  should 
become  their  king  is  very  suggestive.  The  feeble  bat  tucked  himself  under  a  feather 
of  the  eagle's  wing,  so  light  a  weight  that  the  eagle  did  not  even  know  he  was  there. 
When  the  strong  wing  of  the  royal  bird  was  weary,  and  the  kingly  eagle  was  compelled 
to  descend,  the  bat  spread  his  skinny  wings  and  fluttered  up  a  few  feet  beyond  all  of 
the  others,  then  down  he  floated  leisurely,  wings  but  half  closed,  to  receive  admiring 
congratulations  and  the  coronation.     But  pitiable  little  king!  he  has  never  dared  to 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  635 

face  the  daylight  since,  lest  his  real  weakness  and  his  fraud  should  be  discovered. 
Borrowed  plumes  are  always  dangerous.  Mishaps  are  liable  to  intervene  under  such 
conditions.  Too  often  the  homely  old  proverb  is  illustrated,  "  Up  like  a  rocket  and 
down  like  a  stick."  Parchment  wings  are  no  better  than  the  thin  membrane  of  the  bat; 
but  to  rely  on  our  own  resources,  utilized  by  one's  self,  means  an  unending  increase  of 
power. 

I  rejoice  that  women  have  not  proved  themselves  to  be  pre-eminently  given  to 
that  class  of  methods.  But  if  no  progressive  woman  would  descend  even  in  the  least 
degree  to  these  unworthy,  pitiable,  political  but  really  most  impolitic  measures,  the 
great  cause  of  womanhood  would  be  much  more  rapidly  advanced,  and  in  the  end 
every  woman  would  stand  in  her  own  true  niche  an  honored,  approved,  wholly  beau- 
tiful madonna  of  integrity. 

Men  and  women  are  the  whole  earth's  rightful  sovereigns  by  virtue  of  their  intel- 
ligence and  their  higher  appreciation  of  justice  and  equity.  The  physical  forces  wait 
their  command,  for  it  is  intellect  alone  which  can  give  them  improved  direction  and 
control.  The  strength,  the  beauty,  the  grandeur  of  the  world  are  the  lawful  servants 
and  the  inalienable  possessions  of  all  mankind.  Many  hued  tiny  blossoms  and  rich 
fruits,  divinely  tinted  regal  lands  and  skies  gladden  human  lives.  The  tall  firs,  the 
white  barked  quivering  aspens,  the  hearts  of  oak  and  the  cedars  of  Lebanon  are  but 
precious  gems  often  in  a  setting  even  richer  than  they.  All  these  are  for  intelli- 
gent admiration,  but  equally  for  more  prosaic  human  uses  devised  through  ingenious 
re-adaptations.  Mind  alone  can  re-create  a  still  nobler  earth.  But  simple  absolute 
truth  to  nature,  physical  and  mental,  is  the  charming  method  through  which  all  desir- 
able transformations  must  be  effected.  As  heat,  light,  and  the  power  in  steam  and 
electricity  can  not  be  cajoled,  cheated  or  defrauded,  so  neither  can  that  in  the  far 
more  admirable  mental  and  moral  forces.  The  intellectual  and  ethical  worlds  await 
transformations  infinitely  more  glorious  than  can  ever  be  realized  in  the  physical 
domain.  Women  just  entering  upon  their  heritage  of  work  in  that  wider  field  which 
is  privileged  to  merge  self-interest  in  the  broader  welfare  of  progressive  humanity,  are 
not  destined  to  become  the  simple  imitators  of  our  brothers,  even  as  to  their  best 
methods — certainly  not  as  to  their  worst.  Imitation  is  the  genius  of  commonplace; 
it  proclaims  its  own  insufficiency,  its  poor  mediocrity.  Imitation  has  atone,  a  puerile 
side  to  even  its  best  attempts.  As  womanhood  is  not  a  copy  of  manhood  but  its 
correlate,  so  the  ways  and  means  of  the  women  who  become  world-workers  are  not  to 
be  the  dimmer  repeated  impressions  of  the  ways  and  means  of  the  world-workers 
among  men.  The  monkey,  like  a  good  many  queer  plants  and  many  still  more  odd 
and  curious  animals,  is  certainly  one  of  the  numberless  creative  jokes.  They  all  illus- 
trate the  desirability  of  humor,  the  wholesome  sense  of  fun  and  enjoyment  to  enliven 
the  earnest  realities  of  life.  They  serve  to  impress  the  lesson  that  a  laugh  may  be 
quite  as  healthful  as  a  tear.  The  monkeys,  whimsical  caricatures  of  human  beings,  have 
imitation  as  their  leading  characteristic  mentally.  They  are  the  best  illustrations  we 
have  of  the  very  low  plane  upon  which  we  must  place  all  pure  imitation  of  every  degree. 
The  blundering  attempt  to  do  what  some  one  else  has  done  well  is  often  deliciously 
absurd,  and  so  far  good  as  laughter  provoking.  It  has  its  uses  when  imitation  is 
made  a  light,  practical  gymnastics;  but  one  can  almost  fancy  a  leading  intention  in 
making  the  monkey  the  standing  illustration  to  enforce  the  imbecility  of  all  serious 
mimicry  of  others.  Young  children  are  mimics  of  course;  but  to  women,  it  is  both  a 
right  and  a  duty  to  express  their  own  individuality  and  every  woman  should  aim  to 
express  something  of  her  own  ideal  character  in  her  work.  She  can  realize  her  best 
self  in  her  occupations  very  much  as  a  novelist  writes  himself  into  the  treatment  of  his 
characters.  He  may  do  this  voluntarily;  he  is  impelled  to  do  it  involuntarily.  In  the 
same  way  the  life  work  of  every  woman  becomes  a  revelation  of  herself  and  should  be 
made  to  represent  the  highest  ideal,  womanly  self.  In  the  beginning  God  made  male 
and  female.  Granite  mountains  joining  their  leagues  of  cold,  rocky  hands,  but  lifting 
white  crowned  heads  upward  toward  light  and  sunshine  in  all  their  grandeur,  are  not 


636  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

man's  superiors  but  his  docile  servitors.  They  are  the  high  seats  from  which  his  pen- 
etrating eye  can  study  limitless  spaces;  and  the  foothills  are  but  man's  footstools. 
Pathless  oceans  have  easily  become  his  entirely  convenienthighways.  At  human  option 
Niagara,  earth's  diadem  of  waterfalls,  is  transformed  into  a  still  more  magnificent 
jewel  in  the  coronet  of  intellect  and  its  rational  utilities.  Men  and  women  are  right- 
fully to  possess  the  earth  and  its  fullness  of  treasures;  are  to  recreate  a  new  earth  in 
which  the  desert  will  blossom  as  the  rose.  Better  still,  the  swords  must  be  beaten  into 
plowshares  and  the  spears  into  pruning  hooks.  But  in  all  intellectual  and  moral 
advancement  in  the  consummation  of  applied  higher  truths  and  the  more  unselfish 
virtues,  woman  everywhere  must  uplift  her  own  standards  and  illustrate  her  own  best 
achievements. 


THE  NEXT  THING  IN  EDUCATION. 

By  MRS.  MARY  LOWE  DICKINSON. 

In  this  day  of  multiplied  facilities  for  education,  a  day  when  training  begins  with 
the  kindergarten  and  ends  in  what  is  called  "  higher  education"  both  for  men  and 

women,  the  thoughtful  observer  is  constantly  con- 
fronted by  the  question.  Why  are  not  the  people 
educated?  It  is  quite  true  that  a  great  many  people 
are;  that  very  many  more  believe  they  are;  and  still 
more  believe  the  day  is  coming  when  they  are  to  be 
educated  in  the  broad  and  liberal  sense  of  the  word. 
Our  systems,  founded  upon  the  old  scholastic  idea, 
are  generally  considered  satisfactory,  and  any  failure 
that  may  be  observed  in  results  is  attributed  to  the 
fact  that,  in  particular  cases,  they  have  not  yet  had 
time  or  opportunity  for  successful  operation.  And 
yet,  year  after  year,  we  are  passing  through  the  mills 
of  our  public  schools  and  colleges  multitudes  of 
minds  that  come  out  like  travelers  who  climb  to  the 
top  of  every  high  tower  on  their  journey,  because  they 
will  not  come  home  without  being  able  to  say  "  they 
have  done  it." 

Apparently,  too  many  of  our  students  go  through 
their  course  for  no  better  reason  than  to  say  they  have 
done  it.  There  are  grand  and  noble  exceptions,  but 
these  are  generally  among  those  who  do  not  care  to 
say  anything  about  it.  The  great  majority,  however^ 
come  forth  in  the  mental  condition  of  the  man  who  laboriously  climbs  step  by  step  of 
the  tower,  takes  his  bird's-eye  view  of  the  field  of  learning,  accepts  the  impressions 
made  upon  his  mind  by  the  vast  picture  and  the  vast  mixture,  and  comes  down  to  his 
own  level  again  with  no  more  real  knowledge  of  that  at  which  he  has  glanced  than  has 
the  traveler  who  has  taken  a  glimpse  from  the  heights  which  he  climbed  because  the 
guide  book  said  this  was  "the  thing  to  do." 

In  every  walk  of  life,  among  statesmen,  men  of  business,  and  artisans,  exists  noble 
examples  of  exceptional  profundity  and  reality  of  knowledge,  but  in  the  great  average 
of  so-called  educated  people  of  our  own  generation,  we  find  the  majority  possessing 
very  fragmentary  interest  in  any  of  the  subjects  which,  as  students,  was  supposed  to 
engage  their  attention.  What  they  would  have  been  without  the  so-called  education, 
we  can  not  judge,  and  it  might  be  unfair  to  infer,  but  what  they  are  no  discriminating 
person,  with  a  knowledge  of  what  our  systems  claim,  can  fail  to  see.  We  can  not 
ignore  the  fact  that,  for  some  reason,  they  have  failed  to  attain  their  natural  and  pos- 
sible development. 

Mrs.  Mary  Lowe  Dickinson  is  a  native  of  Maesachasetts.  She  has  always  been  a  student,  choosing  literature  as  a  spe- 
cial field.  She  has  resided  seven  years  abroad,  and  traveled  extensively  in  Europe  and  the  East.  She  is  an  educator  and  phi- 
lanthropist, and  held  at  one  time  the  Professorship  of  Literature  in  the  Denver  University,  Denver,  Colo.,  and  the  chair  bears 
her  name.  She  is  now  the  Emeritus  Professor.  She  has  been  President  of  tiie  National  Indian  Association  and  is  the  Gen- 
eral Secretarj'of  the  King's  Daughters  and  Sons.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  (novels)  "Among  the  Thorns,"  "Th& 
Amber  Star,"  and  "  One  Little  Life."  In  poetry  she  has  written  "  The  Divine  Christ,"  "  Easter  Poems,"  etc.,  besides  numer- 
ous essays,  critics  and  much  editorial  work.  In  days  of  wealth,  Mrs.  Dickinson's  life  was  marked  by  liberal  charities.  In 
less  prosperoas  times  she  has  given  freely  of  her  time,  strength  and  talent.  Few  women  in  the  country  have  a  wider  knowl- 
edge of,  and  influence  over,  the  lives  of  the  yonng.  Their  problems  are  her  problems,  and  her  life  belongs  to  the  childhood 
and  the  girlhood  of  the  world.    Her  permanent  pobtoiKce  address  is  No.  230  West  Fifty-ninth  Street,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

6.37 


MRS.  MARY  LOWE  DICKINSON. 


638  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Our  educational  theories,  on  paper  and  in  text-books,  are  well  nigh  perfect;  in 
actual  operation  why  should  they  fail?  Like  a  great  machine,  fed  with  the  material 
of  thought,  the  crank  turns,  the  wheels  go  round,  and  the  whole  world  is  a-buzz  with 
the  work  and  noise,  but  the  creature  upon  whom  all  this  power  is  expended,  is  only  in 
rare  instances  a  truly  educated  man  or  woman.  What,  then,  is  the  defect?  If  the 
machine  is  right,  then  the  material  with  which  it  is  fed  must  be  defective.  If  the 
material  is  right,  then  the  machine  has  every  virtue  except  that  of  adaptation  to  the 
use  for  which  it  was  intended. 

Since  the  whole  end  and  aim  of  education  is  to  develop,  not  the  ideal  mental  con- 
stitution, but  the  real  mind,  just  as  we  find  it — the  real  creature,  just  as  he  is,  and  since 
we  can  not  change  the  human  mind  to  make  it  fit  the  machine,  the  effort  should  be  to 
adapt  the  educational  process  to  suit  the  human  mind.  To  what  extent  they  are  doing 
this  is  one  of  the  great  questions  for  teachers  of  the  present  day.  To  what  extent — 
admitting  that  now  in  some  particulars  they  fail — it  may  be  possible  to  modify  and 
adapt  methods  to  the  actual  and  genuine  needs  of  human  nature,  is  certainly  a  prob- 
lem worthy  of  the  earnest  thought  of  the  broadest  and  best  cultured  minds.  In  attempts 
at  adaptation  we  have  fallen  into  a  process  of  analyzing  the  youthful  human  creature. 
Having  discovered  that  he  possesses  mathematical  capacity,  we  have  supplied  him 
with  mathematical  training  and  have  in  this  department  thrust  upon  him  all,  and  some- 
times more  hard  work  than  he  can  bear.  Having  found  he  possessed  religious  faculty 
we  have  emptied  upon  him  the  theologies  and  psychologies,  and  when  we  have  sup- 
plied him  in  these  and  other  directions  we  look  for  the  educated  man.  Judge  of  our 
disappointment.  We  find  the  faculties,  we  find  the  modifications  produced  by  the 
training,  but  we  look  in  vain  for  the  man.  With  all  our  multiplied  facilities  for  pro- 
ducing a  trained  and  disciplined  nature,  what  we  think  we  have  a  right  to  expect — 
but  what  we  do  not  find — is  a  creature  conscious  of  his  own  heritage,  conscious  of  his 
kinship  with  all  humanity,  of  his  kingship  over  the  universe,  of  his  power  to  grapple 
with  the  world  outside  of  himself  and  of  his  rightful  dominance  over  both  the  life 
without  and  the  grander  life  within.  Instead,  we  find  men  weak  where  they  should 
be  most  purposeful  and  brave.  We  find  him  the  slave  of  the  body,  who  should  be 
able  to  make  the  body  the  servant  of  his  soul.  We  find  hands  untrained  to  practical 
uses,  minds  unequal  to  grasping  the  common  wants  of  existence,  hearts  in  which  the 
high  ideals  of  character  and  strong  impulses  toward  true  usefulness  are  overswept  by 
that  consideration  for  self  that  makes  one's  own  interests  seem  the  very  center  of  the 
universe  of  God. 

The  day  needs  giants;  it  produces  pygmies.  It  needs  men  to  fight;  it  produces 
men  to  run.  It  needs  women  with  minds  broad  enough  to  think  and  hearts  large 
enough  to  love.  It  needs  motherhood  that,  while  it  bends  protectingly  over  the  cradle 
of  its  own  child,  reaches  out  a  mother  heart  to  all  the  suffering  childhood  of  the  race. 
It  needs  the  capacity  for  heroism;  it  yields  the  tendency  to  cowardice.  In  the  midst 
of  learning  ignorance  triumphs,  vice  rules  and  sensualism  thrives;  and  all  this  not 
because  of  education,  but  in  spite  of  it.  And  when  we  consider  that  our  schools  in 
their  lower  grades,  our  kindergartens  and  our  primary  and  Sunday-schools  take  the 
infant  mind  before  the  tendency  to  vice  has  had  any  chance  for  development,  and  that 
the  next  higher  grades  take  them  on  through  successive  years  without  being  able  to 
prevent  such  results  as  those  mentioned  above,  we  naturally  feel  that  at  the  very  out- 
set, our  educational  system  must  be  wrong.  However  it  may  be  suited  to  the  ideal 
conditions  it  can  not  be  adapted  to  the  average  human  creature,  taken  exactly  as  he 
is.  The  lack,  which  begins  at  the  very  basis  of  our  so-called  intelligent  discipline,  runs 
through  the  whole,  in  constantly  increasing  ratio.  Brain  is  stimulated,  and  heart  and 
soul  are  left  to  starve,  and  nothing  is  more  neglected  than  the  cunning  of  the  hand. 
Even  where  some  attempt  is  made  at  the  training  of  the  whole  nature,  it  is  done  with- 
out recognition  of  the  infinite  variety  in  the  human  mind.  Processes  ought  to  be 
adapted,  not  only  to  the  universal,  but  to  the  individual  need.  It  does  not  follow  that 
the  universal  need  is  necessarily  or  invariably  unlike  the  individual  need,  or  that  indi- 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  639 

vidual  needs  are  always  identical,  but  any  system  of  education  that  gives  for  a  great 
variety  of  minds  precisely  the  same  course  of  training  is  sure  to  be,  for  a  majority  of 
those  minds,  a  pitiful  and  conspicuous  failure. 

What  then?  Shall  we  have  a  separate  school  for  every  child?  Shall  we  have  a 
special  teacher  for  each  mind?  That  would  probably  be  impossible,  but  we  certainly 
should  have  so  small  a  number  of  pupils  under  each  teacher  that  she  (and  we  are  tak- 
ing it  for  granted  that  the  teachers  of  little  children  will  largely  be  women)  may  be 
able  to  study  the  whole  nature  of  every  little  one  committed  to  her  care.  She  should 
be  not  only  in  communication,  but  in  real  communion  with  the  mother;  should  know 
the  child's  mental  and  moral  inheritance,  and,  in  as  far  as  her  own  watchful  care  and 
the  help  of  the  family  physician  may  enable  her  to  do  so,  she  should  understand  its 
physical  constitution.  She  should  acquaint  herself  with  the  temperament,  the  habits, 
the  degree  of  affection,  and  the  little  germs  of  spiritual  insight  and  inspiration,  all  of 
which  go  to  make  up  the  nature  of  the  little  creature  in  her  charge.  If  she  be  the  true 
teacher,  she  should  combine  the  threefold  duties  of  mother,  instructor  and  physician 
for  the  young  life  unfolding  in  her  care.  If  she  has  not  the  heart  to  love  the  child 
and  to  let  the  child  love  her,  and  so  to  lay  foundation  for  the  larger  loving,  that,  by 
and  by,  shall  outreach  and  take  in  the  whole  humanity  of  God,  then  we  will  not  say 
she  has  mistaken  her  calling,  but  her  own  process  of  education  has  been  defective  and 
she  has  much  to  learn. 

Such  threefold  development  for  heart,  hand  and  brain  of  the  little  child  makes 
preparation  for  the  next  higher  steps  of  educational  work.  Whatever  form  the  train- 
ing may  assume,  the  individuality  of  the  human  soul  should  be  kept  inviolate.  That 
individuality  betrays  itself  in  many  ways,  by  emotion  and  sentiment,  by  quickness  or 
dullness  of  perception,  and  above  all,  by  preferences  and  dislikes.  These  minute  indi- 
cations as  to  just  what  elements  of  spirit  and  mind  have  entered  into  the  nature  of  the 
child,  are  the  little  delicate  fibers  that  show  the  texture  of  the  human  soul  with  which 
we  have  to  deal.  The  child  learns  too  soon  to  draw  in  and  hide  the  frail,  sensitive 
tendrils  that  indicate  that  the  life  of  the  soul-plant  is  feeling  its  way  toward  the  light 
of  God. 

In  the  primary  school  the  teacher  (and  sometimes  in  the  cradle  the  mother  who 
is,  whether  she  would  have  it  so  or  not,  the  child's  first  teacher)  begins  the  process  of 
training  by  which  the  little  one  is  made  to  do  as  others  do,  to  say  what  others  say,  and 
to  conceal  the  fact  that  it  has  any  inward  life  or  impulses  that  are  not  the  same  as 
those  of  other  children. 

Instead  of  being  able  to  read  the  God-given  signs  as  to  what  the  infant  nature 
really  requires,  we  give  it  instead  an  arbitrary  supply,  based  upon  what  we  think  it 
ought  to  need,  and  then  marvel  that  it  does  not  thrive  upon  its  unnatural  diet.  We 
have  not  supplied  what  it  craved  but  that  which,  from  our  preconceived  notion,  we 
thought  it  ought  to  want. 

This  process  of  applying  our  rule  and  line  to  the  mind  goes  farther  and  bears 
harder  upon  the  student  with  every  succeeding  year,  until  long  before  the  so-called 
education  is  completed  three-quarters  of  the  students  have  lost  the  consciousness  that 
they  ever  cared,  or  ever  could  have  cared,  for  anything  except  that  which  the  class 
supplied.  To  be  what  the  class  is,  to  do  what  the  class  does,  to  be  satisfied  with  know- 
ing what  the  class  knows,  to  have  lost  the  sense  of  the  value  of  the  thing  to  be  gained 
and  to  measure  by  false  standards,  comes  to  be  the  rule  until  the  conceit  of  knowl- 
edge takes  the  place  of  the  modesty  of  conscious  ignorance,  and  the  student  becomes 
a  drop  in  the  annual  outpouring  stream  of  so-called  teachers,  many  of  whom,  in  the 
highest  sense,  have  never  been  genuine  students  at  all. 

Searching  for  causes  of  such  results,  we  can  not  fail  to  see  that  much  of  this  dead 
sameness  of  intellectual  character  is  due  to  our  habit  of  educating  in  masses.  We  make 
an  Arab  feast  of  our  knowledge.  A  dish  is  prepared  that  contains  something  that  might 
be  strengthening  for  each  partaker.  With  hands  more  or  less  clean,  students  select 
their  savory  morsels  from  the  sop.     As  in  the  Arab  family,  for  old  and  young,  for  the 


640  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

babe  in  arms  and  the  strong  man  from  his  field  of  toil,  the  provision  is  the  same;  so  in 
all  our  class  work  we  have  the  sameness  of  provision  with  almost  as  great  disparity  of 
capacity  and  need.  If,  out  of  the  whole  mental  "  mess  of  pottage,"  that  can  be  taken 
which  builds  the  student  up  in  true  wisdom  and  knowledge,  it  is  fortunate;  but  if  noth- 
ing is  assimilated  on  which  the  mind  can  truly  thrive,  no  fault  is  found  with  the  pro- 
vision, nor  is  resultant  ignorance  considered  to  be  specially  worthy  of  blame. 

The  evil  effects  of  educating  in  masses,  or  in  classes,  is  sufficiently  apparent  to 
cause  us  to  consider  the  question  whether  there  is  any  possible  remedy,  whether  there 
could  be  a  substitution  of  individual  for  general  training,  or  a  combination  of  the  two, 
that  would  produce  a  better  result.  That  student  is  losing  ground  as  an  individual  who 
comes  to  be  considered,  or  to  consider  himself,  as  simply  a  factor  of  a  class.  If  the 
general  teaching  must  be  that  which  is  applicable  to  the  entire  class,  there  should  also 
be  provision  for  instruction  that  could  be  adapted  to  the  individual  need,  and  as  great 
effort  as  is  made  to  adapt  class  work  to  the  general  need  should  be  made  in  the  special 
direction  also.  But  the  objection  arises  that  the  modern  teacher  is  not  able  to  work 
in  both  directions  in  the  time  allotted  for  student  life.  We  are  very  well  aware  that  we 
have  not  yet  passed  the  stage  where  the  value  of  the  teacher's  work  is  measured  by  the 
number  of  hours  in  which  he  is  engaged  in  the  class-room.  Trustees,  as  a  whole,  pay 
for  the  professor's  full  time,  and  expect  it  to  be  fully  employed.  Neither  are  the  edu- 
cators many  of  whom  would  know  what  to  do  if  simply  let  loose  among  students  and 
left  free  to  make  their  best  impressions  upon  the  minds  of  the  young. 

To  many  teachers  the  mind  of  youth  is  in  reality  an  unexplored  region,  and  until 
we  have  a  change  in  this  respect,  and  learn  that  the  knowledge  of  books  is  only  the 
beginning  of  wisdom,  and  that  the  true  knowledge  must  include  also  that  of  the  living 
book — the  student  intrusted  to  our  care — we  have  scarcely  learned  the  alphabet  of  true 
education. 

The  day  will  come,  though  it  may  be  long  in  coming,  when  every  institution  of 
learning  will  have — besides  its  technical  teachers,  its  lecturers  and  its  conductors  of  reci- 
tations— one  man  or  one  woman,  or  as  many  men  and  women  as  are  needed,  whose 
special  province  it  will  be  to  study  the  individual  temperament,  to  discover  native 
tendencies,  tastes  and  capacities  of  the  mind,  and  whose  knowledge  will  be  true  wis- 
dom in  the  sense  that  they  will  know  not  only  how  to  ascertain,  but  how  to  supply 
real  needs. 

That  cramping  and  stifling  of  natural  tastes,  which  is  now  so  marked  a  feature  of 
school  training,  will  be  replaced  by  the  cultivation  of  every  good  natural  ability,  and 
the  suppression  of  only  that  which  in  itself  is  evil.  Quite  too  often  even  in  this  latter 
day  the  restraint  is  put  upon  the  natural  powers,  simply  because  their  development 
calls  for  extra  labor  and  special  trouble,  or  because  these  powers  indicate  training  in 
lines  of  work  not  being  attempted  by  the  class. 

Let  the  routine  work  continue  to  be  done  and,  if  necessary,  in  the  routine  fashion; 
but  let  every  institution  have  on  its  faculty  one  soul,  at  least,  whose  province  is  not  to 
crush,  but  to  cultivate  and  develop  individual  traits  of  mind  and  character.  Such  an 
instructor  must  not  be  ignorant  of  books,  but  that  intricate  book,  the  human  heart, 
should  be  his  special  study  and  he  should  know  not  only  what  human  beings  are,  but 
should  be  able  to  help  them  to  grow  into  what  God  meant  them  to  be.  Such  a  man 
with  a  large  and  sympathetic  heart,  that  can  be  hospitable  to  boyhood  as  it  is,  will  do 
more  toward  the  molding  of  genuine  manhood  than  can  a  dozen  professors  of  the 
ordinary  type.  One  such  woman  in  every  institution  for  the  education  of  girls,  holds 
really  the  future  destiny  of  those  girls  in  her  hands,  for  her  life  among  them  could 
have  but  one  dominant  desire — that  of  helping  them  to  be  the  thing  God  meant. 
Practically  living  out  that  desire  she  becomes,  not  the  restraint  and  destroyer  of  their 
natural  vitality  of  thought  and  feeling,  but  the  guide  and  director  of  all  their  native 
forces  into  every  beautiful  field  of  learning,  and  into  the  highest  type  of  development 
possible  for  woman  under  present  limitations  to  attain. 

Whether  we  recognize  the  fact  or  not,  there  is  not  a  phase  of  our  social  or  national 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  641 

life  that  is  unaffected  by  the  lack  of  proper  development  or  individuality.  The  whole 
tendency  of  our  civilization  has  been  in  the  direction  of  making  people  as  nearly  as 
possible  like  other  people.  Characters  of  marked  individuality  are  relegated  to  the 
class  of  so-called  cranks.  To  be  above  the  dead  level  of  general  sentiment  and  attain- 
ment is  to  be  in  decidedly  bad  form.  This  work  of  taking  out  of  people  the  char- 
acteristics placed  in  them  by  nature,  and  making  them  over  into  the  convenient  and 
conventional  types  thatthink  as  others  think,  and  do  what  others  do,  has  marked  our 
civilization  from  its  earlier  stages,  and  the  more  civilized  we  become  the  more  pro- 
nounced are  the  results.  Among  these  results  are  great  loss  of  spiritual  and  mental 
vitality.  It  is  time  to  call  a  halt,  to  change  our  methods,  or  to  supplement  them  by 
methods  of  individual  training.  The  beginning  of  such  a  work  will  mark  an  educa- 
tional era,  the  inception  of  which  should  not  be  longer  delayed. 

IDEAL  MOTHERHOOD. 

It  only  remains  for  the  womanhood  of  this  day,  entering  upon  that  broader, 
deeper  motherhood,  which  makes  of  its  heart  a  bulwark  against  whatever  evils  threat- 
en the  young,  to  enter  upon  the  study  of  childhood  with  half  the  energy  and  half  the 
time  she  devotes  in  other  directions,  for  this  problem  of  individual  education  to  find 
the  first  step  in  its  solution,  which  first  step,  logically  followed,  will  open  all  the  rest. 
For  it  is  woman  alone  through  whom  this  change,  as  well  as  all  changes  requiring 
exercise  of  peculiar  instinct  and  peculiar  power,  must  come.  In  her  ordinary  efforts 
for  the  world's  betterment  she  counts  too  much  upon  outside  aid,  and  too  little  upon 
her  innate  ability.     She  forgets  the  true  measure  of  her  power. 

In  most  of  her  undertakings  she  instinctively  guards  against  trespassing  upon 
purely  masculine  fields,  and  shrinks  from  the  opposition  and  disapproval  of  men.  In 
this  field  of  the  study  of  childhood  she  has  undisputed  sway.  By  and  by,  as  his  life 
moves  toward  manhood,  the  father  may  claim  his  boy,  but  on  all  formative  processes, 
that  make  that  young  manhood  worth  the  father's  desiring,  the  mother  has  unques- 
tioned control.  To  know  her  child's  real  inward  life,  his  inherited  tendencies,  tastes, 
habits,  temperament,  temptations,  aspirations,  as  she  knows  the  outward  facts  of  his 
existence,  is  not  only  her  sacred  privilege  but  her  high  obligation.  To  know  herself  in 
order  that  she  may  know  her  child,  to  know  the  processes  and  methods  of  instruction 
that  educators  offer,  and  to  judge  for  herself  whether  they  are  suited  to  her  own  child's 
nature  is  a  task  worthy  of  her  noblest  powers.  We  are  busy  with  our  provisions  that 
the  next  generation  of  mothers  shall  be  a  generation  that  has  a  college  training,  a 
man's  knowledge  of  books.  Only  those  of  us  who  knew  what  it  was  to  knock,  and 
then  to  plead  and  then  to  batter  at  the  brazen  doors  of  prejudice  that  shut  us  out  of 
college,  while  we  clamored  vainly  for  our  right  to  the  knowledge  that  was  denied, 
know  how  rightly  to  estimate,  rightly  to  encourage,  rightly  to  rejoice  that  our  coming 
mothers  may  enter  freely  as  they  will.  But  the  world's  childhood  should  not  wait  for 
that  next  generation  to  rear  its  children  by  the  help  of  better  knowledge  of  books. 
The  living  book  is  open  to  the  mother  of  today.  The  child  is  here,  its  young  life  ask- 
ing for  bread  upon  which  it  can  grow  bravely  up  to  the  full  stature  of  the  perfect  man. 
It  asks  for  fish  caught  in  our  widespread  nets  of  true  knowledge,  for  fish  in  whose 
mouths  shall  be  found  the  coin  which  they  will  need  for  the  tax  that  life  makes  on 
every  soul.  How  much  of  the  hardness  of  heart  think  you  in  the  manhood  of  today, 
how  much  of  the  slimy  dishonor  of  our  political  life,  how  much  of  the  wriggling 
inconsistency  of  character  that  marks  men  in  high  places,  how  much  of  the  hiss  and 
sting  that  awaits  the  highest  endeavor  and  the  noblest  aspirations  are  due  to  the  fact 
of  a  persistent  diet  of  serpents  and  of  stones?  What  then  would  we  have?  First,  that 
women,  mothers  especially,  who  are  becoming  students  of  everything  else  under  the 
sun,  become  students  of  childhood  and  students  of  every  system,  scheme,  plan  and 
practice  for  the  development  of  the  body,  mind  and  character  of  the  child.  It  is  not 
more  vital  that  the  students  of  today  shall  make  good  mothers  than  that  the  mothers 
of  today  shall  make  students.     It  is  the  one  thing  of  universal  interest  to  the  present, 

(41) 


642  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

of  universal  importance  to  the  future  of  the  individual,  of  the  nation,  of  the  race,  that 
the  women  of  today  accept  as  their  divine  responsibility  the  childhood  of  today.  If  it 
were  not  that  the  world  is  sated  with  societies,  one  might  plead  for  the  advantage, 
in  every  village  of  the  land,  of  organized  study  of  everything  that  pertains  to  the  out- 
ward and  inward  welfare  of  the  young.  There  is  already  a  psychological  movement 
in  this  direction  which  must  necessarily  be  limited  in  its  scope.  We  need  something 
broader,  more  general.  A  children's  building  in  every  large  center  of  our  land,  includ- 
ing all  that  this  one  of  the  Exposition  has,  and  much  that  this  has  not,  should  be 
the  one  result  of  such  interest  as  such  a  society  would  arouse. 

Any  number  of  women  united  with  the  purpose  to  know  for  themselves  whatever 
things  are  being  taught  to  their  own  children,  beginning  with  the  kindergarten  and 
the  multiplication  table,  would  not  only  find  their  own  minds  quickened  and  alert, 
but  be  in  a  condition  to  discriminate  as  to  the  value  of  instruction  and  its  adaptation 
to  real  needs,  but  moving  on  step  by  step  with  the  child,  could,  by  no  greater  exercise 
of  their  matured  powers  than  they  make  in  other  directions,  often  secure  the  college 
education  denied  to  so  many  of  us  in  our  youth. 

Not  least  among  the  advantages  of  such  study  would  be  the  fact  that  the  wide 
separation  which  the  college  life  and  the  student  too  often  make  between  the  heart 
of  mother  and  son  might  be  avoided.  The  lad  no  longer  leaves  his  mother  behind 
because  he  enters  fields  of  knowledge  where  she  may  never  hope  to  go,  because  he  is 
now  finding  his  place  among  the  stars,  and  she,  from  the  threshold  of  home,  can  only 
hope  to  catch  a  glimmer  of  his  light  in  the  multitudinous  sparkle  of  the  sky. 

I  am  not  unmindful  of  the  objections  that  arise  to  the  mind  already  accustomed 
to  the  idea  of  seeing  even  their  own  children  grow  up  and  out  and  away  into  a  life 
the  mother  can  only  follow  and  share  through  her  affections,  her  prayers.  "  There  is 
no  time  for  study,"  they  say;  but  the  Shakespeare  Club  and  Browning  Club,  and  the 
social  world  and  the  Missionary  Society,  and  the  Daughters  of  the  Revolution  and 
the  household,  and  the  father  of  the  children — there  is  time  for  all;  and  yet  how  the 
flavor  of  it  all  turns  to  ashes  on  the  lips  when  the  boy,  our  boy,  comes  to  belong  to 
the  world  or  to  the  wine,  or  to  the  life  that  is  not  life  but  death,  and  so  is  no  more 
our  own.  In  the  bitterness  of  such  hours  mothers  speak  the  truth,  if  the  anguish  is 
not  too  deep  for  any  speech.  "No  one  knew  him  as  I  knew  him,"  they  say;  "he 
ought  to  have  had  this  influence  and  that  guidance  and  that  help  along  the  way  which 
no  one  supplied  because  no  one  understood  him  as  his  mother  did."  And  that  utter- 
ance is  the  very  truth  of  God  concerning  the  motherhood  and  childhood  of  today. 
No  one  knows  them  as  we  know  them,  and  no  one  should  and  no  one  can,  and,  know- 
ing through  our  hearts  what  they  are  and  what  they  need,  it  is  for  us  to  so  strengthen 
the  life  of  knowledge  and  of  thought  that  we  shall  walk  beside  them  all  the  way, 
strengthening  all  influences  that  may  avail  for  their  good,  that  the  true  education  may 
result  in  such  citizens  and  patriots,  such  men  and  women,  as  we  shall  be  proud  to  call 
our  daughters  and  our  sons.  We  plead,  therefore,  for  the  education  of  every  child  in 
accordance  with  his  individual  nature  and  needs,  and  for  the  education  of  the  mother 
of  today  that  she  may  be  able  to  secure  this  individual  teaching  for  the  child  who  in 
the  tomorrow  shall  become  the  best  interpreter  and  the  highest  expression  of  her  pos- 
sibilities and  powers. 


ETCHING.* 


By  MISS  BLANCHE  DILLAYE. 

"  Far  away  in  archaic  times,  when  the  chief  pride  of  man  lay  in  his  armor  and 
implements  of  war,  these  were  ornamented  with  curious  tracings  in  the  manner  of 

engraving,  or  the  bitten  line,  and  here  we  find  the  first 
faint  trace  of  that  which  was  to  grow  into  a  great 
art. 

"  It  was  given  to  Holland,  which  had  taken  but  a 
slight  part  during  the  revival  of  etching  in  the  six- 
teenth century,  to  lead  it  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
Here  Rembrandt,  the  prince  of  etchers,  was  born  in 
1607.  He  stands  first,  not  only  in  the  vast  army  of 
etchers  that  made  this  century  pre-eminent  in  the  art, 
but  first  for  all  time.  Those  qualities  which  particu- 
larly adapt  etching  to  the  delineation  of  expression, 
which  form  its  central  idea,  which  set  it  apart  and 
sanctify  it  for  certain  uses,  these  qualities  were  seized 
upon,  emphasized  and  perfected  by  Rembrandt.  He 
found  the  art  in  a  crude  state,  but  brought  it  out  of 
obscurity  and  developed  its  possibilities.  He  used 
the  free  etched  line  with  a  masterly  daring  that  has 
never  been  equaled.  His  mind  was  so  vigorous  and 
lofty  that  mere  prettiness  did  not  so  much  as  reach 
to  his  level.  He  was  full  of  the  dignity,  character 
and  grandeur  of  stern  humanity;  all  manner  of  men 
were  to  him  of  endless  interest.  Decrepit  old  age, 
ruin,  ugliness — all  had  for  him  the  power  and  intensity  of  individuality,  and  by  his 
imagination  he  lifted  them  out  of  the  mire  and  showed  the  world  the  beauty  of  soul 
that  hides  beneath  rough  exteriors." 

What  are  the  essential  qualities  of  etching,  which  form  its  essence  and  differen- 
tiate it  from  other  mediums? 

First  of  all,  it  is  born  of  line;  line  is  by  its  nature  suggestive  and  not  imitative,  it 
deals  with  selection  and  omission,  not  with  elaboration  and  subtle  tones.  In  all  arts 
reserve  is  strength;  selection  presupposes  knowledge;  and  tact  in  omission  is  the 
refinement  of  understanding.  The  limitations,  then,  which  forbid  to  etching  a  diffuse 
mode  of  expression  add  to  its  power  by  concentration,  and  elevate  it  to  the  level  of 
poetry  by  giving  to  it  a  hieasured  form,  and  it  becomes  to  art  what  the  sonnet  is  to 
literature." 

"  Etchers  can  not  rely  on  an  attractive  exterior  to  cover  up  paucity  of  thought; 

Miss  Blanche  Dillaye  is  a  native  of  Syracuse,  N.  Y.  Her  parents  were  Hon.  Stephen  D.  Dillaye  (French  descent)  and 
Charlotte  B.  Malcolm  (Scotch  descent).  She  was  educated  at  Miss  Bonney's  and  Miss  Dillaye's  School  for  young  ladies  (now 
Ogontz  Scliool),  and  has  traveled  in  Europe,  England,  France,  Holland,  Italy  and  Germany.  Miss  Dillaye  is  director  of  the 
art  education  received  at  the  Pennsylvania  Academy  of  the  Fine  Arts,  Philadelphia.  Her  specialty  is  etching ;  she  has  exhib- 
ited in  all  the  large  cities  of  England  and  at  the  French  Salon,  Paris.  She  was  one  of  the  women  who  contributed  to  the 
exhibition  of  the  women  etchers  of  America  (exhibiting  forty  etchings),  held  at  Boston  in  1888,  and  afterward  in  New  York 
in  the  same  year.  She  was  chairman  on  etchings  for  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  on  the  Woman's  Auxiliary  of  the  Board  of 
Lady  Managers  for  the  Columbian  Exposition,  1893.  Her  postofiice  address  is  No.  1430  South  Pennsylvania  Square,  Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 

*The  following  is  a  brief  synopsis  of  the  paper  read  by  Miss  Dillaye,  followed  by  tixe  anther's  notes,  showing  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  subject  was  treated . 

643 


MISS  BLANCHE  DILLAYE. 


644  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

flowery  additions  and  superfluous  methods  they  leave  to  other  mediums.  They  should 
come  at  once  to  the  vital  truth;  they  should  select  the  essentials  and  leave  the  nones- 
sentials to  them;  there  should  be  no  joy  in  appearing  to  do  a  simple  thing  in  a  difficult 
way;  they  should  prefer  simplicity  always,  for  in  this  simplicity  lies  the  sublimity  of 
their  art. 

"  Large  and  elaborate  plates  should  be  shunned  by  the  painter-etcher,  for  he  can 
not  for  months,  while  his  plate  is  going  through  stages  of  undue  finish,  'feel  vividly 
some  overmastering  thought;'  nor  can  he  be  possessed  by  'the  heat  of  a  passionate 
inspiration'  while  he  plods  over  an  unwieldy  copper  plate  and  laboriously  draws 
straight  lines  to  fill  up  numberless  square  inches  of  bituminous  shadow.  Passion  does 
not  work  that  way;  it  has  an  ancient  and  old-time  preference  for  spontaneity, 

"It  was  discovered  one  day  that  etching  stood  as  a  stamp  of  culture,  and  all  those 
who  love  to  masquerade  in  giant's  robes  sought  to  wrap  themselves  in  its  ample  folds. 
Etching  was  taken  up  by  fashion,  commerce  discovered  its  golden  uses;  the  demand 
for  etching  was  instituted  and  the  artist  succumbed. 

"Step  by  step  the  art  that  has  stood  the  test  of  the  ages,  the  art  of  Rembrandt  and 
Claude,  abandoned  its  birthright.  One  engraver's  tool  after  another  crept  in,  and 
mechanism  took  the  place  of  art.  The  line  that  once  swayed  to  an  impulse  began  to 
labor  unceasingly  with  tones  and  semitones,  the  spirit  and  passion  took  flight,  and  its 
noble  simplicity,  its  spontaniety,  freedom  and  strength,  its  purity,  suggestiveness  and 
emphasis  were  blurred  and  lost  in  a  verbosity  of  line.  It  ceased  to  be  autographic;  it 
became  photographic. 

"There  will  always  be  those  to  whom  it  will  be  a  chosen  art,  a  few  original  minds 
who  find  in  it  an  appealing  something  that  other  mediums  lack.  To  these  it  must 
ever  remain  dear,  and  among  the  many  who  have  plied  the  needle  there  will  be  the 
survival  of  the  fittest,  those  who  have  been  true  to  it,  those  who  have  never  degraded 
it,  those  who  have  preserved  it  in  its  integrity.  In  their  hands  it  rests  to  carry  it  over 
this  period  of  apparent  failure,  and  when  it  shall  have  revived,  a  century  hence  if  it 
must  be  so,  it  will  be  its  true  self  that  will  rise,  the  mean  garbs  that  have  clothed  it  of 
late  will  be  stripped  from  it,  and  it  will  shine  forth  in  the  simplicity  and  beauty  with 
which  it  is  endowed  by  those  characteristics  which  are  its  prerogative." 

Process: — Definition  of  etching;  definition  of  biting;  plates  employed  in  etching  (illustrated); 
ground  employed  in  etching  (illustrated);  needles  and  tools  used  in  etching  (illustrated);  manner  of  lay- 
ing the  ground;  mordant  or  bath  used;  slow  acid;  quick  acid;  individuality  or  temperament  of  etcher 
shown  in  his  manner  of  biting;  methods  of  several  eminent  etchers. 

Principal  Processes— Stopping-out  process,  in  use  by  etchers  of  old  disadvantages.  Continuous 
process;  advantages.    The  result  of  underbiting;  the  result  of  overbiting. 

Etching  Proper — Dry  point,  its  charm  (illustrated);  the  burr  defined  (illustrated);  effect  in  print- 
ing (illustrated);  effect  when  removed. 

The  Printing— Proofs,  how  taken;  plaster  proof  (illustrated);  states  of  the  plate  (illustrated); 
trial  proofs  (illustrated);  retroussage  (illustrated). 

The  Remarque — Its  original  significance,  its  history,  its  perversion. 

Etchers  Classified — The  painter  etcher;  the  reproductive  etcher;  the  engraver  etcher. 

History:  Early  beginnings— Armor  and  war  implements  engraved  in  Archaic  times;  engrav- 
ing known  to  Goldsmith  before  it  was  used  in  printing.  Twelfth  centufy,  letters  found  bitten  into  steel. 
Fifteenth  century,  a  receipt  found  for  a  "water  which  hollows  out  iron;"  earliest  dry  points;  early 
claimants;  Germany  gives  us  the  Hopfers,  a  family  of  etchers;  1515,  Albert  Diirer,  etcher.  Sixteenth 
century  pervaded  by  commercial  spirit.  Seventeenth  century,  etching  revives  and  advances;  in  Hol- 
land, Rembrandt,  Van  Dyke,  Rubens;  in  France,  Claude  Lorraine.  Eighteenth  century,  a  time  of 
exhaustion.  Nineteenth  century,  great  revival,  French  influence,  publishers,  writers;  English 
influence,  Seymour  Haden,  Whistler,  Hammerton;  America,  a  powerful  school  arises;  New  York  Etch- 
ing Club  organized;  Philadelphia  Society  of  Etchers;  early  exhibitions. 

Value: — Essential  qualities  of  etching,  suggestive  not  imitative;  its  limitations,  its  beauties, 
individuality,  range,  emphasis,  directness;  the  necessity  of  thought;  the  necessity  of  significant  line; 
the  necessity  of  personality;  the  necessity  of  spontaniety;  unfavorable  influences;  demands  of  the  public; 
demands  of  the  publisher;  demand  of  the  artist  necessity. 

^<?5«//.-— Abandons  its  true  qualities;  engravers'  tools  creep  in;  exhaustion  follows,  the  art  wains; 
survival  of  the  fittest;  revival  in  the  future. 


COMPENSATION. 

By  MRS.  ALICE  ASBURY  ABBOTT. 

As  the  time  draws  near  when  the  curtain  shall  roll  down  upon  this  extraordinary 
drama  of  the  exposition  of  the  economic  and  aesthetic  forces  of  the  world,  those  who 
have  known  the  history  of  the  unusual  difficulties  confronting  women  are  tempted  to 
run  up  the  story  and  look  forward  to  some  hoped-for  compensation. 

There  are  always  people  of  loftiest  impulses  and  purest  ideals  (occasionally  they 
are  illogical  in  their  radicalism)  who  have  little  patience  with  the  tread-mill  course  of 
human  progress,  who  do  not  take  kindly  to  the  study  of  social  economics,  and  who  in 
practice,  though  not  perhaps  in  theory,  deny  the  scientific  principle  of  emulation  unless 
they  can  see  the  wheels  go  round.  Such  people  hold  there  was  no  use  for  a  woman's 
building,  and  none  whatever  for  a  special  exhibit  through  an  independent  representa- 
tion, or  in  any  sort  of  fashion.  True,  the  interests  of  men  and  women  are  indivisible 
as  a  race,  but  they  do  not  stand  upon  the  same  plane  in  respect  to  their  opportunities, 
their  social,  legal  and  political  rights.  As  an  actual  fact,  the  position  she  occupies, 
unarmed  and  defenseless,  is  at  present  that  of: 

"  Let  her  get  who  has  the  power, 
Let  her  keep  who  can.' 

The  standard-bearers  of  the  cause  of  women  of  an  earlier  period  found  it  hard  to 
recognize  the  conditions  wh-ch  now  confront  us.  It  is  so  difficult  to  adjust  one's  self 
to  the  life  where  the  radicalism  of  yesterday  has  become  the  conservatism  of  today. 
Never  in  the  history  of  the  world  has  a  radical  principle  become  an  accomplished  fact 
until,  after  having  served  its  purpose  as  an  educator,  it  expresses  the  conservative  sen- 
timents of  the  mass. 

There  are  social  theorists  and  sound  administrators  of  justice  who  insist  that  the 
way  to  repeal  a  bad  law  is  to  enforce  it.  There  are  people  who  would  make  war 
odious  by  carrying  on  war  until  conditions  become  so  intolerable  that  all  nations  being 
waste  and  humanity  rendered  delirious  by  suffering,  men  should  declare  that  peace 
must  reign  because  the  land  is  desolate  and  the  very  air  heavy  with  the  lament  of  the 
living  for  the  dead.  At  the  critical  period  when  the  opportunity  for  place  and  influ- 
ence is  to  be  seized,  or  at  that  sublime  moment  when  public  opinion  is  to  be  molded 
into  tangible  form,  the  statesmen,  the  politician  and  the  man  of  affairs  waste  no  time 
in  reflections  upon  ideal  theories. 

Human  nature  being  the  same  in  man  and  woman,  whatever  difference  there  may 
be  being  the  result  of  environment,  success  is  never  attained  except  through  the  rec- 
ognition of  one  inexorable  law  of  social  and  political  economy.  Expediency  is  the 
lever  which  has  always  finally  forced  the  cause  of  human  rights,  and  expediency  will 
carry  the  advance  all  along  the  line.  Not  until  it  is  proved  that  infraction  of  the  great 
unwritten  code  of  justice  is  detrimental  to  the  true  interests  of  the  body  politic  has  any 
vantage-ground  been  obtained  by  the  individual  sufferer.  The  appreciation  of  oppor- 
tunity is  the  very  genius  of  reform.  When  that  opportunity  is  seized  there  may  be 
frantic  outcries  of  protest,  ludicrous  and  sometimes  malicious  criticism  and  indignant 
howls  from  those  who  are  compelled  to  keep  up  with  the  procession,  but  it  is  all  futile. 
The  inevitable  logical  result  of  the  imperious  demand  of  existing  conditions  carries 
the  standard  along  the  highway  of  progress,  to  be  planted  on  the  next  vantage-ground, 

Mrs.  Alice  Asbary  Abbott  is  a  native  of  Illinois.  Her  parents  were  Kentuckians.  Her  father,  Henry  Asbnry,  was  a 
lawyer  well  known  in  Illinois  during  the  past  fifty  years.  She  was  educated  in  Qninoy,  111.,  and  in  Germany.  She  has  trav- 
eled in  Europe  and  America.  She  married  Abial  Ralph  Abbott,  a  lawyer  of  Chicatro,  who  was  bom  in  New  York  and  was  a 
graduate  of  Amherst.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  translations  from  the  (Jerman,  magazine  and  newspai)er  articles. 
Mrs  .Vbbott's  i>OBtoffice  address  is  No.  353  East  Fourth  Street,  Chicago,  111. 

645 


646  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

and  presently  along  come  the  laggards  round  the  corner,  grateful,  though  breathless, 
to  find  the  flag  flying  after  all. 

Now  this  was  exactly  the  position  of  this  queer  thing  called  the  woman  question  in 
connection  with  representation  at  the  Fair.  The  rapid  development  of  women  has  pro- 
duced among  them  the  beginning  of  the  close  study  of  the  social  economic  condition 
of  society.  No  building  was  necessary  to  prove  that  woman  is  an  essential  factor  in 
the  economic  world;  that  because  she  is  such  it  behooved  loyal  citizens,  anxious  to 
carry  out  intelligently  the  opportunity  afforded  by  governmental  recognition,  to  see  to 
it  that  a  more  accurate  knowledge  of  her  share  of  this  labor  be  obtained  and  daily 
honored.  The  time  having  come  when  woman  is  entering  every  known  field  of 
action,  she  who  is  forcing  her  way  to  the  front  in  the  ideal  arts,  in  the  learned  pro- 
fessions and  in  all  those  lines  emphasizing  individual  progress,  should  wake  up  to  the 
disabilities  surrounding  the  women  workers  of  that  vast  army,  whose  daily  bread  is 
earned  under  conditions  disastrous  to  that  personal  development  and  prosperity  which 
she,  the  more  fortunate,  is  conquering  for  herself. 

A  skeleton  exhibit  of  the  work  of  woman,  where  she  has  been  or  remains  a  com- 
plete artisan,  was  deemed  the  most  valuable  upon  which  to  base  knowledge  and  future 
organization  for  the  amelioration  of  the  social  economic  condition.  Supplementing 
this  by  the  exhibition  of  the  enormous  work  of  women  throughout  the  departments, 
the  relative  value  of  the  artisan  and  the  human  part  of  a  great  machine,  such  as  the 
average  workman  has  now  become,  is  a  matter  of  grave  study. 

The  man  or  woman  who  hopes  to  amend  or  ameliorate  cruel  conditions  along  the 
material  side  alone  is  undermining  the  foundations  of  good  government,  as  well  as 
assuring  the  demoralization  of  the  race.  On  the  other  hand,  the  idealist  who  would 
neglect  the  improvement  of  the  material  interests  of  the  individual  who  would  not 
first  aid  the  attainment  of  the  comforts  of  the  physical  nature,  is  doing  much  to  crush 
out  that  respect  for  the  sacredness  of  human  life,  without  which  any  lofty  standard  of 
personal  responsibility  and  personal  purity  is  absolutely  impossible.  Consequently, 
while  the  board  of  managers  was,  undoubtedly,  mainly  intended  to  stand  before  the 
world  for  a  representation  of  women,  as  an  economic  factor  of  society,  this  is  not  the 
entire  extent  of  its  obligation. 

Until  there  are  national  boards  of  labor  and  a  more  perfect  system  of  census 
returns  in  every  country  of  the  g'lobe,  the  light  which  statistics  logically  arranged 
bring  to  bear  upon  the  study  of  social  science  will  in  a  measure  be  unattainable.  In 
the  present  condition  of  industrial  competition  an  unauthorized,  because  not  govern- 
mental, demand  for  statistical  information  as  to  numbers,  wages,  social  condition  and 
the  consequent  deduction  of  the  result  of  all  three,  would  be  received  with  jealousy, 
distrust  and  absolute  mendacity  on  the  part  of  the  employer. 

It  is  well  that  art  and  architecture  have  done  so  much  for  the  Fair  grounds.  If  it 
were  not  for  the  lovely  exteriors  and  enchanting  landscapes,  the  tremendous  force  of  the 
materialism  expressed  by  the  exhibits  would  oppress  beyond  belief.  To  the  multitude 
there  is  but  one  building,  and  that  the  Woman's,  which  stands  for  an  idea.  They  may 
not  formulate  this  into  a  thought,  they  may  not  voice  the  sentiment,  but  this  truth 
carries  them  along  in  its  intangible  vortex.  Whether  the  motive  be  curiosity,  intelli- 
gent conception  of  the  spirit  prompting  its  erection,  or  a  vital  interest  in  the  woman 
question,  they  all  come.  There  is  not  an  official,  foreign  or  native-born,  who  has  not 
desired  audience  of  the  president  of  the  board;  there  is  not  a  keen-eyed  politician, 
though  he  may  be  somewhat  antagonistic  if  he  has  studied  logic,  who  is  ignorant  of 
the  value  of  the  building  and  the  additional  weight  given  the  claims  of  woman  by  its 
existence.  There  is  nothing  like  an  object  lesson  to  impress  the  popular  mind  with 
the  importance  of  a  growing  idea.  Occasionally,  along  comes  some  superficial 
observer  who  pronounces  the  whole  thing  a  failure;  he  does  not  condescend  to  inform 
in  what  it  is  a  failure,  but  he  has  no  conception  of  its  real  purpose.  All  criticism  is  of 
value  as  it  argues  interest.  It  is  only  the  inconsequent  things  which  escape  comment, 
ridicule,  sarcasm.     Caricatures  are  never  brought  to  bear  upon  individuals  or  official 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  647 

bodies  unless  the  principle  which  they  represent  is  of  considerable  moment  to  the 
general  public. 

A  permanent  Woman's  Building  could  not  stand  for  a  nobler  or  more  practical 
aim,  as  one  of  its  grand  functions,  than  as  the  headquarters  of  a  great  system  of  state 
and  international  councils  devoted  to  the  temperate  study  of  the  condition  of  the 
women  workers  of  the  world.  How  long  would  it  be  before  this  vast  educative  influ- 
ence would  result  in  striking  from  the  statute  book  of  every  state  in  this  Union  laws 
inimical  to  the  interests  of  women.  How  long  would  it  be  before  the  limitation  of  the 
hours  of  labor  for  both  men  and  women  would  be  a  possible  and  constitutional  enact- 
ment sustained  by  the  consensus  of  public  opinion,  without  which  no  law  can  become 
public  practice.  How  long  before  the  question  of  child  labor,  with  all  its  attendant 
complications  of  compulsory  education  and  manual  training  schools  would  receive 
active  attention  of  legislators  and  rouse  the  supine  interest  of  the  mere  sentimental 
theorist. 

Truly  there  is  the  noblest,  the  most  inspiring  result  to  be  anticipated  if  the  women 
are  now  equal  to  the  next  step  in  human  progress,  made  possible  by  the  vantage  ground 
they  now  occupy.  If  they  neglect  it  or  supply  it,  it  may  be  twenty-five  years  before 
we  regain  the  position.  VVe  are  continually  exhorted  nowadays  to  be  prepared  for 
dangerous  and  wondrous  changes  to  be  wrought  in  the  condition  of  society  in  the  near 
future.  It  is  one  of  the  most  curious  fads  of  the  time,  this  role  of  the  Jeremiah  of  the 
economic  system,  and  is  a  very  convenient  form  of  an  attempt  to  shake  off  all  present 
sense  of  personal  responsibility  for  evils  around,  possibly  in  our  power  to  alleviate. 
It  is  the  role  of  the  hopeless  pessimist.  Suppose  it  is  the  bad  quarter  of  an  hour.  It 
is  then  the  time  for  action.  It  is  always  the  bad  quarter  of  an  hour,  and  has  been 
from  the  beginning  of  time  to  those  who  recognize  the  necessity  of  reform  of  present 
evils.  There  always  comes  a  time  when  education  has  performed  its  work  and  an 
advance  in  civil  and  ethical  progress  becomes  a  feasible  attainment. 

We  are  also  told  nowadays  that  the  danger,  should  women  attain  actual  political 
influence,  is  their  tendency  to  introduce  the  ethics  of  the  family  with  the  ethics  of 
the  state;  that  it  is  the  nature  of  women  to  confer  benefits  in  proportion  to  the  lack 
of  merit  of  the  recipient — that  is,  the  more  worthless  the  citizen  the  more  she  will  do 
for  him.  A  sort  of  application  of  the  maternal  instinct  to  care  most  assiduously  for  the 
worst  of  her  children.  This'  is  not  a  special  feminine  weakness,  but  simply  the  impulse 
of  sentimental  misdirected  and  uneducated  energy  in  both  men  and  women.  It  arises 
from  confounding  that  wise  degree  of  care  which  the  state  must  bestow  upon  its  help- 
less, unfortunate  or  depraved  classes  with  the  injudicious  use  of  governmental  pro- 
tection and  beneficience  which  becomes  absolutely  detrimental  to  the  development 
and  usefulness  of  the  citizen  by  its  paternal  character. 

Manual  labor  is  not  all  the  vital  work  of  the  world,  though  sentimental  audiences 
clap  their  soft  hands  at  the  reiterated  enunciation  of  this  proposition  on  the  part  of 
professional  agitators.  While  as  a  practical  matter  it  is  but  a  small  proportion  of 
humanity  which  does  not  daily  do  some  share  of  manual  labor,  slight  though  it  some- 
times may  be;  it  is  a  preposterous  proposition  that  actual  physical  exertion,  to  the 
extentof  earning  a  subsistence,  is  the  inherent  obligation  of  each  member  of  the  human 
family.  What  a  world  of  barbarians  we  would  be!  There  are  limitations  to  human 
endurance,  though  the  brainwork  which  does  so  tremendous  a  share  in  the  advance- 
ment of  civilization  is  as  exhausting  labor  as  that  of  the  purely  physical.  The  only 
difference  is  that,  as  a  general  result,  we  find  the  physical  laborer  working  under 
humane  surroundings  is  granted  a  longer  lease  of  life. 

This  deification  of  manual  labor  by  half  educated  theorists  is  based  upon  crude 
notions  of  shortening  hours  by  division.  The  uncertainty  in  the  public  mind,  in  that 
condition  of  society  where  intelligence  is  not  general,  as  to  the  character  of  the  obli- 
gation of  government  in  this  respect,  is  another  reason  for  the  false  reasoning  we  meet 
so  often.  Hence,  we  find  the  attempt  to  revive  the  era  of  the  complete  artisan  in  an 
age  when  the  spindle,  the  loom  and  the  marvels  of  steam  and  iron  fingers  have  all 


648  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

combined  to  make  the  human  being  the  mechanical  addition  to  the  plant,  by  confining 
him  to  the  manufacture  of  certain  parts  only  of  the  complete  product;  with  the  fur- 
ther result  also  of  shortening  the  hours  of  labor,  and,  except  under  specially  adverse 
circumstances,  of  increasing  the  amount  of  his  wages. 

The  exhibits  in  the  Woman's  Building  show  most  conclusively  that,  at  the  present 
day,  it  is  only  in  those  countries  where  the  masses  have  not  yet  attained  a  high  plane 
of  education,  and  where  the  general  condition  of  the  industrial  classes  is  the  most 
deplorable  in  point  of  wages,  and  consequently  comfort  attained,  that  the  complete 
artisan  is  to  be  found  of  either  sex.  The  main  object  of  exhibiting  the  work  of  the 
complete  artisan  in  this  place  is  to  show  if  there  may  yet  remain  a  place  where  these 
trades  can  be  carried  on  with  profit  and  under  conditions  neither  antagonistic  to  sound 
economic  law  nor  injurious  to  human  life.  If  antagonistic  to  present  economic  condi- 
tions it  is  childish  to  attempt  their  revival.  Some  of  these  trades,  indeed  most  of  them, 
may  be  of  the  class  of  luxuries  for  which  there  is  but  a  limited  demand,  and  wise 
women  would  desire  to  limit  and  diversify  rather  than  to  increase  the  number  in  such 
avocation.  If,  however,  this  class  of  display  is  in  the  ideal  arts  where  machinery  and 
steam  may  never  become  a  rival,  it  is  safe  to  compete  in  the  open  market.  It  then 
becomes  the  highest  purpose  and  noblest  individuality  of  expression,  combined  with 
the  capture  of  opportunity  which  wins  a  livelihood,  fame  or  fortune. 

While  striving  for  a  loftier  conception  of  the  dignity  of  labor,  which  may  be  con- 
sidered one  of  the  ideal  uses  of  the  Woman's  Building,  it  would  fail  utterly  of  its 
purpose  if  it  did  not  rouse  women  to  that  knowledge  of  conditions  which  should  make 
them  clasp  hands  with  the  many  toilers  pleading  for  shorter  hours  and  that  legislation 
which  will  insure  protection  for  life  and  limb  and  secure  sound  sanitary  conditions. 

We  hear  much  of  a  demand  for  a  higher  education  for  women  nowadays.  There 
is  not  in  all  this  building  one  material  thing  which  indicates  any  advance  along  any 
lines  where  the  higher  education  of  women  in  its  scholastic  sense  touches  or  has  pro- 
duced it,  unless  it  may  be  through  inference  in  the  organization  room,  or  where  the 
application  of  scientific  knowledge  in  the  care  of  the  sick  or  the  maimed  has  made  the 
art  of  nursing  a  profession. 

There  is  small  use  of  the  higher  education  if  its  sole  use  is  to  enable  women  to 
devote  themselves  to  the  learned  or  scientific  professions,  leaving  out  its  noblest  pur- 
pose the  application  of  the  science  of  government  and  economics  to  the  correction  of 
the  miseries  of  mankind.  The  mightiest  lever  in  society,  next  to  the  relentless  giant 
necessity,  is  sympathy,  and  for  that  noblest,  most  ennobling  attribute  of  the  human 
race,  this  building  stands  today,  and  through  this  subtle  influence  its  permanent  suc- 
cessor will  for  the  future  accomplish  its  mission,  as  one  more  step  along  the  highway 
of  human  progress. 


WOMAN'S  AWAKENMENT. 


By  MRS.  ANNA  S.  GREEN. 

Never  before  in  the  history  of  the  world  has  the  capacity  of  woman  been  more 
recognized  than  now.  It  is  her  era  of  promise,  a  vivid  reflection  of  exaltation,  dis- 
closing that  period  when  the  Angel  of  the  Lord 
appeared  and  made  known  to  Mary  the  purpose  of 
our  Heavenly  Father,  choosing  her  as  the  mother  of 
His  Son,  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  that  through  her 
His  immaculate  birth  has  to  be  humanized.  Woman 
will  not,  if  true  to  herself  and  mission,  fail  to  remem- 
ber and  ponder  upon  and  hold  fast  to  the  vantage 
ground,  gained  for  her  by  this  Divine  choice,  strength- 
ening her  claims  as  relative  co-operator  with  man,  his 
well-wisher,  co-worker  and  helpmate.  With  rever- 
ential awe,  down  the  annals  of  time,  this  mighty  truth 
will  be  echoed  in  utterances  of  thankfulness  and  joy, 
praising  Him  ever  for  the  priceless  part  He  has  given 
to  woman,  which  can  not  be  taken  away. 

We,  as  descendants  and  representatives  of  that 
woman  whom  the  whole  universe  praises  and  blesses, 
should  endeavor  to  emulate  her  holy,  virtuous  life  as 
maiden,  wife,  mother  and  friend.  Through  love,  she 
accomplishes  much.  By  love,  was  this  great  incarna- 
tion wrought,  and  through  woman's  love;  which  in- 
centive influence  will,  with  reaching  heart  and  hands, 
with  softened  tones,  reclaim  the  callous,  cold  and 
wicked,  from  the  extremes  to  which  their  morbid  state  consigns  them.  History,  mod- 
ern and  ancient,  is  replete  with  examples  of  what  good  women  have  done.  Guided 
by  this  inherited,  instinctive,  practiced  gift  of  charity,  she  has  been  enabled  to  over- 
come great  evils.  Monica,  the  mother  of  the  Christian  patriot  and  Penitent  Augus- 
tine, taught  him  from  his  earliest  youth  the  great  tenets  of  love,  forgiveness,  penitence 
and  confession.  Augustine's  life  was  full  of  pathetic  temptations  and  sorrow  for  sin, 
but  in  his  greatest  trials,  the  mother's  influence  and  example  rescued  him  from  fatal 
fall ;  that  mother's  love  which  shone  as  a  beacon  to  call  him  back ;  and  from  having  been 
a  great  sinner  he  became  a  great  saint.  The  legacy  of  prayer  he  has  left  to  the  world 
will  go  down  to  future  generations  as  a  solace,  a  plea,  a  hope  for  mankind. 

Blanche,  of  Castile,  and  the  mother  of  Godfrey  of  Cologne,  trained  their  sons,  the 
great  crusaders,  for  their  heroic  work.  Joan  of  Arc,  through  love  of  country  and  kind, 
from  the  simple  peasant  maiden  was  transformed  into  the  leader  of  the  trained  vet- 
erans of  France,  who  followed  her  to  victory.  Letitia,  the  mother  of  the  dictator  of 
Europe,  known  only  in  history  as  "  Madame  Mere,"  proved  how  the  simple  title  of 
mother  could  be  made  great  and  glorious. 

When  woman'sambition  leads  her  to  mount  the  highest  plane  of  eminence  and  prog- 
ress, God  forbid  that  it  should  become  necessary  for  her  to  abandon  the  province  of  home, 

Mr8.  Anna  8.  Green,  wife  of  Maj.  James  W.  Oreen,  a  lawyer  of  West  Virginia,  is  the  daaghter  of  William  McDonald,  a 
graduate  of  West  Point,  and  Lacy  Anne  Naylor  McDonald.  She  was  edacated  at  Madame  Togo's,  Winchester,  Va.  She  is  the 
mother  of  ten  children.  Her  home  duties  for  many  years  claimed  the  greater  part  of  her  time,  but  she  found  opportunity  to 
do  much  hospital  service  during  the  Civil  War.  After  her  widowhood  she  became  owner  and  editor  of  the  Culpeper  Exponent, 
a  publication  devoted  to  the  best  interests  of  the  whole  people.  She  is  an  active  member  of  the  Daughters  of  the  Revolution. 
She  resides  at  Culpeper.  Va. 

649 


MRS.  ANNA  S.  GREEN. 


650  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

the  great  centrifugal  center  from  whose  radii  warmth  reaches  to  the  heights,  depths 
and  breadths  of  remote  points,  where  hope  waits  for  this  surcease  of  sorrow.  Woman's 
real  advancement  can  not  invalidate  this  reserve  power,  which  has  home  for  environ- 
ment. From  thence  must  come  her  strongest  plea  to  be  heard.  The  best  of  our 
statesmen  and  politicians  realize  this  fact  as  the  conserving  influence  of  her  co-oper- 
ation; they  would  not  repress  or  depress  her  desire  for  advancement,  and,  doubtless 
with  regret,  they  would  mark  her  failure  to  value  that  province  which  is  the  custodian 
of  early  impressions,  where  love  and  truth  should  ever  be  taught  and  found.  "  The 
race  is  not  always  to  the  swift  or  the  battle  to  the  strong."  Patience  is  golden,  and 
waiting  rewarded.  Let  us  work  for  the  right  and  wait  for  the  harvest — in  time  it 
will  come. 

We,  as  Americans,  have,  as  a  nation,  achieved  a  great  plan  of  country.  Individual 
liberty  has  been  symbolized  and  celebrated  in  the  Magna  Charta  of  American  Independ- 
ence; citizens  have  been  made  free  to  inhabit  a  land  which  is  a  refuge  for  the  oppressed 
and  downtrodden  of  countries  that  are  not  blessed  with  the  freedom  of  our  own.  Doubt- 
less the  men  who  made  and  signed  that  great  declaration  were  satisfied  with  its  pro- 
visions; they  did  not  realize  the  future  to  which  we  were  tending.  Perhaps  some  day 
not  far  distant  the  true  spirit  of  '76  will  again  pervade  the  councils  of  our  country,  and 
women  will  be  made  citizens  of  America,  with  equal  rights. 

Let  us  hope  on,  that  these  lawmakers  will  some  day  grow  magnanimous  and  not 
fear  to  put  the  responsibility  of  citizenship  upon  us.  Let  us  be  their  helpmates  in  all 
things,  and  have  power  given  us  to  protect  our  property,  ourselves,  and  all  rights, 
equally  with  themselves.  The  laws  of  the  land  are  good,  but  women  claim  they  are 
not  in  it.  She  has  power  to  hold,  but  not  to  protect.  Good  women  will  not  abuse  this 
trust;  they  will  value  its  bestowal.  When  the  human  family  can  cease  to  be  jealous, 
and  learn  to  love  more  for  love's  own  sake  and  the  God  whom  they  serve,  then  will  a 
millennium  of  justice  shed  its  rays  over  our  land.  All  God's  creatures  will  then  join 
to  praise  Him  for  mercies  before  unknown  because  of  infirmities  of  sin.  May  woman 
be  patient,  yet  persevere  in  her  efforts  for  justice,  for  recognition  of  the  rights  of 
the  citizenship  which  her  country  asserts,  but  which,  especially  for  her,  it  has  failed 
to  provide.  We  will  work,  wait,  and  trust  the  "men"  of  our  land.  When  Gen.  Robert 
E.  Lee,  the  great  southern  chieftain,  Christian  and  soldier,  became  aware  of  the 
necessity  to  surrender  the  Confederate  forces  which  he  commanded,  it  was  not  the 
principle  of  "  individual  liberty  "  he  gave  up,  but  it  was  a  truce  to  its  active  demand 
and  assertion.  Having  fought  a  good  fight,  he  laid  down  his  arms,  trusting  in  his 
God,  who  was  mightier  than  all.  He,  wMth  his  people,  were  willing  to  wait,  and 
never  did  this  great  heart  of  resignation  utter  evil  against  those  whom  he  consid- 
ered as  God's  instrument  to  delay  and  frustrate  the  hope  of  his  people  for  personal 
liberty.     Women  must  wait.     Patience  is  golden,  and  in  time  will  bring  its  reward. 


SERVING  ONE  ANOTHER. 

By  MRS.  ASHLEY  CARUS-WILSON  NEE  MARY  L.  G.  PETRIE,  B.  A. 

The  reports  that  it  has  been  possible  to  collect  for  the  Chicago  Exhibition  under 
the  heading  of  "  Philanthropic  Education"  seemed  at  first  sight,  when  I  was  asked 

to  make  them  the  basis  of  a  Congress  paper,  as  for- 
tuitous a  concourse  of  atoms  as  ever  gravitated  to 
a  center.  Seeking  for  common  characteristics,  I 
observed: 

Eirst.  That  all  described  schemes  whereby,  in  the 
battle  of  life,  the  rich  may  help  the  poor.  I  use  the 
old-fashioned  expression  deliberately  as  more  appli- 
cable to  the  present  conditions  than  the  ancient  phrase 
"gentle  and  simple,"  and  truer  to  the  facts  of  life  than 
the  arrogant  modern  division  of  mankind  into  "upper 
and  lower  classes."  We  speak  here  of  rich  and  poor, 
not  only  in  money  and  what  money  can  buy,  but  in 
skill  and  knowledge,  in  leisure  and  friends,  in  mental 
and  moral  power. 

Secondly.  I  observed  that  the  various  devices 
described,  by  which  the  one  may  aid  the  other,  are 
all  of  them  new,  and  many  of  them  very  new.  Our 
fathers  lived  happy  and  creditable  lives  before  the 
mania  for  shaping  and  joining  societies,  associations, 
guilds,  unions  and  leagues  for  the  amelioration  of 
MRS.  ASHLHv  CARUS-WILSON.  socictj  arose.     Arc  they    therefore,  mere  fads  and 

superfluities  of  an  age  of  peace  and  luxury?     Nay. 
Three  features  in  the  life  of  today  seem  abundantly  to  justify  their  existence. 

First.  The  rising  standard  of  comfort.  As  we  move  either  geographically  or 
chronologically  from  a  lower  to  a  higher  civilization,  we  observe  that  a  larger  and 
larger  number  of  men  are  dissatisfied  with  themselves  and  their  surroundings.  Indeed, 
the  motive  power  of  all  civilization  has  been  well  defined  as  "progressive  desire."  A 
need  felt  for  the  first  time  is  not,  therefore,  an  unreal  one,  and  today  we  need  many 
things  that  our  fathers  neither  had  nor  missed. 

Secondly.  The  increasing  division  of  labor.  Here  we  speak  not  of  satisfying  a 
new  craving,  but  of  replacing  something  of  value  that  would  otherwise  be  altogether 
lost.  The  application  of  machinery  to  almost  every  department  of  labor  tends  to 
divide  it  more  and  more,  and  consequently  to  reduce  the  laborer  more  and  more  to  a 
machine.  The  artisan  of  the  past,  who  brought  the  bit  of  work  he  had  begun  to  the 
highest  perfection  that  he  knew,  found  an  interest  and  an  education  in  doing  it, 
which  his  descendant  does  not  find  in  the  monotonous  repetition  of  a  single  act.    The 

Mrs.  ABhley  Gams- Wilson  (Mary  L.  (i.  Petiie,  B.  A.)  is  of  Scotch  descent.  She  was  born  at  York  Town,  Surrey, 
England.  Her  father  was  Col.  Martin  Petrie,  of  the  British  Army.  Her  mother  was  of  the  Macdowall  family,  of  Scot- 
land. She  was  educated  at  University  College,  London,  and  took  the  B.  A.  degree  of  the  University  of  London  with  First 
Class  Honors  in  1883.  In  1893  she  married  Mr.  Ashley  Carus-Wilson,  M.  A.,  Professor  of  electrical  engineering  at  McGill 
University,  Montreal.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  The  College  by  Post,  of  which  she  is  founder  and  presi- 
dent. Its  aim  is  to  encourage  systematic  study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures;  to  aid  in  secular  study  those  who  cannot  avail  them- 
selves of  professional  tuition.  The  teaching  is  all  given  by  correspondence  and  is  wholly  gratuitous.  Address  inquiries  to 
the  Secretary,  Hanover  Lodge,  Kensington  Park,  London,  England.  Her  principal  literary  work  is  "  Clews  to  Holy  Writ." 
She  is  a  member  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  is  well  known  as  a  lecturer,  especially  upon  Foreign  Missions,  History  and 
Literature,  Bible  Study,  etc.    Her  postotBce  address  is  No.  66  McTavish  Street,  Montreal,  Canada. 

651 


652  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

agricultural  laborer  of  the  past,  who  depended  on  his  own  eye  and  hand  for  the 
unswerving  furrow  or  the  neatly  felled  sheaf,  developed  aptitudes  which  his  successor 
who  rides  a  machine  is  without.  A  multitude  of  unremembered  artists  made  our 
ancient  cathedrals  glorious  with  lavish  carving.  Nowadays  even  our  aesthetic  needs 
are  to  a  large  extent  gratified  by  wholly  mechanical  processes.  It  is  good  that  the 
humblest  cottages  should  be  hung  with  chromo-lithographed  copies  of  good  pictures, 
but  the  production  of  these  copies  draws  out  no  artistic  faculties  in  their  producers. 
Thanks,  however,  to  the  good  artificial  light  which  modern  inventions  supply,  the 
plowman  or  factory  "hand"  has  an  evening  that  his  ancestor  had  not,  in  which 
the  day's  dull  toil  may  be  supplemented  by  the  carving  class  or  instructive  lecture, 
calling  out  powers  that  would  otherwise  remain  undeveloped. 

Thirdly,  the  growing  tendency  toward  separation  of  class  from  class.  "  Our 
greatest  industrial  danger,"  said  the  Bishop  of  Durham  lately,  "  lies  in  the  want  of 
mutual  confidence  between  employers  and  employed.  Confidence  is  of  slow  growth. 
It  comes  most  surely  through  equal  intercourse."  The  desc&ndant  of  the  apprentice 
who  lived  under  his  master's  roof  now  receives  his  wages  from  an  employer  who  does 
not  know  his  name.  In  many  of  our  great  towns  rich  and  poor  do  not  even  meet  on 
Sundays  before  their  common  Maker.  The  employers  dwell  in  a  handsome  new 
suburb,  and  swell  the  well-dressed  congregation  of  a  new  church.  The  employed  herd 
in  the  older  part  of  the  city,  and  form  parishes  where,  as  an  East  End  London  vicar 
lately  expressed  it,  "  Every  lady  cleans  her  own  doorstep."  No  wonder,  therefore, 
that  in  our  days  social  questions  are  in  the  forefront,  and  "the  human  heart  by  which 
we  live"  demands  new  means  of  bringing  together  those  who  would  otherwise  be 
utterly  separated  in  all  relations  outside  of  business  to  their  great  mutual  loss.  We 
need  (I  again  quote  Dr.  Westcott)  "to  hallow  large  means  by  the  sense  of  large 
responsibility;  to  provide  that  labor  in  every  form  may  be  made  the  discipline  of 
noble  character." 

It  is  the  public-house  that  fills  the  workhouse  and  the  prison;  and  the  public- 
house  is  too  often  filled  by  the  mismanaged  home,  the  badly  chosen  and  the  worst 
cooked  meal.  When,  therefore,  a  girl  acquires  practical  skill  in  cookery,  she  not  only 
fits  herself  for  the  comfortable  and  well-paid  calling  of  a  first-class  domestic  servant 
instead  of  the  comfortless  and  ill-paid  calling  of  an  unskilled  factory  hand,  but  she 
diminishes  her  risk  of  becoming  the  hapless  wife  of  a  drunkard.  Board  schools  had, 
however,  been  in  existence  more  than  ten  years  before  the  government  recognized 
that  cookery  should  be  regularly  taught  in  them.  Private  enterprise  preceded  gov- 
ernment action  in  training  teachers  for  this  subject  and  in  forming  schools  of  cookery 
in  London,  Leeds,  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow.  To  Miss  Fanny  Calder's  initiative  is  owing 
the  Liverpool  Training  Schools  of  Cookery  and  the  Northern  Union  Schools  of 
Cookery,  and  government  recognition  both  of  cookery  and  laundry  work  is  due  to  her 
vigorous  struggle  with  the  Education  Department.  Private  enterprise  must  supple- 
ment government  actionals©  in  continuing  the  training  when  school  is  over,  or  giving 
it  then  to  those  who  have  attended  schools  for  which  teachers  of  cookery  could  not 
be  provided. 

Classes  for  cookery  and  domestic  economy  in  Wiltshire  and  Dorsetshire  were 
founded  by  Mrs.  Bell  in  1889.  The  Bishop  of  Salisbury  suggested  this  scheme,  which 
works  through  the  organization  of  the  Girls'  Friendly  Society.  It  began  with  a  grant 
of  ten  pounds,  and  gave  during  the  next  two  years  between  fifty  and  sixty  courses  of 
lessons  in  cookery  and  laundry  work  to  girls  fresh  from  school.  Eventually  it  was 
afifiliated  to  the  Northern  Union  Schools  of  Cookery. 

In  days  of  old  every  woman,  as  the  term  "  spinster"  still  indicates,  "  sought  wool 
and  flax  and  worked  willingly  with  her  hands,"  and  no  part  of  the  world  produced 
more  characteristic  and  interesting  fabrics  than  the  Scottish  Highlands.  But  when 
the  machine-made  goods  of  our  great  centers  of  industry  were  distributed  to  the 
remotest  corners  of  the  kingdom,  native  homespun  was  in  danger  of  being  altogether 
discarded  for  cheaper  but  less  durable  and  becoming  raiment.     The  insight  to  recog- 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  653 

nize  the  value  of  these  native  industries,  the  sympathy  to  understand  their  usefulness 
and  profitableness  to  the  peasants,  and  the  skill  and  patience  to  initiate  and  perpetuate 
a  scheme  for  their  resuscitation  ere  it  was  too  late,  were  found  in  three  successive 
duchesses  of  Sutherland.  Forty-four  years  ago  Harriet,  Duchess  of  Sutherland,  the 
beautiful  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Carlisle,  "and  Queen  Victoria's  chosen  friend,  organ- 
ized an  Industrial  Society  at  Golspie,  a  little  tovvn  on  the  southeast  coast  of  Suther- 
landshire,  close  to  her  Highland  home,  Dunrobin  Castle.  Four  hundred  people 
attended  its  first  exhibition  in  September,  1850,  and  prizes  to  the  value  of  ten  pounds 
were  awarded  to  the  fancy  tartans,  tweeds,  plaids,  blankets  and  hose  exhibited.  For 
several  years  a  similar  annual  exhibition  was  held  in  a  pavilion  erected  for  the  pur- 
pose, until  it  was  no  longer  in  the  Duchess'  power  to  give  such  active  evidence  of  her 
regard  for  the  welfare  of  the  Highlands.  But  the  Scottish  wife  of  her  eldest  son — 
who  was  Countess  of  Cromartie  in  her  own  right— became  the  patron  of  a  second 
series  of  exhibitions,  of  which  the  first  was  held  in  Augu.st,  1886.  The  sales  realized 
over  two  hundred  pounds,  and  thirty  pounds  were  given  in  prizes.  The  present  Duke 
of  Sutherland,  then  Marquis  of  Stafford,  had  recently  married  Lady  Millicent  St. 
Clair  Erskine,  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Rosslyn,  and  she,  supported  by  many  other 
ladies  well-known  in  Scotland,  and  aided  by  Miss  Joass,  the  indefatigable  secretary 
of  the  Highland  Home  Industries,  has  from  the  first  thrown  her  whole  heart  into  this 
work.  In  1887  the  exhibition  at  Golspie  represented  the  whole  of  Sutherland,  and 
men's  carvings  were  added  to  women's  spinnings,  sales  and  prizes  bringing  the  exhib- 
itors over  three  hundred  and  seventy-seven  pounds.  In  1888  it  was  transferred  to  the 
Town  Hall  of  Inverness,  and  not  only  the  number  and  variety,  but  the  quality  of  the 
articles  exhibited,  indicated  the  progress  made.  The  exhibitors  gained  about  four 
hundred  pounds,  and  received  orders  enough  to  keep  them  busy  throughout  the  fol- 
lowing winter.  Two  months  later,  on  November  25,  Anne,  Duchess  of  Sutherland, 
to  whose  patriotic  zeal  and  untiring  effort  this  success  was  largely  due,  entered  into 
rest.  In  1889  the  exhibition  was  held  in  the  Earl  of  Dudley's  London  house,  opened 
by  Princess  Louise,  Marchioness  of  Lome,  and  presided  over  by  the  Countess  of  Rose- 
berry.  Over  six  hundred  pounds  were  realized,'  the  exhibits  coming  from  many  parts 
of  Scotland,  and  equally  successful  sales  were  held  at  Inverness  and  London  in  1890 
and  1891.  Out  of  this  pioneer  scheme  in  Sutherlandshire  other  schemes  have  grown, 
such  as  those  at  Beaufort  and  Gairloch,  and  Lady  Dunmore's  work  in  Harris.  The 
time-honored  distaff  and  spinning-wheel  reject  altogether  the  inferior  materials  which 
undiscriminating  machines  turn  into  shoddy,  and  amply  vindicate  both  the  artistic  and 
the  useful  qualities  of  hand-work. 

That  civilization  means  more,  even  for  the  poorest, than  mere  "creature  comfort" 
was  the  thought  that  led  a  woman  to  organize,  in  1885,  the  Home  Arts  and  Industries 
Association.  Its  fourfold  aim  is  to  train  eye  and  hand,  and  thus  fit  for  many  callings; 
to  fill  the  idle  hours  of  working  people  happily;  to  foster  sympathetic  intercourse 
between  rich  and  poor,  and  to  revive  good  old  handicrafts.  Its  classes,  to  the  number 
of  between  four  and  five  hundred,  are  held  all  over  the  country  for  girls  and  lads  and 
men,  chiefly  by  lady  volunteers;  and  the  London  central  office,  which  is  managed  by 
a  female  staff,  supplies  these  classes  with  suitable  designs  and  organizes  instruction 
for  their  teachers.  Their  pupils  are  drawn  from  the  ranks  of  unskilled  as  well  as  of 
skilled  labor,  and  are  always  forthcoming  in  large  numbers.  The  street  arab  who 
came  at  first  "just  for  a  lark,"  comes  again  and  yet  again  for  the  growing  interest  of 
the  work,  and  it  has  its  own  quiet  influence  in  civilizing  him.  Moreover,  this  unos- 
tentatious work  must  develop  some  of  the  latent  artistic  talent  that  here,  as  elsewhere, 
only  waits  to  be  called  out  and  do  something  to  remove  the  reproach  that  in  matters 
artistic  we  are  an  uneducated  nation — a  reproach  justified  not  only  by  the  vulgar 
delights  of  "  the  masses,"  but  by  the  prevalent  drawing-room  "  art  criticism  "  of  "  the 
classes." 

A  wood-carving  class  for  working  lads  in  Ratcliff,  one  of  the  poorest  parts  of 
East  London,  was  organized  in  1884  by  the  Hon.  Beatrice  de  Grey,  and  is  now  carried 


654  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

on  by  the  Hon.  Odeyne  de  Grey,  her  sister,  and  Miss  Gertrude  D.  Pennant.  The 
class  meets  for  two  hours  one  evening  a  week,  from  November  or  December  till  July 
every  year.  Four  out  of  the  six  lads  who  originally  formed  it  are  now  working  in  it 
as  men. 

From  eleven  to  seventeen  men  have  availed  themselves  of  a  class  which  Lady 
Grisell  Baillie  Hamilton  and  her  sister  have,  during  three  years,  held  in  Scotland  for 
two  hours  twice  a  week  throughout  the  four  winter  months.  They  pay  a  small  fee  to 
cover  expense  of  warming  and  lighting  the  barn  in  which  they  meet,  and  gladly  buy 
their  own  tools.  The  picture  frames,  hanging  cupboards,  bookcases,  etc.,  which  they 
make  they  prefer  to  keep  rather  than  to  sell.  Apart  from  the  technical  skill  gained 
they  benefit  by  the  awakening  of  interest  and  effort  in  connection  with  something 
quite  outside  the  ordinary  routine  of  their  lines. 

In  1889  Miss  A.  E.  Maude  formed  a  class  for  the  villagers  of  Drayton,  Somerset, 
in  order  to  provide  them  with  profitable  occupation  when  the  weather  forbids  outdoor 
work.  Observing  that  most  of  the  other  Home  Arts  and  Industries  classes  chose 
wood  carving,  she  was  enterprising  enough  to  take  up  iron  work  instead.  The  zest 
with  which  the  men  and  boys,  whom  she  teaches  every  Wednesday  evening  during 
the  winter,  handle  the  pliers,  and  labor  at  the  forge  and  the  anvil,  and  the  ready  sale 
found  for  the  lamps,  kettles,  screens,  brackets  and  candlesticks  produced  have  amply 
justified  her  choice.  Gifts  from  the  Baroness  Burdett-Coutts,  the  Somerset  County 
Council,  and  the  Ironmongers  Company  enabled  them  to  furnish  their  workshop  in  the 
first  instance,  and  it  is  now  open  every  evening  all  the  year  round.  Over  four  hundred 
articles  made  by  her  pupils  have  been  sold  since  the  class  was  formed,  and  they  have 
won  the  bronze  medal  of  the  Recreative  Evening  Schools  Association,  and  the  "  Gold 
Star"  of  the  Home  Arts  and  Industries  Exhibition  in  London. 

The  Working  Lads'  Institute 'at  Torquay,  Devonshire,  founded  about  1886,  offers 
to  lads  between  twelve  and  eighteen  years  of  age  recreation  and  education,  brightens 
their  lives  by  human  kindness,  and  brings  them  under  moral  and  religious  influence. 
Its  bent  iron  and  repousse  classes  are  self-supporting.  Their  products  are  sold  at 
industrial  exhibitions  and  privately;  half  the  profits  pay  all  expenses,  the  other  half 
is  a  welcome  addition  to  the  lads'  earnings,  and  Miss  G.  Phillpotts  states  that  the 
classes  also  form  a  training  school  of  good  manners. 

In  1890  a  class  for  brass  repousse  work  was  formed  at  Bournemouth  by  Miss 
Edith  H.  G.  Wingfield  Digby.  A  higher  motive  than  either  love  of  art  or  love  of  gain 
led  eight  men  there,  chiefly  artisans,  to  give  some  ten  hours  a  week  to  brass-work. 
Missionary  zeal  had  been  kindled  at  the  Bible  class  they  attended,  and  the  proceeds 
of  their  work,  whose  high  artistic  merit  may  be  judged  from  the  specimens  sent  to 
Chicago,  redeemed  a  little  Chinese  girl  from  slavery,  and  afterward  helped  to  pay  for 
her  maintenance  and  Christian  education  in  the  Jubilee  School  of  the  Church  Mission- 
ary .Society  at  Hong  Kong.  Certificates  of  merit  have  been  awarded  to  three  mem- 
bers of  Miss  Wingfield  Digby's  class  by  the  Home  Arts  and  Industries  Associations. 

We  turn  to  three  schemes  which  combine  cookery  with  the  work  of  the  loom  and 
the  needle,  and  the  carving-tool,  hitherto  dealt  with  separately,  and  four  others  nearly 
as  comprehensive. 

That  it  was  founded  by  the  Princess  of  Wales  is  not  our  only  reason  for  naming 
the  Technical  School  at  .Sandringham  first.  Her  Royal  Highness'  desire  to  train  the 
sons  and  daughters  of  the  Sandringham  laborers  bore  fruit  some  years  before  tech- 
nical education  had  gained  its  present  hold  upon  the  public  mind.  The  school  began 
in  an  old  schoolroom,  with  evening  classes  instructed  by  an  artisan  from  a  neighbor- 
ing town.  The  interest  aroused  was  so  great  that  the  princess  determined  to  make  the 
whole  scheme  larger  and  more  lasting.  She  sent  Fraulein  Nodel,  formerly  German 
governess  to  the  young  princesses,  to  study  the  subject  in  London  and  the  great  Con- 
tinental centers  of  technical  education,  and  then  appointed  her  lady  superintendent 
of  the  school.  In  the  enlarged  schoolroom  men  and  lads  meet  to  learn  carpentry, 
joinery,  wood-carving,  brass  and  copper  repousse,  and  bent  iron  work.     Meanwhile, 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOJUEN.  655 

the  girls  of  the  village  are  taught  cooking,  sewing,  dressmaking,  the  making  of  baby 
clothes,  and  general  domestic  management  from  lo  A.  M.  to  6  P.  M.  every  Tuesday, 
Wednesday,  Thursday  and  Friday.  The  Norfolk  County  Council  inspected  and  highly 
commended  the  school,  but  the  Princess  of  Wales  declined  their  offer  to  undertake 
its  supervision  and  cost,  preferring  to  maintain  it  at  her  own  expense  and  keep  it  under 
her  personal  control.  Her  medical  attendant.  Doctor  Manby,  lately  gave  the  elder 
girls  a  course  of  lectures  for  the  Saint  John's  Ambulance  Association,  and  all  who 
attended  gained  certificates.  The  school  has  gained  many  prizes  at  exhibitions  heki 
in  London  and  different  provincial  centers,  and  the  sale  of  the  articles  produced 
increases  steadily. 

In  1629  Baptist,  Viscount  Campden,  bequeathed  two  hundred  pounds,  and  in  1643 
his  widow  likewise  bequeathed  two  hundred  pounds,  "  to  be  yearly  employed  for  the 
good  and  benefit  of  the  poor  of  Kensington  forever."  Two  acres  abutting  on  the  High 
street  of  Notting  Hill,  London,  are  reputed  to  have  been  given  for  a  similar  purpose 
by  Oliver  Cromwell.  The  money  was  invested  in  land,  and,  thanks  to  "  unearned 
increment,"  this  modest  capital  of  four  hundred  pounds  and  two  acres  now  yields  an 
annual  increase  of  almost  forty-four  hundred  pounds.  Of  this  sum,  thirteen  hundred 
pounds  is  annually  expended  in  pensions  to  the  aged  and  deserving,  and  nearly  nine  hun- 
dred pounds  more  goes  to  hospitals,  provident  clubs  and  special  relief  of  special  cases  of 
need.  With  this  aid  to  the  aged,  sick  and  distressed,  we  are  not  here  concerned.  The 
remaining  sum  of  about  eighteen  hundred  pounds  is  laid  out  for  the  young  of  Ken- 
sington in  apprenticeships,  premiums,' exhibitions  and  scholarships  for  the  pupils  of 
public  elementary  schools,  and  finally  in  providing  the  Campden  trust  lectures  and 
evening  classes  formed  in  1888,  whereby  they  may  continue  their  education  on  leaving 
school.  The  classes  during  last  session  were  attended  by  one  hundred  and  ninety-six 
boys  who  learned  carpentry,  wood-carving,  and  mechanical  drawing,  and  by  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-eight  girls  who  learned  cookery,  dressmaking  and  drawing.  Their 
success  is,  in  no  small  degree,  due  to  the  untiring  energy  of  the  honorary  secretary. 
Miss  Catherine  Hamilton.  Out  of  four  hundred  and  eighty-four  pounds  spent  on  these 
classes  twenty-two  pounds  and  nine  shillings  was  contributed  by  pupils'  fees.  The 
recent  founding  of  the  Kensington  Polytechnic  by  the  Marquis  of  Lome  and  others, 
promises  to  extend  and  develop  the  scheme  still  further,  as  this  building  has  been 
assigned  to  the  Campden  trustees,  of  whom  the  vicar  of  Kensington  is  chairman. 

The  Recreative  P^vening  School's  Association,  of  which  H.  R.  H.  Princess  Louise, 
Marchioness  of  Lome,  is  an  active  president,  is  little  more  than  seven  years  old.  Its 
object  is  to  provide  further  instruction  and  healthful  occupation  for  girls  and  boys 
who  have  left  our  elementary  day  schools.  Careful  inquiry  showed  that  not  more  than 
four  per  cent  of  these  continued  their  education  in  any  systematic  way;  while  it  was 
obvious  that  they  were  sent  forth  into  the  work  of  life  unfitted  for  its  duties,  and 
exposed,  at  the  most  critical  age,  to  the  perils  of  the  streets  at  all  hours.  The  secret 
of  the  great  success  of  the  association  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  evening  classes  have 
been  made  bright  and  attractive.  Instead  of  the  dreary  book-lessons  in  the  three  R's 
and  English,  which  were  formerly  almost  the  only  attraction  for  evening  scholars, 
they  introduced  lantern  illustrations  of  geography  and  travel,  history  and  simple 
science.  Among  other  subjects  taught  were  bookkeeping,  shorthand,  musical  drill, 
gymnastics,  clay  modeling,  metal-work,  wood-carving,  dress-cutting,  and  cookery, 
which  no  government  grants  were  then  available.  Ladies  and  gentlemen  of  culture 
and  leisure  were  secured  as  voluntary  teachers,  and  as  managers  of  savings  banks  for 
the  scholars,  whom  they  also  took  for  Saturday  rambles  and  visits  to  public  build- 
ings and  places  of  interest.  The  association  soon  worked  wonders.  New  pupils 
flocked  into  schools  which  had  been  almost  empty.  In  London  the  centers  aided 
increased  from  twenty-nine  in  1886  to  two  hundred  and  thirty-two  in  1892,  while  the 
estimated  average  attendance  grew  from  four  thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty  in  1887 
to  twelve  thousand  five  hundred  in  1892. 

The  Broomloan  Halls  Classes  for  Cookery  and  Sewing  were  founded  at  Govan, 


656  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Glasgow,  by  Mrs,  John  Elder,  in  1885.  They  form  a  technical  school  for  the  wives 
and  daughters  of  artisans,  and  are  in  the  midst  of  a  large  ship-building  population. 
All  their  incidental  expenses  are  paid  by  the  generous  founder.  The  cookery  demon- 
stration class,  attended  by  some  two  hundred  women  and  girls,  is  the  most  popular. 
It  is  supplemented  by  the  cookery  practice  class,  at  which  their  clever  teacher.  Miss 
Gordon,  shows  her  pupils  how  to  turn  out  the  best  possible  Sunday  dinner  from  the 
materials  they  bring  on  Saturday  night.  Eighty  to  a  hundred  women  attend  the 
Monday  evening  sewing  and  mending  class;  a  large  number  also  appreciate  that  the 
starching  and  ironing  class  will  fit  them  for  a  useful  calling;  and  lastly,  forty-two  girls 
are  carefully  trained  to  be  kitchenmaids,  and  never  fail  to  find  good  places.  During 
the  summer  months  housewives  who  choose  to  enter  their  names  on  a  list,  are  visited 
by  intelligent  and  specially  trained  women  of  their  own  class,  and  shown  how  to  cook 
and  clean  and  arrange  their  houses.     This  kind  of  help  is  most  eagerly  sought. 

The  Little  Servants'  Home,  in  connection  with  Brownshill  High  School,  Stroud, 
was  founded  by  Miss  Winscombe,  This  attempt  to  prepare  young  girls  for  domestic 
service  by  training  them  under  upper  servants,  might  be  imitated  in  other  large  house- 
holds, for  every  effort  that  tends  to  raise  the  status  of  domestic  servants,  and  the 
standard  of  qualification  for  domestic  service,  is  a  real  benefit  to  girls  in  humble 
homes. 

For  the  third  time  a  village  in  Scotland  claims  our  attention.  The  Misses  Fer- 
gusson,  with  the  occasional  help  of  their  own  servants,  have,  since  1881,  organized  and 
carried  on  most  successful  evening  classes  for  joinery,  basket-work,  fret-work,  carving 
and  drawing  among  the  men;  and  for  knitting,  crochet,  embroidery,  etc.,  among  the 
women  of  West  Linton,  Prebleshire.  Their  last  sale  realized  about  one  hundred  and 
five  pounds,  all  profit  to  the  workers. 

In  Cumberland,  the  loveliest  district  in  England,  under  the  fostering  care  of  Mrs. 
Hardwicke  Rawnsley,  wife  of  the  vicar  of  Crosthwaite  (that  picturesque  vale,  or 
thwaite,  where  St.  Kentigern  reared  the  cross  in  the  earliest  age  of  England's  relig- 
ious history),  has  grown  up,  since  1883,  the  Keswick  Industrial  School  of  Art,  and  a 
Linen  Industry,  which  has  Mr.  Ruskin's  leave  to  bear  his  name.  Both  are  endeavors 
to  reduce  to  practice  his  characteristic  teaching,  that  a  love  of  the  beautiful  lies  hid- 
den in  every  human  soul,  and  that  things  made  by  hand,  and  bearing  the  impress  of 
human  individuality,  are  incomparably  more  beautiful  than  those  which  can  be  turned 
out  by  machinery.  There  is  something'  quite  mediaeval  about  the  whole  undertaking, 
so  little  trace  can  be  found  in  it  of  the  modern  commercial  spirit,  and  so  lovingly  do 
these  northern  peasants  linger  over  the  details  of  their  work.  From  seventy  to  eighty 
men  now  belong  to  the  carving  and  brass-work  classes.  The  linen  industry  was  started 
by  .Miss  Twelves;  the  spinning  is  all  done  with  the  old-fashioned  wheels,  and  the  weav- 
ing is  all  done  by  hand.  These  earnest  and  artistic  workers  in  the  land  of  two  nine- 
teenth century  laureates,  lately  had  the  satisfaction  of  doing  honor  to  a  third,  by 
weaving  a  pall  of  wondrous  beauty  for  Lord  Tennyson's  cofifin. 

We  turn  now  to  schemes  that  aim  at  imparting  knowledge,  at  informing  the  head, 
and  according  to  our  threefold  being  of  body,  soul  and  spirit,  take  these  as  they  suc- 
cessively deal  with  the  physical,  mental  and  moral  welfare  of  mankind. 

Canon  Kingsley,  Bishop  Wilberforce  and  others,  have  taught  our  generation  the 
whole  meaning  of  the  old  phrase,  mens  sana  in  corpore  sano.  Two  societies,  both 
dwelling  in  Berners  street,  London,  and  both  owing  their  existence  to  the  insight  and 
energy  of  women,  are  waging  successful  war,  not  with  flourish  of  trumpets,  but  by 
quiet  persistent  work,  against  the  arch-enemy  ignorance,  and  teaching  rich  and  poor 
that  the  essentials  of  wholesome  life  are  pure  water,  nourishing  food,  daily  bathing 
and  daily  exercise;  that  our  homes  must  stand  on  high  ground  and  dry  soil,  give 
abundant  entrance  to  light  and  air,  and  be  thoroughly  cleansed,  not  only  above  but 
below  ground.  The  Ladies'  Sanitary  Association,  founded  in  1857,  grew,  so  Lady 
Knightley,  of  Fawsley,  tells  us,  out  of  a  suggestion  made  by  Dr.  Roth,  and  has  now 
about  four  hundred  members.     Countless  lectures  have  been  given  through  it  to  all 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  657 

sorts  and  conditions  of  women;  it  has  organized  loan  libraries  of  books  on  health,  and 
distributed  over  a  million  and  a  half  of  tracts  on  hygiene  for  the  people.  Much  of  the 
technical  teaching  of  which  we  have  already  spoken  may  be  traced  to  its  influence,  as 
well  as  dinners  for  destitute  children,  nurseries  for  motherless  babies,  and  many  coal 
and  clothing  clubs  and  temperance  associations.  From  its  "  park  parties  "  have  sprung 
the  Children's  Country  Holidays  schemes  for  city  boys  and  girls,  to  whom  an  uncaged 
singing-bird,  a  growing  wild  flower,  an  expanse  of  blue  sky,  a  field  of  scented  hay  or 
waving  corn,  or  the  rippling  of  water  or  whispering  of  leaves  in  the  wood,  arc  things 
as  new  and  wonderful  as  they  are  joy  inspiring.     Its  secretary  is  Miss  Rose  Adams. 

The  National  Health  .Society,  founded  in  1873,  began  with  a  modest  scheme  of 
lectures  by  ladies  at  men's  clubs  and  mothers'  meetings.  It  now  has  three  princesses 
of  Great  Britain  for  patronesses,  the  Duke  of  Westminster  for  president,  and  over  four 
hundred  and  fifty  members.  Its  aims  are  well  summed  up  in  its  motto:  "  Prevention 
is  better  than  cure."  Free  lectures  are  given  throughout  the  country  to  the  poor, 
subsidized  now  in  many  places  by  the  county  councils;  while  distinguished  medical 
men  and  eminent  lady  nurses  instruct  drawing-room  audiences,  who  need  teaching 
scarcely  less  in  the  laws  of  health.  A  diploma  of  honor  was  awarded  to  its  literature 
by  the  Council  of  the  International  Health  Exhibition,  and  among  the  varied  matters 
that  claim  its  aid  and  interest  are  hygienic  dress,  smoke  abatement,  open  spaces,  and 
boarding-out  of  children.     Its  secretary  is  Miss  Ray  Lankester. 

The  Ladies'  Association  of  Useful  Work  at  Birmingham,  which  was  founded  in 
1874,  is  a  local  association,  rather  younger  than  these  two  national  societies.  It  was 
originally  as  comprehensive  as  its  title;  but  since  Mason  College  was  opened  it  no 
longer  labors  for  higher  education,  but  is  chiefly  active  in  giving  eight  or  nine  courses 
of  lectures  on  hygiene  to  working  women,  keeping  up  a  recreation-room  for  business 
girls,  and  organizing  country  holidays  for  children.  Its  useful  work  is  almost  wholly 
carried  on  by  voluntary  helpers. 

Education,  in  the  narrower  popular  sense,  ne.xt  concerns  us.  This  is  not  the  place 
for  speaking  generally  of  the  system  that  has  supplemented  girls'  schools  by  women's 
colleges,  and  thrown  open  to  the  women  of  this  generation  a  wide  culture  that  is  mak- 
ing women's  lives  richer  and  happier  than  they  ever  were  before.  .Some  women,  like 
some  men,  go  to  the  university  in  order  to  take  up  teaching  or  another  profession 
that  their  attainments  will  render  honorable.  But  some  women,  like  some  men,  seek 
a  liberal  education  for  its  own  sake,  and  for  its  usefulness  to  others,  rather  than  its 
gainfulness  to  themselves;  and  a  new  need  of  the  help  that  they  can  give  has  grown 
up  with  their  new  power  to  giv^e  it. 

The  College  for  Working  Women  in  Fitzroy  street,  London,  was  founded  in  1874 
in  memory  of  the  Rev.  Frederick  Denison  Maurice,  originator  of  Queen's  College, 
Harley  street,  the  earliest  of  all  women's  colleges  which  now  play  so  large  a  part  in 
our  intellectual  life.  It  seeks  to  provide  women  in  business  and  in  domestic  service 
with  three  things — teaching,  amusement,  and  opportunity  of  friendly  intercourse. 
When  it  began  three-fourths  of  the  two  hundred  women  on  its  books  were  learning  to 
read,  write  and  spell  in  elementary  classes.  Now,  thanks  to  the  progress  of  popular 
education,  there  is  but  one  elementary  class  with  twenty  pupils,  though  the  members 
are  between  three  and  four  hundred  in  number.  The  council  seeks  a  teacher  for  any 
subject  desired  by  not  less  than  six  students.  Some  subjects,  such  as  French,  attract 
from  their  usefulness  for  daily  work;  others,  as  in  the  case  of  a  girl  who  lately  took 
up  Greek,  because  of  their  remoteness  from  the  daily  toil.  There  is  a  Bible  class  on 
Sundays,  and  lectures  on  first  aid  and  sick  nursing  have  been  given  in  connection  with 
St.  John's  Ambulance  Association.  The  classes  are  supplemented  by  a  library  of 
some  two  thousand  volumes,  all  gifts.  Members  who  have  worked  for  four  terms  in 
a  class  may  use  the  college  as  a  club  only,  and  the  social  side  of  its  work  grows  more 
important  as  time  goes  on.  Take,  for  instance,  the  Holiday  Guild  inaugurated  by 
Lady  Stranford.  The  four  Saturday  evenings  in  the  month  are  devoted  to  a  dance 
exclusively  for  students,  presided  over  by  young  ladies;  an  ambulance  practice;  a  work- 

(42) 


658  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

ing  party  for  the  Institution  for  Promoting  the  General  Welfare  of  the  Blind;  a  con- 
cert or  lecture  often  given  by  some  eminent  person.  About  a  quarter  of  the  working 
expenses  is  met  by  students'  fees,  the  rest  by  gifts  from  friends  and  from  the  city 
companies.  Miss  Frances  Martin  is  the  honorary  secretary.  The  College  for  Men 
and  Women  in  Queen  Square,  London,  founded  in  1864,  carries  on  a  similar  work. 

The  College  by  Post,  founded  in  188 1,  sprang  out  of  an  effort  which  I  made  in  my 
own  early  days  at  college  to  help,  by  correspondence,  other  girls  whose  opportunities 
were  fewer  than  my  own.  University  College,  London;  Westfield  College,  Hamp- 
stead;  Griton  and  Nevvnham  Colleges,  Cambridge,  and  Lady  Margaret  and  Somervilie 
Halls,  Oxford;  the  Ladies'  College,  Cheltenham,  and  kindred  institutions  for  higher 
education,  have  contributed  to  a  staff  on  which  between  two  and  three  hundred 
teachers  have  now  been  enrolled.  From  all  parts  of  the  United  Kingdom,  from  the 
continent  and  the  colonies,  students  representing  many  different  conditions  of  life 
and  degrees  of  education  have  joined  to  the  number  of  between  three  and  four  thou- 
sand. Competition  with  professional  teachers  is  carefully  avoided,  and  no  "  coach- 
ing "  for  examinations,  other  than  our  own,  is  undertaken.  Giving  half  an  hour  daily 
to  Bible  study  in  one  of  our  seventy  Scripture  classes  is  the  condition  of  receiving 
gratuitous  instruction  in  other  subjects.  The  scheme  of  historical  Scripture  study, 
which  I  have  elaborated  for  our  students,  has  now  been  published  in  a  volume  called 
"  Clews  to  Holy  Writ,"  which  went  into  its  third  thousand  within  a  few  weeks  of  its 
publication.  About  twenty  subjects  are  taught  in  our  secular  classes.  The  hygiene 
class;  which  is  conducted  by  a  medalist  of  the  National  Health  Society,  is  one  of  the 
most  popular  of  these.  The  wise  and  kindly  influence  of  teacher  upon  taught,  and 
the  friendships,  helpful  to  both,  which  grow  up  through  their  work  together,  are,  per- 
haps, the  most  valuable  and  the  least  describable  part  of  the  scheme.  Through  the 
"writing  mission,"  suggested  by  Lady  Wright,  some  hundreds  of  our  students  are 
also  in  friendly  correspondence  with  factory  girls. 

So  we  pass  from  the  intellectual  to  the  moral  sphere,  and  to  organizations  that 
aim  at  enabling  people  to  be,  rather  than  to  know,  taking  first  those  that  aim  at  fitting 
special  classes  for  special  duties.  The  Home  and  Colonial  School  Society,  established 
in  1836,  is  for  the  Christian  training  of  women  teachers,  and  sends  forth  annually  some 
seventy-five  to  elementary  schools,  and  some  fifty  to  family  teaching  and  secondary 
schools.  Little  can  be  done  by  the  best  of  schools  for  those  whose  home  influences 
are  adverse,  and  this  was  never  truer  than  it  is  today,  when  the  day-school  system 
prevails  widely  for  every  class  of  the  community  Hence  the  importance  of  insisting 
upon  the  sacred  responsibilities  of  parents,  often  so  lightly  undertaken  and  so  thought- 
lessly delegated  to  others.  At  the  request  of  some  Bradford  mothers,  Miss  Charlotte 
M.  Mason,  in  1888,  drew  up  a  scheme  for  assisting  parents  of  all  classes  to  study  the 
laws  of  education  as  they  bear  upon  the  bodily  development,  moral  training,  intellect- 
ual work  and  religious  bringing  up  of  children.  The  Bishop  of  Ripon's  wife  was  the 
first  president  of  the  Parents'  National  Educational  Union,  and  the  Earl  and  Countess 
of  Aberdeen  are  the  present  presidents.  Among  those  who  warmly  took  up  the 
scheme  were  Dr.  Lightfoot,  Bishop  of  Durham,  the  Bishop  of  London,  Miss  Beale  of 
Cheltenham  College,  Miss  Clough  of  Nevvnham  College,  and  Miss  Buss  of  the  North 
London  Collegiate  School.  Its  organ  is  the  "Parents'  Review,"  an  admirable  monthly. 
The  House  of  Education  offers  definite  training  to  those  who  hope  to  become  mothers 
or  governesses.  "  I  was  deeply  impressed,"  said  Her  Majesty's  Inspector  of  Schools, 
in  November,  1892,  "with  the  earnest  and  business-like  way  in  which  the  students 
addressed  themselves  to  their  work,  and  I  do  not  doubt  that  they  will  devote  them- 
selves to  the  care  of  children  with  exceptional  zeal  and  knowledge." 

Throughout  we  have  to  recognize  a  duty  not  only  to  the  destitute  and  degraded, 
but  to  those  who  ask  not  alms  but  help  of  human  fellowship,  and  appeal  less  to  our 
pity  than  to  our  sympathy.  It  is  through  the  co-operation,  and  not  through  the  con- 
flict of  clas.ses,  that  progress  will  be  made,  and  the  amount  of  this  co-operation  will 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN..  659 

depend  upon  the  degree  in  which  each  class  realizes  what  are  its  special  responsibili- 
ties and  what  are  the  true  interests  and  the  highest  aims  of  the  human  race. 

"  We  must  be  here  to  work; 
And  men  who  work  can  only  work  for  men. 
And  not  to  work  in  vain,  must  comprehend 
Humanity,  and  so  work  humanly, 
And  raise  men's  bodies  still  by  raising  souls, 
As  God  did  first." 


HARMONIOUS  ADJUSTMENT  THROUGH  EXERCISE. 

By  MRS.  MINNA  GORDON  GOULD. 

"Oh  saw  ye  bonnie  Leslie 
As  she  gaed  o'er  the  border? 
She's  gone,  like  Alexander, 
To  spread  her  conquests  farther. 
To  see  her  is  to  love  her, 
And  love  but  her  forever, 
For  nature  made  her  what  she  is, 
And  ne'er  made  such  another." 

Nature  made  her  what  she  was,  and  therefore  she 
was  beautiful.  We  all  love  beauty.  Much  of  our  joy 
of  living  comes  from  our  delight  in  the  beauties  of 
nature.  "  Our  heart  leaps  up  when  we  behold  a  rain- 
bow in  the  sky  or  dances  with  the  dancing  daffodils." 

It  must  have  been  a  part  of  nature's  plans  that  it 
should  be  so.  And  surely  the  beauty  of  woman's  form 
is  no  less  worthy  of  admiration  than  any  other  mani- 
festation of  God  in  His  creation.  Indeed,  by  many 
it  is  considered  the  masterpiece  of  nature.  Macaulay 
said  that  the  most  beautiful  thing  in  the  world  is  a 
beautiful  woman;  and  I  am  sure  many  another  man 
has  thought  so  if  he  has  not  said  it;  and  the  wish 
all  women  have  to  be  beautiful  seems  to  me  as  nat- 

MRS.   MINNA  GORDON  GOULD.     '  ,  r  1    •     J      ^  •  CO  „     4-^      ^^,U-,1^     r^ct- 

ural  as  for  birds  to  smg  or  for  flowers  to  exnale  per- 
fume. It  is  part  of  their  mission  in  the  world.  Beauty  means  harmony,  whether 
in  music,  painting,  sculpture,  or  in  the  mind  and  body  of  man.  A  beautiful  body 
is  one  which  is  harmoniously  developed  in  all  its  parts,  whose  organs  are  formed 
as  nature  intended,  and  which  perform  their  functions  according  to  nature's  laws. 
Any  deviation  from  this  standard  is  deformity.  An  abnormal  body  is  not  beautiful 
because  it  is  not  harmoniously  developed.  We  all  recognize  abnormal  development 
in  the  fashionable  woman,  who  compresses  her  waist  by  means  of  corsets,  but  we  can 
also  see  lack  of  harmony  in  the  figures  of  many  women  who  do  not  dress  unhy- 
gienically.  Bad  habits  of  carriage,  such  as  standing  or  sitting  with  waist  muscles 
relaxed,  and  a  consequent  settling  of  the  body  into  the  hips,  a  rounded  back  with 
hollow  chest;  indolent  habits  of  inaction,  which  tend  to  the  accumulation  ^  of  too 
much  flesh;  hard  work,  as  in  the  case  of  the  blacksmith,  whose  right  arm  and 
shoulder  are  developed  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  rest  of  his  body— all  these 
are  illustrations  of  abnormal,  inharmonious  development.  The  same  thing  is  seen 
in  the  case  of  athletes,  who  often  injure  their  health  by  undue  exercise  of  some 
muscles  of  the  body  at  the  expense  and  neglect  of  others,  especially  in  faihng  to 
maintain  the  balance  between  the  organs  that  supply  and  those  that  waste  the  vital 
force. 

Mrs.  Minna  Gordon  Gould  was  bom  at  Brockton,  Mass.  Her  parents  were  Andrew  McKeown,  D.  D.,  a  Methodist, 
clergyman,  and  LinaB.  (Pease)  McKeown.  She  was  educated  at  Roxbury  and  Cambridge,  Mass.,  and  at  Vassar  College. 
She  married  Allen  W.  Gould,  at  one  time  instructor  of  Latin  and  Greek  at  Harvard  College,  and  at  present  secretary  of  the 
Western  Dnitarian  Association.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  physical  culture  and  improved  dress  for  women. 
Her  profession  is  that  of  public  reader  and  teacher  of  elocution,  physical  and  vocal  culture,  for  which  she  is  eminently  quab 
fied.    In  religious  faith  she  is  Unitarian.    Her  postolKce  address  is  No.  175  Dearborn  Street,  Room  94.  Chicago,  111. 

660 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  661 

Harmonious  development  of  all  the  parts  of  the  body  seems  one  of  nature's  great 
laws,  if  we  would  have  health  and  beauty.  And  so  imperative  are  nature's  demands 
for  harmony  that  when  one  organ  is  raised  to  the  proper  pitch,  the  other  organs  are 
often  brought  up  to  the  same  key;  or,  when  one  organ  is  dragged  down  from  its  place, 
all  the  other  parts  of  the  body  suffer.  To  illustrate:  We  all  know  that  a  well-poised 
head  and  full  chest  and  flattened  back  are  desirable  from  the  standpoint  of  beauty. 
To  acquire  a  full  chest  the  lungs  must  be  developed  by  exercise,  and  increased  lung 
power  means  of  course  more  o.xygen  in  the  blood,  and  better  blood  means  everything 
better- — better  appetite,  increased  vitality  and  the  consciousness  of  ability  to  attempt 
great  things.  Upon  the  other  hand,  whenone  part  suffers  from  being  thrown  out  of 
nature's  harmony,  all  the  other  parts  are  sympathetically  affected.  For  instance:  A 
woman  who  wearshigh-heeledshoes  which  aretoosmall  forherfeet,  will  experiencemany 
aches  and  pains,  besides  the  comparatively  insignificant  ones  of  corns  and  bunions. 
The  muscles  of  the  feet  being  rendered  useless,  the  calves  of  the  leg  are  not  developed, 
and  the  springy  motion  in  the  gait,  so  characteristic  of  health  and  happiness,  is  con- 
spicuous by  its  absence.  The  effort  to  maintain  an  equilibrium,  caused  by  the  high 
heels,  throws  many  of  the  vital  organs  out  of  place  and  gives  rise  to  an  infinite  variety 
of  ills.  Even  injury  to  the  eyes  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  results  of  wearing  tight  shoes. 
When  we  reflect  that  few,  if  any,  see  our  feet,  and  that  everyone  sees  and  notes  our  walk, 
it  seems  strange  that  we  would  ever  be  willing  to  sacrifice  the  great  beauty  of  a  grace- 
ful carriage  to  the  far  lesser  charm  of  a  trim  foot,  even  if  no  consideration  of  health 
and  comfort  induced  us  to  respect  the  natural  requirements  of  our  feet,  instead  of 
treating  them  as  pegs  for  balancing  the  body.  There  can  be  no  one  exercise  more 
beneficial  to  the  body — the  whole  body — than  a  brisk,  animated  walk,  with  all  the 
muscles  of  the  body  participating  more  or  less  in  the  movement;  but  such  a  walk  is 
absolutely  impossible  when  the  various  parts  are  impeded  by  the  clothing,  and  when 
to  the  tight  shoes  and  corset  is  added  the  incubus  of  a  muff  to  restrict  the  move- 
ment of  the  arms,  or  long,  heavy  skirts  to  be  held  up,  the  lack  of  free  harmonious 
action  is  well  nigh  complete.  The  object  of  my  paper  is  to  emphasize  the  value  of 
exercise  as  a  means  to  harmonious  readjustment.  There  is  always  a  tendency  to  the 
normal  in  all  diseased  or  abnormal  bodies,  and  if  the  hindrances  are  removed,  nature 
herself  will  do  much  toward  readjustment.  At  a  recent  rriedical  congress,  an  eminent 
physician  made  the  .statement  that  "very  few,  if  any,  drugs  cure;  that  educated  physi- 
cians hesitate  before  asserting  that  they  have  cured  their  patients;  that  at  best  they 
but  guide  their  recovery."  Doctors  recognize  more  and  more  the  immense  power  of 
self-cure  by  readjustment  to  nature's  laws,  and  instead  of  loading  the  system  with 
powerful  drugs  which  may  do  more  harm  in  certain  directions  than  they  do  good  in 
others,  it  is  sometimes  the  part  of  wisdom  to  stand  aside  and  let  nature  act.  And 
nature  acts  through  motion.  All  her  forces  are  but  modified  forms  of  motion.  At 
any  rate,  all  organic  bodies  require  motion  as  a  means  of  life.  I  will  not  speak  of  the 
ceaseless  motion  of  inorganic  nature,  but  if  a  human  being  wishes  to  live  he  must  keep 
moving.  It  is  motion  that  gives  value  to  exercise,  and  not  the  straining  of  the  mus- 
cles by  gymnastic  appliances  of  heavy  dumb-bells  and  Indian  clubs,  etc.  The  less 
apparatus  one  uses  in  exercise  the  better.  Thus  there  will  be  very  little  danger  of 
straining  the  muscles  and  organs,  and  the  muscular  development  will  be  more  sym- 
metrical, and  grace  and  suppleness  will  be  secured  more  easily  than  when  weight  is 
added  to  motion  as  a  means  of  development. 

A  perfectly  normal  body,  like  that  of  a  healthy  young  child,  needs  only  the 
amount  of  exercise  which  his  animal  spirits  secure  for  him.  Such  a  one  does  God's 
will,  and  knows  it  not.  But  when  unhealthy  habits  of  dress  or  unhygienic  habits  of 
living  have  cramped  the  body  and  rendered  useless  certain  organs,  special  exercise 
of  those  organs  will  aid  them  to  regain  their  normal  power  in  the  quickest  and  best 
way.  Since  health  depends  upon  motion,  the  clothing  should  be  adapted  to  that 
need,  and  should  conform  to  the  shape  of  the  body  rather  than  that  the  body  should 
be  fitted  to  the  shape  of  the  dress,  as  our  present  fashion  is.     But  while  women  are 


662  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

afraid  of  ridicule  for  being  odd,  and  arc  slaves  to  fashion,  no  amount  of  argument 
from  an  aesthetic  or  even  hygienic  standpoint  will  affect  them.  In  .vain  you  may  tell 
them  that  beauty  and  fashion  are  not  synonymous,  as  anyone  can  see  by  looking  at 
the  hideous  grotesqueness  of  the  styles  of  the  past;  that  some  of  the  most  celebrated 
artists  of  today  will  not  paint  a  woman's  portrait  until  she  has  removed  "those  disfig- 
urements," as  they  designate  corsets,  etc.;  that  the  most  noted  house  in  London  will 
not  make  a  gown  fashioned  upon  the  abnormal,  inartistic  lines  of  the  corset;  that  hun- 
dreds of  the  most  intelligent  women  in  this  country  and  in  England  are  striving  for 
something  better  for  themselves  and  their  children  in  the  way  of  healthful  and  artistic 
clothing.  It  is  useless  to  refer  to  such  other  mistaken  ideas  of  beauty  as  that  which 
induces  the  women  in  some  countries  to  insert  a  round  piece  of  wood  in  the  lower  lip,, 
and  then  gradually  increase  the  size  of  the  wedge  and  so  enlarge  the  lip  that  it  projects- 
far  beyond  the  place  that  nature  gave  it.  A  wedge  two  inches  in  diameter  was  in  accord 
with  the  requirements  of  fashion,  but  four  inches  was  the  mark  of  an  extremely  stylish 
savage. 

These  arguments  seem  to  fall  for  the  most  part  on  "  stony  ground,"  and  the 
"  thus  saith "  of  fashion  is  as  potent  as  ever  with  a  large  majority,  even  though 
obedience  to  her  commands  entails  agony  and  deformity.  "  Oh  Lord,  make  us  all. 
stylish,"  was  the  fervent  prayer  of  a  little  girl  I  once  heard  of,  and  this,  doubtlessly, 
is  the  sum  total  of  many  a  woman's  aspirations.  So  they  cramp  and  distort  their 
bodies,  force  their  hands  and  feet  into  coverings  much  too  small  for  these  members 
and  which  destroy  all  semblance  to  the  exquisite  beauty  nature  shows  in  the  perfect 
hands  and  feet  of  an  infant,  and  make  them  almost  useless.  All  this  abuse  of  the  body 
seems  to  be  the  result  of  a  perverted  notion  that  the  female  figure  is  not  properly  con- 
structed and  needs  making  over.  But  women  are  beginning  to  awaken  to  the  fact  that 
a  large  portion  of  the  sideaches,  backaches,  headaches,  nervous  prostrations,  etc.,  are 
nature's  warning  against  the  violation  of  her  laws.  I  believe  exercise  and  the  conse- 
quent ability  ot  relaxation  to  be  the  chief  factor  of  health. 

The  other  requisites  of  health  are  sleep,  nourishing  food,  fresh  air,  clean  linen  and" 
peace  of  mind.  But  exercise  comprises  in  itself  all  the  beneficial  qualities  of  the  others. 
Sleep  has  been  rightfully  called  "  the  chief  nourisher  in  life's  feast  "  Loss  of  sleep  and 
lack  of  nerve-control  are  among  the  most  serious  maladies  of  the  present  day.  We  are 
in  such  a  hurry,  and  live  at  such  a  high  pressure  of  nervous  tension  during  the  day,  that 
we  lose  our  ability  to  sleep,  and  thus  fail  to  recuperate  the  nervous  forces  at  night. 
Well-directed  exercise  which  draws  the  blood  away  from  the  brain  will  give  a  much 
more  healthful  and  refreshing  sleep  than  that  which  is  produced  by  narcotics. 

We  must  also  have  nourishing  food  in  order  that  we  may  have  health;  but  no- 
amount  of  nourishing  food  will  help  the  body  whose  organs  of  digestion  and  assimila- 
tion are  ruined.  And  what  good  will  fresh  air  do  one  whose  lungs  are  unable  to  per- 
form their  functions?  But  exercise,  that  gives  health  to  the  muscles,  aids  digestion 
and  quickens  the  action  of  the  heart  and  lungs.  Peace  of  mind  is  impossible  without 
that  harmony  of  the  nervous  system  which  a  healthy  body  secures.  Thus  we  see  illus- 
trated the  story  of  the  old  woman  getting  her  pig  over  the  stile  As  soon  as  the  fire 
began  to  burn  the  stick,  the  stick  began  to  beat  the  dog,  the  dog  began  to  bite  the  pig, 
and  everything  started  in  the  way  in  which  it  should  go.  So,  too,  if  you  exercise,  your 
appetite  will  be  increased,  your  digestive  organs  will  do  their  duty  and  nourish  you. 
A  well-nourished  body  demands  sleep,  suflficient  sleep  secures  nerve-control,  and  so 
"  a  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body"  is  the  result.  Health  of  mind,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
necessary  to  health  of  body.  We  see  plainly  enough,  in  extreme  cases  of  idiocy  and 
insanity,  that  a  diseased  mind  usually  accompanies,  if  it  does  not  result  in.  a  diseased 
body;  so,  then,  a  diseased  mind  deranges  the  health,  and  as  doctors  can  not  minister 
to  a  mind  diseased  any  more  than  they  can  to  a  sick  body,  with  drugs  simply,  then 
here,  too,  harmony  with  nature's  laws  is  the  price  of  health  and  beauty.  We  reach  the 
highest  beauty  of  all  when  we  attain  the  beauty  of  expression.  Beauty  in  its  highest 
manifestation  does  not  consist  in  any  one  part,  but  in  the  harmony  of  the  whole — mind,. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  G63 

body  and  soul.  A  face  may  sometimes  be  faultless  in  contour  and  coloring,  and  yet 
fail  to  satisfy  our  idea  of  beauty,  owing  to  a  lack  of  expression.  Expression  is  the 
painting  and  sculpture  of  the  soul  made  manifest  by  the  body,  the  radiation  of  char- 
acter through  the  channels  of  expression.  Physical  exercise  will  fill  those  channels  of 
expression  when  they  have  become  choked  by  habits  of  stiffness  and  self-conscious- 
ness, and  will  restore  the  graceful  suppleness,  if  not  the  unconscious  grace,  of  childhood. 
A  harsh,  unmusical  voice  and  awkward  body  can  not  well  express  sentiments  of  affec- 
tion and  sympathy;  neither  does  a  shrinking,  bashful  carriage  denote  courage  and  self- 
respect  and  kindred  attributes  which  we  value  in  our  acquaintances.  A  fine  bearing  is 
a  valuable  letter  of  recommendation  to  any  position,  because  of  the  qualities  of  mind 
supposed  to  underlie  and  to  be  expressed  by  this  means. 

When  men  and  women  study  to  know  themselves  and  nature's  laws  working  in 
their  minds  and  bodies,  and  when  they  are  ready  to  obey  those  laws  as  confidently  as 
the  chemist  obeys  the  laws  of  chemical  affinity,  then  shall  we  see  mothers  watching 
and  guarding  their  children  against  the  sins  of  the  body  as  well  as  the  sins  of  the  soul. 
Our  body,  the  temple  of  the  immortal  part  of  us,  will  not  be  considered  bestial  any 
longer,  but  will  be  sculptured  into  Divine  beauty  by  the  Divinity  within.  The  lofty 
carriage  and  high  courtesy  of  manner  will  reveal  the  noble» tenant  within. 


MUNICIPAL  SUFFRAGE  FOR  WOMEN  IN  MICHIGAN. 


By  MISS  OCTAVIA  WILLIAMS  BATES. 

When  the  women  of  Michigan  were  surprised,  last  May,  with  the  news  that  munici- 
pal suffrage  had  been  extended  by  the  legislature  of  that  state  so  as  to  mclude  them, 

the  great  majority  of  those  who  heard  the  tidings  little 
knew  of  the  bitter  struggle  that  the  pioneers  of  the 
movement  had  sustained  in  years  past.  They  little 
thought  of  those  who  had  endured  the  heat  and  the 
burden  of  the  fierce  fight,  but  who  had  passed  away 
without  enjoying  the  fruits  of  their  labor. 

A  few  were  mindful  of  all  this  and  the  memory 
of  it  chastened  the  joy  of  the  occasion  and  made  them 
still  more  dearly  prize  the  new  jewel  in  their  posses- 
sion. 

On  that  glad  day  a  few  women  in  Michigan  of 
clearer  vision  and  keener  insight  than  the  rest  of  their 
sisters  realized  that  a  great  opportunity  for  good  had 
come  to  them,  and  grateful  indeed  were  they  for  this 
boon. 

A  few  more  saw  that  the  "  stamp  of  inequality," 
which  is  the  "  brand  of  degradation,"  had  been,  to  a 
certain  degree,  effaced  from  the  women  of  the  state. 
But  how  has  this  revolution,  as  it  were,  been 
brought  about,  is  the  question  that  an  outsider  might 
naturally  ask;  and  who  should  have  the  credit  and 
honor  of  putting  Michigan  in  the  van-guard  of  the 
states  by  giving  this  larger  life  to  her  women? 

Many  causes  have  co-operated  to  produce  this  result.  The  passage  of  the  mar- 
ried woman's  property  act,  in  1858;  the  opening  of  the  University  of  Michigan  to 
women,  in  1870,  along  with  a  steady,  persistent  demand  for  the  representation  of 
women  in  the  government  of  the  state  on  the  part  of  the  advocates  of  that  idea,  have 
all  contributed  their  share  to  the  formation  of  a  public  sentiment  favorable  to  the 
passage  of  a  municipal  suffrage  bill  for  women. 

It  is  not  a  new  idea  in  Michigan — this  idea  of  equal  political  representation — nor 
is  the  beginning  and  growth  of  public  opinion  on  the  subject  of  woman  suffrage  a 
recent  topic  of  interest. 

The  agitation  on  this  question  began  in  Michigan  in  1846,  with  the  advent  of 
Ernestine  L.  Rose,  who  spoke  twice  in  the  legislative  hall  in  Detroit.  Her  work  in 
Detroit,  Ann  Arbor  and  other  places,  was  three  or  four  years  prior  to  the  first  report 
by  the  Special  Committee  of  the  Senate  in  the  general  revision  of  the  constitution, 
nine  years  before  the  House  Committee's  report  on  elections  in  response  to  women's 
petitions,  and  twelve  years  before  the  favorable  "  report  of  the  Senate  upon  the  memo- 
rial of  ladies,  praying  for  the  privilege  of  the  elective  franchise."  After  this  time 
there  were  various  spasmodic  and  entirely  unrelated  efforts  in  different  parts  of  the 
state,  until  the  formation  of  the  Michigan  State  Suffrage  Society  which  was  organ- 
Miss  Octavia  Williams  Bates  is  a  native  of  Detroit,  Mich.  Her  parents  were  Samuel  and  Rebecca  Bates,  of  that  city. 
She  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Detroit  and  is  a  graduate  of  the  University  of  Micliigan  in  the  classical  course. 
She  has  traveled  in  various  parts  of  the  United  States  and  Canada.  She  is  a  woman  of  great  intelligence  and  very  fine  appear- 
ance. Miss  Bates  is  specially  interested  in  the  Woman  Suffrage  Movement.  In  religious  faith  she  is  a  Unitiirian.  Her 
postofiB<;e  address  is  No.  53  Bagg  Street,  Detroit,  Mich. 

664 


MISS   OCTAVIA    WILLIAMS   BATES. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  665 

ized  at  the  close  of  the  first  convention,  held  in  Battle  Creek  in  1870,  which  has  done 
the  usual  work  of  aiding  in  the  formation  of  local  societies,  circulating  tracts  and  peti- 
tions, securing  hearings  before  the  legislature,  and  holding  its  annual  meetings  from 
year  to  year  in  the  different  cities  of  the  state. 

Legislative  action  on  the  question  of  woman  suffrage  began  in  Michigan  in  1849; 
continued  in  the  legislatures  of  1855,  1857  and  1859,  until  in  1874  "A  bill  for  sep- 
arate submission  to  a  vote  of  the  people  on  an  amendment  to  the  constitution  relating 
to  woman  suffrage,"  was  passed  by  the  legislature.  Everything  that  could  be  done 
was  done  by  the  friends  of  the  amendment  throughout  the  state,  but  it  did  not  succeed. 
The  liberal  action  of  the  legislature  in  passing  the  bill,  of  Governor  Bagley  in  sign- 
ing the  bill,  the  appeals  of  the  women,  nor  the  votes  of  forty  thousand  of  the  best  men 
of  the  state — all  of  these  were  of  no  avail.  A  blight  fell  on  the  spirits  of  the  advocates 
of  the  movement.  The  State  BLqual  Suffrage  Association  still  continued  its  work 
amid  many  discouragements.  And  a  few  heroic  women  in  Michigan  never  ceased  in 
their  efforts.  Prominent  among  them  are  Mrs.  Mary  Knaggs,  Mrs.  Martha  E.  Root, 
both  of  Bay  City;  Mrs.  Mary  L.  Doe,  Mrs.  Emily  B.  Ketchum.  of  Grand  Rapids,  with 
Mrs.  Helen  P.  Jenkins,  Mrs.  A.  A.  Boutelle,  and  Mrs.  C.  P2.  Fox,  of  Detroit,  who  have 
all  taken  an  active  part  in  legislative  work  and  to  whom  great  honor  is  due  for  the 
course  they  have  pursued  in  obtaining  the  recent  municipal  suffrage  bill  for  the 
women  of  their  state. 

The  work  in  Detroit  ceased  publicly  until  in  1887  the  Detroit  Equal  Suffrage 
Association  was  formed,  with  Hon.  Thomas  W  Palmer  as  chief  mover  and  director, 
who  has  ever  been  ready  to  help  the  movement  for  woman  suffrage,  not  only  in 
Michigan,  but  throughout  the  United  States,  with  his  speech,  his  pen,  his  money,  and 
the  immense  personal  influence  at  his  command.  This  association  has  never  been 
strong  in  point  of  numbers,  but  if  the  strength  of  an  association  is  to  be  measured  by 
unanimity,  moral  courage  and  enthusiasm  among  its  members,  and  work  accomplished 
by  its  members,  then  is  this  association  strong,  indeed.  Brought  together  more  for 
the  purpose  of  mutual  support  and  sympathy,  than  for  any  definite  plan  of  action, 
their  work  has  come  to  them  more  rapidly  and  with  more  imperative  demands  than 
they  have  been  able  to  perform.  Very  soon  after  the  inception  of  the  society,  a  prac- 
tical plan  of  work  for  extending  the  suffrage  was  determined  upon,  which  reached  its 
consummation  when  the  amendment  to  the  charter  of  the  city  of  Detroit  was  passed  in 
the  legislature  of  1889,  which  gave  school  suffrage  to  the  women  of  the  city  of 
Detroit.  That  a  very  large  number  of  women  have  so  keenly  appreciated  this  priv- 
ilege and  have  so  generally  availed  themselves  of  its  advantages  has  been  the  most 
telling  argument  in  favor  of  still  further  extending  the  suffrage  by  means  of  the 
■"  Municipal  Suffrage  Bill  for  Women."  This  bill  has  been  brought  before  the  legis- 
lature for  the  last  ten  years,  with  varying  fortunes. 

The  discussion  in  the  legislature  of  1893,  over  this  "  Bill  for  Municipal  Suffrage 
for  Women,"  lasted  many  hours,  and  was  marked  by  many  and  unusually  trying  inci- 
dents. Bitterly  opposed  by  some  of  the  membefs  of  the  legislature,  it  was  ably  cham- 
pioned by  others.  After  an  exciting  contest  the  bill  was  finally  adopted  by  that  body 
Governor  Rich  has  since  signed  the  bill  and  it  is  now  a  law  in  Michigan.  At  first  the 
argument  was  that  women  did  not  want  to  vote,  and  would  not  vote  if  they  had  the 
chance;  but,  in  the  meantime,  the  school  election  took  place  in  Detroit.  The  interest 
and  vigor  shown  by  the  women,  in  this  election,  convinced  an  objecting  member  that 
the  women  of  Michigan  do  want  to  vote.  When  the  bill  came  up  the  second  time, 
with  the  educational  clause  in  it.  this  member  voted  for  it,  and  his  vote  carried  the  bill 
through  the  legislature.     The  law  provides: 

"  That  in  all  school,  village  and  city  elections,  women  who  can  read  the  state  con- 
stitution printed  in  English,  shall  be  allowed  to  vote  for  all  school,  village  or  city  offi- 
cers, and  on  all  questions  pertaining  to  school,  village  and  city  regulations,  on  the 
same  terms  and  conditions  as  prescribed  by  law  for  male  citizens,  if  able  to  read  at 
least  one  section  of  the  state  constitution. 


666  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

"That  all  laws  prescribing  the  qualifications  of  voters  at  school,  village  and  city- 
elections,  shall  apply  to  women  who  can  read  the  state  constitution,  as  provided,  and 
they  shall  enjoy  all  the  rights,  privileges  and  immunities,  and  their  names  shall  be 
registered  in  the  same  manner,  as  provided  by  law  for  other  voters." 

It  is  thus  a  limited  suffrage,  for  it  expressly  excepts  town,  county  and  state  offi- 
cers. The  offices  that  women  may  vote  for  and  the  offices  to  which  they  are  now 
eligible  under  this  law  are:  Mayor,  city  clerk,  city  attorney,  city  treasurer,  five  mem- 
bers of  the  board  of  estimates  for  the  city-at-large,  a  member  of  the  board  of  esti- 
mates for  each  ward,  an  alderman  in  each  ward,  a  constable  in  each  ward,  and  inspec- 
tors of  election  in  the  several  precincts. 

This  law  has  been  held  valid  by  the  Supreme  court  of  the  state,  as  not  conflicting 
with  the  provision  in  the  state  constitution,  declaring  that  only  male  citizens  shall  be 
electors;  and  it  is  put  on  this  ground:  That  the  constitution  makes  it  the  duty  of  the 
legislature  to  provide  for  a  primary  school  system,  and  under  that  provision,  the  legis- 
lature passed  the  provision  defining  the  qualifications  of  voters  under  the  act.  The 
system  being  a  creature  of  the  legislature,  the  latter  was  authorized  to  pass  such  reg- 
ulations in  reference  to  it,  as  it  saw  fit.  Under  this  act  the  women  of  Michigan  have 
voted  for  a  number  of  years;  have  entered  into  many  election  contests,  and  are  now 
sitting  as  members  of  our  school  boards. 

The  question  the  lawyers  in  Michigan  are  now  debating  is:  Will  this  provision 
stand  the  test  of  the  courts?* 

If  this  act  be  constitutional,  all  fair-minded  and  thinking  people  will  regard  the 
educational  qualification  as  a  good  and  a  prudent  measure.  It  will,  no  doubt,  prove 
to  be  the  entering  wedge  for  full  state  suffrage,  and,  as  such,  it  is  of  great  interest  to- 
the  whole  country.  A  wise  provision  it  must  also  be  regarded  because  it  gives  munic- 
ipal suffrage  to  a  limited  number  of  women,  and  to  the  best  class  of  them,  as  a  sort 
of  preliminary  trial.  It  thus  meets  the  objection  that  woman  suffrage,  if  granted,  will 
only  increase  the  number  of  ignorant  voters.  The  bill  recognizes  woman  as  a  political 
factor,  and  from  the  small  majorities  now  existing  between  the  two  great  political 
parties,  it  practically  gives  her  an  opportunity  to  hold  the  balance  of  power  in  the 
villages  and  cities  of  Michigan.  It  is  one  hopeful  sign  of  the  new  order  of  things 
toward  which  we  are  evidently  tending,  that  political  organizations  of  women,  called 
Municipal  Franchise  Leagues,  have  been  formed  in  different  parts  of  Michigan  and 
are  earnestly  studying  such  subjects  as:  (i)  Qualifications  of  voters;  (2)  Officers. 
Elective,  their  requirements,  duties  and  responsibilities;  (3)  Officers  Appointive, 
their  requirements,  duties  and  responsibilities;  (4)  Common  Council;  (5)  Boards, 
how  constituted  and  respective  duties;  (6)  City  or  Village  taxes,  school  taxes  and 
highway  taxes;  (7)  Elections,  how  conducted;  Board  of  Registration,  its  duties;  (8) 
Ordinances. 

In  Detroit  a  member  of  the  legislature — Representative  Shellberg — is  addressing 
meetings  of  women  every  Thursday  afternoon  on  such  subjects  as:  (i)  The  Primary 
Caucus;  (2)  Naturalization;  (3)  The  Constitution;  (4)  Conventions;  (5)  Regis- 
tration; (6)  How  to  Vote;  (7)  The  Strength  of  Independence. 

As  a  result  of  these  different  modes  of  agitation  women  are  forming  themselves 
into  political  organizations  in  different  parts  of  Michigan.  Everything  indicates  that 
they  will  not  be  cajoled  by  political  tricksters  into  furthering  the  interests  of  any  party 
or  clique  if  the  women  of  capacity  and  of  sterling  integrity,  who  are  the  leaders  of  the 
movement  in  Detroit,  can  help  it. 

Another  hopeful  sign  of  the  times  is  that  numbers  of  noble,  thinking  men  are  not 
only  helping  women,  who  are  cautiously  and  timidly  groping  toward  a  comprehension 
and  an  appreciation  of  their  political  rights  and  civic  duties,  but  they  are  also  giving 
them  freely  of  their  own  knowledge  and  experience,  and  are  aiding  them  to  use  this 
privilege  wisely  and  well. 

*  The  coarts  have  since  decided  the  bill  onconBtitutional. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  667 

It  begins  to  look  very  much  as  though  what  has  seemed  but  a  dream  of  the  future 
is  to  become  a  living  reality  in  the  near  present,  and  that  good  men  and  good  women 
shall  hold  the  balance  of  political  power  in  this  country,  and  that  good  men  shall  join 
with  good  women  in  an  earnest  endeavor  to  bring  about  a  better  condition  of  affairs 
than  now  exists.  Not  only  are  men  helping  women  in  political  gatherings,  but  a  gen- 
erous and  chivalrous  spirit  is  also  manifested  in  other  directions.  At  a  recent  meet- 
ing of  the  common  council  in  Detroit  Alderman  Wright  offered  the  following  resolu- 
tion, which  was  adopted  without  debate: 

Whereas,  By  a  recent  act  of  the  legislature  the  women  of  this  city,  under  certain  restrictions, 
will  be  permitted  to  participate  in  the  coming  municipal  elections;  and 

Whereas,  Inasmuch  as  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  several  thousand  of  them  will  participate 
in  the  election,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sentiment  of  this  body  that  the  said  women  should  be  represented  upon 
each  municipal  election  board  in  order  that  all  the  privileges  and  benefits  derived  by  such  representa- 
tion may  be  duly  accorded  to  them. 

It  is  amusing  to  observe  how  both  Republicans  and  Democrats  are  now  doing 
their  utmost  to  secure  the  vote  of  the  women  at  the  approaching  fall  elections.  In  a 
recent  interview  a  prominent  politician  in  Detroit  gives  it  as  his  opinion  that  women 
really  do  purify  politics,  and  that  when  it  comes  to  party  enthusiasm  and  systematic 
work  women  not  only  equal  men,  but  even  surpass  them. 

The  *'  Municipal  Suffrage  Bill  for  Women  in  Michigan  "  has  made  soijie  enemies, 
as  the  following  will  show: 

"The  Michigan  Liquor  Dealers'  Association- met  in  delegate  convention  two 
hundred  and  fifty  strong,  at  Arbeiter  Hall,  Grand  Rapids,  August  23,  and  resolved  to 
oppose  the  law  giving  women  municipal  suffrage.  In  a  preliminary  circular  sent  out 
to  the  trade  some  weeks  ago,  the  association  says: 

"  '  The  last  session  of  the  legislature  in  this  state,  by  giving  to  the  women  a  fran- 
chise with  an  educational  restriction,  struck  a  blow  directly  at  our  interests  and 
rights.  It  is  only  a  question  of  time  as  to  what  the  inevitable  result  will  be  to  us, 
unless  we  promptly  get  under  one  banner  and  fight  shoulder  to  shoulder  for  our 
interests.' " 

There  is  one  important  feature  of  the  situation  in  Michigan  which  must  not  be 
overlooked,  and  that  is  the  educational  value  of  this  bill  toward  the  attainment  of 
full  suffrage  for  women.  The  force  gained  from  the  success  of  school  suffrage  has. 
carried  the  movement  on  to  the  attainment  of  municipal  suffrage.  Public  opinion 
must  be  educated  by  means  of  municipal  suffrage,  so  that  the  attainment  of  state 
suffrage  first,  and  afterward  federal  suffrage,  will  be  only  questions  of  time. 

"  Now  we  have  a  definite  purpose  to  work  for:  to  enlighten  women  concerning 
the  situation  and  arouse  them  to  a  sense  of  duty  and  responsibility  to  intelligently 
and  judiciously  exercise  this  new  privilege  and  thus  make  way  for  their  full  political 
enfranchisement,"  says  Mrs.  Emily  B.  Ketchum,  President  of  the  Michigan  Equal 
Suffrage  Association. 

The  effect  of  this  municipal  suffrage  law  on  the  villages  and  cities  in  Michigan  will 
be  watched  with  interest  by  thinkers  all  over  this  country  and,  possibly,  all  over  the 
world.  The  hope  of  its  advocates  is,  that  in  proportion  as  the  results  predicted  by  its 
adherents  are  realized,  will  men  from  other  states  adopt  it  in  their  own. 


WOMEN  IN  POLITICS. 


By  MRS.  J.  ELLEN  FOSTER. 

When  the  theory  of  popular  government  finds  its  full  development  and  perfect 
realization  in  the  American  system,  woman  will  hold  her  natural  place  in  politics. 

That  she  may  serve  her  country  today,  though  dis- 
franchised, and  when  she  has  the  ballot  in  her  hand 
serve  better,  I  earnestly  advocate  her  present  partici- 
pation in  politics. 

First,  what  can  she  do;  second,  what  does  she 
do;  third,  what  will  be  the  result  of  her  doing? 

At  the  basis  of  all  influence  and  action  is  knowl- 
edge. Woman's  first  duty  is  to  know  the  system  of 
government  under  which  she  lives.  United  States 
history,  political  as  well  as  geographical  and  social, 
should  be  familiar  to  every  intelligent  woman.  Like 
a  romance  reads  some  portions  of  it.  Woman's  con- 
scientious nature  can  not  fail  to  find  warrant  for 
present  obligation  and  effort  in  the  record  of  what 
was  done  in  America's  heroic  years. 

American  biography  is  another  fruitful  source  of 
information.  Not  the  biography  of  women  alone,  but 
of  men  who  have  fought  our  social,  industrial  and 
political  battles. 

Every    contest  for   better   conditions   of   living/ 
bears  directly  upon  the  home  and  the  woman  in  it. 
Ignorance  of  what  security  costs  lessens  appreciation 
and  weakens  effort.      Every  crisis  in  the  state,  and  even   the  ordinary  conduct  of 
political  affairs,  is  the  culmination  of  causes  always  operative  among  men. 

Man  is  the  subject  of  government.     Man  is  the  factor  in  politics.     The  continuity 
of  woman's  political  influence  is  proportioned  to  her  knowledge  of  man  in  history  and 
aj~ma.n  in  the  world  of  today.     The  woman  who  is  thus  equipped  as  counselor,  friend 
Land  servant  in  political  affairs  possesses  unmeasured  influence  for  good. 

Not  only  should  she  know  what  has   been,  but  what  is.     Her  brain  and  heart 

"    should  be  in  touch  with  the  tide  of  human  life  which  flows  by  her  own  hearth-stone. 

She  feels  for  the  poor,  for  the  helpless,  for  the  suffering;  she  gives  of  her  love  and  her 

labor  for  their  relief;    she  should  do  more,  she  should  follow  these   interests   to  the 

point  of  society's  comprehensive  action  in  law. 

It  is  well  to  visit  and  build  hospitals;  it  is  better  to  know  what  lack  of  sanitary 
conditions  breeds  disease,  and  by  public  sentiment  coerce  political  and  legislative 
action  which  shall  substitute  conditions  of  health  for  such  as  breed  disease. 

She  should  not  only  weep  over  the  drunkard  and  his  family,  but  should  study  the 

Mrs.  J.  Ellen  Horton  Foster  was  born  in  Lowell,  Mass.  She  is  the  daughter  of  Rev.  Jotham  Horton,  a  Methodist 
miniater.  She  was  educated  at  Lima,  N.  Y.,  and  has  traveled  extensively  in  Europe  and  America.  In  1869  she  married  Mr. 
E.  C.  Foster,  of  (jlinton,  Iowa.  She  is  the  mother  of  four  children,  two  sons  and  two  daughters.  The  sons  only  are  now 
living.  Mrs.  Foster  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Iowa  in  1872.  She  first  practiced 
alonci  and  afterward  formed  a  partnership  with  her  husband.  She  became  an  enthusiastic  temperance  worker,  and 
abandoned  the  practice  of  law  largely  in  that  interest.  Her  legal  knowledge  has  been  of  great  value  in  securing  legislation. 
Feeling  the  need  of  woman's  suffrage  in  the  cause  of  temperance,  she  became  a  zealous  suffragist.  She  is  a  successful  and 
pleasing  lecturer,  and  has  published  many  pamphlets  in  the  interest  of  temperance.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Church.    Her  postoffice  address  is  CJhicago,  111. 


MRS.  J.  ELLKN  FOSTER. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  669 

problem  of  temperance  legislation,  so  that  the  state  shall,  up  to  the  full  measure  of 
public  conviction  and  consequent  power,  destroy  the  traffic  in  intoxicating  beverages. 

At  the  point  where  philanthropic  effort  seeks  the  aid  of  political  action  and  the 
defense  of  legislation  there  is  the  danger  line  in  woman's  political  work.  If  her 
impulses  are  not  guided  by  knowledge  she  will  miss  her  opportunity  of  usefulness, 
injure  the  cause  she  loves,  and  incidentally  lose  prestige  as  a  political  factor. 

What  does  she  do?  Woman's  present  activity  is  usually  applied  to  furthering 
her  personal  interests  or  the  philanthropic  and  industrial  schemes  where  her  sympa- 
thies lie,  and  in  securing  the  ballot  for  the  disfranchised  half  of  American  citizens. 

These  aims  are  good.  Is  not  a  wife  a  real  helpmate  if  she  honorably  aids  her 
husband  to  get  to  Congress?  No  patriotic  citizen  need  blush  for  the  desire  to  sit  in 
the  greatest  council  chamber  of  the  world. 

Neither  need  Iowa  women  apologize  for  their  part  in  the  political  action  which 
drove  the  saloon  out  of  Iowa,  nor  for  their  present  determined  opposition  to  its 
return.  They  still  declare  "the  saloon  shall  never  again  have  legal  existence  in 
Iowa."  The  pathos  of  their  cry  is  pitiful  while  their  hands  arc  ballotlcss;  but  their 
political  power  to  a  limited  degree  is  admitted  by  friend  and  foe. 

What  does  woman  do?  I  dare  assert  that  woman's  political  influence  has  been  a  -^ 
necessary  factor  in  the  progressive  legislation  which  distinguishes  our  time;  and  with 
even  more  emphasis  I  declare  that  if  she  were  more  studious  of  political  conditions, 
and  more  persistent  in  behalf  of  her  convictions  on  political  questions,  she  might 
remedy  many  existing  defects  in  the  conduct  of  public  affairs.  The  men  in  politics 
who  love  darkness  rather  than  light,  because  their  deeds  are  evil,  have  occasion  to 
dread  the  light  which  wornen's  tongues  let  in  on  their  devious  ways. 

lip  I  repudiate  the  sentiment  which  declares  that  a  woman  need  have  no  political 
convictions  and  need  give  no  political  service  until  she  is  enfranchised;  while  I  can 
not  understand  how  any  self-respecting  patriotic  woman  can  be  content  without  the 
scepter  of  freedom  in  this  republig,  I  still  remember  how  much  women  owe  to  the 
system  of  government  under  the  flag,  and  remember  those  to  whom  much  is  given,  of 
them  much  is  required;  and  that  he  who  is  faithful  in  a  few  things  shall  be  made 
ruler  over  many  things. 

What  will  the  result  be?  This  enlargement  of  woman's  activities  will  make  her 
stronger  and  purer  in  her  home.  Stagnant  waters  are  foul,  the  swiftest,  deepest  cur- 
rent is  the  purest. 

Woman  is  most  to  her  home  when  she  contains  the  most  in  herself      She  will  bev 
a  defense  to  her  home  against  the  world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil,  just  in  proportion  as 
she  is  able  to  meet  the  world  on  its  many  sided  attacks. 


A  NEW  FIELD  FOR  WOMEN. 


By  MRS.  JULIA  EDWARDS  SHERMAN. 

"  From  the  rising  of  the  sun  even  until  the  going  down  of  the  same,"  the  marvel 
of  life  and  the  mystery  of  death  is  an  ever  discussed  and  ever  unsettled  question.    One 

of  intense,  of  unending  interest,  but  happily  not  so 
hopeless  of  solution   is  the  so-called  "  woman  ques- 
tion." 
,.^^;; '  "*  "  ""^'^  Man  and   his  destiny  and   mission  we  accept  as 

'fi  \        any  every-day  fact.     We   expect   him  to  work,  to   be 

strong  mentally  and  physically.  He  has,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  to  do  with  industrial,  educational  and  polit- 
ical life.  Business  and  moneyed  interests,  from  little 
to  big,  seem  his  born  province.  From  the  dawn  of 
creation  it  was  clearly  demonstrated  that  man  was  to 
till  the  soil,  blast  the  rock,  hew  the  timber.  He  was 
to  be  preacher,  teacher,  merchant,  a  skilled  artificer; 
and  nowadays  when  he  chooses  to  encroach  upon  our 
domain  we  even  accept  him  without  hue  and  cry  as 
our  dressmaker  and  our  domestic,  and  we  must  say 
that  we  usually  like  him  in  these  capacities  and  wish 
there  were  more  of  him.  I  wonder  if  he  would  as 
gracefully  accept  us  as  his  tailor?  Sometimes  as 
"  lord  of  creation  "  we  honor  and  admire  man,  and 
we  always  used  to  love  and  marry  him,  but  alas!  for 
poor  man!  such  cases  threaten  to  become  rather 
sporadic. 

But  woman  and  her  province!  What  an  unending  subject!  In  times  long  past, 
save  in  her  own  narrow  sphere,  ostracized  and  ignored;  in  times  present,  revered  and 
honored.  What  she  is,  what  she  ought  to  be  and  do,  what  she  will  be  and  do,  are 
topics  inexhaustible,  of  talk,  thought  and  song. 

"  Fair  Woman's  World"  is  no  longer  confined  to  the  fashionable  and  social  col- 
umns of  our  leading  journals;  but  under  educational,  professional  and  political  notes, 
her  frequent  and  usually  worthy  mention  is  no  longer  ignored,  and  when  she  is  over- 
looked, why  all  that  she  has  to  do  is  to  start  a  newspaper  of  her  own  devoted  entirely  to 
her  own  interests. 

Right  or  wrong — created  for  this,  that  or  the  other  purpose  or  vocation  in  life — 
certain  it  is  that  womankind  today  has  established  her  own  and  her  sisters'  inaliena- 
ble right  to  do  anything  that  she  can  competently  and  honestly  accomplish.  She  is 
indeed  all  along  the  lines  of  life  successfully  carving  out  her  own  career,  much  to  her 
own  satisfaction  and  oftentimes  to  the  amazement  and  generous  admiration  of  man, 
who,  in  my  opinion,  is  maligned  when  accused  of  antagonistic  propensities  toward  his 
sister  man. 

Mr8.  Jalia  Edwards  Sherman  was  bom  at  Ypsilanti,  Mich.,  in  1845.  Her  parents  were  David  and  Maria  Fairohild 
Edwards,  of  New  England.  She  is  an  only  child.  She  was  educated  at  Ypsilanti,  Mich.,  and  has  traveled  considerably  in  the 
United  States  and  resided  in  New  York  City  many  years.  In  1866  she  married  Mr.  George  Sherman,  of  New  York,  prominent 
in  the  insurance  world.  He  died  in  1877,  leaving  one  child,  a  promising  son  now  eighteen  years  of  age.  In  1887  financial 
vicissitudes  caused  Mrs.  Sherman  to  enter  the  business  world.  She  chose  Fire  and  Life  Insurance,  in  which  vocation  she  is 
favorably  known.  In  social  and  literary  circles  she  occupies  an  enviable  position.  In  religions  faith  she  is  an  Episcopalian^ 
Her  postoffice  address  is  Ypsilanti,  Mich. 

670 


MRS.  JULIA  fiDWARDS  SHERMAN. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  671 

In  short,  whether  Eve  was  made  from  one  of  Adam's  true  or  false  ribs,  as  they  are 
termed  in  physiology,  matters  little;  for  certain  it  is  that  in  this  good  year  of  1893  vvc 
must  concede  to  Mrs.  Adam  her  full  quota  of  ribs,  and  the  most  prejudiced,  if  such 
there  be,  must  admit  that  they  are  attached  to  just  as  good  and  stiff  a  backbone  as  any 
modern  Adam  can  boast  of  possessing. 

I  need  not  enumerate  the  splendid  achievements  of  our  sisters,  nor  need  I  go  into 
detail  to  show  you  the  many  ways,  the  many  fields  in  which  countless  numbers  today 
are  earning  honest  bread,  and  I  am  happy  to  add,  in  some  instances,  are  also  winning 
health,  wealth  and  fame.  Suffice  it  briefly  to  remind  you,  that  the  professions  and 
literary  ranks  alone  number  over  two  hundred  thousand  women.  Six  thousand  are 
in  postoffices  in  this  land,  aside  from  that  mighty  army  of  shop  women  and  girls,  office 
clerks,  stenographers  and  accountants,  those  in  factories,  and  especially  teachers;  also 
the  few  who  are  engaged  in  real  estate,  mercantile  pursuits,  even  railroading,  etc. 

I  do  not  know  how  great  a  proportion,  but  very  many  of  these  women  are  doubt- 
less breadwinners  not  from  choice,  but  necessity,  which  compelled  them  to  put  aside 
their  sentiment,  their  cherished  ideals,  and  to  bend  all  their  energies  to  the  stern  prac- 
ticalities of  life.    All  honor  to  this  class. 

Another  class  today  enters  the  business  world,  not  quite  so  impelled  by  necessity, 
but  some  definite  object  in  life  is  a  vent  for  their  restless  energy,  and  to  them  a  happy 
solution  of  their  destiny. 

A  few  yet  higher  in  the  social  scales  are  today  deliberately  choosing  business  and 
public  careers,  and  if  therein  they  find  independence,  money,  glory  or  fame  sweeter 
than  old-fashioned  home  joys,  why  the  world  will  have  to  abide  by  the  consequences, 
and  just  what  the  outcome  will  be  remains  to  be  seen.     Who  shall  prophesy? 

It  may  be  reassuring  to  remind  you  that  Plato,  who  you  remember  wrote  nearly 
four  hundred  years  before  the  Saviour's  birth,  tells  us  that  "all  the  pursuits  of  men  are 
the  pursuits  of  women  also,"  and  in  all  of  them,  he  adds,  "woman  is  only  a  weaker 
man." 

Well,  happily  all  women  are  not  breadwinners  either  from  choice  or  necessity. 
Granted  that  woman  may  today  enter  upon  any  business  career  that  in  her  opinion 
seems  well  and  good,  I  would  call  your  attention  to  just  one  field,  by  her  heretofore 
quite  overlooked  or  ignored.  It  is  a  field  full  of  promise  and  profit  for  women  with 
any  aptitude  in  this  direction,  and  it  is  an  avenue  that  will  never  be  crowded  because 
it  is  not  the  majority  who  can  succeed  in  this  line,  and  this  field  is  life  insurance. 
The  social  and  financial  status  of  the  business  makes  it  a  suitable,  dignified  calling  for 
womankind.  Comparatively  few  women  have  as  yet  entered  its  ranks  as  solicitors, 
agents  or  managers,  but  those  who  have  attempted  it  are  making  money,  and  no  mean 
fame  in  the  business  world. 

To  fully  explain  this  work,  let  me  first  speak  somewhat  of  life  assurance.  You 
are  perhaps  aware  that  it  is  today  the  greatest  financial,  and  the  most  beneficent  insti- 
tution in  this  country.  Its  sure  benefits  are  scattered  broadcast  all  over  this  and  other 
lands.  It  has  clothed,  warmed,  fed  and  built  homes  for  countless  widows  and  made 
■education  possible  for  their  fatherless  children.  Indeed,  its  merits  in  the  business 
world  are  perhaps  too  well  known  to  need  any  recital  of  them;  perhaps,  too,  the  least 
practical  woman  here  must  be  aware  that  in  thesetimes  of  financial  depression,  collapsed 
interests,  and  broken  banks,  no  one  questions  the  security  of  what  is  termed  "Old-line" 
Life  Insurance  Companies.  I  repeat  that  they  are  the  most  secure  and  the  biggest 
moneyed  interests  in  the  world  today,  and  as  you  doubtless  know,  thousands  of  men 
are  covered  by  their  protection,  and  there  are  many  more  thousands  who  need  and 
ought  to  have  policies  in  these  stanch  companies.  And  this  brings  me  to  point  out 
to  you  the  fact  that  as  our  country  grows  in  age  and  wealth,  we  have  among  us  not  only 
scores  of  wealthy  men,  but  we  have  also  great  numbers  of  wealthy  women.  To  most 
of  these  their  riches  have  come  as  a  new  thing,  and  American  women  until  of  late  so 
little  experienced  in  business  and  money  matters,  find  their  riches  oftener  than  other- 
Avise,  a  not  unmixed  blessing.     Shameful  as  the  record   is,  many  wealthy  women  have 


672  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

been  plundered  by  their  too  grasping  brothers;  however,  today,  women  are  fast  learning- 
how  to  invest  and  how  to  care  for  their  own  funds. 

To  this  class,  not  as  active  workers  but  as  participators  in  this  "  New  Field  for 
Women,"  I  would  address  a  few  words. 

Like  other  things  life  insurance,  of  late  years,  has  been  progressive,  and  hand  in 
hand  with  its  sure  protection  there  is  now  added  the  investment  feature  also.  Espe- 
cially is  this  the  case  in  what  is  known  as  the  endowment  policy;  i.e., one  insures  for  a 
certain  sum  payable  to  one's  self  at  the  end  of  a  stated  period,  say  ten,  fifteen  or 
twenty  years  hence,  and  the  certainty  of  receiving  again  in  life  (or  as  an  estate  in  case 
of  death)  this  sum,  together  with  good  dividends,  commends  itself  beyond  any  savings 
bank  in  the  country.  No  other  investment  is  so  sure;  consequently  our  richest  and 
keenest  business  men  we  find  carrying  the  largest  insurance  upon  their  lives. 

No  wise,  prudent  man  goes  without  fire  insurance  protection,  and  yet  every  house 
does  not  burn,  but  every  life  ceases  some  day,  and  very  few  persons  indeed  in  this 
world  of  financial  vicissitudes  can  afford  to  ignore  life  insurance.  1  say  it  deliberately, 
there  is  not  of  insurable  age  one  wealthy  woman  in  this  land  who  ought  to  be  without 
good  life  insurance  protection  in  proportion  to  her  financial  status.  Other  investments 
promising  large  returns  are  so  often  disappointing.  Such  unforeseen  reverses  con- 
stantly occurring,  all  combine  to  make  life  assurance  one  of  the  necessities  of  our 
times.  An  easy  and  simple  thing  it  is  to  do;  a  wise  precaution  to  take,  and,  except  for 
those  in  very  straitened  circumstances,  within  the  reach  of  all  persons. 

Now  to  carry  insurance  and  its  blessings  to  just  this  one  class  of  wealthy  and  tax- 
paying  women  would  indeed  afford  abundant,  I  may  say  inexhaustible  work,  for  very 
many  women  as  life  insurance  agents  or  solicitors.  Aside  from  good  remuneration 
for  their  labor,  there  would,  in  every  instance,  be  the  consciousness  of  having  inesti- 
mably benefited  the  assured. 

If  you  please,  let  us  take  just  one  other  class — school-teachers.  A  mighty  army 
they  are.  There  is  scarcely  any  work  that  makes  such  great  demands  upon  a  woman's 
vitality,  especially  her  nervous  forces;  consequently  her  working  years  in  this  field  are 
comparatively  few.  Now,  if  during  these  wage-earning  years  she  will  put  for  a  few  years 
a  certain  sum  called  the  premium  into  an  endowment  policy,  it  will  insure  her  an  old 
age  replete  with  creature  comforts,  and  full  of  self-respect  and  dignity  because  robbed 
of  financial  terrors. 

Small  earnings  put  into  savings  banks  are  so  hopeless  It  takes  years  in  this 
way  to  accomplish  savings  for  old  age  or  calamity,  moreover  such  savings  are  alto- 
gether too  accessible,  and  oftener  than  otherwise  are  drawn  out  for  various  purposes; 
but  one  premium  paid  into  a  stanch  insurance  company  means,  should  one  die  the 
next  minute,  an  estate  of  so  many  hundred  or  thousand  dollars,  which  will  protect  the 
living  or  those  dependent  upon  us.  This  is  financial  protection,  the  cheapest  and  the 
best  that  the  financial  world  affords,  and  as  said  before,  in  the  case  of  an  endowment 
policy  and  the  insured  living  to  the  end  of  the  endowment  period  or  term  there  is  the 
certainty  of  funds  for  one's  self. 

Again,  the  time  was  when  none  of  our  best  companies  insured  women's  lives. 
Today  several  are  writing  such  risks,  but  some  of  them  charge  an  extra  premium  upon 
female  risks.  However,  two  or  three  of  our  oldest  and  best  companies  are  not  bound 
by  this  absurd  rule;  instead,  they  insure  women  upon  any  and  all  plans  just  the  same 
as  they  do  men,  and  without  extra  premium.  Certainly  such  a  company  commends 
itself  to  those  seeking  insurance. 

In  this  field  work  is  abundant.  Whoever  enters  here  can  feel  that  she  is  doing 
dignified,  womanly,  worthy  work.  Today  women  are  standing  by  each  other,  trusting 
and  believing,  not  only  in  the  honesty,  but  in  the  ability  of  their  sisters  as  never 
before;  consequently,  womanly  women  are  in  some  cases  finding  it  more  agreeable  to 
do  business  with  women  than  with  men,  though  the  latter  are  by  no  means  bears  or 
boors  when  properly  approached  in  the  business  world  by  women. 

If  our  American  men  are  as  good  and  gracious  as   I  personally  rate  them,  they 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  673 

will  by  no  means  have  heavily  burdened  consciences.  Business  avenues  are  so 
crowded,  and  the  competition  for  bread  is  so  sharp  that  we  must  forgive  man  if  at 
first  he  was  none  too  gracious  toward  woman,  who  demanded  her  share  of  both  his 
bread  and  honors;  but  let  a  woman  once  demonstrate  her  ability  to  win  bread,  to  do 
good  and  honest  work,  and  she  has  no  further  feuds  with  man,  but  ever  after  com- 
mands his  respect  and  esteem,  and  beyond  that  she  must  not  presume. 

As  said  before,  one  must  be  possessed  of  certain  qualifications  and  an  inborn 
aptitude  to  do  successful  work  in  life  insurance  ranks;  but  any  woman  with  talent  or 
inclination  in  this  direction  has  but  to  enter  an  insurance  office,  which  is  b.y  far  the  best 
way  to  learn  the  business,  and  any  of  our  companies  will  gladly  instruct  and  aid  to 
the  fullest  extent,  giving  her  a  fair  chance  to  test  her  abilities  in  this  line.  If  turning 
your  attention  to  this  subject  induces  even  one  wealthy  or  salary  earning  woman  to 
place  yearly  a  share  of  her  money  where  she  will  some  day  be  sure  to  find  it,  espe- 
cially if  it  suggests  to  any  dependent  sister  a  way  whereby  to  support  herself  or  her 
dear  ones,  I  will  feel  well  repaid  for  this  little  effort  in  your  behalf. 


43 


AN  APPEAL  OF  ART  TO  THE  LOVERS  OF  ART. 


By  MRS.  MARY  E.  CHERRY  NORRIS. 

All  men  are  conscious  of  the  manifold  diversity  and  multiplicity  of  the  objects  by 
which  they  are  surrounded.     Few  and  far  between  are  they  whose  gift  is  to  discern 

the  underlying  unity  which  characterizes  the  ultimate 
reduction  of  this  multiform  diversity.  As  this  is  true 
in  the  world  of  nature,  so  it  is  eminently  true  in  the 
realm  of  art.  In  the  last  analysis  we  find  the  divine 
spark,  which  is  the  summum.  bo?ium,  concealed  beneath 
the  drapery  of  all  artistic  productions.  There  lies 
the  divinity  of  the  human  soul.  The  fire  which  was 
brought  from  Heaven  and  bestowed  on  mortals  has 
been  cherished  and  kept  alive,  and  men  work  at  their 
best  when  they  endeavor  to  explain  the  potency  of 
that  flame.  The  soul  of  art  is  the  divinity  of  humanity 
— it  is  the  manifestation  of  God.  So  closely  akin  are 
the  members  of  that  band  of  souls  who  live  in  the 
work  of  art  that  at  times  we  can  not  distinguish  one 
from  another. 

We  look  upon  a  painting  and,  suddenly,  the  can- 
vas, the  coloring,  the  framework  are  lost  to  sight. 
Our  eyes  grow  dim  and  the  picture  speaks  no  longer 
to  the  eyes;  the  "dweller  in  the  innermost"  hears 
what  the  eyes  saw,  the  rhythmic  lines  of  the  verse 
which  tells  the  tale,  and  the  painter  is  as  truly  a  poet 
as  he  who  wields  the  pen.  A  thought  comes  down 
from  Heaven — it  matters  little  whether  it  falls  into  heart  of  poet,  painter  or  musician 
— if  the  soul  of  the  artist  is  there  the  thought  will  find  true  expression,  and  the  frag- 
rance of  the  flower  from  Heaven  will  be  of  heavenly  sweetness  in  the  soul,  whether  it 
is  borne  in  upon  us  through  the  gate  of  the  eye  or  of  ear,  or  whether  it  comes  to  us 
in  poetry  of  line  and  verse.  Is  there  one  heart  present  that  has  not  heard  the  song 
that  has  come  from  the  heart  of  the  true  painter?  and  has  not  the  discord  or  the  har- 
mony pained  or  soothed  the  soul  when  hearing,  as  it  were,  through  the  eye?  And  the 
artist  is  great  if  his  song  or  poem  has  been  heard  through  the  colors  on  the  canvas. 
Once,  in  an  Old  World  city,  a  young  woman,  weary  and  discouraged  and  sorely 
tempted  to  give  up  the  struggle  against  the  commonplace,  came  upon  a  picture  by  that 
great  allegorical  painter,  George  T.  Watts.  The  picture  was  entitled  "  Mammon 
Dedicated  to  His  Worshipers."  What  a  change  came  into  the  life  of  this  girl  through 
the  song  that  picture  sung  no  one  save  God  and  the  artist  can  ever  know,  and  so  loud 
was  the  voice  that  spoke  that  the  reverberation  will  never  cease,  but  ever  onward  roll 
until  all  earthly  life  is  past  and  self  is  lost  in  soul. 

To  be  an  artist!    What  does  it  mean  ?    Can  anyone  answer  the  query,  or  must  it  ever 

Mrs.  Frederic  W.  Norris  is  a  native  of  the  Island  of  Ceylon,  East  Indies,  and  is  a  real  daughter  of  the  Orient.  Hei 
parents  were  the  Rev.  S.  Henry  Cherry  and  Henrietta  Ebell  Cherry.  She  was  educated  under  the  continued  supervision  ol 
her  uncle,  Prof.  Adrian  J.  Ebell,  M.  D.,  Ph.  B.,  late  President  of  the  International  Academy  of  Science,  Berlin.  She  has 
traveled  in  Europe  and  America,  her  home  being  in  New  York  City  until  her  marriage  in  1890.  She  married  the  Rev.  Fred- 
eric W.  Norris,  a  clergyman  of  the  Protestant  church,  who  is  now  in  charge  of  St.  Mark's  Cathedral,  Salt  Lake  City.  Her 
profession  is  Shakespearean  studies  and  vocal  culture.  She  occupies  the  greater  part  of  her  time  in  visiting  the  poor  and 
Bick,  in  whose  behalf  she  employs  the  gifts  of  recitation  and  song  with  which  she  adorns  her  profession.  In  religious  faith 
she  is  an  ardent  and  faithful  Christian.    Her  postoflBce  address  is  St.  Mark's  Rectory,  Salt  Lake  City,  \}  tah. 

674 


MRS.  FREDERIC  \V.  NORRIS. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  675 

remain  unanswered?  Is  it  the  man  who  writes  to  please  the  people,  or  is  it  not  rather 
that  man  or  that  woman  who  looks  upon  talent  as  God-given,  and  who  therefore 
strives  to  advance  art  regardless  of  self,  who  says  within  himself,  "  Can  I  do  aught  to 
lead  others  upward  through  this  bond,  this  tie  that  holds  me  from  out  the  mire 
of  the  commonplace;  can  I  not,  by  striving  to  be  worthy,  give  others  to  drink  from  the 
cup  of  precious  ambrosia  which  is  only  left  in  my  keeping  that  I  may  use  it  for  good? 
What  can  I  do  to  prove  myself  a  worthy  steward  of  such  a  gift?  "  And  can  we  claim 
that  one  branch  of  art  is  greater  than  another  so  long  as  the  one  or  the  other  is  a  gift 
in  the  keeping  of  an  unselfish  soul?  Is  it  he  who  paints  with  brush,  or  he  who  wields 
•the  pen;  is  it  she  whose  voice  entrances  thousands  of  listeners  as  by  magic  spell;  is  it 
he  who  charms  the  world  with  exquisite  skill  upon  piano  or  organ;  he  who  is  master 
of  that  other  instrument  which  holds  within  itself  a  soul  that  cries  for  relief  at  times 
from  the  wooden  casket  in  which  it  is  confined — a  soul  that  is  dumb  until  a  master- 
hand  guides  the  song  and  interprets  to  those  kindred  souls  the  language  of  his  captive 
strains?  Are  the  different  branches  of  art,  the  different  departments  of  music,  rivals? 
or  is  one  but  the  complement  of  the  other? 

And  now  we  would  speak  especially  of  music.  We  then  look  to  those  who 
have  been  the  great  teachers  or  leaders  of  thought — the  golden-tongued  poets 
who  are  among  the  world's  greatest  musicians.  What  says  the  king  of  dramatists 
— that  man  whose  strength  of  will  is  felt  even  now,  though  his  body  has  long 
since  crumbled  into  dust,  whose  commands  the  greatest  of  earthly  monarchs  does 
not  disregard?  "  Orpheus' lute  was  strung  with  poets'  sinews,  whose  golden  touch 
could  soften  steel  and  stones,  make  tigers  tame  and  mighty  leviathans  forsake 
imsounded  deeps  to  dance  upon  the  sands."  Robert  Browning  says,  "Music  (which 
is  earnest  of  a  Heaven,  seeing  we  know  strange  emotions  by  it  not  else  to  be 
revealed)  is  a  voice — low  voice — calling  fancy  as  a  friend  to  the  greensward  in  the 
summer  time,  and  she  fills  all  the  way  with  dancing  steps  which  have  made  painters 
pale,  and  they  go  on  while  stars  look  at  them,  and  winds  call  to  them  as  they  leave 
life's  path  for  the  twilight  world  where  the  dead  gather."  Carlisle  tells  us  that  "all 
inmost  things  are  melodies.  The  meaning  of  song  goes  deep.  Who  is  there  in  logical 
words  can  express  the  effect  music  has  on  us?  A  kind  of  inarticulate,  unfathomed 
speech  which  leads  us  to  the  edge  of  the  infinite,  and  lets  us  for  a  moment  gaze  into 
that.  See  deep  enough  and  you  see  musically,  the  heart  of  nature  being  everywhere 
music  if  you  can  only  reach  it." 

Ruskin,  in  one  of  his  most  interesting  chapters,  lights  for  us  seven  lamps  which 
are  to  illume  the  pathway  for  the  artist  who  builds  in  marble  and  in  wood.  Is 
not  he  who  builds  for  us  fairy  palaces  of  sweet  sounds  as  much  an  architect  as  he  who 
builds  for  the  eye  to  see?  Is  not  the  ear  one  of  the  portals  to  the  soul  within?  Let 
us  see  whether  or  not  Ruskin's  "  Seven  Lamps  of  Architecture"  may  serve  for  the 
artist  whose  life  is  given  to  the  building  of  the  music  palace  which  will  be  worthy  to 
receive  the  royal  guest  before  whom  the  heavenly  hosts  are  bending  in  their  never- 
ceasing  song  of  "  Holy!  Holy!  Holy!  "  Ruskin  gives  us  in  the  chapter  of  which  we 
have  spoken  the  lamp  of  sacrifice,  the  lamp  of  power,  the  lamp  of  beauty,  the  lamp 
of  life,  the  lamp  of  truth,  the  lamp  of  memory  and  the  lamp  of  obedience.  Oh 
music  loving  souls!  let  us  look  for  a  moment  and  see  whither  the  lamp  of  sacrifice 
would  guide  us  with  its  rays.  What  may  we  offer  in  sacrifice  to  advance  the  growth 
of  the  Music  kingdom?  As  in  a  dream  comes  back  the  answer,  "  Forgetfulness  of 
self'  and  self-success."  Yet  who  is  willing  to  place  self  in  the  balance  and  be  out- 
weighed and  forgotten  for  art's  sake,  and  still  rejoice  in  the  work  that  is  done?  With- 
out sacrifice  nothing  worthy  can  be  accomplished — this  is  true  in  religion  and  it  is 
true  in  art.  Look  well  to  the  weary  and  oft-time  shadowed  road,  for  unless  the  lamp 
of  sacrifice  shines  out  brightly,  the  difficulties  will  appall,  and  we  shall  be  tempted  to 
turn  back;  unless  this  lamp  be  held  aloft,  and  our  eyes  with  steadfast  gaze  be  fixed 
thereupon,  our  own  shadows  cast  before  from  the  lurid  light  of  self  will  cause  us  to 
stumble  and  to  fall  into  depths  of  oblivion.  Let  this  light  go  before  us,  and  then 
will  the  shadow  of  self  fall  backward. 


676  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

The  lamp  of  truth.  When  one  girds  himself  up  for  a  journey — a  life-journey  into 
the  art  world — let  him  beware  of  the  serpent  of  deceit,  whose  wily  tongue  once  brought 
discord  into  Eden's  bowers;  whose  tempting  voice  marred  the  harmony  of  human  life. 
Let  him  beware  of  becoming  himself  a  traitor.  Let  him,  already  lighted  by  the  lamp 
of  sacrifice,  look  now  for  the  truth,  the  ideal  which  can  light  every  shadow  of  doubt, 
and  burn  in  its  white  fire  the  last  vestige  of  the  veil  which  would  conceal  motives. 
Let  him  look  into  his  inmost  soul  and  commune  long  with  the  dweller  in  the  inner- 
most sanctum.  Let  him  look  to  it  that  he  enter  not  into  the  way  of  quicksands,  where 
the  lamp  of  truth  can  not  burn;  where  damp,  miasmatic  fogs  choke  the  light,  and 
where  the  traveler  will  lose  his  path,  and  the  life  be  lost  in  darkness.  Let  him  beware 
that  he  follows  not  a  will-o'-the-wisp,  deceiving  emanation  from  graves  of  the  mold- 
ering  dead.  Let  him  look  closely  that  he  be  not  led  astray.  The  truth  light  wavers 
not,  but,  like  the  pillar  of  fire  which  led  God's  people  of  old  through  darkness  of  the 
night  of  bondage,  the  lamp  of  truth  will  guide  through  all  dangers,  through  roughest 
ways,  to  the  very  altar  of  God,  where  the  reward  will  be  found  for  all  who  have  in  the 
art  world  been  faithful. 

Let  him  be  fearless,  and  seek  not  to  cover  by  flimsy  artifice  the  many  failures. 
Stand  firm,  and  in  the  white  light  of  truth  all  faults  will  be  burned  away,  and  at  the 
last  he  may  be  worthy  of  being  thought  what  he  now  wishes  to  seem.  Truth  will 
shrivel  forever  and  destroy  the  veil  of  the  seeming. 

The  lamp  of  power.  Is  our  traveler  lighted  by  its  rays?  Neither  intricacy  nor 
quantity  (if  I  may  use  that  word  just  here)  denote  power.  Neither  does  an  artist's 
power  depend  upon  surrounding  circumstances.  Not  to  be  governed  by,  a  true  artist 
must  govern  circumstances.  Methinks  Beethoven,  Mozart,  Mendelssohn,  Chopin  and 
Wagner  could  show  more  power,  more  greatness,  as  artist  souls  in  weaving  poetry 
from  the  old-time  spinet  than  can  many  a  so-called  artist  of  the  present  time  hammer 
from  the  keys  of  the  finest  instrument  of  modern  days.  Why  is  this?  Is  it  not  that 
the  lamp  of  power  was  alight  within  the  soul,  and  the  artist  felt  his  power  to  be 
master  of  the  machine  before  him?  He  was  the  soul — the  instrument  but  the  acces- 
sory. The  artist  held  the  secret,  the  "open  sesame  "  to  the  garden  of  God,  where 
rarest  pictures  are  painted  in  colors  of  sweetest  sound.  He  could  enter  and  gather 
for  us  the  heaven-born  blossoms,  at  times  bright  roses  of  love,  and  again  a  wreath  of 
cypress  or  of  yew,  and  his  own  hands  could  weave  the  crown  of  laurel  which  should 
be  given  at  the  end.  The  lamp  of  power  can  be  lighted  only  by  true  and  reverent 
love  of  art,  and  if  the  artist's  soul  is  lighted  thus,  he  dare  not  stop  to  ask  excuse  or 
make  apology,  or  tremble  for  fear  of  self-failure.  If  he  loves  his  art,  he  shall  carry 
safely  the  lamp  of  power.  If  one  has  a  message  from  Heaven,  it  will  find  expression. 
Let  the  traveler  think  more  of  what  that  message  may  do  for  mankind,  and  less  of  the 
messenger;  more  of  its  effect  or  power  to  uplift,  and  less  of  the  praise  that  the  world 
will  give.  Oh,  the  commonplace  to  which  a  so-called  artist  stoops  when  he  offers 
excuse  for  work  unworthily  done!  Lovers  of  art  should  bear  the  message  that  God 
through  them  sends  to  mankind,  with  forgetfulness  of  self,  and  free  from  burden  of 
excuse  and  apology  should  carry  with  stronger  hand  the  lamp  of  power,  which  will 
light  them  toward  the  inner  sanctuary,  where  they  are  called  upon  to  act  as  priests 
before  the  starving,  thirsty  multitudes.  He  who  can  not  forget  self  (which  is  weak- 
ness and  sin)  and  grow  toward  strength  and  power  gigantic,  has  no  right  at  the  high 
altar.  If  he  fears  what  the  world  will  say,  let  him  go  back  and  grovel  with  the  com- 
monplace. 

Beauty — the  central  lamp,  as  Ruskin  gives  the  order.  On  the  one  hand  are  sac- 
rifice, truth,  power;  on  the  other,  life,  memory,  obedience.  And  what  is  it  to  be  lighted 
by  all  the  other  lamps,  but  to  stand  in  the  center  and  in  the  full  light  of  the  central 
lamp  of  beauty?  If  this  be  so.  will  not  the  artist  strive  for  higher  motives,  and  leave 
no  earth-worshipers  the  caricatures  of  holy  sound  in  way  of  catch  tunes  and  trick 
music,  which  appeals  to  the  lower  nature;  and  will  he  not  strive  after  more  uplifting, 
heaven-born  thoughts,  leaving  to  earth-children  the  music  that  can  only  set  the  feet 


'  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  677 

a-dancing,  while  he  carries  reverently  the  divine  spark  which  shall  grow  to  light  him 
toward  the  source  of  all  that  is  beautiful?  Oh  lovers  of  soul  music!  Do  not  deaden 
this  holy  light  by  letting  the  dancers  cast  their  shadow  over  yoii.  The  gates  will  never 
open  unless  the  lamps  of  beauty  shine  down  and  wither  all  the  false  growths  about 
the  entrance.  Uproot  all  flowers  that  have  no  fragrance.  The  music-flowers  must 
give  forth  sweet  fragrance,  or  be  unworthy  a  place  in  the  garden  about  the  palace  of 
music.  That  style  of  composition  which  is  unworthy  a  place  in  the  most  reverent 
love  of  art,  should  be  cast  aside  as  false.  The  flowers  that  God  has  planted  in  each 
artist's  soul  must  be  watered  with  tears  of  reverent  love  and  pure  devotion,  and  the 
sunshine  of  sacrifice  and  of  truth  and  of  power  and  of  beauty  must  shine  direct,  not 
through  the  colored  glass  of  popular  fancy. 

And  next  comes  the  lamp  of  life.  What  can  this  be  to  us  in  the  world  of  music? 
We  listen  to  some  wonderful  performance  in  the  way  of  vocal  gymnastics  or  of  finger 
dexterity,  and  critics  say,  "  admirable  execution!"  "  Remarkable  technic!  "  and  we 
are  silent  or  give  assent  because  conventionality  makes  demand.  Again,  a  true  artist 
sits  at  the  instrument,  perchance  breaking  many  set  laws  and  rules,  but  now  and  again 
striking  chords  that  flash  like  white  light  from  highest  Heaven  into  our  own  souls. 
The  instrument  may  be  poor,  the  voice  imperfect,  but  the  soul  of  the  artist  is  there, 
living  near  to  the  source  of  light  and  life,  and  the  life  speaks  forth.  Would  that  more 
of  those  who  struggle  for  the  name  of  artist  might  begin  within  to  fan  into  life  the 
divine  spark,  if  it  be  there,  and  if  not,  then  cease  to  ply  at  art — go  back — there  is  no 
room  for  triflers  in  this  palace.  All  the  outside  polish  of  a  common  stone  can  not 
discover  a  diamond;  all  the  technic  and  outside  finish  can  not  create  an  artist.  The 
true  artist  is  a  living  thought  of  God,  and  though  his  path  may  oftentimes  lead  over 
rough  ways,  it  is  ever  lighted  by  the  lamps  of  life,  which  can  not  die. 

The  lamp  of  memory.  Ruskin  says:  "It  is  in  becoming  memorial  or  monu- 
mental that  true  perfection  is  attained."  An  architect  conceives  within  his  soul  some 
vast  structure;  carefully  he  selects  material  that  will  endure,  and  carefully  he  builds; 
each  pillar  is  in  place,  and  the  dome  crowns  all.  The  completed  structure,  though  it 
appeals  but  to  the  eye  while  we  are  bound  down  to  earth  sense  only,  is  like  some 
grand  oratorio  that  the  soul  may  hear — music  that  has  been  caught  and  frozen  into 
form.  Like  the  architect,  the  musician  longs  to  leave  behind  him  just  such  noble 
work  that  may  be  a  worthy  memorial.  As  the  architect  scorns  all  tawdry  ornament 
which  detracts  from  the  dignity  of  the  building,  so  does  the  music  builder  scorn  all 
light,  trashy  combinations  of  sound  which  may  tickle  the  ears  of  the  groundling,  but 
which  can  not  stand  as  memorial  work.  All  true  work  must  be  memorial.  The  thought 
of  the  ideal  demands  that  the  lamps  of  future  memory  guide  toward  the  leaving  a 
worthy  monument  of  the  artist's  better  self.  The  ideal  that  walks  ever  by  the  side  of 
and  outlives  physical  man;  the  ideal  that  compares  with  the  real  as  eternity  compares 
with  time;  the  ideal  self  can  never  forget,  even  when  long  centuries  have  passed,  and 
men  have  forgotten  the  dust  that  once  was  infused  with  life  by  that  ideal. 

Oh  lovers  of  music,  strive  to  have  worthy  monuments  of  your  work!  Hold  in 
uplifted  hands  the  lamp  of  memory,  that  its  rays  may  be  sent  forward  toward  a  grand 
memorial  erected  in  honor  of  the  God-given  gift  that  is  yours. 

Obedience!  Is  not  the  lover  of  art  a  worshiper  at  art's  high  altar?  Will  he  not 
listen  ever  closely  for  the  voice  that  commands  his  homage,  and  will  not  one  who  so 
loves  follow  without  question,  even  through  weary  years  of  loneliness  and  toil?  To 
obey,  even  though  it  seems  to  tear  the  heart  from  all  the  ties  of  earth-loves! 

Surely  'tis  a  solemn  thing  to  enter  the  gate — to  cross  the  threshold  of  the  palace 
of  art — for  one  may  not  play  at  going  in  and  out.  There  is  no  turning  back  without 
sacrilege.  A  gift  once  laid  upon  the  altar  can  not  be  recalled,  and  obedience  is  the 
law  in  the  art  world — obedience  to  the  masters.  One  may  not  trifle  with  an  art  sub- 
lime. Far  better  take  up  some  petty  trade  and  be  faithful  thereto  than  seek  to  be  an 
artist  if  the  whole  soul  be  not  in  deepest  earnest.     *'  Better  pursue  a  frivolous  trade  in 


678  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

serious  meaning  than  a  divine  art  frivolously."  Look  to  it  that  there  be  loyal  obedi- 
ence, even  unto  death  if  need  be! 

The  rays  from  the  lamp  of  obedience  must  mingle  with  the  other  guiding  lights, 
and  in  the  blending  of  the  seven  we  shall  find  the  perfect  sevenfold  light  which  will 
make  the  darkness  as  the  noonday.  As  to  the  architect,  so  to  the  musician;  these 
lamps  must  be  the  guides.  When  the  way  is  dark,  and  gray  clouds  gather  thick  and 
fast,  and  the  heart  is  weary,  does  the  artist  sit  down  in  the  dark  and  moan  and  weep 
and  become  entangled  in  the  folds  of  the  commonplace,  whose  limbs  reach  out  among 
all  ranks  to  drag  down  to  earth  those  who  fain  would  rise  above?  If  so,  let  him  not 
claim  brotherhood  with  those  who  are  yet  aspiring.  He  has  sold  his  birthright  for  a 
mess  of  pottage  that  will  never  satisfy  the  craving  of  his  soul,  whose  hunger  may  be 
appeased  only  when  the  new  birth  comes  to  him,  when  he  shall  be  born  into  that  life 
of  which  true  artists  while  on  earth  catch  faint  glimpses  in  a  dream. 

From  the  time  the  morning  stars  first  sang  together,  from  the  time  when  Miriam 
rejoiced  triumphant  in  singing  with  her  maidens, 

"Sound  the  loud  trumpet  o'er  Egypt's  dark  sea, 
Jehovah  has  triumphed,  his  people  are  free," 

down  through  the  ages  until  the  beloved  disciple,  seeing  through  cycles  of  time,  tells 
us  of  the  song  which  has  been  sung  in  highest  Heaven  by  the  glorified  worshipers,  the 
song  no  man  could  learn  save  those  redeemed  from  earth — from  that  time  gradually 
unfolding  its  pages,  developing  into  an  art  of  wondrous  and  mysterious  beauty,  music, 
like  some  strange  flower  opening  its  leaves  to  the  light,  has  gradually  opened  petal 
after  petal,  and  we  stand  in  awe  as  we  catch  faint  glimpses  of  what  the  entire  flower 
may  be  when  all  is  perfected. 

Perchance — who  knows — this  great  music-thought  of  God  may  be  advancing  and 
growing  greater  as  the  ages  pass,  in  order  that  it  when  perfected  may  be  earth's  great- 
est offering  to  Him  whose  first  coming  was  heralded  by  music  of  the  heavenly  host, 
on  Bethlehem's  plain,  when  was  sung, 

"  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest. 
On  earth  peace  and  good  will  to  men." 


THE  DAWNING  OF  THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY. 

By  MRS.  MARY  SEYMOUR  HOWELL 

We  stand  today  in  the  dying  light  of  the  nineteenth  century  and  in  the  dawning 
cf  the  twentieth.     If  you  and  I  could  have  chosen  when  to  have  existed  I  think  there 

would  have  been  no  more  inspiring  time  than  now. 
Look  back  fifty  years,  and  from  the  dim  twilight  of 
the  tallow  candles  of  those  days  we  stand  now  in  the 
brilliant  electric  light  of  this  year  eighteen  hundred 
and  ninety-three.  Look  back  farther  still  and  we 
find  that  the  battle  of  New  Orleans  was  fought  three 
weeks  after  the  treaty  of  peace  had  been  signed  in 
England,  because  no  electricity  bound  together  the 
two  continents.  Now  New  York  and  London  talk 
together  as  two  men  face  to  face.  A  dynamite  explo- 
sion under  London  bridge  is  read  by  you  in  your 
evening  paper,  one  hour  after  it  happened,  and  by 
our  time  five  hours  before  it  really  occurred.  We 
talk  with  those  we  love  the  best  hundreds  of  miles 
away,  as  though  they  were  in  the  next  room.  We 
catch  their  dear  voices  and  catch  the  merry  mirth  of 
their  laughter.  We  travel  in  elegant  cars  nearly  equal 
to  our  finest  drawing-rooms.  We  sleep  on  luxurious 
beds  and  dine  better  than  the  kings  of  old  on  our  rail- 
roads that  carry  us  even  in  midwinter  all  over  this 
great  country  without  the  least  discomfort.  Look 
back  again  fifty  years  and  see  our  fathers  and  mothers 
making  their  way  in  cold,  comfortless  stages  over  terrible  roads,  taking  days  where 
now  we  take  as  many  hours.  My  friends  that  listen  to  me  today,  this  progress  has 
not  come  easy,  and  if  it  had  been  prophesied  fifty  years  ago  I  think  the  prophet  would 
have  been  mobbed  or  thrown  in  jail.  Again,  this  progress  has  not  come  from  con- 
servatism, it  has  come  from  the  persistent  efforts  of  enthusiastic  radicals;  men  and 
women  with  ideas  in  their  brains  and  courage  in  their  hearts  to  make  them  practical. 
As  the  first  steamship  crossed  the  Atlantic  it  brought  to  America  the  first  copies  of 
Doctor  Lardner's  book  proving  that  an  ocean  steamship  was  an  impossibility.  What 
strange  reading  this  book  would  be  now  for  a  traveler  after  a  lapse  of  fifty  years,  when 
twice  a  week  a  fleet  of  ocean  steamers  leave  New  York  City  for  the  different  ports  in 
Europe.  There  are  scores  of  books  prophetic  of  the  impossibility  of  equal  rights  for 
men  and  women  in  education,  industry  and  politics  that  will  be  even  more  absurd 
after  an  equal  lapse  of  time.  In  all  this  progress  woman  has  been  in  the  van.  With 
the  prejudice  of  the  ages  confronting  her  on  every  hand  she  has  pushed  steadily  for- 
ward and  the  stone  wall  of  opposition  is  beginning  to  crumble.     Indeed,  now  it  is  tot- 

Mre.  Mary  Seymour  Howell  is  a  native  of  New  York.  She  was  born  August,  1848.  Her  parents  were  Norman  Seymour, 
a  kinsman  of  Gov.  Horatio  Seymour,  and  Frances  Hale  Metcalf ,  a  cousin  of  Salmon  P.  Chase.  She  received  a  classical  edu- 
cation at  the  Mount  Morris  Academy  and  Mrs.  Laura  Ralston's  Seminary  for  Young  Ladies  at  Lockport,  N.  Y.  She  has  trav- 
eled extensively  in  the  United  States  and  Canada.  She  married  Mr.  George  Rogers  Howell,  Presbyterian  clergyman  and 
author.  Her  only  child,  Seymour  Howell,  a  young  man  of  great  promise,  died  a  Junior  at  Harvard  College  March  9, 1891. 
Her  principal  literary  works  are  contributions  to  the  press  and  a  book  not  yet  published  entitled,  "  Glimpses  of  Immortality." 
She  has  fourteen  lectures  and  is  now  under  the  care  of  the  "  Bryant  Literary  Union,"  New  York  City,  and  "  Woman's  Lecture 
Bureau,"  tind  is  national  lecturer  for  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union.  In  religious  faith  she  is  a  devout  believer 
in  Christ.  She  now  attends  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  believes  in  the  union  of  all  churches  under  a  liberal  creed.  Her 
Ix>8toffice  Eiddress  is  Albany,  N.  Y. 

679 


MRS.  MARY  SEYMOUR   HOWELL. 


680  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

taring  and  we  must  get  out  of  the  way,  the  stone  still  standing,  before  the  full  dawn  of 
the  twentieth  century  is  here.  Ever  since  woman  began  to  think  for  herself,  ever  since 
woman  took  life  in  her  own  hands,  the  dawning  of  a  great  light  has  flooded  this  world. 
We  are  the  mothers  of  men.  Show  me  the  mothers  of  a  country  and  I  will  tell  you  of 
its  sons. 

The  destiny  of  the  world  today  lies  in  the  hearts  and  brains  of  its  women.  This 
world  can  not  travel  upward  faster  than  the  feet  of  its  women  are  climbing  the  paths 
of  progress.  Put  us  back  if  possible,  veil  us  in  harems,  take  from  us  all  knowledge, 
make  us  beasts  of  burden,  teach  us  we  have  no  souls  or  brains,  and  this  earth  goes 
back  to  the  Dark  Ages.  The  nineteenth  century  is  closing  over  a  world  arising  from 
bondage.  It  is  the  sublimest  closing  of  any  century  the  world  has  ever  beheld.  The 
nations  of  the  earth  have  seen  and  are  still  looking  at  that  luminous  writing  in  the 
heavens,  "  the  truth  shall  make  you  free,"  and  for  the  first  time  are  gathering  to  them- 
selves the  true  significance  of  liberty.  The  freedom  that  endures  comes  not  with  the 
clash  of  arms  and  din  of  battles.  The  victory  that  is  lasting  is  not  gained  on  bloody 
battle-fields  or  by  the  selfish  arbitration  of  scheming  men.  Blood  and  battles  may  be 
a  means  to  an  end,  but  the  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God  must  be  in  the  souls  of  men, 
must  be  the  very  blood  of  that  soul's  life,  and  thus  far  in  the  history  of  this  world  it 
has  never  been  fully  known.  The  dying  light  of  the  nineteenth  century  beholds  it  in 
the  dawning  rays  of  the  twentieth,  because  the  mothers  of  men  are,  for  the  first  time, 
putting  on  the  beautiful  garments  of  liberty.  We  need,  and  the  world  needs,  our 
political  freedom.  Even  our  social  and  religious  liberty  is  worthless  without  political 
liberty.  Let  us  this  morning  dedicate  ourselves  anew  to  our  labor  for  woman,  and 
go  forth  with  braver  souls,  cleaner  brains  and  more  resolute  purpose  to  our  work  for 
these  years. 

I  would  have  the  women  of  our  country  so  aroused  to  the  greatness  of  the  work 
and  the  few  years  that  are  left  us  in  this  century;  so  filled  with  zeal,  determination  and 
enthusiasm  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  and  our  legislatures  may  know  and 
understand  that  our  freedom  must  be  fully  granted  to  us  by  1900,  so  that  the  twentieth 
century  shall  dawn  on  a  "  government  of  the  people,  for  the  people  and  by  the  peo- 
ple." Now  it  is  a  government  of  the  men,  for  the  men,  and  by  the  men.  God  bless 
the  men. 

It  is  the  evening  of  the  nineteenth  century,  but  its  twilight  is  clearer  than  its 
morning.  I  look  back  and  I  see  each  year  improvement  and  advancement.  I  see 
woman  gathering  up  her  soul  and  personality  and  claiming  them  as  her  own  against 
all  odds  and  the  world.  I  see  her  now  asking  that  that  personality  be  felt  in  her 
nation.  I  see  old  prejudices  giving  way.  All  reforms  for  the  elevation  of  humanity 
have  the  great  woman  heart  in  them.  Have  I  been  too  radical?  Would  you  have 
me  more  conservative?  What  is  conservatism?  It  is  the  dying  faith  of  a  closing 
century.  What  is  fanaticism?  It  is  the  dawning  light  of  a  new  era.  Yes,  my  friends, 
a  new  era  for  the  world  will  dawn  with  the  twentieth  century.  I  look  forward  to  that 
time  with  beating  heart  and  bated  breath.  I  lean  forward  to  it  with  an  impatient 
eagerness.  I  catch  the  first  faint  rays  of  that  beautiful  morning.  In  the  East  the  star 
has  appeared  and  soon  the  full  dawn  of  the  twentieth  century  will  be  upon  us.  I  see 
a  race  of  men,  strong,  brave  and  true,  because  the  mothers  of  men  are  free,  and 
because  they  gave  to  their  sons  the  pure  blood  of  liberty. 

Hail,  then,  twentieth  century,  and  hasten  on  thy  coming!  Go  to  thy  grave,  oh, 
nineteenth  century!  A  century  that  will  stand  out  for  all  time  as  an  epoch  that  buried 
slavery  and  ushered  in  liberty.  A  century  that  had  a  Lincoln  who  wrote  his  name 
among  the  stars  as  a  lover  of  the  free.  A  century  that  saw  enfranchised  the  colored 
race  and  woman.  A  century  that  had  its  peerless  Wendell  Phillips,  its  dauntless  William 
Lloyd  Garrison,  its  indomitable  Sumner  and  its  irrepressible  Seward.  A  century  that 
had  its  brilliant  Chase,  its  eloquent  Frederick  Douglass,  its  commanding  and  uncon- 
querable Gerrit  Smith  and  its  glorious  old  John  Brown.  A  century  that  has  known 
its  Greeley,  its  Garfield  and  its  Grant,     A  century  that  has  had  its  great  statesmen, 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  681 

Webster,  Clay  and  Calhoun.  A  century  that  ha.s  had  its  Stephen  Douglas  and  its 
Horatio  Seymour.  A  century  that  has  known  its  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning,  whose 
verses  wedded  together  Italy  and  England.  A  century  that  has  had  its  Harriet 
Beecher  Stowe,  whose  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  "  has  been  read  only  less  widely  than  the 
Bible.  A  century  that  has  had  its  George  Eliot,  who  took  the  name  of  a  man  that  she 
might  reap  a  man's  reward.  A  century  that  has  known  an  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton,  a 
Lucy  Stone,  a  P" ranees  Willard,  a  Florence  Nightingale,  a  Clara  Barton,  and  hosts  of 
other  grand  women,  will  stand  out  to  the  ages  as  a  century  pre-eminent  for  women  of 
vigorous  thought  and  strong  minds,  who  waged  without  bloodshed  the  greatest  battle 
of  all  time,  and  whose  victories  will  usher  in  the  dawn  of  the  twentieth  century.  When 
the  historian  shall  make  up  the  record  of  the  nineteenth  century,  these  noble  men  and 
women  will  be  found  on  the  roll  of  the  illustrious  ones  who  have  adorned  and  ennobled 
the  world. 

The  late  lamented  William  Hunt  of  Boston  has  two  paintings  in  the  Assembly 
Chamber  of  the  State  of  New  York.  One  is  entitled  "  The  Discoverer."  It  represents 
a  man  in  a  little  boat  on  the  trackless  deep.  He  stands  with  folded  arms  looking 
calmly  and  fearlessly  into  the  future,  for  a  woman  is  at  the  helm  and  safely  guides  the 
little  craft.  Another  woman  is  partly  in  the  water  with  her  head  bowed  on  her  arms 
which  clasp  the  side  of  the  boat,  the  very  embodiment  of  despair.  That  picture  fitly 
represents  the  nineteenth  century.  The  companion  picture  is  called  "Darkness  Flee- 
ing Before  the  Dawn."  The  darkness  is  represented  by  wild  horses  that  plunge  and 
throw  themselves  madly  about  as  if  to  escape  the  approach  of  light,  and  that 
inspired,  that  immortal  artist  painted  that  dawning  as  a  woman.  The  picture  is  ever 
before  me  and  I  leave  it  w^ith  you.  Superstition,  ignorance,  injustice,  intemperance, 
impurity,  all  fleeing  before  the  coming  of  women.  My  friends,  that  picture  represents 
the  dawning  of  the  twentieth  century.  Then  in  the  effulgence  of  our  nation's  trium- 
phant and  glorious  career,  the  noble  and  the  true  representatives  of  fifty  millions  of 
women  gathering  from  the  North  and  South,  the  East  and  West  will  meet  in  the  beau- 
tiful capitol  of  our  republic  and  with  one  loud  acclaim  shout,  "  Daughters  of  America, 
the  home  of  the  brave  and  the  land  of  the  free,  arise  and  shine,  for  thy  light  has  come 
and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is  arisen  upon  thee." 


THE  MONOLOGUE  AS  AN  ENTERTAINMENT. 


By  MISS  JENNIE  O'NEIL  POTTER. 

One  night,   in    the  year   1891,    after  listening   to    a    monotonous    elocutionary 
recital  in  Chickering  Hall,  New  York,  I  returned  home  with  rather  a  heavy  heart,  feel- 
ing that  I  had  chosen  the  wrong  profession. 

Retiring  to  rest  in  a  listless  manner,  I  fell  into 
a  dreaming  sleep.  Again  I  was  wending  my  way  to 
a  soliloquist's  entertainment,  but  the  place  seemed 
changed.  Instead  of  a  dimly  lighted  corridor,  electric 
flashes  in  bright-colored  globes  gave  splendor  to  the 
scene.  There  was  a  clamor  for  seats,  and  every  one 
seemed  expectant  and  happy.  As  I  entered  the  audi- 
torium, the  odor  of  sweet  flowers  filled  the  air.  I 
could  see  no  orchestra,  but  the  low,  soft  music  that 
stole  out  and  rested  sweetly  upon  our  ears,  told  that 
they  were  there,  screened  by  palms  and  foliage. 

I  scanned  my  program  closely.  Is  this  to  be 
an  elocutionary  entertainment?  thought  I.  On  deli- 
cate perfumed  cards  I  read:  "  Monologue  Dramatic — ■ 
The  Life  of  Woman  in  Tableaux."  By  whom  imper- 
sonated I  could  not  discover.  A  party  of  giggling 
girls  back  of  me  were  wondering  who  she  was,  and 
■    whence  she  came. 

Looking  back  and  through  the  closely  seated  hall, 
my  eyes  were  dazzled  and  pleased  with  the  appear- 
ance of  the  audience.  Not  a  hat  marred  the  many 
lovely  faces  there.  Now  and  then  a  spray  of  forget-me-nots,  or  a  curl  of  bright  ribbon 
nestled  around  a  fair  girl's  head.  And  like  sunbeams  peeping  through  a  shaded 
grove,  diamonds  and  precious  jewels  flashed.  The  men  were  all  in  evening  dress, 
wore  gloves,  looked  wide-awake  and  brilliant  as  the  women. 

Suddenly  a  hush:  The  music  swells  and  the  curtain  rises.  Our  eyes  linger  on  the 
dainty  stage,  turned  so  deftly  into  a  perfect  bijou  of  beauty.  Soft  silken  draperies 
covered  all  the  angles  of  the  ungraceful  platform.  Rugs,  rich  and  soft,  were  carelessly 
strewn  upon  the  floor,  while  roses,  white  and  red,  nodded  and  welcomed  us  there.  In 
the  distance  we  heard  the  ripple  and  laugh  of  a  child's  voice,  and  rushing  before  our 
eyes  came  the  figure  of  a  little  girl,  clad  in  tiny  frock  and  pinafore.  In  her  arms  she 
carried  a  doll,  and  as  the  applause  died  away,  she  flitted  here  and  there,  now  with  her 
doll  then  with  her  playmates,  weaving  with  imaginary  friends  wreaths  of  flowers,  and 
serving  them  all  a  cup  of  tea  from  her  cherished  tea  set.  On  and  on  in  merry  laugh- 
ing childhood,  only  to  be  turned  to  tears  when  she  finds  that  her  doll  and  tea  set 
have  been  spirited  away. 

She  fades  from  our  view,  but  in  a  moment  she  returns  to  us,  now  older  and 
stronger  grown,  her  girlish  form  decked  out  in  mannish  clothes.  Stepping  lightly 
from  off  her  bicycle  she  unrolls  a  manuscript  on  "Woman's  Rights."     Here  we  saw 

Miss  Jennie  O' Neil  Potter  was  born  in  Patch  Grove,  Wis.  She  is  a  young  woman  of  much  talent  and  energy.  Miss 
Potter  is  a  gifted  and  cultured  elocutionist,  and  is  meeting  with  great  success  presenting  monologues.  She  first  appeared 
in  New  York  in  1889,  and  met  with  great  success  in  1891.  "  Flirts  and  Matrons,"  by  Robert  G.  Morris  the  well  known  play- 
wright ;  "  Orange  Blossoms."  and  "  A  Letter  from  Home,"  were  written  by  Townsend.  These  three  monologues  are  copy- 
righted and  belong  to  Miss  Potter.  Several  of  Miss  Potter's  poems  have  been  published  in  the  Texas  Siftinga.  She  belongs 
to  the  Methodist  Church. 

682 


MISS  JENNIE  O'NEIL  POTTER. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  683 

the  student.  She  discussed  Aristotle,  and  delights  in  the  study  of  biology.  She  talks 
to  men  in  the  same  tone  that  she  uses  in  ordering  her  maid.  And  the  reformer  of  the 
nineteenth  century  disappears. 

But  how  quickly  the  change.  Before  our  startled  eyes  stood  the  same  young 
lady,  a  vision  in  white  tulle  and  rosebuds.  The  gauntlet  of  reformation  is  thrown 
over,  and  she  lets  her  eyes  and  sweet  smiles  bring  to  her  feet  suitors  and  admirers  by 
the  score.  At  last  her  heart  is  captured,  and  we  are  rather  tired  of  the  silly  chatter 
between  two  young  hearts,  and  rejoice  when  they  decide  to  wander  away  into  the 
refreshment  room  to  cool  their  fevered  throats  with  lemon  ices. 

It  seemed  but  a  moment  when  she  returned  to  us  a  bride,  radiantly  beautiful, 
clothed  in  spotless  white,  her  soul  as  pure  as  the  pearly  whiteness  of  her  face,  bidding 
good-by  to  girlish  follies,  and  fervently  praying  that  God  would  watch  over  her  and 
protect  the  future  which  would  make  her  wife  and  woman.  The  veil  is  lowered;  the 
organ  plays.     She  is  gone. 

Again  and  again  we  saw  her  as  the  tender  and  loving  wife — as  the  mother 
watching  over  a  precious  flock  of  little  ones.  Their  bright  eyes  and  curling  locks  we 
could  almost  see  as  she  busied  herself  among  them,  now  scolding,  now  petting  them, 
and  at  last,  clustered  around  her  knee  in  evening  prayer,  the  grandest  and  most 
exquisite  scene  of  all,  motherhood,  passed  from  our  gaze. 

To  be  followed  in  our  imagination,  fifty  years  later,  by  the  appearance  of  an  old 
lady,  her  face  beaming  with  the  soft,  though  deep-seated  lines,  from  a  life  well  spent 
in  rearing  and  caring  for  her  loved  ones.  The  husband  and  father  is  dead.  It  is  her 
birthday.  She  waits  alone  her  children  and  grandchildren.  Her  thoughts  go 
back  to  the  earlier  days.  The  Bible,  her  sweetest  comfort  now,  is  resting  upon  her 
knee.  One  by  one  the  children  come,  but  alas!  the  face  of  the  husband  and  the  cheery 
voice  of  a  favorite  boy  are  gone  forever.  But  there  she  stands,  crowned  queen  of 
many  hearts.  Her  arms  embrace  grown  men  and  women  who  seem  as  children  yet. 
Vanished  hours  return,  and  grandmother  is  to  that  little  group  the  most  precious  and 
lovely  figure  of  them  all. 

The  curtain  is  lowered;  the  strains  of  "Home,  Sweet  Home,"  swell  from  out  the 
shaded  screen,  and  we  knew  the  end  had  come. 

I  was  about  to  congratulate  the  young  woman  who  had  portrayed  the  wonderful 
tour  de  force y  when  I  awoke.  But  the  dream  haunted  me,  and  at  last  became  a  practical 
materialization.  With  no  idea  that  I  could  impersonate  the  ideal  of  my  dream,  yet  I 
saw  where  I  could  at  least  give  promise  of  a  novel  and  refreshing  entertainment. 
Repeating  the  dream  to  Mr.  Robert  Griffin  Morris,  a  man  blessed  with  the  unique 
faculty  of  creative  genius,  he  grasped  the  idea,  and  in  a  few  weeks  I  held  in  my  pos- 
session the  manuscript  of  "Flirts  and  Matrons,"  a  departure  somewhat  from  the 
ideal,  but  — 

"  I  wonder  if  ever  a  song  was  sung, 

That  the  singer's  heart  sang  sweeter; 
And  I  wonder  if  ever  a  rhyme  was  rung, 
But  the  thought  surpassed  the  metre." 

The  insight  that  the  study  gave  me  to  dramatic  art  I  never  before  discovered  in 
recitation.  There  are  ten  millions  of  people  (it  is  estimated)  who  do  not  patronize 
the  theater,  and  probably  thrice  as  many  who  admire  the  dramatization  of  such 
authors  whose  books  would  not  make  a  play.  Placed  in  vivid  impersonation  with  the 
power  of  a  Coquelin,  the  grand  and  beautiful  thoughts  and  words  of  George  Eliot  in 
the  mouth  of  "Adam  Bede"  would  be  a  dramatic  monologue  greater  than  many  pre- 
sumptuous plays  with  a  long  list  of  players  and  parts.  Ibsen's  plays  seem  classic  and 
profound  when  a  refined  impersonator  portrays  and  suggests  the  wearied  characters 
in  "The  Pillars  of  Society,"  or  "  Ghosts." 

It  is  there  one  gets  the  deeper  meaning  of  the  author's  words,  which  are  too  often 
sacrificed  when  placed  in  the  hands  of  players  who,  for  effect,  dwell  upon  situations 


684  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

and  scenic  display.  With  a  monologue  effectively  presented,  there  would  necessarily 
be  less  of  plot,  fewer  striking  situations,  and  none  of  the  complicated  incidents  that 
give  excitement  to  a  play;  but  there  would  also  be  something  that  would  attract  even 
more  strongly  than  any  one  character  in  a  play — the  ability  to  infuse  in  many  char- 
acters "life"  without  artifice,  and  making  the  one  impersonation  a  physiological  study 
and  mental  accomplishment. 

There  is  a  serious  difficulty  in  overcoming  monotony  in  even  the  brightest  writ- 
ten monologue.  Therefore,  it  must  not  abound  in  long  drawn-out  declamatory 
speeches.  Everything  must  tend  to  natural  effect.  Change  of  expression  and  attitude 
is  necessary,  and  above  all  a  natural  tone  of  voice.  I  don't  believe  that  a  person  with 
a  high-pitched  voice  could  play  successfully  the  brightest  written  monologue  extant. 
The  emotion  and  control  of  the  voice,  the  vivacity  and  earnestness  of  the  player,  are 
the  requisites  of  success. 

I  once  attended  an  informal  reception  in  New  York,  and  as  most  "  informals  "  are 
very  formal  and  stiff-jointed,  the  hostess  thought  of  a  plan  to  introduce  dancing. 
How  to  clear  the  drawing-room  was  the  question.     "  I  have  it,"  she  said.  "  There  is 

Miss ;  I  shall  ask  her  to  recite."     And  while  that  naturally  pretty  girl  twisted 

her  face  in  agonizing  wrinkles,  begging  "  the  sexton  not  to  ring  the  bell,"  one  by  one 
the  rooms  were  cleared.  At  the  conclusion  she  was  left  alone,  save  for  a  few  patient 
listeners,  and  as  I  listened  to  the  congratulations  of  the  hostess, "  Thank  you,  my  dear, 
you  have  such  talent;  why  don't  you  go  on  the  stage?  "  my  imagination  carried  me  to 
the  bedside  of  that  fair  unemotional  girl,  and  in  fancy  I  could  hear  her  plan  her  future 
as  a  great  actress,  while  the  hostess  slept  soundly  that  night,  content  that  her  dance 
at  least  was  a  success. 

Dramatic  schools  and  colleges  also  have  a  great  share  in  burdening  the  platform 
and  stage  with  "  failures."  Their  methods  may  be  ever  so  perfect,  their  knowledge 
ever  so  complete;  but  they  lack  the  moral  courage  to  refuse  the  applicant  who  can 
offer  the  necessary  fee  for  tuition,  although  absolutely  deficient  in  natural  ability,  and 
thereby,  many  a  useful  mechanic  is  spoiled,  and  any  number  of  clerks,  housekeepers 
and  people  who  would  be  successful  in  any  business  line  are  "  possessed  forever,"  until 
hope  dies,  and  they  often  realize  when  too  late  that  a  mistake  has  been  made.  But  no 
one  would  think  of  presenting  a  bill  of  damages  against  the  schools  that  first  fostered 
and  held  their  youthful  ambition. 

Eloquence  and  dramatic  instinct  are  gifts,  and  can  not  be  artificially  acquired. 
There  is  a  tremendous  amount  of  crude  eloquence  that  is  never  properly  developed, 
for,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  naturally  eloquent  person  rarely  develops  and  polishes 
his  or  her  talent  in  schools  set  apart  for  this  purpose.  This  is  a  mistake;  for  the  cul- 
tivation of  a  voice  for  speaking  is  as  necessary  as  the  cultivation  of  a  voice  for  sing- 
ing. A  serious  trouble  with  American  women  (I  do  not  speak  of  the  men)  is  the  lack 
of  melody  in  her  speaking  voice,  and  if  a  woman  or  girl  has  the  money  to  spare  for 
the  cultivation  of  a  soft,  low-toned  voice,  I  would  advise  them  by  all  means  to  do  so. 
I  have  often  thought  that  if  all  the  mighty  women  who  make  public  speeches  in 
behalf  of  woman's  suffrage  had  soft  and  eloquent  voices,  we  women  should  havevoted 
long  ago.  Any  method  that  teaches  unnatural  attitudes  and  meaningless  expression, 
claiming  it  to  be  Delsarte  or  any  other  "  sarte,"  is  wrong.  Every  good,  graceful  thing 
we  do  is  the  method  of  the  much  abused  Delsarte.  For  instance,  if  a  woman  calls 
upon  you  and  tells  you  that  the  day  is  beautiful  and  the  sun  is  bright,  without  the 
lighting  of  the  eye;  whose  face  bespeaks  cloudy  weather,  she  does  not  understand 
Delsarte,  whose  only  teacher  was  sublime  nature,  inspired  by  the  eloquence  and  grace 
of  God's  footstool. 

With  the  Dramatic  Monologue  Entertainment  a  success,  playwrights  and  authors 
can  so  dramatize  subjects,  plots  and  stories,  until  small  towns  and  cities  can  be  supplied 
with  the  very  best  dramatic  literature.  Artists  who  present  such  dramatic  monologues 
or  monodramas,  as  my  thought  wishes  to  convey  to  you,  can  give  millions  of  people 
glimpses  of  grand  and  glorious  characters,  practically  unknown  heretofore.     What  a 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  685 

wonderful  monologue  Victor  Hugo's  "  Les  Miserables"  would  make.  His  terrific 
power  in  working  up  a  situation  and  displaying  it  is  as  in  a  calcium  light  of  intense 
imaginative  description.  The  impersonator  should  be  able  to  do  mentally  for  the 
audience  that  which  they  otherwise  would  miss  in  the  mere  reading  of  the  lines.  The 
monologist  could  suggest  the  meaning  between  the  lines,  for  there  never  was  a  genius 
with  more  inseparable,  unescapable,  tyrannizing  consciousness  of  itself  than  Victor 
Hugo.     The  listener  would  feel  the  personality  and  genius  of  the  great  author. 

"  Imaginary  companies  need  no  salaries."  There  are  no  breaking  of  contracts,  no 
elopements  of  the  soubrette,  and,  in  bad  luck,  only  one  has  to  walk  home. 

"  Music  hath  its  charms,"  and  should  go  hand  in  hand  with  every  dramatic  enter- 
tainment, save,  I  could  never  see  anything  but  absurdity  in  the  orchestra  playing  a 
doleful  tune  when  at  last  the  "  wife  "  or  "  sweetheart "  is  "  pushed  "  to  tell  the  story  of 
her  past,  and  how  she  "  once  suffered."  The  story  is  often  drowned  by  the  music, 
the  audience  left  in  a  chilly  condition,  and  with  but  a  faint  idea  of  how  it  all  happened. 
Music  at  intervals,  or  to  illustrate  some  poetical  idea,  is  an  acquisition,  but  I  do  not 
approve  of  the  so-called  "  singing  reading,"  unless  it  aid  the  rendition  of  a  dirge  or 
the  chanting  of  a  prayer.  The  reciter  invariably  spoils  both  the  accompaniment  and 
the  poem.  Only  once  have  I  heard  a  successful  serious  reciter  accompanied  with  the 
piano,  and  that  was  the  clever  monologist  and  reciter,  Clifford  Harrison,  London, 
England.  Corney  Grain  and  George  Grossmith  are  successful  only  because  they 
make  comedy  a  story  that  can  be  illustrated  by  caricature  music.  Themselves 
natural  musicians,  and  full  of  the  comedy  element,  they  succeed  in  stories  which 
abound  in  humor,  introducing  musical  accompaniment.  But  to  recite  a  poem  in  unison 
with  a  piano  and  monotony  of  the  speaking  voice  is  to  my  mind  neither  artistic  nor 
entertaining. 

The  world  is  filled  with  genius  and  progressive  artists.  They  study  the  wants  of 
the  public  and  follow  not  after  fads.  When  the  monologue  is  presented  in  its  com- 
plete beauty,  thousands  of  people  who  have  not  the  opportunity  to  hear  great  plays 
will  become  acquainted  with  characters  that  have  helped  to  civilize  the  world,  and 
many  a  home  will  be  made  brighter  by  the  glimpses  into  other  lives,  and  thousands  of 
hearts  will  hold  dear  the  name  of  the  monologist  and  entertainer. 


MADAME  DE  STAEL 


By  MRS.  HELEN  P.  JENKINS. 

On  the  northern  shore  of  Lake  Geneva  lies  the  small  hamlet  of  Coppet,  famous 
for  its  chateau,  which  was  once  the  home  of  Madame  de  Stael  and  her  celebrated  father, 

Necker.  A  century  ago  this  chateau  was  an  intellect- 
ual center  of  Europe;  today  it  is  a  shrine  which  tour- 
ists visit  with  tender  and  reverent  interest.  Three 
summers  ago  it  was  my  privilege  to  visit  this  chateau 
where  the  most  notable  literary  characters  of  France 
used  to  gather,  drawn  there  by  the  charming  hospital- 
ity and  the  brilliant  talents  of  the  most  celebrated 
woman  of  the  century.  Madame  de  Stael  is  undeni- 
ably the  most  remarkable  literary  woman  France  had 
produced  up  to  that  day.  For  two  hundred  years 
French  women  have  shone  in  the  salon,  an  institution 
which  they  had  created,  but  the  literary  achievements 
of  the  women  in  the  early  salons  are  trivial  beside  the 
"  Germany  "  of  Madame  de  Stael.  That  work  was  the 
first  vigorous,  philosophical  work  from  a  woman's 
pen.  To  the  multitude  of  readers  she  is  best  known 
as  the  author  of  "  Corinne,"  but  it  is  her  "  Germany," 
and  her  "  Considerations  on  the  French  Revolution," 
which  gave  her  highest  rank  as  an  author.  But  it  is 
not  alone  as  a  writer  that  she  will  be  remembered. 
She  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  conversational- 
ists of  the  world's  history.  There  have  been  many 
famous  talkers  from  Socrates  to  Margaret  Fuller,  but  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
Madame  de  Stael  excelled  them  all  in  brilliancy  of  thought,  in  wit,  and  in  that  myster- 
ious quality  we  term  illuminism.  No  subject  was  so  profound  but  she  seemed  inspired 
with  its  true  meaning,  no  subject  so  trivial  but  her  wit  flashed  over  it  and  gave  it  bril- 
liancy.    Bonstetten  declares  that  in  conversation  she  never  had  a  rival. 

She  has  an  especial  interest  for  us  because  of  the  times  in  which  she  lived.  She 
was  a  young  woman  at  the  time  of  the  outbreak  of  the  French  Revolution,  and  lived 
until  after  the  Battle  of  Waterloo,  and  was  associated  with  many  of  the  most  remark- 
able personages  of  that  most  remarkable  period  of  French  history. 

Anne  Louise  Germaine  Necker  was  born  in  Paris  in  1776.  Her  father  was  a 
wealthy  banker,  Necker,  who  was  three  times  made  minister  of  finance,  and  as  many 
times  dismissed,  owing  to  the  upheavals  of  the  times.  Her  mother,  Susanna  Curchod, 
was  the  daughter  of  an  obscure  Swiss  pastor.  She  became  one  of  the  notable  women 
of  the  day.  It  is  in  the  salon  of  Madame  Necker  that  we  first  see  the  little  Ger- 
maine, not  yet  ten  years  old,  seated  in  a  little  chair  beside  her  mother,  listening  to  the 
discussions  of  the  learned  men  about  her.     The  stories  told  of  her  precocious  intellect, 

Mrs.  Helen  Philleo  Jenkins  is  a  native  of  New  York.  She  was  born  in  1835.  Her  parents  were  Dr.  B.  Philleo,  o£ 
Huguenot  ancestry,  and  Eliza  Bensley  Philleo.  '.  She  was  educated  at  Fairfield  Academy,  N.  Y.,  and  at  Utica  Female  Semi- 
nary. She  has  traveled  extensively  in  her  own  country  and  twice  through  Europe.  She  married  Mr.  Dean  M.  Jenkins,  of 
Buffalo,  N.  Y.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  the  educational  and  the  political  enfranchisement  of  women. 
Mrs.  Jenkins  has  written  "  A  Mother's  Letters  to  a  daughter,"  and  many  articles  on  the  women's  suffrage  question.  Sha 
was  one  of  the  prime  movers  in  the  organization  of  Woman  Suffrage  Associations  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  in  1867;  in  Pittsburg,  Pa., 
in  1871,  and  in  Detroit,  Mich.,  in  1887.  In  religious  faith  she  is  a  Unitarian.  Her  postoiiice  address  is  No.  517  Fourth 
Avenue,  Detroit,  Mich. 

686 


MRS.  HELEN  PHILLEO  JENKINS. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  687 

and  of  the  flattering  attentions  bestowed  upon  her  even  in  childhood,  are  too  well- 
known  to  need  repeating.  Madame  de  Stael  has  been  severely  criticised  for  her  exces- 
sive fondness  for  society  and  for  admiration.  The  marvel  is  that  she  was  not  utterly 
spoiled  by  the  adulation  lavished  upon  her  in  her  youth.  It  was  a  remarkable  char- 
acter that  could  withstand  such  flattery  and  develop  into  so  generous  and  radiant  a 
life.  When  Germaine  was  twenty  years  of  age  a  marriage  was  arranged  for  her  with 
the  Baron  de  Stael,  Holstein,  Swedish  ambassador.  It  is  not  counted  a  happy  mar- 
riage, but  there  was  no  open  rupture.  At  the  time  of  her  marriage  she  was  already 
known  through  Paris  as  a  brilliant  talker,  and  this  fact,  combined  with  her  social  posi- 
tion as  ambassadress  and  daughter  of  the  most  popular  man  in  France,  made  the 
Necker  salon,  where  she  presided  with  her  mother,  the  most  brilliant  and  influential 
salon  in  Paris.  Not  only  literature  and  art  were  discussed  there,  but  politics  became 
an  absorbing  theme.  There  were  no  absurd  pen-portraits  of  each  other,  no  sentimen- 
tal verses  of  these  earlier  salons,  but  the  talk  was  of  the  alarming  condition  of  France, 
its  bankrupt  treasury  and  its  masses  taxed  to  starvation;  of  the  American  Revolution 
and  the  republic  beyond  the  sea;  of  the  wisdom  of  representative  government  and 
of  the  future  of  France;  and  no  man  in  France  was  more  keenly  alive  to  these  great 
questions  than  Madame  de  Stael.  She  had  an  aptitude  for  politics,  which  she  considered 
a  sacred  subject.  If  she  were  living  today  she  would  be  one  of  the  foremost  women 
in  demanding  political  equality  for  women.  Her  marvelous  gift  of  speech,  combined 
with  her  remarkable  dramatic  power,  would  have  made  her  a  world  renowned  orator, 
but  in  that  day  women  had  not  yet  ventured  to  address  the  public  from  the  platform. 

France  was  already  feeling  the  premonitions  of  the  approaching  »"evolution.  A 
flash  from  the  gathering  storm  entered  the  Necker  household  one  evening  when  a 
lettre  de  cachet  was  received  from  the  king  commanding  Monsieur  Necker  to  leave 
Paris  immediately  and  secretly.  Once  before  he  had  been  dismissed  from  the 
ministry  and  recalled,  but  this  dismissal  had  a  darker  look.  The  king  disliked  Necker, 
Marie  Antoinette  hated  him,  but  the  people  believed  in  him  and  were  furious  at 
his  dismissal,  and  demanded  his  recall;  and  he  was  recalled  within  forty-eight  hours 
after  his  departure  from  Paris,  even  before  he  could  reach  Switzerland.  Within  those 
forty-eight  hours  the  bastile  had  fallen,  blood  had  been  shed,  and  the  nobles  were 
fleeing  over  the  boarders.  Out  of  the  revolution  which  was  breaking  over  France 
Madame  de  Stael  hoped  to  see  evolved  a  constitutional  monarchy,  a  government  similar 
to  that  of  E^ngland.  Her  salon  was  the  rallying  place  of  the  "  Constitutionals,"  as 
they  were  called,  among  whom  was  Lafayette,  Count  de  Narbonne  and  M.  de  Mont- 
morency. But  all  such  hope  was  swept  away  by  the  fury  of  the  revolution.  Terrorism 
prevailed  in  Paris.  Those  suspected  of  sympathy  with  the  king  were  seized  and 
imprisoned.  The  Baron  de  Stael  was  recalled  to  Sweden,  Necker  was  again  dis- 
missed and  sought  refuge  in  Coppet.  He  entreated  his  daughter  to  save  herself  by 
flight.  But  Paris  held  her.  The  very  terror  of  events  fascinated  her.  More  than 
that,  she  felt  she  had  influence  that  might  save  some  dear  friend  from  destruction.  But 
the  hour  soon  came  when  it  was  no  longer  safe  for  her  to  remain.  She  attempted  to 
leave,  but  in  her  efforts  to  assist  in  the  escape  of  the  old  Abbe  Montesquion,  she  came 
near  losing  her  own  life.  She  was  seized  and  carried  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville  and  into  the 
presence  of  Robespierre.  She  protested  against  her  arrest,  asserting  her  privilege 
as  the  wife  of  an  ambassador  to  depart.  It  was  only  after  ten  hours'  deliberation 
that  the  commune  decided  to  spare  her  life,  and  Tallien  was  appointed  to  accompany 
her  beyond  the  borders.  While  at  Coppet  she  was  continually  devising  schemes 
to  get  her  proscribed  friends  in  Paris  out  of  danger.  Coppet  became  in  those  days 
and  years  the  home  of  many  of  the  proscribed  whose  escape  she  had  effected.  She 
did  not  return  to  Paris  for  three  years — the  years  of  the  "  reign  of  terror."  It  was 
during  these  years  that  she  made  her  first  visit  to  England,  and  joined  that  famous 
colony  of  French  refugees  at  Michleham  in  Surrey. 

During  those  three  years  of  her  absence  what  tragic  events  had  transpired.  The 
king  and  queen  had  been  executed.     Thousands  of  noble  men  and  women  had  fallen 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

victims  to  the  guillotine.  Robespierre  himself  had  fallen,  and  a  new  figure  had 
appeared  upon  the  scene.  Bonaparte  was  the  hero  of  the  hour.  The  directory  had 
been  established,  and  peace  seemed  spreading  her  wings  overweary  France.  Madame 
de  Stael  watched  with  eager  interest  the  career  of  Bonaparte.  She  hoped,  as  thousands 
hoped,  that  this  rising  genius  who  had  suppressed  insurrection  and  conquered  invading 
armies,  would  bring  repose  to  France;  but  when  the  high-handed  overthrow  of  the 
directory  was  followed  by  the  consulate,  and  Bonaparte  made  himself  first  consul, 
she  recognized  the  hand  of  imperialism  and  tyranny,  and  in  her  salon,  crowded  with 
thinking  men  and  women,  she  did  not  hesitate  to  criticise  Napoleon's  policy,  and 
to  talk  the  boldest  liberalism.  The  hostility  between  Napoleon  and  Madame  de  Stael  is 
notorious.  Never  were  two  persons  more  out  of  harmony  with  each  other.  He 
hated  a  literary  woman.  He  despised  women  who  had  opinions  differing  from  his 
own.  Madame  de  Stael  as  leader  of  the  principal  salon  in  Paris,  where  they  discussed 
politics  and  favored  a  republic,  was  an  obnoxious  person  to  Napoleon.  She  published 
about  this  time  a  work  on  "  Literature,"  which  abounded  in  the  most  liberal  political 
sentiments.  Napoleon  was  annoyed;  he  wished  to  silence  her.  The  only  way  he 
could  diminish  her  influence  was  to  get  her  out  of  Paris.  This  he  did  by  banishing 
her.  She  retired  to  Coppet,  but  not  to  seclusion  and  solitude.  Coppet  became  one 
of  the  famous  intellectual  centers  of  Europe.  Generous  hospitality  and  devotion 
to  her  friends  were  her  most  marked  characteristics.  Friends  came  and  lingered 
at  Coppet  for  months  at  a  time,  and  there  was  a  constant  coming  and  going  of 
distinguished  literary  people.  Among  the  famous  guests  at  this  period  were  Benja- 
min Constant,  who  was  in  exile,  Camille,  Jourdan,  Sismondi,  the  historian  of  Italy,  her 
life-long  friend,  Matthieu  de  Montmorency,  Mme.  Necker  de  Saussure,  who  was  her 
earliest  biographer,  Madame  Krudner  and  Madame  de  Recamier. 

During  these  years  of  exile  she  visited  Germany  and  Italy,  those  countries  fur- 
nishing material  for  two  of  her  most  celebrated  works. 

Many  of  the  German  literati  received  her  cordially,  Schiller  especially;  others 
were  disturbed  by  her  peculiarities,  and  others  disliked  her.  Her  vivacity  and  volu- 
bility startled  the  quiet  temperament  of  the  Germans.  They  were  not  used  to  this 
kind  of  women.  The  narrow  views  they  at  that  time  entertained  of  woman's  intellect 
did  not  at  once  accept  this  woman  of  genius,  of  enthusiasm  and  self-assertion.  It  was 
on  the  whole  an  excellent  thing  to  happen,  that  a  gifted  French  woman  should  invade 
German  complacency  and  prejudice.  She  gained  in  breadth  of  mind  by  contact  with 
the  great  intellects  and  the  literature  of  another  nation,  and  they  were  compelled  to 
learn  that  a  high  order  of  intellect  is  possible  to  woman. 

Her  travels  in  Italy  gave  to  the  world  "  Corinne,"  which  was  published  in  1807. 
Its  appearance  was  one  of  the  greatest  literary  events  of  the  day.  Sainte  Beuve  says: 
"As  a  work  of  art,  as  a  poem,  the  romance  of  Corinne  is  an  immortal  monument." 
Another  critic  says:  "There  was  but  one  voice,  one  cry  of  admiration  throughout 
lettered  Europe  on  its  appearance."  Even  at  Edinburgh  it  created  enthusiasm.  Jeff- 
rey pronounced  its  author  "  the  greatest  writer  in  France  since  Voltaire  and  Rousseau." 
We,  at  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century,  make  a  different  estimate  of  this  romance. 
We  say  it  is  too  sentimental,  too  idealistic.  But  we  must  remember  fiction  has  changed 
greatly  since  the  day  Corinne  was  written,  ninety  years  ago.  There  had  been  then  no 
George  Eliot,  Thackeray  or  Dickens.  Even  George  Sand  had  not  appeared,  and  the 
Waverley  novels  had  not  been  written.  It  was  the  era  of  "  The  Sorrows  of  Werther," 
and  we  should  compare  "  Corinne  "  with  this  work  of  Goethe  before  we  criticise  its 
sentimentality.  One  characteristic  of  the  book,  which  gave  it  great  value  in  its  day, 
is  the  description  of  works  of  art,  and  of  churches  and  monuments  in  Rome,  In  an 
era  in  which  there  was  little  travel,  when  a  guide-book  was  unknown,  when  Italy  was 
a  region  of  romantic  mystery  to  most  of  the  educated  people  throughout  the  re- 
mainder of  Europe,  what  an  interest  this  book  must  have  created. 

The  success  of  "  Corinne  "  irritated  Napoleon.  Though  he  was  at  war  with  half 
the  nations  of  Europe,  though  forcing  conscriptions  and  arranging  treaties  with  con- 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  689 

quered  nations,  all  this  did  not  prevent  his  eagle  gaze  from  following  Madame  de 
Stael.  The  publication  of  "  Corinne  "  was  followed  by  a  new  decree  of  banishment. 
She  buried  her  chagrin  and  vexation  in  literary  work,  for  she  was  now  writing  her 
"  Germany."  When  that  work  was  ready  for  publication  she  submitted  it  to  the 
imperial  censors,  who,  after  cutting  out  a  few  passages,  consented  to  its  publication. 
But  the  work  was  hardly  out  of  press  when  an  order  was  issued  by  Napoleon,  or  his 
minister  of  police,  to  destroy  it,  and  the  whole  edition  of  ten  thousand  copies  was  lit- 
erally chopped  into  pieces,  and  the  author  was  ordered  to  leave  France  within  three 
days.  The  officer  who  brought  her  the  message  demanded  the  manuscript  of 
the  book.  Her  son,  during  the  absence  of  the  mother,  with  remarkable  pres- 
ence of  mind,  gave  to  the  officer  a  rough  copy,  which  had  fortunately  been 
preserved,  instead  of  the  perfect  one,  and  thus  the  work  was  saved  to  the  world. 
Madame  de  Stael  was  nearly  crushed  by  this  blow.  She  wished  to  escape  to  America, 
but  permission  to  leave  was  refused  her  by  the  minister  of  police,  who,  in  handing  the 
letter  of  refusal  to  her  son,  said:  "  Does  she  think. that  after  we  have  been  fighting 
Germany  eighteen  years  she  can  print  a  book  without  mentioning  us?  "  He  added: 
"  The  work  deserved  to  be  destroyed,  and  its  author  ought  to  be  sent  to  the  prison  at 
Vincennes." 

Madame  de  Stael  retired  to  Coppet,  but  persecutions  did  not  cease.  Friends  who 
visited  her  were  banished  from  France,  among  them  Schlegel,  Madame  de  Recamier 
and  M.  de  Montmorency.  She  was  forbidden  to  drive  over  two  leagues  from  Coppet. 
The  surveillance  became  unendurable.  She  resolved  to  flee  to  England.  As  every 
port  was  blockaded,  she  was  obliged  to  make  her  escape  through  Russia,  which  Napo- 
leon was  on  the  point  of  invading.  She  has  given  in  her  "  Ten  Years  of  Exile"  a 
vivid  account  of  the  secret  departure  of  herself  and  family,  and  of  the  flight  through 
Switzerland,  Austria,  Russia  and  Sweden.  When  she  reached  Moscow  there  was  the 
most  intense  excitement,  as  they  were  daily  expecting  the  arrival  of  Napoleon's 
armies.  She  left  Moscow,  she  says,  "  while  the  din  of  war  filled  the  air,  and  the  whole 
empire  seemed  tremulous  under  the  tread  of  armies."  After  nearly  a  year's  journey 
she  reached  England,  and  she  was  received  in  London  with  great  eclat. 

In  England  she  published  her  "  Germany,"  having  carried  the  precious  manu- 
script with  her  in  her  flight  through  many  lands.  "  In  less  than  a  year  it  appeared  in 
German,  French  and  English,  from  the  presses  of  Heidelberg,  Hanover,  Bremen, 
Paris,  London  and  Edinburgh."  It  created  great  excitement  in  the  literary  world.  All 
the  great  scholars  iii  Europe  acknowledged  its  power.  Goethe  says:  "  It  was  a  pow- 
erful engine  which  made  a  wide  breach  in  the  Chinese  wall  of  prejudice  which  had 
divided  Germany  and  France."  The  book  was  published  safely  in  Paris,  for  Napoleon 
was  no  longer  in  power.  The  Russian  campaign  had  failed,  and  Napoleon  had  abdi- 
cated, and  Madame  de  Stael  returned  to  her  beloved  Paris,  which  she  had  not  seen 
for  more  than  ten  years.  She  was  at  Coppet  when  the  defeat  at  Waterloo  occurred, 
but  she  would  not  return  to  Paris  at  once.  She  did  not  wish,  she  says,  "  to  witness 
the  second  invasion,  and  Paris  bristling  with  six  hundred  thousand  foreign  bayonets." 

The  summer  of  1816  was  one  of  the  most  brilliant  seasons  at  Coppet,  and  it  was 
the  last  she  spent  there.  The  following,  written  by  Stendal  (Bayle),  may  give  us  an 
impression  of  the  gatherings  that  made  Coppet  famous.  This  was  written  soon  after 
her  death: 

"  There  was  here  on  the  coast  of  Lake  Geneva  last  autumn  the  most  astonishing 
reunion.  It  was  the  states  general  of  European  opinion.  The  phenomenon  rises 
even  to  political  importance.  There  were  here  six  hundred  persons,  the  most  distin- 
guished of  Europe.  Men  of  intellect,  of  wealth,  of  the  greatest  titles — all  came  here 
to  seek  pleasure  in  the  salon  of  the  illustrious  woman  for  whom  France  weeps  today." 
The  Review  Politique,  1880,  says:  "  It  was  a  parliament  whence  came  forth  political 
doctrines,  a  race  of  statesmen,  a  school  of  thinkers,  which  have  filled  with  their  com- 
bats, their  triumphs  or  their  defeats,  more  than  half  a  century  of  our  history." 

Probably  no  woman  has  ever  had  a  more  positive  influence  over  political  thought 
of  her  times  than  Madame  de  Stael. 

(44) 


690  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN 

During  her  last  season  in  Paris,  our  countryman,  Mr.  Ticknor,  called  on  her. 
Though  prostrated  by  illness,  she  discoursed  eloquently  on  America,  and  her  face 
grew  luminous  as  she  said:  "  You  in  America  are  the  advance  guard  of  the  human 
race — you  have  the  future  of  the  world."  She  died  in  Paris,  July  14,  181 7,  but  fifty- 
one  years  of  age. 

I  have  given  but  a  glimpse  of  the  career  and  character  of  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able women  of  modern  times — a  unique  character,  combining  the  highest  gifts  of  intel- 
lect with  the  woman's  heart  of  tenderness,  sympathy  and  devotion.  Doubtless  she 
had  faults,  but  remembering  her  noble  and  lovable  characteristics,  we  may  hesitate  in 
passing  trivial  judgment  upon  this  remarkable  woman,  who  was  one  of  the  pro- 
foundest  ethical  thinkers,  "the  leader  of  the  reaction  against  the  materialistic  philos- 
ophy of  the  Revolution  " — a  woman  whose  intellect  towered  so  high  that  a  century 
full  of  great  names  has  not  obscured  it.  To  the  women  of  today  she  has  great  signif- 
icance. She  inaugurated  a  new  era  of  vigorous  writers  among  women,  of  which  the 
present  century  has  furnished  many  examples.  Every  gifted  woman  who  has  nobly 
used  her  talents  has  brightened  this  era  for  us,  and  we  acknowledge  Madame  deStael 
one  of  the  great  women  of  the  past,  whose  fame  and  whose  triumphs  illumine  the 
world  today. 


AN  EPIC. 


By  MRS.  E    M.  SOUVILLE. 

[Copyrighted  1892.] 

We  greet  thee,  fair  Columbia,  sing  to  thee, 

Wonder  of  nations!     Home  of  liberty! 

A  continent  is  thine.     Thy  realm  how  vast! 
Here  see  thy  children  gathered,  first  and  last, 
To  do  thee  homage  on  this  day  which  gave 
Thy  form  to  sight  above  the  ocean's  wave. 
Four  hundred  years — four  centuries  of  years — 
How  many  joys  and  sorrows,  hopes  and  fears, 
For  earthly  generations  thou  hast  wrought, 
And  unto  gladsome  birth  a  new  world  brought. 
To  toil-worn,  weary  and  care-burdened  man 
How  slow  thy  passage,  and  how  long  thy  span; 
To  nations,  scarce  a  lifetime  thou  dost  seem; 
To  ages  of  eternity,  a  dream, 
A  moment's  stay,  an  evanescent  guest; 
As  vivid  lightnings  flash  thou  vanishest. 

Back  through  these  fleeting  years  intently  gaze, 
Where,  o'er  the  tangled  web  of  history's  maze, 
A  mind  colossal  towers  into  view; 
And  thou,  Columbo!  with  unwilling  crew. 
Art  scanning  western  horizon's  blue  line 
Which  yet  unbroken   lies.     Still  o'er  the  brine 
Thine  anxious  eye  perpetual  watch  maintained; 

O'er  thy  frail  deck,  by  courage  high  sustained, 

Undaunted  by  adversity,  dost  go 

Thy  tedious  round  with  steadfast  heart;  when,  lo! 

A  bird  on  tired  wing,  from  land  a  rover, 

A  messenger  of  hope;  all  fears  are  over; 

Near  is  the  port  so  eagerly  desired — 

The  golden  India.     This  ambition  fired 

Those  sordid  souls  wide  ocean's  rage  to  dare, 

And  bold  attempt  the  minds  of  jewels  rare, 

Whose  fabled  riches,  told  in  distant  Spain, 

By  repetition  magnified  again 

Desire  entranced.     Belief  now  woke  apace 

In  all  his  followers'  breasts,  and  for  a  space 

Upheld  them.     Greater  and  prolonged  delay 

Discouraged  them  once  more,  and  on  a  day 

When  meeting  was  rampant  'twas  proposed 

To  bind  Columbus.     He  to  this  opposed 

But  three  more  days  of  waiting;  then,  indeed, 

Mrs.  E.  M.  Soaville  is  of  a  family  of  the  earliest  colonial  times.  She  has  traveled  in  Europe  and  America.  Mrs.  Soa- 
ville  is  a  writer  of  some  conseqnence.  Her  profession  is  that  of  literature,  and  she  is  a  member  of  the  American  Protective 
Society  of  Authors.  She  is  also  an  oflScerof  the  American  Authors'  Protection  Publishing  Company,  located  at  The  Potomac, 
Michigan  Avenue  and  Thirtieth  Street,  Chicago,  111.  This  company  was  incorporated  during  the  Columbian  Fair,  and  is  one 
of  the  consequences  of  woman's  co-operation  and  of  the  facilities  afforded  by  the  great  Exposition.  Her  postofiGice  address 
is  Jacksonville,  Fla. 

691 


MRS.   E.   M.  SOUVILLE. 


692  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

If  no  land  cheered  their  failing  hopes,  with  speed 

He  would  return  according  to  their  will; 

But  give  him  three  days  yet,  for  good  or  ill. 

For  all  his  years  of  patient  study,  left 

Three  days  to  crown  with  triumph;  or,  bereft 

Of  opportunity  and  the  laurel  wreath 

Of  victory  by  those  minds  so  far  beneath 

His  own  grand  genius.     Faith  undimmed  still  shone 

And  nerved  him  those  three  days;  although  alone, 

He  braved  derision,  ridicule  and  scorn. 

And  when  the  third  day  came,  on  its  bright  morn 

The  sun  arose,  climbed  high,  and  slowly  set. 

A  waste  of  waters  circled,  but  regret 

Not  then  assailed  Columbus;  day  was  ended, 

But  westward,  where  the  sky  and  water  blended, 

Obscured  by  sunset's  softly  fading  glow, 

He  ceaseless  vigil  kept  untiring,  though 

The  twilight  darkening  fell  upon  the  deep, 

And  stars  appeared  their  nightly  guard  to  keep. 

As  still  he  gazed  and  gazed,  a  sudden  light 

An  instant  gleamed  on  his  enraptured  sight. 

Could  he  believe?     Could  hope  and  faith  depart, 

And  blissful  certainty  possess  his  heart? 

Not  long  he  doubted,  when  again  it  came; 

No  more  with  transient  beam,  but  steady  flame. 

He  knew  his  work  accomplished;  ocean's  bound 

Was  passed  and  measured — proved  the  world  was  round 

And  like  the  egg  he  used  for  demonstration 

To  others,  great  in  influence  and  station, 

Reputed  wise,  whose  favor  to  attain 

He  argued,  plead,  desired  and  hoped  in  vain, 

For  Plato's  "opposite  continent"  to  find. 

He  dreamed  not  but  to  reach  the  farther  Ind. 

While  yet  he  pondered,  loudly  surging  out 

From  tall  main-top-mast  came  the  joyous  shout 

Of  "  Land!  the  Land! "  the  long  wished  land  ahead! 

Up  rushed  the  crew,  and  quick  the  anchor  sped 

Down  from  its  moorings.     Now  to  him  advanced 

His  followers  all,  and,  bowing,  hardly  glanced 

High  as  his  face;  but  he,  serene  and  calm. 

Most  graciously  received  them,  and  as  balm 

On  painful  wound,  the  words  that  from  him  fell 

To  their  accusing  conscience.     It  were  well 

To  leave  them  thus,  but  truth  compels  the  end, 

And  to  that  shameful  story  none  can  lend 

A  palliating  circumstance  or  grace, 

That  aught  detracts  from  its  revolting  face. 

What  then  received  he  for  this  gift  to  men? 
Attend,  it  shall  be  named,  although  the  pen, 
With  trembling  indignation  scarce  controlled. 
Shrinks  from  the  task  its  features  to  unfold. 

Vile  envy  roused  devouring  jealousy. 
Calumniation  blighting  touched,  and  he. 
Through  selfishness,  was  sacrificed  by  those 
Pretended  friends  who  secretly  were  foes. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  693 

For  honor,  degradation  was  his  meed; 

For  gratitude,  chains  bound  him,  and  his  need 

Gaunt  poverty  replenished;  for  a  world, 

A  prison  his  reward:  and  when  unfurled 

Spain's  banner,  and  the  king  the  land  possessed, 

Another's  name  Columbo's  right  confessed. 

Almost  forgotten,  then,  he  died;  and  now, 

Four  centuries  scarce  remembered,  come  to  bow 

Before  his  fame,  as  they  of  ancient  days 

The  old  and  new  world's  gathered  nations.     Praise 

And  justice  here  we  offer  him;  but  wait, 

Give  justice  it  is  said!  nay,  'tis  too  late; 

No  justice  now,  but  tardy  honor  pay 

To  him  who  over  ocean  led  the  way. 

The  scene  is  changed.     In  swift  review  years  pass, 

And  many  names  mar  history's  page — alas! 

For  Cortez  false,  and  Montezuma  true, 

Pizarro,  and  unfortunate  Peru. 

But  haste  away  from  pictures  grim,  and  dwell 

On  things  more  pleasant  far  to  hear  and  tell. 

A  rugged  coast;  a  wintry  wind  that  blows 

A  good  ship  onward;  while  each  wave  that  rose 

Around  her  gave  but  impulse  toward  the  shore, 

Sought  by  these  troubled  hearts,  to  leave  no  more 

This  haven  blest,  where  with  untrammeled  zeal 

To  worship  God  in  freedom,  and  for  weal 

Or  woe,  as  He  in  whom  they  trust  might  give, 

A  sturdy  pilgrim  band  they  hoped  to  live. 

Full  soon  contentment  reigned  o'er  all  the  land, 
When  once  more  on  them  fell  oppression's  hand. 
Again  the  mighty  sword  must  arbitrate. 
So  seven  long  dreary  years  throughout  the  state 
War's  tumult  stalked.     But  peace  at  length  returned, 
And  joined  in  league  with  liberty;  they  earned 
By  thrift  prosperity  and  wealth,  until 
The  land  too  strait  became;  so,  over  hill 
And  vale  and  prairies  wild  far  west  they  went, 
Through  strange  vicissitudes  and  trials,  sent 
To  prove  them  stanch  and  with  all  worthy  traits 
Of  worthy  sons  of  the  United  States. 

Again  the  changing  ages  shift  the  scene 

Where  circling  horizon  sky  and  earth  between 

Surrounds  the  barren  waste;  a  little  band 

Of  hardy  and  adventurous  spirits  stand, 

Resolved  to  conquer  in  life's  battle  stress — 

Upbuild  a  state — transform  the  wilderness, 

Make  deserts  blossom  as  the  rose  beside 

A  great  metropolis,  its  people's  pride: 

So  from  the  shore  of  Michigan's  blue  water 

Chicago  grew,  our  greatest,  youngest  daughter! 

Most  fitting  that  the  latest  born  of  all 

The  cities  vast  of  this  wide  land  should  call 

A  universal  celebration  due 

That  glorious  day  of  fourteen  ninety-tw^o. 


694  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

As  overhead  in  untrod  realms  of  air 

Above  stupendous  towers  some  mountain  fair, 

So  soared  Columbo's  lofty  thought,  and  grasped, 

Within  its  compass,  earth  by  ocean  clasped. 

And  we,  the  monument  of  his  genius  great. 

Do  thus  his  name  and  fame  commemorate. 

While  circumscribed  within  Chicago's  halls, 

Behold  all  nations;  science  all  enthralls; 

For  strife  assembled,  but  these  fields  are  won. 

With  smokeless  powder  and  with  shotless  gun, 

With  wonderful  machines;  with  fabrics  fine; 

Electric  marvels;  treasures  of  the  mine. 

Here  see  rare  sculptures;  art  and  objects  strange, 

To  elevate  the  mind,  enlarge  the  range 

Of  thought;  amuse,  instruct  in  love  and  peace, 

That  with  such  gentle  contests  wars  may  cease. 

Ye  empires,  kings,  republics,  now  give  ear 

Unto  our  welcome!  heartfelt  welcome,  here! 

Our  task  is  finished.     Ere  we  part  we  pause. 
For  swift  defying  all  of  nature's  laws, 
Which  limit  to  the  past  and  present  hour 
Man's  knowledge,  and  experience,  and  power; 
A  bright,  prophetic  vision,  dimly  seen. 
Before  us  rises,  robed  in  dazzling  sheen, 
And  in  the  zenith  of  the  heavens  high, 
An  eagle,  gray  and  hoary,  cleaves  the  sky. 
Eastward  his  flight,  and  hovering  o'er  the  main, 
Toward  Europe  gazes.     In  his  own  domain 
Mount  we  with  him,  and  through  his  clearer  eye 
View  all  on  sea  and  land  he  can  decry. 

Where  prairies  stretched  their  treeless  desolation, 
Lo!  fruitful  fields  and  cities  bless  the  nation; 
Great  navies  swarm,  and,  like  the  birds  in  motion, 
On  every  hand  flit  over  sea  and  ocean. 
While  o'er  them  strange,  and  yet  familiar  seeming, 
A  banner  waves,  upon  its  azure  gleaming 
A  single  star  displayed  its  rays,  disclosing 
Forms  of  a  hundred  stars,  the  one  composing: 
From  sea  to  sea,  from  Frigid  Zone  to  Torrid, 
One  Union  bounds;  and  war's  contentions  horrid 
Disturb  no  more.     Sweet  Truth,  its  form  revealing 
In  beauteous  garments;  Justice,  naught  concealing. 
Dispensing  equally  to  equal  worth, 
With  righteous  judgment  ruling  all  the  earth. 
See  Might  and  Right  now  hand  in  hand  united; 
See  brother's  love  by  ample  love  requited; 
Mild  Peace  attending,  watching  o'er  the  free. 
Rewards  mankind;  and  crowning  Justice,  see. 
The  land  of  Christopher  Columbo  named 
No  more  America,  but  Columbia  famed. 


DRESS  IMPROVEMENT. 


By  MRS.  JENNESS  MILLER. 

There  exists  such  pre-conceived  prejudice  in  the  minds  of  many  because  of 
former  attempts  at  dress  reform,  so-called,  that  the  scope  and  purpose  of  the  present 

work  for  dress  improvement  is  more  or  less  misunder- 
stood and  its  value  and  success  under-estimated  in 
consequence. 

Dress  reform  was  inaugurated  as  a  crusade  against 
the  worst  evils,  physiologically  speaking,  of  the  fash- 
ionable dress  of  a  period  when  deforming  exagger- 
ations were  conspicuous  to  a  degree.  The  heroic 
women  who  wore  the  earlier  forms  of  dress  reform 
were  martyrs  to  freedom  of  body.  They  did  not  con- 
cern themselves  with  artistic  selection,  nor  strive  after 
picturesque  and  pleasing  effects.  Their  banner  was 
inscribed  with  the  bold  and  uncompromising  words, 
dress  reform — nothing  more. 

Because  of  this  fact  they  did  not  succeed.  Were 
one,  ignorant  of  color  combination,  poetic  expression 
and  picturesque  accessories,  to  undertake  the  work  of 
creating  a  great  painting  because  of  technical  knowl- 
edge of  drawing,  his  work  would  prove  essential  fail- 
ure. In  like  manner,  dress-reformers  failed  to  impress 
the  public  with  the  importance  of  a  work  that  con- 
cerned itself  with  physiological  functions  alone. 

I  emphasize  this  fact  in  order  that  the  essential 
difference  between  the  earlier  dress-reform  movements  for  which  modern  dress  improv- 
ers have  suffered  vicariously,  and  the  present  effort  at  evolution  of  a  high  type  of 
clothing  for  the  human  structure  may  be  recognized  and  afford  a  basis  for  thorough 
understanding  of  what  is  hoped  for  in  the  future. 

One  who  carefully  examines  the  pages  of  fashion  magazines,  and  looks  into  the 
history  of  dress,  will  find  the  conclusion  forced  upon  him  that  there  has  never  been 
any  attempt  upon  the  part  of  fashion  makers  to  clothe  the  body  consistently.  Novelty, 
exaggeration  and  display  have  been  the  ends  sought.  The  body  has  been  cramped 
and  distorted,  its  requirements  for  health  and  comfort  disregarded  according  to  the 
caprice  of  fashion's  arbiters.  The  fundamental  laws  of  beauty  have  been  violated,  and 
the  human  form  robbed  of  its  expression  to  what  end?  Who  can  answer?  One 
might  offer  defense  of  the  dress  of  today,  but  he  would  be  compelled  to  reverse  his 
decision  tomorrow,  for  what  obtains  today  may  be  regarded  by  the  fashionable  world 
tomorrow  as  "  perfectly  hideous,"  as  women  are  often  heard  to  say  of  fashion  plates 
that  are  out  of  date. 

Trace  dress  through  its  successive  changes,  and  its  absurdities,  frivolities,  deform- 

Mre.  Annie  Jenness  Miller  is  a  native  of  New  England.  She  was  born  in  the  White  Mountains,  January  28, 1859.  Her 
parents  were  Solomon  Jennees  and  Susan  Wendell  Jenneee,  both  of  the  oldest  New  England  stock.  She  was  educated  prin- 
cipally at  Boston,  Mass.,  and  by  private  tutors.  She  has  traveled  over  nearly  all  of  the  European  continent  and  many  times 
over  America,  Canada  and  parts  of  Mexico.  She  married  in  1887  Mr.  Conrad  Miller.  Her  special  work  has  been  in 
the  interest  of  womecp  and  a  higher  physical  status  for  the  race,  one  branch  of  which  has  been  dress  improvement.  Her 
principal  literary  works  are  "  Physical  Beauty  "  and  "  Mother  and  Babe,"  besides  which  she  is  the  owner  and  publisher  of  the 
"Jenness  Miller  Monthly."  Her  profession  is  literature  and  platform  speaking.  In  religious  faith  she  is  Episcopalian. 
Her  postoffice  address  is  Washington,  D.  C. 

695 


MRS.    ANNIK   JKNNESS    .MILLER. 


696  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

ities  and  exaggerations  are  almost  beyond  belief.  At  fashion's  command,  anything 
may  become  the  vogue  without  regard  to  eternal  fitness.  Women  vie  with  each  other 
in  being  the  first  to  appear  on  the. promenade  in  the  latest  fashionable  caprice,  and 
yet  women,  when  appealed  to  in  the  name  of  health,  grace  and  art,  timidly  ask: 
"  Could  one  wear  such  a  dress?" 

All  this  brings  us  back  to  the  central  truth,  that  the  education  of  principles  hav- 
ing reference  to  line,  color,  arrangement  and  expression,  must  precede  any  great 
advance  in  artistic  methods  of  dress.  There  are  laws  fixed  and  unchangeable  that 
may  be  learned,  and  we  are  just  now  at  the  threshold  of  this  great  study  of  bodily 
possibilities  and  clothing  for  accurate  expression. 

Like  all  higher  artistic  evolution  the  work  proceeds  slowly,  because  of  ignorance, 
prejudice  and  tradition,  but  the  triumph  of  higher  forms  of  dress  is  as  certain  as  the 
progress  of  human  beings  along  other  lines  of  science  and  art. 

Physical  development  must  precede  the  artistic  clothing  of  the  body.  We  must 
become  as  gods  in  physical  grace  and  expression  before  the  highest  types  of  dress 
will  perfectly  become  us.  While  our  bodies  are  ill-shapen,  chest  sunken,  shoulders 
raised,  abdomen  protruded,  classically  free  dress  seems  in  truth  to  exaggerate  our 
deformities;  but  once  our  bodies  become  nobly  erect  and  vitally  expressive,  dress 
radiating  from  the  natural  points  of  support  in  free  lines,  will  seem  artistically  grace- 
ful and  expressive.  For  this  reason  I  always  urge  upon  my  hearers  and  followers  con- 
servation and  good  judgment  in  selecting  and  adapting  the  least  exaggerated  forms 
of  prevailing  fashions  while  working  with  muscles,  nerve-centers  and  joints  for  grace- 
ful poise  and  bodily  culture.  A  stiff  and  unyielding  figure  will  not  become  at  once 
beautiful  and  expressive  through  disregarding  the  garments  that  have  cramped 
motion,  but  disregarding  such  garments  will  give  the  body  that  freedom  without 
which  improvement  remains  impossible.  Therefore,  bodily  development  and  free 
dress  must  go  hand  in  hand  for  higher  results. 

Art  in  dress  demands  study  of  the  body  and  adaptability  of  fabric,  color  and  dec- 
oration of  individuality.  Exquisite  needlework  and  ornamentation  of  a  noble  and  not 
of  the  trivial  kind  will  make  the  dress  of  the  future  sumptuous,  elegant,  costly  and 
magnificent,  according  to  the  requirements  of  time  and  place. 

Upon  the  other  hand,  art  knowledge  and  regard  for  form  and  fitness  will  make 
simple  dress  devoted  to  the  utilities  no  less  attractive  in  its  place  and  for  its  purpose 
than  the  robes  of  the  lady  of  wealth,  whose  social  requirements  demand  splendor  and 
richness.  The  eternal  principles,  of  art  in  dress  will  be  recognized  as  fixed  and 
unchangeable,  and  regard  for  nature's  unalterable  laws  will  prove  the  keynote  to 
eternal  harmonies. 

Inconsistencies  in  general  extend  to  all  departments  of  dress  under  fashion's 
rule.  Fashion  gives  no  attention  to  such  fine  distinction  as  appropriate  dress  for  dif- 
ferent occasions,  excepting  it  be  a  distinction  between  evening  and  street  attire,  and 
even  these  are  not  arbitrary.  Street  dress  frequently  offends  good  taste  by  too  great 
length,  suitable  to  house  and  carriage  wear  only;  while  evening  dress  jostles  street 
attire  upon  occasions  that  should  be  sacred  to  picturesque  costuming. 

When  art  in  dress  becomes  recognized,  every  walk  in  life  and  every  occasion  will 
have  its  appropriate  dress,  and  every  class  of  society  will  be  the  gainer.  Under  the 
regime  of  art  in  dress  no  woman  will  be  seen  picking  her  way  along  filthy  streets  in  a 
dress-skirt  bedraggled  with  mud,  nor  will  women  wear  gems  and  rich  fabrics  at  church, 
cloth  tailor-made  gowns  in  the  reception  room  and  high  hats  loaded  with  bustling 
and  aggressive  trimmings  at  the  theater.  We  shall  not  be  served  by  kitchen  girls 
arrayed  in  tawdry  finery;  shop  girls  in  cheap  jewelry  and  cotton  lace,  nor  denied  our- 
selves the  privilege  of  proper  selection  in  dress  for  time  and  place  in  any  profession. 
In  short,  with  the  study  of  principles  order  will  evolve  from  chaos,  and  each  depart- 
ment of  work  will  have  its  recognized  dress,  appropriate  in  detail,  self-respecting, 
because  the  right  thing  for  our  immediate  needs,  and  beautiful  because  appropriate. 


RESIDENT  MEMBERS  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  LADY  MANAGERS. 


1.  Mrs.  Bertha  M.  Honors  Palmer, 

Chicago,  III. 

3.  Mrs.  L.  Brace  Shattuck,  4.  Mrs.  James  A.  Mclligan, 

Chicago,  III.  Chicago,  III. 

6.  Mrs.  M.  R.  M.  Wallace,  7.  Mrs.  Leander  Stone, 

Chicago,  111.  Chicago,  III. 

8.  Mrs.  James  R.  Doolittle,  Jr.,  9.  Mrs.  Matilda  B.  Carse, 

Chicago,  III.  Chicago,  III. 


2.  Mrs.  Solomon  Thatcher,  Jr., 

River  Forest,  III 

5.  Frances  Dickinson,  M.'D., 

Chicago,  III. 


THE  ITALIAN  WOMAN  IN  THE  COUNTRY.* 

By  COUNTESS  CORA  SLOCOMB  Dl  BRAZZA. 

The  peasant  women  of  Italy.  Who  of  you  on  hearing  those  words  does  not  think 
of  the  opera  chorus  gesticulating  as  gracefully  as  jointed  dolls  expressing  emotion  by 

clock  work,  or  the  swarthy  fruit  seller  at  a  frequented 
corner,  or  of  some  weary  wan  family  of  immigrants 
such  as  has  more  than  once  crossed  your  path? 

And  yet  the  peasant  woman  of  Italy  among  her 
native  fields,  olive  groves  and  vineyards  resembles 
none  of  these,  and  I  trust  when  we  part  you  will  be 
truly  acquainted  with  our  humble  sisters  across  the 
seas  and  carry  away  in  your  heart  one  grain  of  the 
rich  harvest  of  love  I  bear  them. 

I  will  introduce  you  to  those  I  have  known  inti- 
mately in  Fruili,  for  it  is  better  to  have  a  clear  impres- 
sion of  a  group  than  a  confused  memory  of  a  mass, 
the  more  so  as  the  peasants  in  the  north  of  Italy  live 
in  isolated  homes,  and  each  household  forms  a  com- 
plete miniature  government,  composed  of  many  gen- 
erations and  ramifications  of  relatives  living  as  one 
family  and  submitting  to  a  regularly  patriarchal  ad- 
ministration of  their  interests.  Some  of  these  peasant 
homesteads,  with  their  courtyards,  barns  and  out- 
houses, shelter  no  less  than  fifty  human  beings,  scores 
of  quadrupeds  and  hundreds  of  feathered  bipeds.  The 
father  of  the  oldest  branch  directs  the  others,  or  in 
case  he  feels  incompetent  through  age,  the  son  in  whose  favor  he  abdicates  reigns 
supreme  over  the  conglomerated  existences.  No  individual  feels  entitled  to  sign  a 
contract  or  undertake  any  enterprise  without  consent  of  his  chief  or  else  formally  cut- 
ting loose  from  the  guidance  of  his  relatives  who  he  knows  will  show  him  no  pity  if 
once  he  has  broken  with  the  immemorial  traditions  of  co-operative  duty  among  the 
members  of  peasant  clans.  Should  the  hereditary  chief  prove  himself  incapable  of 
guiding  the  household,  he  is  formally  deposed  by  his  relatives  and  another  member  of 
his  family,  endowed  with  the  necessary  ability,  is  elected,  by  vote,  in  his  place,  in  which 
case  the  women  as  well  as  the  men  are  consulted. 

Among  the  peasants  the  ancient  Biblical  appreciation  of  a  numerous  offspring 
flourishes,  and  to  remain  childless  or  be  forced  to  replace  the  willing  toilsome  hands 
of  sons  and  daughters  by  hired  help  is  felt  to  be  a  keen  disgrace. 

Much  is  to  be  learned  by  visiting  this  unfrequented  province,  which  lies  directly 
north  of  Venice,  and  so  I  trust  you  will  permit  me  to  lead  you  in  imagination  through 
some  of  the  pleasant  experiences  which  await  you  there. 

Countess  Cora  Ann  Slocomb  Di  Brazza  Savorgnan  is  a  native  of  New  Orleans,  La.  She  was  bom  Jannary  7, 1862.  Her 
parents  were  Cuthbert  Harrison  Slocomb,  captain  of  Washington  Artillery,  and  Abby  Sarah  Day  Slocomb.  She  was  edacated, 
up  to  the  death  of  her  father,  at  New  Orleans;  then  spent  two  years  in  the  North  with  private  tutors ;  at  thirteen  years  of  age 
went  abroad,  studied  German  in  Germany,  French  in  France,  and  finished  her  education  on  the  Isle  of  Wight.  She  visited 
Italy  for  the  first  time  in  1887,  when  she  met  and  married  Count  Detalmo  di  Brazza  Savorgnan.  Her  special  work  has  been  in 
the  interest  of  poor  people  living  on  her  estates  in  Northern  Italy  or  in  the  City  of  Rome,  her  winter  residence.  She  speaks 
fluently  four  languages,  English,  French,  German  and  Italian,  and  makes  all  the  designs  for  her  own  lace  school.  She 
came  to  the  World's  Fair  in  charge  of  the  Italian  Lace  Exhibit  and  the  Queen's  laces,  with  the  object  of  making  Italian  lace 
known  to  the  public  of  the  United  States  and  establish  a  trade  with  this  country.  In  religious  faith  she  is  a  Protestant  Epis- 
copalian.   Her  postofiice  address  is  Caetello  di  Brazza,  presso  Udine,  or  Palazzo  Vaccari  Via  del  Tritore,  Borne. 

*The  title  of  the  address,  as  delivered  in  the  Congress  was  "Life  of  the  Italian  Woman  in  the  Coontry." 

697 


COUNTESS  CORA  SLOCOMB  Dl  BRAZZA. 


698  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

« 

The  fast  express  leaves  Venice  at  2  o'clock  every  afternoon  and  is  due  in  Udine, 
the  capital  of  Fruili,  at  4:20.  It  first  traverses  the  massive  viaduct,  which  rises  above 
the  blue  lagoon,  which  is  ever  dotted  with  orange  and  red  lateen-sails.  The  salt 
marshes  and  sluggish  waterways  we  see  sleeping  tranquilly  on  our  right  like  a  worn- 
out  combatant,  the  sacred  fortress  of  Margera,  so  gloriously  defended  in  1849  by  a  few 
brave  men  in  the  Italian  rebellion  against  foreign  rule,  when  the  Austrians  hemmed 
the  volunteers  in  on  every  side  except  that  of  the  city.  There  another  more  dreaded 
foe,  the  "  cholera,"  wielded  the  scepter.  All  had  surrendered  but  this  handful  of  stanch 
hearts,  and  still  they  fought  on,  single-hand,  until  in  the  baptism  of  their  own  blood 
and  misery  the  dross  engendered  by  the  ease  of  centuries  was  washed  from  their 
characters  and  every  Venetian  was  born  again  a  hero. 

The  train  crosses  the  hot,  rich  Venetian  plains;  then  it  turns  to  the  East  and 
seems  to  lose  itself  on  the  verdant  plain  of  Fruili,  the  great  Patria  or  fatherland,  from 
which  the  Venetians  fled  a  thousand  years  ago  before  the  devastating  hordes  of  bloody 
Attila,  surnamed  "the  plague  of  God."  Now  all  is  pretty,  prosperous,  peaceful;  the 
waving  fields  of  grain,  the  rippling  water-courses,  sparkle  in  the  sunshine.  The  neat 
roads,  leading  to  well  filled  barns,  are  planted  in  avenues  of  great  shade  trees;  the 
peasant  houses  are  large,  the  meadows  are  rich,  and  the  gray  cattle  fat  and  sleepy. 
All  seems  to  speak  of  contentment  and  repose  and  one  is  aroused  with  a  kind  of 
a  moral  shock  at  sight  of  the  old  Mahin  country  house,  with  its  memories  of  turbu- 
lence and  war.  For,  by  an  irony  of  fate,  this  beautiful  home  of  the  last  of  the  Doges 
of  the  Venetian  republic,  was  chosen  as  a  resting  place  by  the  modern  Caesar,  Napo- 
leon I.,  when  he  was  studying  the  peace  of  Campoformido,  which  forged  the  chain 
of  Venetian  slavery  to  Austria.  Here  on  this  very  spot  it  was  welded  upon  the  neck 
of  the  once  proud  Venetian  republic  with  gold  rung  from  her  children  by  purchasing 
Austria  to  furnish  the  conqueror  (alas!  a  born  Italian)  with  the  sinews  necessary  to 
carry  on  to  fresh  fields  of  misery  his  conquering  banners  and  their  attendant  train  of 
woes. 

The  train  whistles  twice.  The  modern  suburbs  of  a  prosperous  little  city  come  in 
sight.  The  past  is  lost  in  the  present.  The  thirty  thousand  inhabitants  of  Udine  greet 
you  with  the  clatter  of  iron  foundries,  cotton  and  flour  mills  and  a  hundred  other  great 
industries — young  life,  young  enterprise,  have  conquered.  United  Italy  has  arisen, 
strengthened  by  that  long  period  of  suffering.  We  pass  through  the  turreted  city  gate 
and  you  gaze  in  wonder  upon  gushing  fountains,  electric  lights,  gas  burners,  tramways, 
and  telephone  wires  interlaced  curiously  among  the  ancient  palaces.  A  miniature  parlia- 
ment existed  on  the  citadel  of  Udine  centuries  before  the  proud  barons  of  England  com- 
pelled King  John  in  1 2 1 5  to  sign  the  Magna  Charta,  assuring  to  their  descendants  liberty 
and  representation.  This  little  Patria  can,  therefore,  boast  of  having  been  one  of  the  old- 
est countries  in  Europe  to  possess  a  representative  assemblage  by  election  and  by  inher- 
itance, divided  into  two  bodies,  called  the  Peers  and  Commons.  These  met  yearly  in 
Udine  to  decide  on  all  that  concerned  the  well  being  of  the  country,  and  this  parlia- 
ment only  ceased  to  exist  when  Napoleon  conquered  Italy. 

We  can  not  linger.  Time  is  flying,  and  we  must  hasten  on  that  you  may  become 
acquainted  with  the  people  up  in  the  hills  around  the  castle  and  learn  to  love  them  a 
little  before  we  part. 

The  carriage  spins  out  of  the  gate  at  the  other  end  of  the  town  and  away  between 
the  Indian  corn-fields,  called  there  Turkish  grain,  and  the  vineyards.  The  road  is 
macadamized  and  very  white.  It  is  flanked  on  either  side  by  deep  ditches  and  mul- 
berry trees  which  have  been  cropped  into  a  resemblance  to  chubby,  rotund  personali- 
ties. There  are  millions  of  them,  stretching  row  upon  row,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach. 
Their  leaves  serve  to  feed  the  silkworms,  for  you  are  in  Italy,  which  produces  one- 
fourth  of  the  silk  consumed  in  the  world,  and  in  one  of  the  two  provinces  which  yields 
the  most  silk  in  Italy. 

The  peasant  men  who  pass  salute  respectfully,  but  the  women  here  are  very  proud, 
reserved  and  dignified,  and  never  bow  unless  they  are  acquainted.     The  strong  soft 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  699 

homespun  in  which  these  people  are  clothed  is  composed  of  the  refuse  left  from  the 
silk  culture,  which  is  washed,  carded,  spun,  dyed  and  woven  at  home  by  the  women 
and  made  by  the  village  tailors  into  most  comfortable  and  durable  costumes.  This 
material  is,  alas!  being  supplanted  by  cheap  factory  goods  also  made  up  by  the  tailors, 
for  the  peasant  women  consider  that  none  but  men  can  fashion  garments  worthy  of 
admiration. 

The  horses  climb  up  and  up  through  picturesque  villages,  and  past  flowering  walls 
and  verdant  vineyards,  orchards  and  copses.  On  every  side  bits  of  most  charming 
landscape  attract  the  eye  studded  with  villages,  and  you  are  in  Fruili,  the  third  most 
populous  country  in  the  world,  China  and  Belgium  alone  having  more' inhabitants  to 
the  square  mile. 

The  carriage  spins  over  a  long  rough  causeway  flanked  by  old  acacia  trees.  At 
the  end  stands  between  massive  stone  columns  a  wide  open  iron  gate  draped  in  wysteria 
and  roses,  forming  a  graceful  frame  to  a  ruined  castle  that  closes  the  vista.  From  its 
highest  tower  float  the  Stars  and  Stripes  and  the  Tricolor  of  United  Italy,  sanctified  by 
the  White  Cross  of  Savoy. 

We  have  reached  home.  A  hubbub  of  sweet  feminine  voices  caresses  the  ear; 
down  the  old  terrace  steps  swarm  half  a  hundred  girls  led  by  a  gary-haired  old  hunch- 
back. They  scramble  to  kiss  our  hands,  they  courtesy  and  murmur  "  Servito  suo."  They 
are  very  neat,  with  their  white  aprons  and  sleeves  and  bonny  kerchiefs.  They  are  the 
children  of  the  Home  Lace  School,  who  learn  the  new  patterns  and  then  teach  them 
in  their  turn  to  their  one  hundred  and  fifty  companions  in  the  neighboring  villages. 
Many  of  the  little  ones  have  been  to  the  public  school  all  the  morning,  and  the  big 
ones  come  from  the  fields  or  stables,  for  as  soon  as  they  can  get  away  they  hasten  to 
their  lace  cushions  as  to  an  entertainment,  fresh  and  merry  as  chattering  magpies. 

We  do  not  wish  them  to  forget  what  they  have  learned  at  school,  and  so  each  girl 
is  compelled  to  write  her  own  name  and  address  on  the  piece  of  lace  made  by  her,  as 
well  as  its  price  and  the  date  when  finished.  They  sing  while  they  work,  street  litanies 
and  lovely  part  songs,  as  well  as  the  stirring  war  choruses  of  young  Italy.  They  are 
visited  twice  a  week  by  a  chaplain  and  school-teacher,  who  recounts  to  them  anec- 
dotes about  the  helpful  lives  which  members  of  their  class  have  led  for  others,  and 
tells  them  of  the  great  charitable  organizations  and  institutions  founded  through  their 
self-abnegation.  Each  morning  they  begin  the  day  by  united  prayer,  and  if  the  priest 
is  not  expected  one  of  the  stories  learned  from  him  is  repeated  for  the  amusement  of 
the  others.  If  you  asked  Italia,  our  most  lovable  and  industrious  lacemaker,  she 
would  repeat  to  you  the  following  in  soft  and  modest  accents: 

"  One  day  not  so  many  years  ago — alas!  I  forget  the  date,  but  I  think  it  was  about 
183O — a  priest  in  Sicily  entered  one  of  the  most  squalid  houses  of  his  parish  just  at  the 
hour  when  the  family  was  about  to  partake  of  its  mid-day  meal.  He  was  politely 
invited  to  join,  and  what  was  his  surprise,  after  the  blessing  had  been  asked,  to  see 
each  cut  off  the  most  delicate  part  of  his  portion  and  place  it  on  a  plate  in  the  center 
of  the  table.  He  asked  for  an  explanation  of  this  strange  action.  The  father  answered : 
'You  see  we  have  no  money  to  spare  with  which  to  help  our  neighbors,  but  we  find 
that  if  each  of  us  gives  away  a  good  big  mouthful  of  his  food,  though  it  costs  him 
nothing,  it  suffices  to  remind  him  of  those  who  have  no  meals,  and  the  united  bits  are 
ample  for  the  nourishment  of  an  old  man  who  comes  daily  to  get  what  we  have 
saved  for  him.'  "  The  priest  marveled  at  the  example  of  true  Christian  charity  set  by 
this  simple  household  and  went  away  full  of  the  idea  that  what  had  been  done  by  one 
family  could  be  done  by  many.  And  at  present,  owing  to  his  teachings,  each  day  that 
the  sun  rises  on  Sicily  six  thousand  poor  people  are  fed  with  the  mouthfuls  of  the 
poor. 

Oh  my  compatriots,  you  and  I  grew  up  with  tales  of  Mafia  Camorra  and  blood- 
shed poisoning  our  hearts  against  the  Sicilians,  while  their  poorest  were  developing 
this  noblest  brotherhood  which  teaches  to  take  the  bread  from  one's  own  hungry 
mouth  to  feed  a  poorer  neighbor. 


700  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

You  and  I  were  reading  of  the  Sicilian  vespers  reeking  with  blood,  while  from 
the  scanty  dinners  of  the  poor  ascended  to  the  Lord  a  sweeter  savor  than  from  our 
rich  and  dainty  boards. 

The  lacemakers  know  scores  of  such  stories.  Learning  thus  daily  of  the  great 
influence  for  good  which  even  the  lowliest  can  exert,  let  us  also  learn  from  them  never 
to  neglect  the  smallest  opportunities,  for  they  are  the  stepping-stones  set  by  Provi- 
dence to  bridge  the  deep  chasm  of  egotistical  selfishness  which  lies  between  our  frail 
humanity  and  the  great  example,  Christ.  The  little  seven-year-old  lacemakers  will 
join  the  big  ones  in  showing  with  pride  their  lace  pillows.  Each  one  is  absolute  pro- 
prietress of  all  she  makes,  and  can  even  sell  it  herself.  She  must  then  charge  a  small 
percentage  above  the  price  paid  to  her  and  hand  it  in  to  the  cashier  to  assist  in  defray- 
ing the  expenses  incurred  for  the  lighting,  heating  and  the  administration  of  the  lace 
school  by  which  she  has  profited  gratuitously  to  learn  her  art.  The  simple  tools  used 
by  the  lacemakers  are  loaned  to  them,  but  any  wanton  loss  or  destruction  of  these 
objects  is  deducted  from  their  earnings.  The  accounts  are  settled  monthly,  and  the 
price  paid  for  the  lace  augmented  up  to  a  high  percentage  above  the  regular  rate  in 
proportion  to  its  superiority  to  the  sample,  and  a  percentage  is  deducted  if  it  falls 
below  or  is  needlessly  spoiled. 

The  scale  of  payment  is  governed  by  the  money  we  can  obtain  for  the  lace. 
Hence  we  seek  to  originate  new  designs  and  have  objects  made  which  will  attract  the 
wealthy.  Could  we  command  enough  work  there  are  thousands  of  women  in  Fruili 
alone  waiting  to  join  our  schools  or  organize  into  co-operative  societies. 

The  race  which  inhabits  Fruili  and  speaks  its  language  is  robust,  handsome,  intel- 
ligent and  patient. 

The  women  do  not  work  as  regularly  as  the  men  in  the  fields,  but  assist  them  there 
whenever  necessary,  and  as  they  have  the  usual  feminine  fear  of  storms,  one  often 
sees  when  the  thunder  growls  a  posse  of  the  weaker  sex  huddled  together  beneath  a 
projecting  bank,  praying  in  abject  fear.  The  women  in  the  high-perched  village  are 
the  first  to  spy  the  thunder-caps  scudding  along  toward  the  quarter  of  the  heavens 
which  arches  their  homes,  and  they  hurry  to  the  church-tower  and  ring  the  bells  to  call 
the  laborers  from  the  fields  and  the  old  to  their  orisons.  They  ring  with  a  will,  for 
they  believe  that  by  establishing  an  aerial  commotion  through  the  swinging,  reverber- 
ating bells  the  devastator  can  be  warded  off.  As  the  storm  approaches  the  prayer  of 
the  bells  is  heard  ringing  clear  and  strong  between  the  gusts  of  wind.  It  increases  to 
a  wild  entreaty  in  the  on-rush  of  the  tempest,  and  the  wild  clamor  breaks  in  a  frenzy 
of  despair  when  the  storm  bursts. 

Then  begins  the  deep  tolling  of  the  great  passing  bell  as  the  battered  flowers  and 
lascerated  branches  are  carried  along,  tossed  and  torn  by  the  blast  and  bruised  by 
the  cutting  sheets  of  ice,  fit  emblems  of  the  dying  hopes  of  the  hard-working  peas- 
ants and  the  anguish  of  crushed  nature. 

The  voices  of  the  village  bells  die  away  in  a  quivering  sob,  which  seems  wrung 
from  their  metal  hearts  in  pity  for  the  devastation  around  them.  At  the  vesper  hour 
they  will  rise  again  clear,  despite  the  past,  to  praise  God.  Fit  reminders  of  the  Eternal 
Spring,  the  sunshine  and  the  fresh  budding  and  blossoming  that  lie  beyond. 

Since  peasant  and  proprietor  suffer  alike  from  these  terrific  rain  and  hail  storms, 
the  gentlefolk  of  Fruili  are  seeking  in  every  way  to  render  their  tenants  familiar  with 
all  the  means  for  rapidly  substituting  fresh  crops  for  those  destroyed.  They  also  seek 
to  supply  them  with  other  means  of  earning  a  livelihood  in  inclement  weather  so  that 
they  may  maintain  their  families  and  meet  their  financial  obligations  with  the  proceeds 
of  their  manual  industry. 

About  twenty-five  years  ago  a  gentleman  farmer  named  Pecile  died  in  Tagagna,  a 
village  which  numbers  about  two  hundred  thousand  inhabitants.  He  left  an  income 
which  consists  of  five  hundred  dollars,  to  be  spent  yearly  on  agricultural  instruction 
for  the  peasants,  and  in  assisting  any  enterprise  or  industry  started  in  the  place  which 
promised  to  add  to  their  physical  or  moral  development.     Despite  its  modest  propor- 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  701 

tions  this  small  sum  has  not  only  provided  for  the  villagers  admirable  lectures  on  agri- 
cultural and  economic  topics  and  competitive  prizes  for  the  best  crop  of  grain,  etc.,  to 
the  acre;  it  has  also  established  an  agricultural  intelligence  office  for  the  peasants,  to 
which  is  due  a  great  improvement  in  the  productiveness  of  the  neighborhood.  To 
this  influence  of  Tagagna  by  means  of  discreetly  placed  loans  for  importing  foreign  stock 
is  due  a  much  finer  race  of  cattle  and  pigs. 

It  has  also  donated  to  the  village  a  model  vineyard,  tended  by  the  peasants,  in 
which  experiments  are  made  with  every  kind  of  grape  vine  to  discover  the  one  best 
adapted  to  the  exigencies  of  the  climate.  Many  co-operative  establishments  flourish 
under  its  guiding  influence.  All  of  these  were  founded  by  emitting  small  bonds  worth 
two  dollars  each,  mostly  subscribed  for  by  the  peasantry. 

One  of  these  supplies  the  province  with  the  seed  or  eggs  for  the  silk-worm  culture, 
prepared  according  to  the  system  introduced  by  the  great  Pasteur  when  he  lived  in  the 
province  and  studied  the  disease  which  was  destroying  the  silk  industry  of  Southern 
Europe.  This  establishment,  with  the  exception  of  the  director,  is  run  entirely  by 
about  sixty  peasant  women,  who  perform  the  minute  microscopic  work,  as  well  as  all 
the  other  delicate  branches  of  the  culture,  with  such  exactitude  that  the  eggs  from 
this  co-operative  establishment  have  reached  the  highest  standard.  The  Pecile  fund 
has  also  assisted  the  peasants  to  build  the  co-operative  ice-houses  which  are  filled  by 
the  people  gratuitously  every  winter,  and  from  which  each  has  a  right  to  free  ice  in 
time  of  necessity.  It  instituted  the  co-operative  dairy,  to  which  the  villagers  bring 
the  surplus  milk  from  their  cattle,  which  is  churned  by  dairy  women  into  butter  and 
cheese  according  to  the  most  approved  Swiss  systems,  or  retailed  to  other  members  of 
the  society.  By  its  judicious  initiative  it  rendered  possible  the  opening  of  a  splen- 
didly appointed  co-operative  slaughter  house.  It  provides  lessons  in  mechanical 
drawing,  and  it  has  founded  a  school  of  basket-making  frequented  by  fifty  or  sixty 
peasants  and  children,  which  is  now  self-supporting. 

See  what  a  colossal  work  can  be  accomplished  in  twenty-five  years  by  a  paltry 
five  hundred  dollars  well  administered. 

The  gentlemen  in  the  province  have  followed  its  example,  and  award  prizes  to 
their  tenants  for  the  greatest  percentage  of  grapes  or  grain  produced  per  acre  under 
their  cultivation,  and  for  the  greatest  number  of  pounds  of  silk  returned  for  the  eggs 
distributed.  But  we  all  found  that  a  greater  stimulent  and  more  extended  competition 
was  needed. 

Many,  yes  too  many,  exhibitions  for  mechanics  had  been  held  in  the  cities  of 
Italy.  We  knew  all  that  could  be  known  about  their  work  but  we  were  ignorant  of 
our  neighbors'  in  the  country.  They  lived  apart,  and  were  reticent,  modest,  and  clung 
to  old  worn  out  customs.  They  were  doing  little  that  was  practical  in  their  leisure 
hours — in  the  winter  evenings — and  while  listening  to  legend  and  story,  or  joining  in 
tender  or  merry  part  songs  called  "Vilotti,"  of  which  they  were  themselves  the 
authors. 

We  decided  to  copy  the  English  Cottage  Garden  shows  in  a  broad  sense.  Instead 
of  one  village  and  a  few  cottages,  seven  great  communes  with  a  score  of  villages 
clubbed  together.  Each  poor  village  can  have  a  cottage  garden  show  each  year. 
Every  inhabitant  can  bring  a  knit  stocking,  a  neatly  made  frock,  a  pumpkin,  a  basket 
of  peaches,  a  sheaf  of  wheat,  a  boot,  a  shoe,  or  a  basket.  The  point  is  the  emulation, 
the  showing  to  each  what  others  have  done  with  no  better  opportunities  than  his 
own. 

We  had  our  machinery  hall  full  of  spades,  plows,  thrashers  and  simple  agri- 
cultural implements  and  furniture  made  by  the  peasants.  We  had  our  manufactures 
building  full  of  coarse  stuffs  and  garments  woven  and  fashioned  by  the  peasant 
women;  full  of  spoons  and  utensils  and  ornaments  made  by  the  men.  We  had  our 
horticultural  and  agricultural  display,  and  going  out  into  the  fields  we  judged  the 
houses  and  the  farms  themselves  as  well  as  their  productions  which  were  brought  to 
the  Fair.     We  had  our  stock  pavilion  full  of  small  animals.     Besides  this  we  had  a 


702  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

• 

gallery  containing  the  best  foreign  models  for  simple  objects  and  a  book  in  which  all 
could  inscribe  their  names  and  the  number  of  the  object  they  wished  to  copy.  We  had 
a  band,  a  speech  from  the  senator  of  the  district,  a  distribution  of  prizes,  when  each 
worthy  peasant,  man  or  woman,  was  called  by  name  and  the  class  of  his  production 
and  reason  of  his  choice  announced.  He  answered  and  mounted  the  old  stone  steps 
of  the  castle  terrace  with  a  proud  heart  to  receive  his  two  or  three  dollars  award; 
or  the  prizes  were  graded  according  to  the  importance  of  the  exhibit,  and  the  man 
whose  farm  was  in  the  best  agricultural  and  economic  condition  received  decidedly 
more  than  the  man  who  had  grown  an  exceptionally  fine  cabbage. 

Last  evening  I  received  a  letter  announcing  that  my  lace  school  had  just  been 
awarded  the  gold  medal  at  the  National  Italian  Exhibition  of  agricultural  industries 
at  Cesena. 

And  whence  this  .amelioration?  First,  because  the  seeing  what  others  could  do 
inspired  a  healthy  emulation  and  a  desire  to  outstrip  those  of  the  neighboring  villages 
in  the  percentage  of  prizes  carried  off  by  the  home  community.  Secondly,  because 
we  had  judiciously  used  it  to  acquaint  the  peasants  with  fresh  means  of  emolument. 
Among  others  we  had  taught  six  girls  in  a  fortnight  how  to  make  a  simple  bobbin 
lace;  and  as  they  worked  merrily  before  their  astonished  neighbors  who  stood  densely 
packed  before  them,  they  inspired  all  the  girls  with  a  desire  to  learn  the  dainty  lace 
art  and  the  children  asked  us  to  open  schools.  When  the  fathers  saw  that  the  girls 
were  wisely  directed  and  never  kept  from  doing  their  field  work,  from  caring  for  and 
leading  the  cattle  to  pasture,  or  from  washing  with  their  mothers  at  the  brook,  they 
willingly  sent  them  to  the  school.  When  they  saw  that  their  little  maids  became  neat, 
respectful,  contented,  and  brought  home  pretty  stories  to  enliven  the  evenings  in  the 
stable  and  the  bright  silver  coins  to  swell  the  family  hoard  —then  the  whole  country 
side  was  converted.  For  the  cheapness  of  the  cotton  goods  has  discouraged  the 
women  from  weaving  and  they  waste  their  leisure  hours  in  crocheting  and  tatting  and 
gossip. 

The  priests  and  the  heads  of  the  households  begin  to  appreciate  that  while  it  in 
no  way  interferes  with  their  usual  laborious  tasks,  it  adds  to  the  financial  resources  of 
the  family. 

Among  our  lacemakers  we  have  hunched-backs  and  lame  and  deformed  bodies 
of  every  kind,  and  some  that  have  spent  thirty  years  on  rude  beds  of  pain.  The  lace 
children,  like  the  sunbeams,  have  penetrated  everywhere  and  taught  them  the  easy 
twists  and  delicate  turns  by  which  their  unlovely  fingers  could  evolve  the  soft  white 
lace.  Think  of  the  ignorant  mind,  as  dark,  as  squalid,  as  miserable  as  the  roof 
chamber  to  which  this  useless  member  of  a  busy  household  was  banished,  where  it  was 
left  alone  to  solitary  repinings,  filled  suddenly  with  the  inspiring  thought  that  in  its 
decrepitude  it  could  earn  as  much  and  be  as  useful  to  the  family  as  the  blooming 
maidens  out  in  the  fields.  Think  of  the  room  now  filled  with  the  pleasant  clatter  of 
the  bobbins,  the  pleasant  chatter  of  the  children  who  have  come  to  work  beside  their 
aunty  and  tell  her  what  their  dear  maestra  said  of  her  work  when  they  carried  it  in  on 
last  pay-day.  Watch  the  women  and  children  trudging  through  ice  and  snow  for 
many  a  weary  mile  to  learn  the  new  art.  See  them  yielding  to  the  education  of 
the  heart,  and  spending  their  modest  earnings  to  help  their  mothers  or  some 
dear  invalid  to  a  simple  comfort  they  would  not  have  dreamed  of  getting  for 
them  a  few  months  before.  Hearken  to  the  terrific  roar  of  the  vast  ocean  of  thirty 
million  Italian  voices  behind  them,  asking  if  I  have  fulfilled  the  mission  on  which 
I  came.  • 

In  the  silent  watches  of  the  night  it  awakens  me  to  wonder  if  I  am  doing  my  best; 
to  search  for  what  means  remains  as  yet  untried  to  touch  your  hearts. 

Above  the  roar  in  machinery  hall,  above  the  sharp  crack  of  the  fireworks,  above 
the  music  of  the  bands,  above  the  applause  of  the  multitude,  above  the  thunder  of  the 
storms  in  this  White  City,  I  hear  it. 

Like  Heine,  I  would  snatch  the  tallest  pine  from  the  mountains,  and  dipping  it 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  703 

in  the  crater  of  Etna,  would  write  the  name  of  my  beloved  (the  laborious,  patient 
peasant  women)  upon  the  skies,  that  it  might  compel  the  gaze  of  the  whole  world. 

Can  you  wonder,  with  this  great  opportunity,  the  Congress  of  all  nations,  drawing 
to  its  close,  each  nerve  is  stretched  to  snapping,  the  flesh  is  forgotten,  each  heartstring 
is  vibrating  in  the  agonizing  desire  to  make  all  these  voices  reach  your  ears  through 
my  one  frail  organ?  They  are  crying  to  you  for  your  friendship,  for  your  patronage. 
It  means  to  them  their  homes,  their  children,  their  all.  They  are  not  begging;  they 
offer  you  their  work,  the  product  of  honest  manual  toil  which  is  being  driven  from  the 
market  by  machines  which  can  never  be  weary  or  hungry  or  ill,  which  can  never  die,  but 
also  have  no  souls  to  lose  through  the  temptations  of  misery. 

The  frail  fingers  of  these  women  and  children  are  competing  with  iron  rods  and 
steam  power,  and  yet  have  courage;  for  the  laces,  the  homespuns  into  which  are 
entwined  their  dreams,  their  prayers,  their  songs  and  their  tears,  are  unsurpassed. 
What  I  am  striving  for  I  can  never  accomplish.     But  you  can  do  it  if  you  only  will. 

The  storekeepers  tell  me  if  there  was  a  demand  for  Italian  goods  they  would  place 
them  in  stock.  They  say  to  me:  Create  the  demand,  we  will  do  the  rest.  I  entreat 
you  to  ask  in  the  shops  for  Italian  laces,  Italian  silks,  Italian  homespuns.  Fashion  will 
obey  your  summons,  such  is  your  power.  I  can  speak,  but  yours  is  the  nobler  part, 
you  can  act.  Act,  only  act;  the  modest  Italian  women  of  the  people  in  their  far-off 
country  homes  will  feel  the  benefit.  Their  loving,  unforgetting  prayers  have  borne 
me  up  in  my  hours  of  trial;  their  dear,  blotted  letters  come  to  me  across  the  waters 
full  of  confiding  faith  and  longing  to  know  what  I  am  doing  for  them  in  my  father- 
land. Poor,  ignorant  darlings,  because  they  love  me  they  think  me  omnipotent. 
To  you  I  confide  their  future.  It  is  safe  if  you  grant  my  prayer,  though  it  hangs 
upon  a  frail  shred  of  lace. 

God  grant  that  you  may  never  again  set  eyes  upon  a  piece  of  lace,  however 
mean,  without  being  reminded  of  what  you  can  do  for  the  hardworking  women  of 
the  people  in  Italy. 


THE  NERVOUS  AMERICAN. 

By  MRS.  MARTHA  CLEVELAND  DIBBLE. 

Nations,  like  families,  usually  develop  certain  traits  and  peculiarities  which  are 
recognized  as  characteristic  and  typical.  The  pugnacity,  virile  courage  and  beef-eat- 
ing capacity  of  the  Englishman,  the  wit,  vivacity,  and 
alas!  the  fickleness  of  the  Frenchman,  the  pains-tak- 
ing persistence  of  the  German,  the  indolent  indfffer- 
ence  which  veils  the  Spaniard's  volcanic  nature,  have 
all  been  generally  acknowledged.  And  though  there 
may  be  an  occasional  protest  at  some  pungent  thrust, 
the  nations  themselves  usually  accept  the  universal 
verdict.  Each  nation  colors  for  itself  the  legends 
which  it  inherits,  and  it  is  difficult  to  identify  in  the 
heroes  of  one  people  those  whose  acquaintance  we 
have  already  made  under  far  different  guise  and  sur- 
roundings. Indeed,  the  Orient  and  Occident  are  not 
geographically  farther  apart  than  they  are  separated 
in  habits  of  life  and  thought. 

Conceding  all  this,  I  think  we  may  not  be  aston- 
ished if  the  dwellers  in  these  United  States  have  gained 
the  reputation  of  being  a  peculiar  people.  And  when 
we  read  or  hear  of  the  nervous  American,  we  recog- 
nize its  allusion  to  ourselves  and  take  it  home  as  tol- 
erably descriptive.  The  word  nervous  is  somewhat 
..„e  .-.  ^„.  ^, ^„^  ..„  .,„»,^  ambiguous,  but  we  understand  it  to  mean  in  this  con- 

MRS.  MARTHA   CLEVELAND  DIBBLE.  ■  ■,  ^  i  i  i  i         i  r 

nection  that  hurry  and  restlessness,  that  lack  of  repose, 
which  seems  to  permeate  not  only  our  business  circles,  but  social  life  as  well. 

Uncle  Sam  and  Brother  Jonathan  have  been  so  many  times  faithfully  described 
and  pictured  that  you  can  readily  recall  their  personal  appearance.  Then  the  high- 
keyed  voice,  louder  than  your  ear  quite  relishes,  the  rapid  jerking  out  of  sentences  at 
the  risk  of  losing  a  part  of  the  words,  the  direct,  brusk  manner  which  wastes  no 
time  in  formalities — all  these  things  are  familiar  to  everybody.  And  then  this  nerv- 
ous American  is  so  busy.  No  time  to  stop;  the  days  all  too  short  to  carry  out  his 
plans;  no  leisure  for  home  or  friends  or  amusements. 

Of  course  it  is  the  American  who  revels  in  a  trip  around  the  globe  in  sixty  days, 
and  who  yearns  to  whirl  along  one  hundred  miles  an  hour.  Said  a  witty  Russian: 
"  The  American  seems  to  have  a  wager  with  Time,  and  I  am  really  interested  as  to 
which  will  win." 

Night  travel  is  nowhere  so  popular  as  in  this  country.  To  retire  at  night  to  one's 
Pullman  couch  and  awake  the  next  morning  in  a  distant  city  with  a  full  day's  work 
before  him,  is  great  gain  to  the  average  American,  and  if  he  can  repeat  the  perform- 
ance and  be  ready  for  business  at  home  on  the  following  day,  his  happiness  is 
doubled.     Any  possible  fatigue  is  not  to  be  counted  in  the  transaction.     Now  all  this 

Mrs.  Martha  Cleveland  Dibble  is  a  native  of  Bath,  N.  H.  Her  parents  were  Rev.  Edward  Cleveland,  a  Congregational 
clergyman,  a  graduate  from  Yale,  and  Mary  M.  Lang,  a  very  cultured  lady.  Mrs.  Dibble  is  a  graduate  from  Iowa  College, 
Grinnell,  Iowa;  later  studied  medicine  in  this  country  and  in  Europe,  and  holds  a  diploma  from  the  Woman's  Hospital 
College,  of  Chicago.  She  has  traveled  quite  extensively  through  this  country,  and  in  Middle  and  Southern  Europe.  In  1878 
she  married,  in  Michigan,  Dr.  LeRoy  Dibble.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  hospital  and  reformatory  effort 
for  women.  Her  profession  is  that  of  medicine,  to  which  she  gives  most  of  her  time.  In  religious  faith  she  is  Protestant. 
She  is  a  member  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.    Her  postofBce  address  is  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

704 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  705 

is,  according  to  popular  verdict,  nervous;  and  it  is  quite  pertinent  to  ask  the  cause  of 
such  a  trait — whether  it  is  a  permanent  characteristic,  and  its  probable  effect  upon  our 
welfare,  present  and  future. 

It  has  been  somewhat  widely  discussed,  and  various  causes  assigned.  Some  hold 
that  it  is  due  to  the  dryness  of  our  climate;  others  consider  the  electrical  currents  of 
this  continent  especially  stimulating,  and  that  their  great  prevalence  affects  our  tem- 
perament. Still  others  believe  that  it  depends  on  the  large  quantity  of  meat  which 
forms  so  prominent  a  part  of  the  diet  of  our  people.  Again  it  is  held  to  be  indicative 
of  a  defective  nervous  development,  an  irritable  unstable  condition  which  accompanies 
a  weak  organization.  This  is  a  favorite  theory  with  those  who  believe  in  the  poor, 
frail  physique  of  the  Americans, 

It  may  be  that  all  these  contribute  to  the  same  end,  though  they  are  somewhat 
contradictory. 

We  know  that  food  and  climate  have  a  powerful  influence  upon  the  general  con- 
dition of  a  race;  its  wealth,  its  physical  development,  its  mental  and  moral  status. 
The  immense  amount  of  work  which  has  advanced  this  nation  so  rapidly  could  never 
have  been  done  except  by  a  people  well  fed.  Our  relatively  small  population,  dis- 
tributed over  a  large  and  fertile  territory,  has  made  food  cheap  and  plentiful,  so  that 
even  our  poorest  classes,  as  a  rule,  have  had  an  abundant  and  nourishing  diet.  Mental 
quickness  and  ingenuity,  large  brain  power,  and  equally  great  muscular  activity  and 
endurance,  are  a  legitimate  result.  And  it  is  true  that  muscle  without  the  propelling, 
directing  vitality  or  nervous  force  would  have  been  useless.  Our  nervousness,  then, 
is  what  has  done  it,  and  if  it  has  been  sometimes  over-stimulated,  there  is  a  comfort 
in  knowing  that,  up  to  date,  it  has  made  an  unparalleled' record. 

The  question  whether  the  perfected  American  type  has  been  reached  must  cer- 
tainly be  answered  in  the  negative.  We  are  yet  in  the  formative  stage,  and  conditions 
tend  to  keep  us  there.  While  our  advancement  in  business  methods,  in  manufactures, 
agriculture  and  scientific  research,  shows  great  precocity  in  this  infant  nation;  we  must 
remember  that  we  have  inherited  much,  and  that  we  have  been  continually  receiving 
from  outside  both  brawn  and  brain,  so  that  what  we  might  be  if  left  to  ourselves  is 
yet  to  be  determined.  Successive  generations  of  a  homogenous  people  are  necessary 
to  perfect  a  type,  and  only  during  our  colonial  period,  before  the  Revolution,  was 
there  a  century  in  which  our  evolution  was  comparatively  undisturbed,  and  what  is 
distinctively  American  belongs  to  the  influence  of  that  time. 

The  handful  of  men  and  women  who  set  their  faces  westward  builded  better  than 
they  knew.  They  braved  undreamed  of  perils  in  the  wilderness,  but  they  conquered  a 
new  world.  Before  them,  waiting  for  the  magic  touch  of  intelligent  toil,  was  a  conti- 
nent with  limitless  forests,  mighty  lakes  and  rivers,  golden,  swelling  prairies,  treasures 
of  precious  metals,  and  all  the  harvests  which  were  garnered  in  the  bosom  of  mother 
earth  for  the  future  blessing  of  her  children. 

The  star  moved  westward;  they  followed.  Through  blood  and  flame,  in  poverty 
and  distress,  they  fought  their  way;  beaten  back  only  to  advance  farther  tomorrow, 
stronger  for  the  rebuff,  discovering  new  resources  which  lured  them  forward,  even 
though  the  way  was  beset  by  a  new  foe;  ever  on,  till  they  reached  the  shore  of  the 
sunset  land  and  gazed  on  the  waters  of  a  new  ocean. 

I  need  not  bring  statistics  to  show  you  what  has  been  the  result  of  that  pioneering. 
This  great  Exposition,  which  holds  the  world  by  sample,  as  one  might  say,  brings  us 
into  very  favorable  comparison  with  the  older  countries,  and  if  the  American  bosom 
swells  with  pride  and  complacency,  and  if  American  lips  utter  words  of  self-congratu- 
lation, and,  perchance,  of  self-laudation,  there  is  surely  sufficient  material  excuse  to 
free  us  from  the  charge  of  mere  bombast  and  save  us  from  ridicule. 

Those  who  share  in  our  triumphs  today  are  not  all  descended  from  the  Revolu- 
tionary forefathers.  Fair  Columbia,  holding  aloft  her  liberty  cap,  and  lighting  with 
flaming  torch  the  path  across  the  deep,  has  smiled  a  welcome  to  millions  of  eager 
helpers.     Not  from  the  ranks  of  the  rich  and  happy,  certainly,  but  largely  from  the 


706  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

toilers,  from  among  the  poor  and  illiterate  of  other  lands  longing  to  find  in  a  new 
home,  under  a  new  flag,  that  comfort  and  reward  for  labor  which  could  not  be  theirs 
in  the  already  over-crowded  fatherland. 

The  consideration  shown  them,  their  independent  and  responsible  position,  filled 
them  with  a  novel  sense  of  individual  importance,  and  stimulated  them  to  ambitions 
heretofore  unknown.  They  have  swept  over  the  whole  country,  and  that  they  have 
not  entirely  uprooted  and  blotted  out  the  native  stock  is  proof  of  its  original  strength. 
But  while  it  is  in  a  sense  still  the  controlling  force,  how  under  these  circumstances 
could  a  national  type  be  formed?  Look  around  you  in  any  city  of  the  land.  Do  you 
see  Americans?  Do  not  your  eyes  fall  rather  upon  faces  unmistakably  Irish  or  Ger- 
man or  Swedish,  Italian,  or  other  marked  nationality?  How  many  generations  will  be 
needed  to  harmonize  these  dissimilar  types,  even  if  today  were  to  witness  the  coming 
of  the  last  immigrant?  Give  time  for  the  embryo  American  to  come  forward  and  claim 
his  heritage. 

Whether  he  will  possess  all  the  nervous  energy  of  his  predecessors  is  doubtful. 
So  far  as  climate  affects  him,  he  will,  of  course,  be  much  the  same;  but  the  relations 
of  food  supply  to  population,  the  inevitable  change  in  habits  and  pursuits  and  all  those 
conditions  which  the  years  will  impose  upon  us,  must  affect  the  temperament  of  later 
generations.  Even  now  the  first  settled  parts  of  the  country  are  accused  of  looking 
with  an  assumption  of  dignity  upon  the  crudities  of  younger  sections.  And  these  in 
return  have  shown  the  customary  heedless  disregard  of  the  wisdom  of  their  elders, 
dubbing  them  old  fogies,  and  scorning  the  quiet  respectability  of  New  England  vil- 
lages as  the  decrepitude  of  old  age.  Ah!  but  there  is  a  pace  which  kills,  and  the 
decadence  of  a  nation  comes  only  by  the  follies  of  its  constituents.  Its  life  maybe 
long  or  short;  its  influence  great  or  small;  its  career  brilliant  or  inglorious;  its  fame 
enduring  or  transient.  It  will  be  strengthened  by  the  morality,  conservative  business 
methods  and  true  patriotism  of  its  people;  it  may  be  destroyed  by  reckless  specula- 
tion, individual  ambition,  sectional  strife,  or  anything  else  which  weakens  its  physical 
or  moral  fiber. 

*  How  many  of  our  men  live,  or  seem  to  live,  only  to  do  business.  The  man  seems 
lost,  submerged  under  its  exactions.  The  thing  he  created  to  serve  him  as  a  means 
to  an  end  is  transformed  into  the  master,  to  which  he  is  chained.  He  no  longer  seeks 
amusements;  home  sees  little  of  him;  wife  and  children  are  small  incidents  in  his  daily 
life;  friendship  is  an  almost  forgotten  word;  general  reading  is  out  of  the  question; 
and  the  grind  of  the  counting  room  or  office  goes  on  year  after  year,  till  the  wheels 
stop,  utterly  worn  out.  These  men  tell  us,  when  they  are  implored  to  give  up  busi- 
ness and  take  needed  rest,  that  they  would  rather  "  wear  out  than  rust  out."  Rust  out, 
indeed!  Does  money-making — for  that  is  the  great  incentive  in  most  cases — does  this 
constitute  the  only  legitimate  and  worthy  employment  of  time?  Is  there  not  today  a 
large  field  in  philanthropy,  science,  art,  literature  and  healthy  recreation  of  many  kinds, 
which  can  profitably  and  agreeably  occupy  one's  powers,  conferring  benefit  in  the 
change  it  affords,  as  well  as  by  enlarging  the  bounds  of  human  sympathy  and  knowledge? 
Why  should  one's  success  in  life  be  measured  by  the  amount  of  wealth  he  has  acquired  ? 
It  does  not  always  represent  industry  or  honesty  or  any  other  virtue,  and  to  accept 
such  a  standard  would  be  to  prove  that  during  our  exceptional  progress  we  have  lost 
something  precious  that  we  once  had.  Such  gross  materialism  is  not  a  worthy  result 
of  all  this  toil  and  struggle,  nor  an  acceptable  answer  to  the  prayers  and  hopes  of  our 
fathers. 

Where  are  our  grand  old  men,  the  Gladstones  of  our  country,  hale  and  hearty,  still 
young  at  eighty-four,  enjoying  life  and  foremost  in  questions  relating  to  our  welfare? 
We  have  a  right  to  the  accumulated  wisdom  of  those  who  have  had  the  experiences  of 
life  as  teachers.  "  Young  men  for  action,  old  men  for  counsel,"  is  still  and  always  will 
be  the  natural  order.  We  can  ill  afford  to  lose  the  services  of  our  leaders  who  have 
been  falling  so  fast  around  us.  And  the  almost  universal  verdict  is:  "  Killed  by  over- 
work."    Not  by  age,  nor  by  accidental  disease,  but  cut  off  in  their  prime,  the  victims 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  707 

of  nervous  exnaustion.  The  tremendous  strain  upon  the  nervous  system,  which  is 
wearing  out  our  people  in  business,  social  and  domestic  life,  is  a  serious  matter.  All 
seem  keyed  up  to  an  extreme  tension,  and  the  evil  does  not  end  with  the  individual. 
The  law  of  heredity  is  that  an  overtaxed  vitality  reproduces  itself  in  a  feeble  offspring, 
at  least  having  strong  tendencies  to  mental,  as  well  as  physical,  infirmities.  Insanity 
is  increasing  among  us.  Our  asylums  are  quite  inadequate  to  the  demands  upon 
them.  There  is  a  constant  cry  for  more  room  in  which  to  shelter  the  poor  demented 
beings  who  have  become  a  menace  to  the  peace  and  safety  of  their  homes.  Certainly 
parents  have  no  right  to  bequeath  this  affliction  to  their  children,  neither  have  they 
the  right  to  bestow  a  wrecked  nervous  system,  which  is  the  legitimate  predecessor 
of  insanity.  Isolation,  hard  and  monotonous  work,  have  filled  many  wards  of  the 
retreats  in  our  agricultural  sections  with  the  wives  and  daughters  of  farmers.  These 
women  have  not  neglected  the  wash-tub  for  the  piano;  they  have  not  written  books 
instead  of  rocking  the  cradle;  they  have  listened  to  the  steady  thud  of  the  churn- 
dasher,  rather  than  to  the  silvery  and  enticing  accents  of  the  "  female  orator;  "  they 
have  brewed  and  baked  and  scrubbed  according  to  the  most  orthodox  prescriptions; 
they  have  literally  staid  at  home  and  looked  carefully  after  the  welfare  of  their  house- 
holds; and  yet  these  patterns  of  domestic  industry  head  the  list  of  demented  women. 
"True  'tis  pity,  and  pity  'tis  'tis  true."  Some  sage  has  observed  that  "  it  is  worry,  not 
work,  which  kills;"  and  it  must  certainly  be  true  that  work  with  worry  is  doubly 
exhausting,  for  it  depresses  both  mind  and  body,  preventing  that  quiet  rest  which  is 
so  necessary  for  recuperation. 

Now  that  physical  culture  is  attracting  so  much  attention,  what  with  rowing  and 
running  and  tennis  and  bowling,  riding,  swimming  and  base-ball,  the  muscle  of  our 
sons  and  daughters  bids  fair  to  be  tolerably  developed.  True,  this  may,  and  probably 
will,  be  abused;  but  it  is  a  move  in  the  right  direction,  and  will  give  to  the  country 
some  superb  physical  specimens  of  men  and  women.  The  future  race  is  partly  depend- 
ent on  our  women,  and  nervous,  hysterical  girls  will  produce  children  with  nerves 
irritable  and  over  sensitive.  It  is  popular  to  publish  articles  exhorting  them  to  do 
thus  and  so,  because  upon  them  must  rest  the  responsibility  of  motherhood.  To  many 
of  these  I  say  heartily,  "Amen."  But  after  all,  that  is  only  half  the  matter.  Young 
men  are  to  bear  the  responsibilities  of  fatherhood,  and  it  is  therefore  just  as  important 
that  they  should  be  virtuous  and  temperate,  deserving  the  respect  and  confidence 
which  their  position  should  command.  Healthy  minds  in  healthy  bodies  the  coming 
generations  demand  from  all. 

In  the  name  of  our  watchword,  liberty;  in  the  name  of  our  English-speaking 
ancestry,  in  the  name  of  our  early  defenders  against  foreign  interference,  and  of  later 
upholders  of  the  nation's  right  to  decide  as  to  its  citizenship  and  their  duties,  and  for 
the  sake  of  those  who  will  come  after  us  and  who  will  have  to  suffer  for  our  mistakes, 
let  us  think  upon  these  things,  squarely  face  the  issues,  and  act  in  the  courage  of  con- 
viction for  justice,  patriotism  and  self-preservation.  Then  will  "  the  nervous  Ameri- 
can "  stand  as  a  shining  example  of  wisdom  and  prudence  as  well  as  of  energy  and 
industry. 


CHICAGO  WOMEN. 

By  DR.  SARAH  HACKETT  STEVENSON. 

[Read  on  Chicago  Day.l 

Twenty-two  years  ago  to-day,  as  I  was  about  to  take  the  train  from  my  native 
town  to  this  city,  a  telegram  came,  saying  that  Chicago  was  in  ashes,  that  the  people 

needed  food  and  clothing.  I  turned  back,  began  a 
canvass  of  our  own  and  our  neighbor's  kitchens  and 
wardrobes,  and  the  next  day  we  shipped  a  carload  of 
necessities  for  the  destitute.  I  followed  after  in  a  few 
days;  my  duties  as  a  medical  student  called  me  to  the 
barracks,  where  the  sick  and  destitute  were  cared  for, 
and  where  I  had  an  opportunity  to  observe  the 
devoted  work  of  Chicago  women.  From  that  day  to 
this  I  have  been  in  touch  with  them  and  feel  qualified 
to  speak  both  of  their  faults  and  their  virtues.  The 
young  women  then  are  matrons  now,  the  matrons, 
many  of  them  are  dead  and  a  new  generation  is  fill- 
ing the  homes  of  a  new  Chicago.  But  the  old  spirit 
born  of  the  war  and  the  fire  is  still  the  ruling  spirit. 
Though  we  deplore  calamity  we  must  acknowl- 
edge its  humanizing  effects.  The  proof  of  this  in  the 
great  calamity  of  1871  is  found  no  less  among  Chi- 
cago's own  people  than  in  the  noble  response  of  the 
world  at  large.  While  it  is  too  true  that  here  and 
there  a  human  vulture  was  found  who  feasted  upon 
the  dire  necessities  of  his  neighbors,  yet,  for  the  most 
part,  the  lost  image  of  God  was  found  again  in  the 
The  common  sorrow,  as  in  war  times,  drew  people  closer 
together  and  made  it  easy  for  them  to  work  side  by  side. 

So  the  genius  for  organization  has  found  here  a  fruitful  soil,  and  it  is  to  this  power 
born  of  affliction  that  Chicago  women  owe  their  advancement.  There  is  probably 
no  city  in  the  world  whose  women  are  so  bonded  together  for  the  promotion  of  the 
various  interests  of  life.  Indeed,  this  has  gone  so  far,  and  the  societies  of  women  have 
multiplied  to  such  an  extent,  it  is  a  serious  question  if  the  healthful  limit  has  not  been 
reached. 

Twenty  years  of  unbounded  prosperity  have  tended  to  make  us  vain — the  height 

of  prosperity  is  the  most  dangerous  period  in  the  life  of  any  community  or  individual. 

Again,  this  tendency  to  organize  is  not    conducive  to  the  highest   individual 

development.     While  we  have  great  organizations  of  women,  we  have  few,  if  any, 

great  women.    I  scarcely  know  one  who  has  made  any  great  and  original  contribution 

Dr.  Sarah  Hackett  Stevenson  was  bom  in  Buffalo  Grove,  Ogle  County,  111.  Her  parents  were  Col.  John  D.  and 
Sarah  H.  Stevenson.  She  was  educated  at  Mt.  Carroll  Seminary,  State  Normal  University,  Bloomington,  and  Woman's- 
Medical  College  of  Northwestern  University.  Has  traveled  and  studied  in  Europe  four  different  times.  Her  special  work 
has  been  in  the  interest  of  medicine  and  the  medical  education  of  women.  Her  profession  is  that  of  medicine,  and  she  is- 
a  member  of  the  International  Gynaecological  Society,  the  Pan-American  Medical  Association,  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, the  Chicago  Medical  Society,  the  Chicago  Medico-Surgical  Society,  president  of  the  staff  of  the  National  Temper- 
ance Hospital,  member  of  the  Illinois  State  Board  of  Health,  Consultant  at  the  Woman's  Hospital,  Consultant  at  the  Belle- 
vne  Hospital,  Batavia,  Professor  of  Obstetrics  in  the  Woman' s  Medical  College  Northwestern  University,  president  of  the 
Chicago  Woman's  Clab,  a  member  of  Fortnightly,  etc.  In  religious  faith  she  is  Episcopalian.  Her  postoffice  address  is- 
Cbicago,  111. 

708 


DR.  SARAH  HACKETT  STEVENSON. 

every  day  man  and  woman. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  709 

to  any  department  of  thought  or  work.  The  great  people  of  the  world,  as  a  rule,  are 
not  developed  in  societies,  but  almost  always  in  solitude.  Then,  too,  if  one  belongs  to 
an  organization  which,  by  the  united  effort  of  its  members,  accomplishes  this  or  that 
work,  quite  frequently  one  is  deceived  into  the  belief  that  he  individually  has  done 
the  work,  and  thus  is  begotten  an  exaggerated  opinion  of  one's  own  powers. 

In  brief,  the  Chicago  woman  has  attracted  so  much  attention  of  late,  has  been  the 
recipient  of  so  much  adulation,  it  is  well  for  us,  for  our  own  sakes,  as  well  as  for  all 
women,  to  bring  out  the  quadrant  and  the  line,  take  our  latitude  and  longitude  and 
sound  our  depths.  Of  one  thing  we  may  be  assured,  without  quadrant  or  soundings, 
we  have  not  arrived!  We  are  still  at  sea!  And  many  of  us  who  are  known  as  great 
commanders  are  only  common  sailors.  Common,  did  I  say?  All  honor  to  the  com- 
monest of  common  who  does  his  duty.  Who  knows  if  in  the  infinite  adjustment  of 
the  relation  of  things  the  common  shall  not  be  exalted,  as  the  last  shall  be  first? 

In  our  population  of  fifteen  hundred  thousand,  probably  about  one-half  are 
women,  for  we  are  midway  between  the  excess  of  one  sex  in  New  England  and  of 
the  other  sex  in  the  West. 

What  are  these  six  or  seven  hundred  thousand  women  doing?  Probably  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  of  them  are  domestic  servants.  They  are  taking  care  of  our 
homes  at  the  greatest  possible  expenditure  of  resources,  in  the  greatest  possible  extrava- 
gance. In  the  three  hundred  thousand  homes  of  Chicago  it  would  be  hard  to  find  a 
scientific  domestic  department.  Domestic  science  is  scarcely  germinated.  Here  is  an 
army  of  at  least  one  hundred  thousand  women  representing  unskilled  labor;  worse  than 
a  devastating  army  of  soldiers  destroying  health,  life  and  property. 

Here  is  a  problem  for  Chicago  women,  a  real  home  mission.  I  am  glad  to  say  that 
the  Columbian  Association  of  Housekeepers  has  made  a  beginning,  but  it  deserves 
more  encouragement  from  women  than  it  has  yet  received.  The  truth  is  American 
people  do  not  know  how  miserably  and  extravagantly  they  are  fed  and  housed.  Cooks 
and  housekeepers  need  training  schools  just  as  much  as  nurses  need  them.  Good  as 
our  nursing  schools  are,  they  are  defective  in  one  great  essential,  viz.,  economy.  It  is 
almost  impossible  for  people  of  moderate  means  to  satisfy  the  many  demands  of  a 
trained  nurse.  Our  people  have  yet  to  learn  that  economy  is  a  great  fundamental  prin- 
ciple of  universal  application — the  exact  adjustment  of  means  to  an  end,  and  not 
something  to  be  practiced  merely  when  people  are  poor.  It  is  the  great  and  almost 
only  preventive  of  poverty. 

We  do  not  think  seriously  enough  of  this  alien  population,  which  forms  an  integ- 
ral part  of  our  households.  These  girls  come  to  us  young,  their  characters  unformed. 
They  represent,  sooner  or  later,  a  hundred  thousand  homes, -each  with  its  children,  the 
future  citizens,  good  or  bad,  of  Chicago.  What  are  we  doing  for  them?  Literally  noth- 
ing. Why  should  we  be  puffed  up  with  vain  glory,  our  heads  in  the  clouds,  when  this 
great  population  of  wasteful,  unskilled  labor  stands  upon  our  thresholds?  Let  no  Chi- 
cago woman  boast  of  her  sex  until  her  sex  has  grappled  with  and  solved  the  problem 
of  problems — household  economics — the  one  department  which  undisputably  belongs 
to  woman.  One  is  positively  filled  with  despair  to  think  of  the  amount  of  hot  bread 
and  greasy  pie  daily  consumed  in  Chicago.  Still  we  have  the  face  to  raise  money  and 
send  missionaries  to  the  heathen;  the  mote  in  our  brother's  eye  is  such  an  irresistible 
and  universal  temptation. 

It  is  estimated  there  are  about  five  thousand  day  laborers  among  the  women  of 
Chicago  who  earn  upon  an  average  about  six  dollars  a  week.  They  work  in  all  sorts 
of  factories,  the  manufacture  of  liquor  being  about  the  only  industry  in  which  they  are 
not  engaged.  This  group  of  women  is  still  more  isolated  and  alien  than  the  domestic 
group.  They  almost  never  come  in  contact  with  women  who  have  greater  opportunities. 
Yet  if  you  were  to  know  them  intimately  and  analyze  their  aspirations  you  would  find 
that  their  standard  of  getting  on  in  the  world  is  a  purely  material  one,  just  like  ours; 
a  finer  house,  more  clothes,  more  jewelry,  especially  more  jewelry.  It  has  always 
been  a  mystery  to  me  why  people  as  they  acquire  money  begin  to  hang  out  signs. 


710  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

They  soon  move  from  one  street  to  another,  or,  as  in  Chicago,  from  one  side  of  the 
river  to  another — for  what?  That  their  old  neighbors  may  be  envious  of  them  and 
their  new  neighbors  visit  them  and  estimate  the  cost  of  their  furniture  and  food.  We 
set  the  example  and  the  women  we  are  pleased  to  call  beneath  us  follow  hard  after. 
The  pinchbeck  jewelry  and  the  gaudy  plush  furniture  are  pitiful,  but  they  are  all 
potent  indices  of  the  actuating  motive.  If  we  do  not  see  to  it  carefully  the  advent  of 
this  great  Columbian  Exposition  will  simply  accentuate  this  monstrous  error  of  life. 
The  real,  the  artistic  will  be  crowded  out  of  its  influence  upon  the  masses,  and  the 
greed  of  gain  will  be  the  only  survival.  For  it  must  be  remembered  the  fittest  to  sur- 
vive is  not  always  the  best,  but  too  frequently  merely  the  strongest.  Have  we,  as 
individuals,  or  have  our  boasted  great  and  influential  clubs  anything  to  give  to  these 
women  in  domestic  and  factory  life?  They  do  not  need  charity,  they  are  self-sup- 
porting. Do  they  need  us?  Do  we  need  them?  Are  there  no  reciprocities  which 
have  gone  unrecognized  while  we  are  searching  for  causes  to  espouse  and  missions  to 
support?  As  to  how  these  factory  women  are  doing  their  daily  work  we  have  little 
information,  they  stand  or  fall  with  the  market.  They  must  do  mechanically  well  or 
they  would  not  be  employed.  Is  it  possible  that  a  knowledge  of  the  ideal  can  be 
breathed  into  the  life  of  the  factory  girl,  that  she  can  put  a  soul  into  the  tobacco  leaf 
or  the  tin  can?  Is  the  work  of  the  Chicago  woman  complete  while  the  domestic  or 
the  factory  girl,  or  she  herself,  spends  her  money  for  that  which  is  not  bread? 

We  have  also  a  great  army  of  women  teachers,  more  than  three  thousand  strong, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  private  schools.  Our  pride  was  a  trifle  wounded  when  a  visitor 
told  us  the  truth  about  our  boasted  public  schools.  How  perfectly  absurd  to  under- 
take the  education  of  the  masses  with  educators  who  are  grossly  illiterate.  And  how 
much  more  absurd,  even  criminal,  it  is  to  try  to  destroy  the  only  institution  in  our 
midst  that  recognizes  pedagogics  as  a  science — the  Cook  County  Normal  School. 
How  much  do  we  know  or  care  about  the  quality  of  mind  that  is  molding  the  minds 
of  the  children  of  the  city?  All  talk  of  education  is  as  sounding  brass  when  primary 
education  is  neglected.  Primary!  it  is  well  named,  in  that  the  first  is  the  greatest.  In 
our  present  system  the  accomplishment  of  adult  life  is  left  unaccomplished  in  trying 
to  unlearn  things  which  never  should  have  been  taught.  A  great  professor  is  called 
to  teach  our  young  men  and  women,  but  anybody  may  teach  the  children.  Let  the 
child  have  the  great,  yes,  the  greatest  professor.  The  young  man  and  woman  can 
teach  themselves;  if  their  infancy  has  been  directed  they  know  what  they  need  and 
how  to  get  it.  What  are  the  women  of  Chicago  doing  for  the  public  schools  of  Chi- 
cago? Do  we  not  feel  that  our  school  work  is  finished  since  we  have  helped  to  place 
two  women  on  our  school  board,  and — left  them  to  their  fate? 

After  the  domestics,  the  factory  women  and  the  teachers,  come  the  comparatively 
few  professional  women.  They  compare  favorably  with  the  average,  some  of  them 
above  the  average  professional  standard,  but  none  of  them  can  be  said  to  be  great.  I 
know  of  no  woman  who  has  made  any  new  contribution  to  science,  art  or  literature. 
I  am  fully  aware  that  the  great  men  of  the  earth  are  few  and  far,  and  that  this  is  an 
age  of  greatness  in  masses  rather  than  in  individuals.  Mediocrity  is  the  genius  of 
modern  times.  Still  we  should  welcome  a  great  book,  a  great  picture,  a  great  scientific 
discovery  with  unfeigned  delight,  especially  if  made  by  a  woman,  and  a  Chicago 
woman.     May  the  time  draw  near. 

We  have  a  fair  share  of  society  leaders,  and  these  have  been  compared  to  the 
women  of  the  French  salon — possibly  the  women  of  the  salon  have  been  over-esti- 
mated. Be  that  as  it  may,  our  type  is  very  different,  as  it  should  be  The  environ- 
ment is  totally  different.  Commercialism  does  not  develop  socially  brilliant  men. 
The  yardstick  and  the  steelyards  are  not  at  home  with  the  lace  handkerchief  and  the 
fan.  The  socially  brilliant  women  of  all  ages  have  developed  in  the  same  atmosphere 
that  develops  socially  brilliant  men,  from  the  age  of  Aspasia  to  that  of  the  Hotel 
Rambouillet.  A  woman  can  not  will  to  be  brilliant  and  straightway  shine.  She  must 
have  an  atmosphere  and  perspective.     Her  relations  in  time  and  space  must  be  cor- 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  711 

rect,  and  these  things  are  not  of  her  own  volition.  The  whole  thing  is  more  or  less 
traditional,  and  far  better  is  it  for  the  American  woman  when  she  elects  to  ignore  the 
traditions  which,  however  she  may  try,  she  can  not  counterfeit,  and  be  that  to  which 
she  was  born,  the  uncrowned  queen  of  the  people. 

Beside  all  the  women  described  there  are  several  hundred  thousand  to  be 
accounted  for.  A  little  girl  whose  schoolmates  were  telling  what  great  avocations 
in  life  they  intended  to  follow,  declared  that  she  intended  to  be  a  plain,  married 
woman.  The  plain  married  women  must  ever  constitute  the  great  majority  of  any 
population,  and  it  is  right  that  it  should  be  so.  But  of  all  the  women  we  have  named 
these  home  women  are  of  the  greatest  importance.  What  they  are  thinking  and  doing 
is  the  thinking  and  doing  of  the  city  or  the  nation;  this  is  true  of  any  country,  especially 
is  it  true  of  a  republic.  A  lady  in  describing  how  she  spent  her  time  said:  when  she 
was  not  rowing  with  the  servants,  or  ill  in  bed,  she  was  doing  fancy  work.  I  should 
be  sorry  to  believe  that  this  described  many,  and  yet  so  true  an  observer  as  Howells 
speaks  of  the  prevalence  of  the  women  "  in  a  permanent  state  of  disrepair."  Let  us 
hope  these  are  few  in  Chicago.  These  so-called  home  women  have  the  greatest 
influence  and  they  should  be  able  to  use  it  intelligently.  Everybody  bewails  the  cor- 
ruption of  the  state.  Politics  are  a  by-word.  Now,  if  these  home  women  cared  very 
much  for  the  state,  if  they  could  be  taught  the  love  of  country,  as  the  mothers  of  the 
revolution  learned  it,  do  you  not  think  it  would  be  improving  to  the  politicians?  We 
often  hear  of  the  phenomenon  of  double  consciousness;  it  is  an  important  question; 
but  a  double  conscience  is  of  far  greater  importance.  It  is  quite  the  fashion  now  to 
have  two  consciences,  one  for  private  the  other  for  public  use.  Now  this  divorce 
between  the  individual  and  the  social  conscience  is  the  most  dangerous  evil  of  modern 
times;  doubly  dangerous  because  it  is  not  recognized  as  an  evil.  If  a  man  says, 
"that's  business,"  or  "that's  politics,"  no  other  explanation  is  deemed  necessary 
for  any  advantage  he  may  take  of  his  neighbor,  or  of  a  public  trust.  I  was  once 
asked  by  an  anti-emigrationist  what  I  thought  to  be  the  great  evil  with  which  we 
had  to  contend,  if  it  were  not  the  great  influx  of  ignorant  foreigners?  I  replied, 
the  double  standard  of  conscience  among  our  own  people.  It  is  like  our  double  stand- 
ard of  virtue.  I  am  well  aware  that  the  relation  between  the  intrinsic  value  of  a  thing 
and  its  market  value  is  very  elusive,  but  I  am  equally  well  aware  that  there  is  such  a 
thing  as  selling  an  article  for  far  more  than  it  is  worth,  and  no  one  knows  it  so  thor- 
oughly as  the  seller.  The  power  to  find  the  fine  point  of  discrimination  between  this 
and  stealing  is  left  out  of  my  moral  sense.  It  was  my  fortune  to  know  very  well  some 
of  the  so-called  "boodlers"  of  this  county,  being  officially  associated  with  them  in  my 
hospital  work.  There  could  not  be  found  a  better  illustration  of  what  I  mean  by 
double  conscience — the  divorce  between  private  and  public  moral  judgment.  Some 
of  those  men  are  truly  excellent  in  private  life.  They  would  have  scorned  either  to 
lie  or  to  steal  from  a  rteighbor,  and  yet? 

But  what  has  this  to  do  with  Chicago  women?  Very  much.  Women,  especially 
home  women,  the  class  composing  the  great  multitude,  have  much  to  do  with  this 
matter.  The  truth  is,  the  ordinary  town  girl  in  marrying  prefers  a  smart  trickster  to 
a  plain  everyday  man,  because  the  former  can  put  on  style,  and  that  to  her  is  price- 
less above  rubies,  and  he  knows  it.  To  the  heart  of  the  ordinary  city  woman  it  is  so 
much  better  to  live  in  a  fashionable  hotel  or  boarding  house,  wear  showy  clothes  and 
drive  on  the  avenues  than  it  is  to  go  into  modest  quarters  and  honestly  help  an  honest 
man  to  make  an  honest  living.  They  frankly  tell  you  that  they  marry  to  be  taken  care 
of,  to  be  supported,  and  they  do  not  propose  to  help  support  any  man.  That  they  fail 
of  their  object  in  the  majority  of  cases  does  not  prevent  the  procession  from  recruiting 
its  ranks  every  year.  It  is  the  appearance,  not  the  reality;  the  shadow  instead  of  the 
substance,  that  all  these  people  are  striving  for,  and  these  shadows  are  so  costly,  con- 
science, comfort,  even  life  itself  are  thrown  into  the  scale  to  outweight  a  mockery. 
Shakespere  told  it  all  as  it  never  could  be  told  again  in  Wolsey's  lament. 

When  wives  can  say  to  their  husbands,  I  do  not  want  ease  and  luxury,  fine  homes 


712  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

and  fine  clothes  at  the  cost  of  your  very  soul;  you  must  not  take  public  office  at  the 
price  of  your  honor!  do  you  not  believe  the  reign  of  the  single  conscience  might  be 
inaugurated? 

Some  one  in  trying  to  criticize  "  The  Angelus,"  called  it  the  apotheosis  of  pota- 
toes. This  is  just  the  need  of  the  world  and  the  especial  need  of  Chicago,  the 
idealization  of  the  humblest  things  in  life.  And  who  is  to  do  it  if  our  women  fail? 
Now  more  than  ever,  with  this  great  material  wave  forcing  itself  upon  us,  do  we  need' 
the  apotheosis  of  quiet,  homely,  honest  life,  "  far  from  the  garish  day."  Not  for  one 
moment  must  anyone  infer  that  all  Chicago  homes  are  artificial  and  superficial.  It  is 
only  that  the  artificial  are  so  much  more  in  evidence  than  the  genuine. 

I  have  always  maintained  that  no  woman  in  history  ever  had  the  opportunity  that 
the  Queen  of  England  has  had  to  help  the  cause  of  woman.  I  am  equally  sure  that 
to  no  community  of  women  has  been  given  such  great  opportunity  as  the  women  of 
Chicago  possess  today.  Our  greatness  then  does  not  consist  so  much  in  ourselves; 
there  is  no  one  of  us  who  could  not  be  immediately  replaced  should  her  place  become 
vacant.  Our  greatness  lies  in  our  opportunity,  born  of  conditions  and  events 
which  are  for  the  most  part  inevitable,  and  for  which  we  deserve  little  credit.  How 
we  shall  use  this  gift  from  out  the  great  eternity  is  for  us  to  decide.  Let  us  hope  we  shall 
not  need  the  horrors  of  a  great  war  or  a  great  fire  to  arouse  us  from  our  self-admiration 
and  make  us  realize  that  we  are  in  no  way  exalted  above  our  fellow  beings,  and  that 
our  only  genius  is  the  genius  for  hard  work;  our  only  greatness  the  greatness  in 
opportunity  to  be  useful.  Let  us  hope  that  Chicago  women  are  too  thoroughly 
wholesome  to  be  spoiled  by  the  fulsome  flattery  that  well-meaning  people  have  so 
bountifully  bestowed  upon  them. 


FOOD  FOR  STUDENTS.* 

By  MRS.  ELLEN  H.  RICHARDS. 

The  success  of  a  state  or  nation,  as  well  as  its  wealth,  depends  on  the  energy  and 
capacity  of  its  citizens.  Schools,  colleges  and  universities  are  founded  and  maintained 
in  order  that  students  may  grow  up  into  successful  men  and  women  with  energy  to 
spare  for  the  nation's  good  beyond  that  required  to  sustain  their  own  life. 

The  only  known  source  of  this  valuable  human  energy  is  derived  from  the  food 
eaten  and  converted  in  the  human  machine  into  work,  whether  this  work  be  thinking 
or  lifting  weights.  So  human  force,  power,  heat,  work,  thought,  come  from  the  assimi- 
lation of  food. 

If  double  work  is  required  of  a  horse  he  is  given  double  feed.  The  young  student 
has  double  work  to  mature  his  own  physical  body  and  to  learn  to  think  great  thoughts 
at  the  same  time.  All  work  is  one;  work  means  expenditure  of  energy.  No  sane 
engineer  would  start  out  with  a  World's  Fair  train  without  coal  enough  to  run  his 
engine.  No  sane  man  would  begin  to  paint  a  great  picture,  invent  a  great  machine 
without  force  enough  to  accomplish  his  aim. 

Since  this  fact  is  now  perfectly  well  established,  it  should  be  recognized  by  all 
educators  that  good  thinking,  like  good  rowing,  requires  proper  feeding. 

A  cow  is  worth  to  the  state  perhaps  a  hundred  dollars  a  year,  a  trained  mind  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars  a  year.  A  nation  which  so  carefully  feeds  its  cattle  should 
take  care  of  its  young  men  and  women  with  promising  brains.  In  fact,  the  future  of 
our  nation  may  be  said  to  depend  on  the  feeding  of  the  students  now  in  the  schools. 

Therefore  the  dietary  of  the  college  student  should  be  a  subject  of  careful  study 
by  every  college  faculty,  and  as  great  care  should  be  exercised  in  selecting  the  steward, 
who  is,  in  fact,  to  determine  the  mental  standard  of  all  the  students,  as  in  selecting  the 
professor  of  Greek  or  history.  When  the  academic  world  becomes  convinced  of  the 
importance  of  this  factor,  we  shall  see  a  race  of  American  students  far  outstripping  all 
others. 

Herein  lies  a  new  problem  in  the  conservation  of  energy,  and  of  that  most  pro- 
ductive of  all  forms  of  energy,  that  of  human  thought. 

Mrs.  R.  H.  Richards  ("  Ellen  Henrietta  Swallow")  was  bom  in  Dunstable,  Mass.,  in  1842.  She  was  educated  at  the 
public  schools,  Westford  Academy,  Westford,  Mass. ;  Vassar  College  and  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology ;  received 
from  Vassar  in  1870  A.  B.;  in  1873  A.  M.,  and  S.  B.  from  Institute  of  Technology  in  1873.  She  married  Robert  H.  Richards, 
Professor  of  Mining  Engineering  and  Metallurgy  in  the  Institute  of  Technology.  Her  special  work  haa  been  in  the  interest 
of  sanitary  science,  particularly  in  reference  to  the  water  supply.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  "The  Chemistry  of  Cook- 
ing and  Cleaning  Food  Materials  and  their  Adulterations,"  "  First  Lessons  in  Minerals,"  and  "  Domestic  Economy  in  Pnblio 
Schools."  Her  profession  is  that  of  instructor  in  sanitary  chemistry  in  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology.  Her 
postoffice  addrebs  is  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology,  Boston,  Mass. 

*  What  appears  here  is  bat  an  abstract  of  the  addrees  delivered  before  the  Woman's  Congress. 


713 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  HOME. 


By  MISS  JULIET  CORSON. 

Through  the  oldest  race-records  we  may  trace  the  origin  of  home  to  the  hearth- 
fire  kindled  by  women.     Today,  among  the  races  remote  from  civilization  in  the  South 

Pacific  Islands,  we  find  women  making  fire  by  the 
friction  of  dry  wood.  In  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment Building  the  Indian  fire-drill  is  shown  in  the 
Ethnological  exhibit,  which  was  the  usual  means  of 
kindling  flames  in  all  the  tribes  ot  our  continent.  It 
is  the  same  implement  as  the  fire-drill  used  by  the 
Brahmans  of  Asia  in  lighting  the  sacred  fire.  Its  use 
is  so  ancient  that  its  origin  is  not  recorded,  but  its 
Sanscrit  name,  Pramatha,  which  means  "  to  bring  forth 
by  friction,"  is  the  root  of  the  word  Prometheus,  and 
the  story  of  that  immortal  thief  is  but  a  new  version 
of  the  myth  of  the  god  Agni;  the  heavenly  fire  forced 
to  come  to  the  service  of  man.  Women  have  alv/ays 
been  the  custodians  of  the  precious  element.  Nearly 
every  early  religion  had  its  fire  cult,  the  most  beauti- 
ful virgins  being  its  ministers;  our  own  generation  has- 
found  them  in  Tasmania,  and  the  Onondaga  Indians 
have  the  women  make  the  fire  of  the  White  Dog  feast 
with  the  fire-drill,  a  little  rod  twirled  within  a  disc  of 
dried  wood  until  both  burst  into  flame.  Well  might  a 
woman's  cunning  hand  have  achieved  that  miracle  of 
patience  as  she  brooded  her  young  in  some  rude 
shelter  of  a  desolated  world,  racked  by  the  rage  of  elemental  storms;  torn  by  some 
furious  destruction,  some  such  tremendous  cataclysm  as  is  recorded  in  the  earliest 
traditions  of  every  race.  The  Asiatic  traditions  say  that  such  cycles  of  destruction 
occur  every  six  thousand  years,  and  that  another  is  now  nearly  due.  The  Aztec  writ- 
ings specify  four  such  catastrophes  when  the  human  race  was  almost  blotted  out;  their 
greatest  religious  ceremonial  was  a  solemn  sacrifice  and  supplication  to  the  supreme 
God  that  his  people  might  be  spared  the  awful  fate  that  had  befallen  their  ancestors; 
and  the  relighting  of  the  sacred  fire  was  the  visible  token  of  their  present  immunity. 
Women,  as  priestesses,  formed  a  conspicuous  part  of  this  imposing  ceremony  as 
they  did  in  all  national  functions.  To  them  the  relighting  of  the  fire  of  promise  was 
an  office  of  memory  and  hope — memory  of  that  fearful  time  when  the  little  children 
were  torn  from  the  shelter  of  their  mothers'  bosoms,  while  the  heavens  seemed  falling 
upon  the  earth,  and  in  the  faint  reflection  of  the  far-off  "morning  star,"  that  burning 
mountain  of  terrible  death,  they  taught  them  the  first  words  of  that  passionate  cry  for 
mercy;  that  agony  of  supplication,  which  echoes  in  the  prayer  raised  from  trembling 

Miss  Jaliet  Corson  was  bom  in  Roxbary,  Mass.  Her  parents  were  Mary  Henderson  and  Peter  Ross  Corson.  She  was 
edncated  chiefly  in  the  state  and  city  of  New  York.  She  has  traveled  throughout  the  United  States  and  British  America.  Her 
special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  Domestic  Science,  Social  Economy  and  Hygienic  and  Sanitary  Dietetics.  Her  prin- 
cipal literary  works  are  "  The  Cooking  School  Text  Book,"  "  The  Cooking  Manual,"  "  Meals  for  the  Million,"  "Fifteen  and 
Twenty-five-cent  Dinners,"  "Family  Living  on  Five  Hundred  Dollars  a  Year."  "New  Family  Cook-book,"  "  Practical 
American  Cookery"  and  "  Household  Management."  Miss  Corson  was  the  first  teacher  of  cookery  and  the  founder  of  cook- 
ing schools  in  America.  She  was  the  first  lecturer  on  domestic  economy  and  teacher  of  cookery  in  the  public  schools  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada.  She  was  chosen  as  director  of  the  Cooking  School  Exhibit  at  the  Colnnibian  Exposition;  was 
awarded  a  medal  and  diploma.    Her  postoffice  address  is  New  York  City. 

714 


MISS  JULIET  CORSON. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  715 

lips,  while  the  prostrate  people  watched  for  the  fire-drill's  tiny  thread  of  smoke  which 
meant  another  generation  of  safety. 

Plato's  "  One  Dreadful  Night  and  Day"  is  an  echo  from  the  other  side  of  the 
world  of  this  terrible  terrestrial  overturning  which  is  described  in  the  Central  Ameri- 
can sacred  books,  and  possibly  in  our  Old  Testament's  oldest  book,  fearful  pictures  of 
a  broken  and  blasted  humanity  wandering,  heartsick,  about  a  ruined  world.  Such  ter- 
rors as  they  must  have  suffered  confront  us,  written  upon  primeval  rocks  in  characters 
of  fire,  to  be  read  by  the  eye  of  science  after  the  meaning  of  these  prayers  is  lost  to 
the  race  that  has  preserved  the  words  of  supplication.  Despairing  of  saving  even  life 
amidst  this  wreck  of  the  world,  the  dying  souls  uttered  this  cry  to  their  gods  for  rescue 
from  the  tempest  of  fire  and  molten  stones  that  seemed  pouring  upon  them  from 
Heaven;  the  very  abode  of  God — "the  God  by  whom  we  live;  who  knoweth  the 
thoughts  and  giveth  all  gifts;  one  God  of  perfect  perfection  and  purity,  under  whose 
wings  we  find  repose  and  a  sure  defense."  Sorely  tortured  souls,  they  poured  out 
their  agony  for  refuge  as  we  today  would  beseech  our  God  for  protection  should  some 
awful  convulsion  of  nature  shake  these  white  shining  walls  down  upon  our  devoted 
heads. 

Mothers,  you  who  have  little  children  at  home,  go  presently  through  the  stately 
avenues  of  our  White  City,  from  this  Memorial  Hall  of  the  women  of  today  to 
another,  dedicated  to  the  memories  of  our  vanished  American  civilizations,  and  regard 
their  relics;  poor  shreds  and  patches  of  humanity,  and  yet  so  eloquent  of  mother- 
love,  for  who  but  a  mother  would  have  swathed  those  small  bodies  in  softest  feather 
cloth,  and  placed  in  the  little  hands  food  for  that  last  long  spirit-journey  upon 
which  no  mother  compassion  can  brood  over  the  infant  soul.  From  the  cailon  of  the 
Mancos,  through  the  temples  and  palaces  of  Yucatan,  wife-love  and  mother-love  can 
lead  us  back  to  ocean-buried  Atlantis,  the  plains  of  Aasgard  and  the  Islands  of  the 
Blest,  which  Poseidon  planted  in  the  midst  of  his  watery  realm  for  his  mortal  love. 
Always  woman,  and  always  motherhood,  for  this  was  the  cradle  of  the  race  hidden 
within  the  dark  and  misty  Mare  Tetiebrosum.  Veiled  in  the  mist  of  ages,  save  for  these 
fleeting  terrible  echoes,  still  we  may  read  the  mother's  tortured  heart.  Where  there 
had  been  a  fruitful  earth,  brilliant  with  the  light  of  fair  and  tranquil  days,  and  where 
were  safe  and  happy  homes,  she  saw  only  desolation  and  ruin,  "  little  children  per- 
ishing with  hunger  and  none  to  give  them  consolation  or  caress,  suffering  for  the  sins 
of  their  fathers."  This  cry  was  cruelly  wrung  from  the  broken  spirit,  "  Death  is  Thy 
messenger,  so  powerful  that  none  may  escape.  But,  O  most  pitiful  Lord!  at  least 
take  pity  and  have  mercy  upon  the  children!" 

Then,  when  after  the  whirlwind  and  the  tempest  of  fire  came  the  deluge  and  the 
icy  rains,  can  you  not  see  the  stricken  fragment  of  humanity  huddled  in  some  cavern, 
perhaps  sore  pressed  by  equally  terrified  beasts  in  the  mad  rush  for  refuge;  or  beneath 
some  overhanging  rockshelter,  striving  to  maintain  the  vital  warmth?  Do  not 
believe  that  man,  the  creature  of  God's  sunlight,  was  first  a  cave-dweller  from  choice. 
The  cavemen  who  carved  the  reindeer's  figure  upon  the  animal's  horn,  and  etched  the 
portrait  of  the  mammoth  upon  one  of  the  creature's  tusks,  were  too  deft  of  touch,  too 
certain  of  skill  to  be  habitual  dwellers  in  the  dim  light  of  caverns.  If  archaic  art 
means  anything  more  than  accident  it  means  that  men  and  beasts,  without  conflict, 
were  rushed  into  the  nearest  shelter  from  terrible  and  sudden  peril  that  admitted  of 
no  choice  in  the  chances  of  escape.  It  means  that  the  cave-dwelling  was  of  long  con- 
tinuance; and,  taken  with  other  circumstances  familiar  to  the  student  of  pro-glacial 
history,  both  in  the  record  of  the  rocks  and  in  the  traditions  of  the  earliest  religions, 
it  implies  a  decided  civilization  already  flourishing.  The  ancient  British  record  says: 
"The  patriarch  distinguished  for  his  integrity  was  shut  up,  together  with  his  select 
company.  *  *  *  Presently  a  tempest  of  fire  arose.  It  split  the  earth  asunder  to 
the  great  deep  *  *  *  and  the  waters  covered  the  earth."  All  this  overthrow  of 
the  foundations  of  nature  in  consequence  of  the  profligacy  of  mankind.  That  very  evil 
state  implies  a  knowledge  of  the  luxuries  of  life.     There  could  not  well  be  profligacy 


716  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

in  a  state  of  Spartan  simplicity.  From  the  safety  of  a  luxurious  home  to  the  wild  front 
of  the  cyclonic  storm  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  the  woman  was  borne  with  her  chil- 
dren. If  ever  it  were  her  province  to  comfort  and  console  now  v/ould  come  the  test. 
Well  might  the  strongest  man  sink  under  profound  discouragement,  since  from  the 
apparent  sovereignty  of  nature  he  had  fallen  to  be  its  slave,  the  very  sport  of  the 
elements.  Then  indeed  was  woman's  task  pre-eminently  to  soothe  and  cheer;  to  rouse 
his  flagging  vigor,  to  claim  his  utmost  efforts,  to  send  him  forth  to  seek  through  the 
waving  elements  the  scant  sustenance  still  afforded  by  the  desolated  earth  half  buried 
under  the  debris  of  celestial  and  terrestrial  wrack.  And  although  the  outside  world 
seemed  on  fire,  in  those  cavern  recesses,  dark  and  gloomy  depths  within  the  earth,  fire 
seemed  the  first  necessity,  the  treasure  most  desired,  the  sole  reminder  of  those  lost 
blessings,  the  light:  and  warmth  of  home.  Then  it  must  have  been  that  the  fire-drill 
was  invented  or  remembered?  For  who  shall  say  through  how  many  such  cataclysms 
this  earth  has  passed?  The  Aztec  records  say  the  next  will  destroy  the  world  of 
existing  civilizations.  For  the  direct  connection  of  the  last  with  the  relighting  of  the 
Sacred  fire  of  the  Aztecs  we  are  indebted  to  Mme.  Alice  Le  Plongeon,  who  has 
translated  from  the  Maya  language  the  story  of  the  destruction  of  the  land  of  Mr.  Plato's 
Atlantis.  Geology  shows  more  than  one  such  convulsion;  and  the  falling  of  Java 
head,  and  this  year's  terrible  Persian  earthquake  give  proof  of  the  activity  of  the 
internal  fires. 

In  the  bed  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  near  where  the  twenty-fifth  meridian  from  Lon- 
don crosses  the  equator,  there  exists  a  submarine  volcano  or  earthquake  belt,  the 
explosions  or  shocks  of  which  agitate  the  waves  to  such  an  extent  as  to  seriously 
menace  all  vessels  sailing  near.  What  the  evidence  of  today  has  verified  must  have 
been  terrific  in  its  effect.  In  those  desolated  margins  of  the  world  which  had  escaped 
destruction  the  first  faint  flame  upon  the  rude  cavern-hearth  must  have  been  cher- 
ished as  the  thing  most  desired.  And  when  the.  earth  gradually  became  staple,  and 
the  scant  gleams  of  light  returned  across  the  sky,  when  the  hollow  in  the  rock  could 
be  moss-lined,  and  sheltered  by  a  pent-roof  of  reeds,  it  was  the  woman's  hand  that 
gathered  at  the  fireside  the  fruits  of  the  long  day's  search  or  toil.  When  the  scarred 
earth  once  took  on  the  aspect  of  life  renewed  from  the  invisible  source  of  things, 
hers  it  was  to  foster  the  germs  of  vitality  outcoming  from  the  war  of  the  elements. 
As  the  gloom  of  the  primeval  storm  was  pierced  by  the  shining  lances  of  the  sunlight 
she  might  dare  to  venture  from  the  shelter  of  rock  or  cave  to  search  for  some  edible 
root;  or,  following  the  trail  of  the  few  animals  or  birds  that  had  strayed  within  her 
racked  borders  from  the  confines  of  some  undestroyed  land,  to  gather  the  seeds  they 
might  let  fall  or  the  eggs  they  might  nest,  or  perhaps  to  find  the  young  of  this  return- 
ing life.  Some  spoil  of  the  chase  surviving  its  wounds,  and  fostered  by  her,  might 
become  the  firstling  of  her  domestic  flock,  from  whose  hair  or  fleece  her  cunning  hand 
could  contrive  a  garment  as  boon  inestimable.  A  few  seeds  falling  to  the  ground  and 
flourishing  might  grow  into  the  first  new  harvest.  Let  us  consider.  As  the  woman 
grows  helpful  she  grows  strong;  her  old  spirit  returning.  She  bears  her  share  of  the 
cultivation  of  the  soil,  the  building  of  the  house,  the  clothing  of  the  family.  She  is 
again  the  helpmate  and  co-worker  with  man,  as  she  is  fabled  in  the  Golden  Age 
pictured  in  the  legends  of  every  country. 

The  hearth-fire  built,  the  harvest  garnered,  the  game  brought  to  the  fireside,  the 
next  step  in  the  evolution  of  home  is  the  development  of  the  art  of  cookery.  The 
first  traces  which  we  find  of  man's  efforts  as  a  cooking  animal  show  that  he  has  pro- 
gressed only  in  detail.  The  pre-glacial  man  laid  hearth-stones,  broiled  and  boiled  his 
meats,  and  had  used  tiny  scoops  to  extract  the  marrow  from  the  bones  in  ages  that 
have  left  us  but  the  cave  deposits  for  history.  But  we  know  from  his  own  etchings 
that  he  drove  reindeer,  had  horses,  and  carved  the  handles  of  his  hunting  knives; 
even  scenes  are  rudely  depicted,  reindeer  thrown  down  and  entangled  in  their  har- 
ness, and  a  man  driving  horses  bitten  in  the  heel  by  a  serpent. 

This  definite  character  of  the  early  form  of  cookery  comes  to  us  not  only  through 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  717 

antiquarian  sources,  but  the  conditions  of  today  in  remote  countries  known  usually 
through  the  works  of  travelers  are  shown  here,  in  the  World's  Fair,  by  actual  investi- 
gation of  methods  among  the  semi-civilized  peoples  located  with  all  their  native  cus- 
toms and  appliances  in  the  Midway  Plaisance;  they  accord  with  the  archaeological 
remains  shown  in  the  Anthropological  Building  in  the  South  Park.  Dr.  Mary  E. 
Green  and  Professor  Kinsie,  with  whom  the  writer  was  associated  on  the  judges'  com- 
mittee for  the  examination  of  food-products,  by  Prof.  W.  O.  Atwater,  made  exact 
investigation  of  the  methods  in  operation  at  the  native  villages;  their  conclusions 
accorded  with  the  writer's,  which  were  formed  after  continued  research  among  the 
records  and  relics  of  the  progenitors  of  these  and  other  so-called  uncivilized  races. 
The  fundamental  principles  of  cookery  are  the  same  among  all  peoples;  those  are  the 
best  fed  who  have  adhered  to  slow,  moderate  heat,  and  the  long-continued  process 
now  advocated  by  modern  science.  The  woman  seemed  naturally  to  perform  the  cul- 
inary office;  she  is  fitted  for  it  in  all  ages  and  countries,  and  should  comprehend  its 
mysteries  for  that  reason;  if  other  were  needed  modern  medical  and  sanitary  science 
show  how  entirely  by  its  agency  she  can  mold  the  mental  and  physical  condition  of 
humanity.  Dr.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  said,  thirty  years  ago,  that  medical  curative 
treatment  would  resolve  itself  into  modifications  of  the  food  and  natural  stimuli;  and 
medical  science  today  verifies  his  prediction.  This  same  modern  science  repeats  the 
lessons  learned  by  man  when  he  lived  closest  to  the  heart  of  Mother  Nature.  The 
stone-age  man  in  the  South  Pacific  still  uses  the  earth-ovens  of  his  forefathers,  and  the 
epicures  of  the  Eastern  seacoast  cook  their  clam  bakes  in  just  such  way.  This  is  only 
one  of  the  parallels  afforded  by  the  latest  discoveries  among  the  ruined  civilizations 
of  this  great  continent,  whose  re-discovery  we  are  now  celebrating  with  such  pomp 
and  circumstance. 

In  the  last  of  the  great  American  empires  the  domestic  virtues  of  women  were 
most  highly  esteemed.  We  have  already  seen  that  they  were  prominent  in  civil  and 
religious  capacities,  and  even  the  stern  Franciscan,  Torquemada,  who  came  to  Mexico 
before  the  conquerors  had  vanished  from  the  scene  of  their  glory  and  their  shame, 
says  that  the  Aztec  women  were  an  "admirable  example  for  our  times,  when  women 
are  not  only  unfit  for  the  labors  of  the  field,  but  have  too  much  levity  to  attend  to 
their  own  households."  These  Aztec  women  became  the  mothers  of  some  of  Spain's 
noblest  houses.  While  today  we  honor  the  children  of  Columbus  and  the  memory  of 
Isabella  within  the  precincts  of  this  our  City  Beautiful,  shall  we  wholly  neglect  the 
homage  due  to  merits  so  transcendent  as  to  stir  to  enthusiasm  that  grave  Franciscan's 
heart? 

When  we  leave  this  Congress  let  us  go  to  those  sections  of  our  White  City  which 
contain  the  sad  mementoes  of  this  dead  and  gone  greatness,  through  the  galleries  of 
our  Government  Building,  to  the  Central  and  South  American  sections  of  the  Liberal 
Arts,  to  the  exhibits  of  Mexico  and  Peru;  above  all,  to  that  vast  repository  of  our 
country's  vanished  glories,  which  overflows  with  relics  of  the  oldest  of  the  great  civil- 
izations of  this  changeful  earth.  Let  us  stand  before  the  remains  of  this  grandest  of 
man's  ruined  supremacies,  and  yield  the  homage  of  a  few  short  moments  to  the  mem- 
ories of  those  noble  wives  and  mothers.  A  woman's  hand  will  point  us  to  the  monu- 
ments of  that  noble  wife  and  queen  who  raised  to  her  murdered  husband's  memory 
one  of  the  greatest  mausoleums  that  ever  weighted  the  bosom  of  Mother  Earth  with 
carven  images  of  human  grandeur.  Let  us  follow  where  Madame  Le  Plongeon  lets  in 
the  light  of  modern  day  upon  the  palace  and  tomb  of  the  queen  long  dead,  dust  with 
the  dust  she  lamented — work  well  worthy  a  place  in  our  most  beautiful  of  modern 
cemeteries.  The  colors,  fresh  as  when  laid  upon  the  walls,  show  the  beautiful  queen 
weeping  beside  her  dead  lord;  and  the  superb  photographs  of  Mandsley  bear  out  all 
that  Madame  Le  Plongeon  has  written  about  the  Tiger  King's  wife.  These  architect- 
ural links  are  no  closer  than  the  religious  and  ethical,  which  show  a  degree  of  enlight- 
enment that  will  bear  comparison  with  our  own. 
•     So  far  as  women  are  concerned,  if  the  test  of  their  advancement  be  the  degree  of 


718  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

influence  they  exercise  upon  their  age  and  the  part  they  play  in  culture  and  progress, 
we  may  seriously  ask  ourselves  in  what  respect  we  have  raised  the  standard  of 
womanly  usefulness?  And  whether  we  are  not  in  danger  of  losing  sight  of  the  homely 
virtues  of  wifehood  and  motherhood  in  our  strife  for  public  equality  with  men?  If 
our  best  and  brightest  are  to  be  devoted  to  competition  with  men  in  the  learned  pro- 
fessions, may  we  not  question  where  the  home-makers  are  to  come  from  to  whom  we 
must  look  for  the  motherhood  of  the  next  generation  which  shall  create  our  rulers? 
Without  doubt  it  is- sweet  and  proper  to  serve  one's  country  in  public;  but  what  will 
result  if  only  dull-witted  ones  are  left  to  maintain  the  elevation  of  the  home?  In  what 
shall  we  have  excelled  the  women  whose  memories  we  have  traced  among  the  relics 
of  their  lost  civilizations?  Shall  we,  with  all  the  gains  of  the  ages  about  us,  do  no 
more  than  they  have  done  before  us?  And  if,  from  the  sacred  precincts  of  the  home, 
we  can  not  hope  to  achieve  greater  blessings  than  they  gained  for  their  kind,  upon 
what  point  of  vantage  shall  we  plant  the  lever  with  which  we  women  hope  to  move 
the  world? 


ASSYRIAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

By  MRS.  ELIZABETH  A.  REED. 

The  far  East  was  the  home  of  poetry  and  the  land  of  mythology,  before  the 
hundred  gates  of  Palmyra  were  swung  upon  their  massive  hinges,  or  the  crown  of  her 

beautiful  queen  had  been  set  with  its  moonlight  pearls. 

A  land  which  was  rich  with  jewels  and  radiant 
with  flowers  held  in  her  background  a  mythology  so 
primitive  that  it  appears  to  have  been  the  mother  of 
them  all. 

The  Assyrians  counted  no  less  than  three  hundred 
spirits  of  Heaven,  and  six  hundred  of  earth,  all  of 
which  (as  well  as  the  rest  of  their  mythology)  appear 
to  have  been  borrowed  from  ancient  Babylonia,  the 
birthplace  of  that  common  mythology  which  in  vari- 
ous forms  afterward  became  the  heritage  of  so  many 
nations. 

In  those  early  days,  when  men  did  not  like  to 
retain  God  in  their  hearts,  they  made  gods  with  their 
own  hands  for  their  worship — they  erected  the  altars 
of  Baal,  and  prepared  the  hideous  feast  of  Moloch. 
They  glorified  the  god  of  wine  and  offered  their 
daughters  upon  the  shrine  of  Ashtaroth. 

In  the  days  of  this  primitive  idolatry,  elaborate 
and  costly  temples  were  built  for  these  uncouth 
deities,  and  when  the  image  of  a  god  was  brought 

MRS.   ELIZABETH  A.   REED.  •      i.         U  •  1          U      Mi.     i.  1  ^U  £        ^-          I  j 

mto  his  newly  built  temple,  there  were  festivals  and 
processions,  and  wild  rejoicings  among  the  worshipers. 

The  principal  gods  mentioned  in  the  early  tablets  may  be  briefly  sketched  as 
ioUows: 

Ann  was  the  sky  god,  and  ruler  of  the  highest  heaven,  whose  messengers  are  evil 
spirits. 

The  messengers  of  And  are  elsewhere  described  as  the  seven  storm-clouds,  or  the 
winds,  and  their  leader  seems  to  have  been  the  dragon  Tiamat,  who  was  defeated  by 
Bel-Merodach  in  the  war  of  the  gods. 

The  tablets  have  preserved  an  Accadian  poem  on  this  subject,  the  author 
of  which  is  represented  as  living  in  the  Babylonian  city  of  Eridu,  where  his  horizon 
was  bounded  by  the  mountains  of  Susiani,  and  the  battle  of  the  elements  raging 
around  their  summit  suggested  to  his  poet  mind  the  warring  of  evil  spirits.  It  was 
these  seven  storm  spirits  who  were  represented  as  attacking  the  moon  when  it  was 
•eclipsed. 

In  this  primitive  mythology  we  find  also  Assur,  the  god  of  judges,  who  was  the 
special  patron  of  Assyria,  and  afterward  made  to  express  the  power  of  the  later 
Assyrian  empire  by  becoming  "  father  of  the  gods  "  and  the  head  of  the  Pantheon. 

Mre.  Elizabeth  A.  Reed  is  a  native  of  Maine.  Her  i>arents  were  Alyin  and  Silvia  Armstrong.  They  were  of  English  stock 
4uad  almost  Puritan  habits.  She  was  edacated  partially  at  the  South  and  largely  by  private  tutors,  bat  being  happily  married 
before  she  was  eighteen  to  a  man  of  letters,  she  has  been  a  life-long  student,  and  her  intellectual  training  has  been  very  largely 
aader  her  husband's  influence.  She  married  Hiram  Von  Reed,  who  is  one  of  the  most  original  thinkers  of  the  day,  and  a 
brilliant  orator.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  philanthropy,  moral  reform,  Christianity  and  literature.  Her 
principal  literary  works  are  "  Hindoo  Literature  "  and  Persian  Literature,"  published  by  S.  C.  Griggs  &  Co.  Her  books  have 
Teceived  cordial  praise  from  some  of  the  most  distinguished  scholars  of  Europe.  Her  postoffice  address  is  41  Seeley  Avenue, 
Ohicago,  111.  ^ 

iiy 


720  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Hea  was  the  god  of  chaos,  or  the  deep;  he  was  the  king  of  the  abyss  who 
determines  destinies.  In  later  times  he  was  also  called  the  god  of  the  waters,  and 
from  him  some  of  the  attributes  of  Neptune  may  be  derived.  It  was  said  that  Chaos 
was  his  wife. 

In  later  mythology,  however,  Nin-ci-gal,  instead  of  Chaos,  was  the  wife  of  Hea. 
She  was  the  "  lady  of  the  mighty  country,"  and  the  "  queen  of  the  dead."  This  god- 
dess may  have  been  the  prototype  of  Proserpine,  who  was  carried  away  by. Pluto  in 
his  golden  chariot  to  be  the  queen  of  Plades. 

Sin  is  a  word  which  signifies  brightness,  and  it  was  the  name  borne  by  the  moon- 
god,  who  was  the  father  of  Ishtar  or  Ashtaroth,  A  golden  tablet  found  in  the  corner- 
stone of  a  palace  or  temple,  at  Khorsabad,  contains  an  account  of  the  splendid  tem- 
ples which  King  Sargon  II,  built  in  a  town  near  Nineveh  and  dedicated  to  Hea,  Sin,. 
the  moon-god;  Chemosh,  the  sun-god;  and  Ninip,  the  god  of  forces, 

Hea-bani  was  represented  as  a  satyr  with  the  legs,  head  and  tail  of  an  ox.  This 
figure  occurs  very  frequently  on  the  gems,  and  may  always  be  recognized  by  these 
characteristics.  He  is  doubtless  the  original  of  Mendes,  the  goat-formed  god  of 
Egypt,  and  also  of  Pan,  the  goat-formed  god  of  the  Arcadian  herdsmen,  with  his  pipe 
of  seven  reeds, 

Nergal  was  the  patron  deity  of  Cutha,  He  was  the  god  of  bows  and  arms. 
According  to  Dr.  Oppert,  Nergal  represented  the  planet  Mars,  and  hence  the  Grecian 
god  of  war  appears  to  have  been  merely  a  perpetuation  of  this  early  deity. 

Bel-Merodach,  or  Marduk,  had  a  splendid  temple,  which,  according  to  the  inscrip- 
tions, was  built  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  with  its  costly  woods,  its  silver  and  molten  gold 
and  precious  stones. 

It  is  from  the  name  of  the  god  Nebo  that  the  name  of  King  Nebuchadnezzar  was 
derived.  In  a  ten-column  inscription  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  which  now  forms  a  part  of 
the  India  Office  collection,  the  king  speaks  of  building  a  temple  in  Babylon  "to  Nebo 
of  lofty  intelligence."  Even  the  portico  of  the  shrine  of  Nebo  was  covered  with  gold, 
and  many  dazzling  gems  were  used  in  the  decoration  of  the  temple. 

Ninip,  the  lord  of  strong  actions,  finds  an  echo  in  Hercules  of  Grecian  mythology, 
who  received  his  bow  from  Apollo,  his  sword  from  Mercury,  his  golden  breastplate 
from  Vulcan,  his  horses  from  Neptune,  and  his  robe  from  Minerva. 

The  Assyrian  Dagon  was  usually  associated  with  And,  the  sky-god,  and  the  wor- 
ship of  both  was  carried  as  far  west  as  Canaan. 

Of  Moloch  little  is  said  upon  the  tablets  except  the  very  significant  statement 
that  "he  took  the  children,"  but  a  curious  fragment  of  an  old  Accadian  poem  indi- 
cates that  the  children  of  these  highlanders  were  offered  as  burnt  offerings  in  very 
early  times.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Mosaic  law  was  especially  severe  upon  this 
"abomination"  of  human  sacrifices,  the  death  penalty  being  ordered  for  every  such 
offense. 

Chemosh  was  the  sun-god  who  was  often  worshiped  as  the  supreme,  while  hi.s 
early  worshipers  sang  praises,  offered  sacrifices  and  performed  incantations.  The 
success  of  Mesha,  the  King  of  Moab,  in  his  revolt  against  the  King  of  Israel,  was  com- 
memorated by  the  erection  of  the  celebrated  Moabite  stone,  whereon  was  recorded 
the  inscription  ascribing  his  victory  to  Chemosh,  his  favorite  deity.  But  the  hideous 
idols  of  the  sun-god  that  occupied  the  palatial  temples  of  Chemosh  at  Larsam,  in 
Southern  Chaldea,  and  at  Sippara,  in  the  north  of  Babylonia,  became  more  refined  in 
the  poetry  of  the  Vedas,  and  he  appeared  in  the  mythology  of  the  Hindns  as  Snrya, 
the  god  of  day,  who  rode  across  the  heavens  in  a  car  drawn  by  milk-white  horses. 

In  this  pantheon  of  mythology  Im  was  the  god  of  the  sky,  sometimes  called 
Rimmon,  the  god  of  lightning  and  storms.  He  is  represented  among  the  Hindus  as 
Indra,  who  furiously  drives  his  tawny  steeds  to  the  battle  of  the  elements.  With  the 
Greeks  and  Latins  he  was  personated  by  Zeiis  and  Jupiter,  "the  cloud-compelling- 
Jove,"  while  among  the  Northmen  he  wears  the  form  of  Thor,  whose  frown  is  the 
gathering  of  the  storm  clouds,  and  whose  angry  voice  echoes  in  the  thunderbolt. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  721 

• 

Baal,  or  Bel,  was  also  an  important  character,  and  indeed,  according  to  Dr.  Oppert, 
all  of  the  Phoenician  gods  were  included  under  the  general  name  of  Baal,  and  human 
sacrifices  were  often  made  upon  their  blood-stained  altars.  Baal  had  a  magnificent 
temple  in  Tyre,  which  was  founded  by  Hiram,  the  King  of  Tyre.  Not  only  human 
sacrifices,  but  also  the  grossest  sensuality  characterized  the  worship  of  Baal. 

Tammuz  is  another  form  of  the  sun-god  who  is  represented  as  being  slain  by  the 
boar's  tusk  of  winter.  June  is  the  month  of  Tammuz,  and  his  festival  began  by  the 
cutting  of  the  sacred  fir-tree  in  which  the  god  had  hidden  himself.  Tammuz  is  the 
proper  Syriac  name  for  Adonis  of  the  Greeks,  and  doubtless  Adonis  is  merely  a  later 
form  of  the  same  myth. 

.Ishtar,  the  goddess  who  is  sometimes  called  Astarte,  was  the  most  important 
female  deity  in  this  early  pantheon.  The  Persian  form  of  the  word  is  Astara.  In 
Phoenician  it  is  Ashtaroth,  and  it  is  said  that  all  the  Phoenician  goddesses  were  included 
under  this  general  term.  Another  form  of  the  name  afterward  appeared  in  Greek 
mythology  as  Asteria,  and  it  was  applied  to  the  beautiful  goddess  who  fled  from  the 
suit  of  Jove,  and,  flinging  herself  down  from  Heaven  into  the  sea,  became  the  island 
afterward  named  Delos. 

Ishtar  of  Arbela  was  the  goddess  of  war,  the  "  Lady  of  Battles."  She  was  the 
daughter  of  Ann,  whose  messengers  were  the  "  Seven  Evil  Spirits,"  and  she  was  the 
favorite  goddess  of  King  Assur-bani-pal,  who  claims  that  he  received  his  bow  from  her. 
Her  image,  according  to  Pliny,  was  of  solid  gold,  and  her  high  priest  was  second  only 
to  the  king  himself. 

The  character  of  Ishtar  is  apparently  a  prototype  not  only  of  Hecate,  but  also  of 
Medea,  whose  chariot  was  drawn  by  winged  serpents,  and  the  caldron  or  pot  which 
Ishtar  filled  with  her  magic  herbs  suggests  the  statement  of  Ovid  that  Medea  on  one 
occasion  spent  no  less  than  nine  days  and  nights  in  collecting  herbs  for  her  caldron. 

The  character  of  Ishtar  may  also  have  suggested  that  of  Circe,  who 

"  Mixed  the  potion,  fraudulent  of  soul. 
The  poison  mantled  in  a  golden  bowl." 

And  she  loved  Ulysses  as  Ishtar  loved  Izdubar,  even  though  she  had  transformed  all 
his  companions  into  swine. 

In  Column  II.  of  the  tablet  under  consideration  we  find  the  story  of  the  king  whom 

Ishtar  changed  into  a  leopard,  "  and  his  own  dogs  bit  him  to  pieces."     No  one  can 

doubt  that  we  see  here  the  original  of  the  Greek  fable  of  Actaeon,  the  hero  who  offended 

'the  goddess  Diana,  when  she  revenged  herself  by  changing  him  into  a  deer,  and  his 

dogs  no  longer  knowing  their  master,  fell  upon  him  and  tore  him  to  pieces. 

Ishtar  of  Nineveh,  who  is  identified  with  Beltis,  the  wife  of  Baal,  became  the 
goddess  of  love.  She  is  the  prototype  of  Freyja,  the  weeping  goddess  of  love  among 
the'  Northmen,  and  the  Aphrodite  of  the  Greeks — the  beautiful  nymph  who  sprang 
from  the  soft  foam  of  the  sea  and  was  received  in  a  land  of  flowers  by  the  gold-filleted 
seasons,  who  clothed  her  in  garments  immortal.  Her  chariot  was  drawn  by  milk-white 
swans,  and  her  garlands  were  of  rose  and  myrtle.  Ishtar  of  Nineveh  appears  as  the 
imperious  queen  of  love  and  beauty,  and  was  undoubtedly  the  original  of  the  Latin 
Venus.  Indeed,  Anthon  says:  "There  is  none  of  the  Olympians  of  whom  the  foreign 
origin  is  so  probable  as  this  goddess,  and  she  is  generally  regarded  as  being  the  same 
with  Astarte  or  Ashtaroth  of  the  Phoenicians."  We  find  upon  the  tablets  a  beautiful 
legend  concerning  her  visit  to  Hades.  She  went  in  search  of  her  husband  Tammuz, 
as  Orpheus  was  afterward  represented  as  going  to  recover  P2urydice,  when  the  music 
of  his  golden  shell  stopped  the  wheel  of  Ixion,  and  made  Tantalus  forget  his  thirst. 

It  was  doubtless  through  the  Phoenicians  that  this  legend  reached  Greece,  and  was 
there  reproduced  in  a  form  almost  identical  with  the  fable  of  the  tablets.  Adonis, 
the  sun-god,  who  was  the  hero  of  the  Greek  fable,  was  killed  by  the  tusk  of  the  wild 
boar,  even  as  Tammuz,  the  sun-god  of  Assyria,  was  slain  by  the  boar's  tusk  of  winter. 
Venus,  the  queen  of  love  and  beauty,  was  inconsolable  at  his  loss,  and  at  last  obtained 

(46) 


722  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

from  Proserpine,  the  queen  of  Hades,  permission  for  Adonis  to  spend  every  alternate 
six  months  with  her  upon  the  earth,  while  the  rest  of  the  time  should  be  passed  in  Hades. 
Ishtar  is  represented  as  going  down  to  the  regions  of  darkness  wearing  rings  and 
jewels,  with  a  diadem  and  girdle  set  with  precious  stones,  and  this  fact  would  indicate 
that  this  ancient  mythology  was  the  source  of  the  idea  that  whatever  was  buried  with 
the  dead  would  go  with  them  to  the  other  shore.  Hence  India  for  ages  burned  the 
favorite  wives  with  the  dead  bodies  of  her  rajas,  while  other  tribes  placed  living  women 
in  the  graves  of  their  chiefs,  and  our  own  Indians  provide  dogs  and  weapons  for  the 
use  of  their  braves  when  they  reach  the  "  happy  hunting  grounds." 


OUR  NEIGHBORS,  THE  ALASKAN  WOMEN, 


By  MRS.  CLARA  A.  MCDIARMID. 

For  many  years,  perhaps  about  six,  I  had  an  intense  desire  to  visit  Alaska,  but 
not  until  August,  1891,  was  I  fortunate  enough  to  do  so.     Donninga  warm,  short  dress, 

with  grip  in  hand,  I  made  a  start  for  this  land  of  night- 
less  days  and  midnight  rainbows. 

Alaska,  or  Al-ay-ek-sa,  the  name  given  by  the 
native  islanders  to  the  main  land,  signifies  great  coun- 
try; and  great  it  is,  being  one-fifth  as  large  as  all  the 
other  states  and  territories  together.  The  population 
in  1891  was  about  49,850,  of  these  thirty-five  thousand 
are  wholly  uncivilized,  and  seventy-three  hundred 
semi-civilized.  We  are  sending  millions  of  dollars 
every  year  to  foreign  lands,  while  almost  within  sound 
of  our  own  cannon  thirty-five  thousand  barbarians  in 
Alaska  alone  are  waiting  for  the  time  when  the  Chris- 
tians of  their  own  country  and  the  United  States  gov- 
^ly  ,,        j^        ^^^^K      ernment  shall  see  fit  to  investigate  the  needs  of  their 

1^^       ^L  j3^^  ^^^      °^'"  home  circle.     There  is  great  diversity  of  opin- 

w  ^^J^B  ion  regarding  the  ancestry  of  these   natives.     Some 

claim  they  are  Mongolian,  while  the  historian  March- 
land  recognizes  the  pictures,  writings  and  monuments 
of  the  Aztecs,  and  thinks  they  may  be  the  remnants 
of  tribes  driven  by  Cortez  from  Mexico.  If  this  be 
true,  the  Aztec  and  Alaskan  women  differ  greatly  in 
domestic  habits.  The  Aztec  mother  says  to  her 
daughter  on  her  bridal  day,  "That  your  husband  may  not  take  you  in  dislike  adorn 
yourself,  wash  yourself,  and  let  your  garments  be  clean;"  so  all  along  the  streams  and 
the  great  ditches  in  Mexico  can  be  seen  the  natives,  men,  women  and  children,  bath- 
ing the  bodies,  washing  the  linen,  and  drying  it  on  the  grassy  banks,  while  the  Alaskans 
cover  the  body  with  the  oil  of  the  seal  and  walrus. 

All  the  Alaskan  tribes  take  the  name  of  Siwash,  a  corruption  of  the  French  voy- 
agers, Sauvage;  but  the  tribes  are  divided  into  sub-tribes,  the  Thinklets  being  the  most 
influential.     The  Haidas  are  most  ingenious  and  noted  for  their  fine  carvings. 

Sailing  from  Seattle  August  31,  it  was  not  until  the  fifth  day  of  our  journey  that 
we  had  the  favor  of  landing  at  Met-lah-cat-la,  where  we  were  first  introduced  to  the 
civilized  native  Alaskan  woman.  We  found  there  a  model  mission  station,  the  pop- 
ulation of  nine  hundred  composed  of  the  mixed  tribes,  Thinklets,  Haidas  and  Chims- 
heans.  We  were  cordially  received  by  Mr.  Duncan,  the  superintendent,  who  has  given 
his  heart  to  this  enterprise  for  many  years.  This  mission  is  conducted  much  on  the 
Bellamy  plan,  and  is  the  most  successful  of  any  experiment  yet  tried  among  sav- 
ages.    The  mission  was  started  with  fifty  Chimsheans,  who  signed  a  temperance  pledge, 

Mrs.  Clara  A.  McDiarmid  is  a  native  of  Indiana,  bat  was  reared  in  Kansas.  She  was  born  December  11,  1847.  Her 
parents  were  John  T.  Cox  of  Ohio  and  Catherine  R.  Allison  of  Indiana.  She  closed  her  school  life  at  Christian  College  at 
Ottamwa,  Kan.,  and  has  traveled  extensively  throughout  the  United  States,  Canada,  Alaska,  Cuba  and  Mexico.  Mrs. 
McDiarmid  stndied  law,  attended  lectures  at  Ann  Arbor,  Mich.  As  the  statutes  of  Arkansas  do  not  permit  a  woman  to  prac- 
tice she  gave  it  up  as  a  profession.  In  1866  she  married  Maj.  Geo.  W.  McDiarmid  of  the  Federal  army.  Mrs.  McDiarmid  is 
aworker  for  woman's  enfranchisement  and  temperance.  Her  literary  works  are  as  a  contributor  to  periodicals  during  her 
travels,  and  articles  on  suffrage  and  temperance,  etc.  She  is  a  successful  dealer  in  real  estate.  Mrs.  McDiarmid  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Christian  Church.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Little  Rock,  Ark. 

723 


MRS.  CLARA  A.   MCDIARMID. 


724  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

agreed  to  give  up  their  medicine  men  and  observe  the  Sabbath.  What  is  the  result  of 
twenty-three  years'  labor?  A  nicely  laid  out  village  of  frame  houses,  a  beautiful 
church,  a  schoolhouse,  and  best  of  all,  an  industrial  school  where  the  girls  are  taught 
all  kinds  of  domestic  labor.  The  missionary's  wife  was  the  only  white  woman  in  the 
village.  She  devoted  her  whole  time  to  teaching  the  women  how  to  make  their 
homes  comfortable.  The  women  were  modest  in  their  dress  and  very  industrious. 
These  Indians  have  discarded  all  forms  of  the  Anglican  Church  and  have  organized 
themselves  into  the  Christian  Church  of  Mat-lah-cat-la,  pledging  themselves  to  exclu- 
sively following  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  without  ritual  or  discipline.  I  was  im- 
pressed with  the  simplicity  of  this  teaching,  because  I  do  believe  that  the  teaching  of 
the  different  creeds  to  any  heathen  to  be  most  disastrous.  Who  knows,  they  may  be 
the  first  to  tell  us  what  the  Bible  does  teach,  for  the  fifty-eight  denominations  of  the 
United  States  have  failed  so  far,  else  there  would  be  only  one  united  church. 

We  bade  adieu  to  these  kind  friends,  and  on  a  dark  and  rainy  night  we  landed  at 
Fort  Urangel;  however,  fortune  favored  us,  the  morning  dawned  bright.  We  went  on 
shore  to  pay  our  first  visit  to  our  Alaskan  sister  in  her  native  element.  As  far  as  the 
eye  could  see  the  tall  totems  loomed  up,  each  telling  its  own  story,  intelligible  to  none 
but  the  natives.  Only  the  powerful  and  wealthy  can  afford  these  expensive  affairs. 
They  are  the  actual  historians  of  these  very  odd  people,  and  show  the  descent  and 
alliances  of  the  great  families.  It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  the  descent  is  counted 
on  the  female  side.  The  first  emblem  is  the  eagle  on  the  mother's  side,  next  the  image 
of  a  child,  a  beaver  or  a  frog,  as  the  families  have  intermarried.  Sometimes  there 
are  two  totems,  if  the  father  happens  to  be  a  chief.  If  feuds  arise,  the  husband  must 
fight  with  the  wife's  family.  Their  houses  are  usually  about  eighteen  or  twenty  feet 
square,  having  one  door,  and  in  the  center  of  the  room  an  excavation  of  perhaps  four 
feet  square,  which  is  filled  in  with  stone,  on  which  all  the  family  cooking  is  done. 
Two  or  three  families  often  occupy  one  house.  I  saw  the  men  and  children  huddled 
in  the  corners  heedless  of  our  presence,  while  the  women  were  preparing  the  breakfast. 
They  sit  on  the  floor  while  they  eat  with  their  large  spoons  made  from  the  horns  of 
the  mountain  sheep.  When  one  of  the  family  dies  the  body  is  never  taken  out 
through  the  door,  but  a  board  is  taken  off  the  side  of  the  house  and  the  corpse  passed 
through  the  hole  or  through  the  smoke-escape  in  the  roof;  this  keeps  the  spirit  away. 
The  Indians  cremated  their  dead  until  the  missionaries,  I  regret  to  say,  taught  them 
burial. 

The  women  make  all  the  bargains,  and  if  you  are  not  informed  of  their  tricks  you 
may  be  the  loser.  They  will  ask  two  prices  for  everything,  from  the  fif\.y  cent  horn 
spoon  to  the  bracelet  of  gold,  the  price  of  which  is  sometimes  fifty  dollars.  The  nose 
ring  was  common,  but  I  was  most  curious  to  know  what  the  button  in  the  chin  meant. 
On  the  older  women  it  was  of  ivory  or  wood,  but  on  the  young  woman  it  was  small  and 
of  highly  polished  silver,  and  indicated  that  she  had  arrived  at  the  proper  age  to 
marry.  I  think  this  rather  a  pretty  and  modest  manner  of  revealing  the  state  of 
affairs,  and  is  a  vast  improvement  on  the  common  law  of  Massachusetts  wherein  a  girl 
of  seven  years  may  become  a  candidate  for  matrimony.  The  law  stands  very  much 
this  way:  If  a  child  below  the  legal  age  should  marry,  the  marriage  is  not  necessarily 
invalid,  provided  either  she  or  he  be  above  the  age  of  seven  years.  If  the  parties 
continue  to  live  together  after  both  have  attained  legal  age,  fourteen  for  boys  and 
twelve  for  girls,  the  marriage  is  thus  ratified,  but  either  party  may  disaffirm  it  by 
ceasing  to  live  with  the  other  before  that  time  arrives.  This  is  the  common  law  rule, 
and  is  still  law  where  it  has  not  been  set  aside  by  statute.  No  statute  in  Massachu- 
setts has  ever  established  any  other  rule,  so  you  see  the  extremely  intellectual  on  one 
coast  and  the  barbarous  on  the  other  differ  widely  on  these  marital  questions.  The 
great  objection  I  have  to  the  Massachusetts  law  is  the  partiality  shown  the  youth  and 
the  disadvantage  it  places  on  the  sixty  thousand  unmarried  women  of  mature  years.  At 
Fort  Urangel,  instead  of  the  fashionable  door-plate  of  civilization,  if  they  have  a  door 
at  all,  there  is  placed  over  it  an  inscription.     A  man  of  much  wealth  makes  a  will  and 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  725 

leaves  all  to  his  wife,  and  the  inscription  reads  thus:  "  Let  all  that  read  know  that  I 
am  a  friend  of  the  whites.  Let  no  one  molest  this  house.  In  case  of  my  death  it 
belongs  to  my  wife."  Another  reads:  "Jake  is  a  good  boy,  a  working  man,  a  friend 
of  the  whites  and  demands  protection." 

The  Alaskan  Indians  are  migratory  in  their  habits.  They  spend  much  time  in 
visiting  their  tribes  and  in  the  fall  are  off  for  the  salmon-fisheries,  or  maybe  all  the 
family  are  crowded  into  the  cedar  canoe  with  the  blankets  and  cooking  utensil.  I  say 
utensil, for  the  woman  has  only  one  large  pot  for  hot  water,  the  meat  or  fish  are  put  into  a 
woven  basket,  dropped  into  the  boiling  water,  thusconstituting  the  meal.  The  family 
once  loaded  into  the  canoe,  they  are  ready  for  a  journey  of  two  or  three  months,  for 
it  is  eleven  hundred  miles  down  to  the  hop  fields  of  Washington  or  Oregon.  We  saw 
hundreds  of  them  wending  their  way  down  the  channel,  hugging  the  shore,  the  mother 
with  a  pappoose  in  her  arm  often  helping  the  master  to  paddle  the  canoe.  The 
women  and  children  are  paid  good  wages  for  picking  hops,  but  the  men  are  addicted 
to  gambling,  seldom  saving  any  money,  leaving  the  mother  to  look  after  the  supplies 
for  the  winter. 

The  tenth  day  we  arrived  at  Sitka.  No  place  except  Muir  Glacier  created  so 
much  interest.  It  is  a  gala  day  always  when  the  semi-monthly  steamer  arrives  there. 
The  whole  population  turn  out  and  give  themselves  up  to  the  entertainment  of  the 
visitors.  The  wharf  is  crowded  with  a  motley  throng.  The  best  society  Sitka  affords 
may  be  looking  for  faces  of  friends  among  the  arrivals,  the  humblest  seeking  a  buyer 
for  her  wares,  and  a  general  confusion  prevails  while  the  ship  unloads  her  mail  and 
freight.  Scattered  along  the  streets  for  a  few  blocks,  women  were  sitting  on  the 
ground,  beside  them  the  stock  in  trade  of  all  kinds — horn  spoons  and  silver  spoons, 
wooden  totem-polls  and  faun-skins.  They  were  typical  epitomes  of  the  fashions.  One 
young  woman  had  on  a  pair  of  rubber  boots,  a  gentleman's  linen  shirt  open  in  the 
back,  and  a  red  plush  skirt.  She  looked  a  grotesque  figure,  indeed,,  as  she  sat  on  a 
log  and  drank  her  coffee  from  a  blue  china  cup.  Some  of  the  women  are  quite  good 
looking,  but  most  of  them  are  very  homely,  and,  when  in  mourning,  are  positively 
hideous.  In  mourning  they  smear  the  face  with  soot  mixed  with  grease,  leaving  only 
the  eyes  visible. 

The  Sitkan  Indians  and  those  at  Juneau  are  the  best  educated  of  any  of  the 
tribes.  Their  houses  are  modern  cottages  of  frame  or  hewn  logs,  with  doors  and  win- 
dows. I  noticed  many  were  numbered.  They  are  comfortably  furnished,  especially 
that  of  the  chief.  We  were  greatly  disappointed  in  not  seeing  Princess  Thom,  the 
greatest  personage  of  all  the  tribes,  the  chiefs  and  medicine  men  all  yielding  to  her 
authority.  She  has  a  very  comfortable  house,  is  rich  in  blankets  and  bracelets,  wear- 
ing thirty  gold  bracelets,  each  made  of  a  twenty- dollar  gold  piece.  Her  wealth  is 
estimated  at  $10,000.  This  princess  is  about  forty  years  old,  is  said  to  have  had 
seventeen  husbands,  and  still  not  considered  a  flirt.  Some  of  these  husbands  have 
been  cremated,  some  discharged,  most  of  them  are  scattered  around  loose.  She  has 
been  Christianized,  and  lives  at  present  with  her  last,  a  very  young  man.  When  she 
sees  a  gentleman  Indian  whom  she  fancies,  she  trades  blankets  and  bracelets  for  him; 
if  he  has  a  wife  who  can  not  be  bought  over,  she  takes  her  beautiful  white  yacht,  invites 
the  wife  to  take  a  sail,  spreads  the  white  wings,  and  floats  out  to  sea.  It  is  needless  to 
say  the  wife  is  never  heard  of  again.  This  princess  is  an  exception  to  the  general  rule; 
it  is  usually  the  chief  who  has  more  than  one  wife.  When  he  dies  his  wives  fall  to  his 
heir — grandson  or  nephew,  whoever  he  may  be — and  if  the  heir  refuse  to  accept  the 
legacy,  his  clans  unite  in  rebellion  and  compel  him  to  submit,  though  the  relicts  may 
buy  their  freedom  if  they  desire.  Miss  Scidmore,  in  her  history,  remarks:  "  Curiously, 
with  this  subjection  of  the  women,  it  is  they  who  are  the  family  autocrats  and  tyrants, 
giving  the  casting  vote  in  domestic  counsels,  and  overriding  the  male  decisions  in  the 
most  high-handed  manner.  The  woman's  rights  and  her  sphere  and  influence  have 
reached  a  development  among  the  Sitkans  that  would  astonish  the  suffrage  leaders  of 
Wyoming  and  Washington  Territories." 


726  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

All  around  Sitka  the  scenery  is  most  picturesque,  and  if  I  could  paint  from  still  life, 
I  should  first  want  to  try  the  view  along  the  half-mile  walk  to  the  Indian  River.  The 
ferns  grow  to  immense  size.  The  great  fir  branches  are  laden  to  the  ground  with  rare 
mosses  and  lichens,  and  looking  back  over  the  bay,  studded  with  innumerable  fir- 
bound  islands,  snow-capped  mountains  in  the  distance,  the  effect  is  enchanting  and 
most  conducive  to  romantic  and  legendary  lore.  The  schools  were  under  the  manage- 
ment of  the  Presbyterians,  and  they  have  seven  important  mission  stations  in  Alaska, 
The  study  halls  and  manual  training  schools  were  large  and  commodious,  almost 
obscured  by  evergreen  foliage,  and  flowers  were  blooming  everywhere.  The  teachers 
told  me  the  girls  were  very  intelligent,  quick  to  learn,  and  the  only  trouble  they  had 
was  from  the  United  States  marines  stationed  there,  who  occasionally  coaxed  one 
away.  There  was  only  one  public  school  in  Sitka,  and  they  told  me  the  United  States 
had  done  comparatively  nothing  for  education  in  Alaska.  The  Russians  complained 
bitterly  of  the  faithlessness  of  our  pledges  given  to  Russia  regarding  educational 
facilities.  With  a  yearly  revenue  of  a  million  dollars  on  seal  furs  alone,  and  enough 
gold  in  the  Treadwell  Mines  at  Douglass  Island  to  pay  our  national  debt,  the  United 
States  only  supports  six  public  schools  in  Alaska,  for  a  population  of  fourteen  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  fifty  civilized  and  semi-civilized  natives,  and  then  wonders  why 
there  are  cannibals  within  one  hundred  miles  of  Sitka.  At  Chilcat,  one  hundred  and 
sixty  miles  north  of  Sitka,  and  the  highest  navigable  point  in  the  inland  channel,  we 
found  the  women  the  most  peculiar  of  any  yet  seen.  Their  homes  were  wretched 
huts  made  of  small  poles,  and  the  odors  arising  from  the  fish-oil  on  their  bodies  and 
cooking  was  stifling.  The  only  articles  the  women  offered  for  sale  were  the  Chilcat 
blanket,  the  prices  ranging  from  fifty-five  dollars  to  seventy-five  dollars  each. 

Juneau  was  our  next  important  stop,  and  is  the  largest  city  in  Alaska.  Notwith- 
standing the  cold,  drizzling  rain,  the  women  and  children  were  along  the  sidewalk, 
with  their  curios  and  salmon  berries  for  sale.  These  latter  are  a  most  delicious  berry, 
in  size  and  shape  like  the  raspberry,  in  color  salmon.  The  women  make  them  into  a 
thick  paste  and  dry  for  winter  use.  They  have  a  good  school  and  mission  in  Juneau. 
A  lady  of  culture  told  me  it  was  almost  useless  to  try  to  do  anything  in  the  way  of 
missionary  work,  for  the  miners  were  so  immoral  in  their  habits  they  greatly  hindered 
the  influence  for  good.  Many  of  the  Indians  were  dissolute  gamblers,  and  it  is  a 
common  affair  for  them  to  sell  their  wives  and  daughters  to  the  miners  for  three,  six 
months,  or  more,  as  the  inclination  or  gold  of  the  miner  might  warrant.  For  crimes 
these  men  are  amenable  to  United  States  law.  Is  there  any  law  that  gives  them  the 
right  to  barter  their  wives  and  daughters?  Are  you  surprised  that  the  Russian  women 
sent  a  letter  to  President  Harrison  containing  the  following  items:  "  It  is  with  amaze- 
ment and  profound  regret  that  we  learn  of  the  despotic  rule  of  men  over  women  in 
the  one  country  to  which  of  all  others  the  world  turns  with  hope,  expecting  progress 
toward  equal  rights  and  privileges."  After  twenty  years  of  neglect  and  wrong,  Alaska 
presents  to  us  the  only  instance  in  the  history  of  the  United  States  where  the  right  of 
representation  and  local  legislation  has  been  denied.  If  this  is  the  state  of  affairs 
under  a  government  of  men  alone,  could  they  be  worse,  and  might  they  not  try  the 
experiment  of  allowing  the  women  to  take  a  hand  in  straightening  the  tangles? 

"  Whatever  do  you  women  want?  we  hear  the  scornful  cry. 
To  you,  O  Christian  commonwealth,  we  women  make  reply: 
We  want  a  Christian  commonwealth  where  just  and  equal  laws 
Shall  make  a  needless  mission  ours  who  plead  the  woman's  cause. 

There  are  wrongs  that  must  be  righted,  bitter  wars  that  seek  redress; 
We  can  hear  our  sisters  calling  in  their  weakness  and  distress. 
We  need  the  power  to  lift  them  from  their  sad  and  evil  plight; 
'Tis  for  this  we  want  the  franchise,  and  we  claim  it  as  our  right." 


PREVENTIVE  MEDICINE. 


By  DR.  MARY  E.  DONOHUE. 

The  doctrine  that  public  health  is  public  wealth  is  accepted  by  all.  To  maintain 
it,  to  improve  it  must  therefore  be  the  constant  aspiration  of  individuals  and  society. 

But  if  we  might  indulge  in  lofty  anticipations  which 
the  progress  of  this  century  might  seem  to  justify,  it 
is  evident  that  hygiene  and  medicine  are  separating 
and  drifting  apart,  each  into  distinct  fields  of  study  and 
activity.  Its  significance  is  manifest  in  the  fact  that 
with  the  progress  of  civilization  cure  must  more  and 
more  yield  to  prevention.  As  exponents  of  this  sci- 
ence, it  becomes  our  duty  to  understand  the  means  of 
preventing  impairment  to  health,  to  be  vigilant,  ever 
on  the  guard  ready  to  protect  the  health  of  individ- 
\^^^W    '   ^     -^  uals  and  communities,  to  discover  causes  and  reme- 

^■H '.    '  dies. 

"^BE^das.  v_  .  Ifj  order  to  secure  health  in  adult  age  we  must 

begin  our  labors  during  the  early  years  of  life;  and  if 
we  would  have  healthy  homes  the  future  fathers,  and 
above  all  the  future  mothers  of  our  race  must  be  so 
instructed  that  they  will  themselves  appreciate  the 
advantage  by  applying  the  elementary  principles  in 
their  daily  intercourse  with  their  families. 

The  great  physical  degeneration  of  the  present 
age  is  due  to  aggregations  in  towns  and  cities,  over- 
crowding, vitiated  air,  impure  water,  unhealthy  occu- 
pations and  the  diseases  to  which  they  give  rise.  The  last  census  tells  us  that  blind- 
ness and  mental  troubles  are  on  the  increase.  In  the  state  of  Delaware  blindness  has 
increased  in  greater  ratio  than  the  population.  What  is  true  of  Delaware  may  be  true 
of  other  states.  Blindness  is  in  a  large  measure  a  preventable  condition.  If  suitable 
legislation  were  enacted  much  could  be  done  to  prevent  the  increase  or  occurrence  of 
blindness. 

In  England  alone,  according  to  the  last  statistics  of  1890,  there  are  23,000  men 
and  women  blind,  1,000  less  women  than  men;  14,000  men  and  women  deaf  and  dumb, 
12,000  less  women  than  men.  There  are  97,000  men  and  women  mentally  deranged, 
of  these  no  less  than  51,000  are  women.  In  our  own  country,  according  to  last  reports, 
indicates  that  insanity  has  increased  50  per  cent  in  some  states.  The  increase  is  greater 
than  that  in  other  states.  There  are  several  problems  of  public  interest  involved  in 
the  relations  of  society  to  this  last  named  class.  Among  the  more  important  of  these 
are  questions  of  the  dependence  and  prevention  of  insanity. 

If  we  exclude  from  the  human  family  all  preventable  diseases,  including  those  pro- 
duced by  mental  strain,  by  physical  strain,  by  alcohol,  narcotics,  tobacco,  impure  air 
and  foods,  occupations,  indolence,  irregular  hours,  moral  contagion,  all  of  which  are 
evils  that  may  be  avoided,  how  small  a  percentage  would  be  left  for  drugs.  If  inter- 
marriage of  disease  were  considered  in  the  same  light  as  that  of  poverty,  hereditary 

Dr.  Mary  E.  Donohue  is  s  native  of  Ohio.  Her  parents  were  the  late  Sara  Can  and  John  D&nohne.  She  was  edncated 
at  the  Convent  of  Notre  Dame,  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  "Art  in  Public  Places, "  ' '  School  Hygiene,' 
and  "  Temperance  Teaching."  Her  profession  is  that  of  medicine,  and  she  has  spent  much  time  in  the  interest  of  public 
health.    In  religions  faith  she  is  a  Roman  Catholic.    Her  postoiiice  address  is  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

727 


DR.    MARY   E.  DONOHUE. 


728  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

transmission  of  diseases,  the  basis  of  so  much  misery  would  be  at  an  end  in  a  genera- 
tion or  two.  Or  if  a  candidate  for  matrimony  were  obliged  to  submit  to  a  physical 
examination,  as  they  do  in  Brazil,  and  if  found  in  a  proper  physical  condition  a  certifi- 
cate of  marriage  would  be  granted,  and  not  otherwise. 

Candidates  for  a  life  insurance  policy  are  subjected  to  a  rigid  physical  examina- 
tion, and  if  found  in  an  unsound  state  of  health  by  reason  of  hereditary  taint  or  vicious 
habits,  the  candidate  is  rejected,  as  the  risk  is  considered  too  great  for  a  reputable 
life  insurance  company  to  run.  And  when  we  consider  the  danger  to  health  and  even 
life  itself  to  v/hich  innoc-ent  and  pure  girls  are  exposed  when  entering  the  state  of 
matrimony,  as  many  believe  in  two  codes  of  morals,  one  for  women  and  the  other  for 
men,  so  long  as  women  will  submit  to  this  injustice  and  indignity,  just  so  long  will 
marriage  be  a  failure.  If  they  will  not  muster  up  sufficient  moral  courage  to  demand 
of  the  man  that  they  expect  to  marry  that  he  be  every  whit  as  pure  as  they,  just  so 
long  will  disease  be  propagated  and  divorce  .increase.  Unprecedented  progress  in 
human  knowledge  characterizes  the  present  century,  and  has  not  been  wanting  in  pre- 
ventive medicine.  How  much  it  has  operated  for  the  public  good,  and  how  much  it 
is  gradually  imbuing  the  public  mind  with  modern  sanitary  knowledge  that  preven- 
tion is  not  only  better,  but  often  easier,  than  cure,  that  health  and  happiness  may  be 
preserved,  that  life  may  be  prolonged  by  the  observance  of  certain  simple  laws.  To 
have  perfection  in  the  adult  we  must  begin  our  labors  with  the  child.  To  have  per- 
fection in  the  child  we  must  begin  our  labors  with  the  grandfather.  We  now  have  the 
future  grandfathers  and  grandmothers  of  the  nation  in  our  hands.  The  primary  cause 
of  much  if  not  all  of  the  present  misery  is  due  to  the  neglect  of  the  moral  and  indus- 
trial training  of  children  at  home,  and  later  at  school,  during  the  pliable  period  of 
youth.  It  is  no  easy  matter  for  one  to  raise  the  voice  against  abuses  that  every  one 
knows  about.  Not  only  the  members  of  school  boards,  but  parents  and  teachers  also 
become  involved  in  this  same  conspiracy  of  silence.  Of  all  places  in  the  world,  the 
public  school  is  least  open  to  sanitary  influence.  Many  valuable  lives  are  lost  because 
no  one  puts  into  operation  the  means  that  could  and  would  save  them.  One  by  one 
they  fall  and  pass  out  of  sight,  because  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  speak  lack  the  moral 
courage  to  do  so,  or  are  so  completely  engrossed  in  their  business,  pleasures  and  vices 
that  they  do  not  throw  out  the  life-preservers  that  are  at  their  hand.  The  state  annually 
spends  large  sums  of  money  for  the  protection  of  the  imbeciles  and  the  vicious,  but  a 
very  small  amount  in  comparison  for  the  thousands  that  are  in  perfect  health  of  mind 
and  body,  and  who  not  only  contribute  to  their  own  support,  but  that  of  others,  and 
are  law-abiding  citizens.  As  a  result,  the  state  loses  annually  by  death  enough  of  her 
best  citizens  to  form  of  themselves  a  small  city,  while  the  worst  element  increases  and 
multiplies  under  the  protection  afforded  them  by  the  state.  If  women  had  the  oppor- 
tunity of  entering  into  the  field  of  politics,  they  could  make  their  power  felt  in  the 
legislation  and  correct  many  of  the  existing  evils. 

Physical  inspection  of  children  in  schools,  asylums  and  reformatories  involves 
several  questions  of  general  interest. 

"  It  is  recommended  that  in  all  schools  and  institutions  the  general  health,  sight, 
hearing  and  teeth  of  the  children  should  be  periodically  examined."  Physical  exam- 
ination is  useful  as  a  means  of  selecting  cases  for  special  training.  A  physician  would 
have  an  opportunity  of  observing  children  in  various  conditions,  mental  and  physical; 
nervous  children  with  catarrhs  and  headaches,  and  partially  deaf  or  blind — conditions 
without  a  fatal  termination  and  not  preventing  a  modified  and  adapted  education. 
Such  children  should  be  trained  in  and  along  certain  lines.  Without  it  they  would 
probably  tend  to  failure  and  incapacity  in  after  life.  There  are  quite  a  number  of 
children  that  are  more  or  less  defectively  developed  in  brain  and  body.  If  they  are 
not  properly  trained,  there  is  great  probability  of  mental  and  moral  deterioration. 

Putting  the  bright  with  those  who  are  mentally  deficient,  an  injury  is  done  to  the 
former  by  preventing  them  making  the  advance  they  otherwise  would,  while  the  latter 
is  not  benefited.     It  was  in  evident  recognition  of  this  principle  that  a  deputation 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  729 

from  the  British  Medical  Association  lately  advised  the  members  of  the  school  board 
that  many  children  are  mentally  or  otherwise  unfit  for  the  ordinary  course  of  study, 
but  might  be  taught  usefully  on  certain  special  lines.  They  contended  that  certain 
children  of  defective  brain  construction  would,  unless  their  deficiency  were  thus  par- 
ticularly recognized  and  treated,  grow  up  idle  or  vicious  as  a  natural  consequence.  A 
solid  industrial,  as  well  as  an  intellectual  training,  is  required  for  every  boy  and  girl 
in  order  to  fit  them  for  their  duties  as  citizens,  and  as  a  permanent  guarantee  against 
poverty  and  crime.  If  a  boy  or  girl  is  not  so  educated  as  to  be  able  to  earn  their  own 
living,  he  or  she  is  liable  to  become,  directly  or  indirectly,  a  public  charge.  We  are 
now  ready  to  raise  the  question  as  to  the  right  and  duty  of  the  citizens  and  the  state 
in  this  matter.  The  state  has  a  manifest  right  in  the  matter.  It  is  clearly  the  right 
and  duty  to  see  that  as  far  as  possible  this  is  done.  To  secure  this,  the  hand  needs  to 
be  trained  as  well  as  the  brain.  Thus  the  opportunity  for  an  industrial  training  should 
be  an  integral  and  essential  part  in  our  school  system.  While  the  present  system  is 
retained  in  our  schools,  it  will  be  simply  impossible  to  impart  to  the  children  of  the 
poor  an  education  calculated  to  fit  them  mentally,  morally  and  physically  for  the  per- 
formance of  their  duties  in  life.  They  will  elevate  pecuniary  considerations  above 
those  which  are  educational,  and  set  up  a  false  gage  of  efficiency  in  the  minds  of 
teachers,  pupils,  trustees  and  inspectors.  "  This  will  raise  a  system  of  over-pressure 
or  '  cram,'  which  will  be  fatal  to  intelligent  teaching."  Our  education  is  too  theoret- 
ical. Its  object  is  to  educate  the  mind  without  regard  to  the  great  hereafter  of  school 
life.  What  becomes  of  our  sweet  girl  and  boy  graduates  who  are  launched,  year  after 
year,  upon  the  country?  They  go  to  swell  the  ranks  of  the  unemployed  who  possess 
nothing  but  their  education,  and  are  more  dangerous  to  society  than  those  possessing 
less  knowledge,  because  they  are  more  discontented.  We  are  forced  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  in  the  world  of  action  the  self-educated  man  and  woman  is  the  most  success- 
ful. It  is  an  undisputed  fact  that  many  of  our  most  distinguished  men  and  women 
have  achieved  wonders  without  education,  technical  or  otherwise.  A  contempt  for 
manual  labor  seems  to  be  the  natural  outcome  of  the  many  acknowledged  faults  of 
our  artificial  social  system.  We  can  not  'deny  that  if  our  education  does  not  attain  the 
truth  by  developing  the  body  and  mind  it  is  certainly  at  fault. 

Physicians,  especially  lady  physicians,  have  opportunities,  and  they  have  no  holier 
duty  than  to  use  these  opportunities  wisely  and  gravely.  "  By  all  means  let  them 
importune  the  public  law  to  do  all  that  it  can  do,  and  more  than  it  ever  has  done,  for 
the  protection  of  the  young."  But  the  remedy  of  this  great  evil  will  not  come  from 
legislation  alone.  The  remedy  will  surely  come  through  the  cultivation  of  purity  in 
thought,  word  and  deed  in  the  home,  in  the  school,  in  the  newspapers.  A  proper 
knowledge  of  physiology  and  anatomy  is  one  of  the  hopes  of  a  better  state  of  things. 
These  are  essentially  moral  and  religious  questions.  They  arise  in  each  individual 
when  passion  is  strong  and  judgment  and  experience  are  weak.  In  other  words,  they 
arise  in  the  human  mind  when  it  is  in  great  danger  of  being  misled  by  the  body.  By 
all  means  let  public  law  be  on  the  side  of  the  weak  and  those  that  need  its  help. 
Let  our  streets  be  cleaned  of  their  vile  theatrical  advertisements  and  literature  that 
now  disgraces  our  cities.  Virtue  is  too  important  an  element  of  health  to  be  neg- 
lected. The  publicity  of  sins  against  this  virtue  has  all  the  evils  of  publicity  and  few 
of  its  advantages,  and  should  not  be  so  much  as  named  among  Christian  people.  This 
is  the  philosophy  of  Saint  Paul,  who  devoted  himself  as  none  have  done  since  to  the 
cultivation  of  whatsoever  is  pure.  Among  the  lower  classes  impurity  is  forced  upon 
the  people  by  the  condition  of  their  existence;  but  among  the  wealthier  it  is  sought 
in  its  voluptuous  and  revolting  forms;  it  implies  the  possession  of  money  to  command 
it.  Acquired  habits  are  often  transmitted  to  the  offspring.  A  disposition  to  unchas- 
tity  is  often  inherited,  hence  the  greater  need  of  safeguards  in  our  schools,  or  the 
acquired  disposition  may  become  second  nature.  If  the  evil  is  to  be  removed,  some- 
thing must  be  done,  or  the  conditions  which  fostered  these  will  engender  others.  The 
poison  and  the  antidote  are  side  by  side.     The  education  of  youth  should  be  placed 


730  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

under  regular  sanitary  inspection  by  appointed  officials.  The  principle  of  medical 
inspection  is  of  precisely  similar  character  as  that  recognized  by  the  government  in 
the  emigrant  service  for  the  prevention  and  spread  of  disease  on  board  of  ships,  and 
is  found  to  work  well.  An  investigation.into  many  of  the  fatal  outbreaks  of  diphthe- 
ria, etc.,  would  show  what  active  centers  large  schools  are  in  propagating  infectious 
diseases.  And  yet  this  source  of  danger  could  be  so  readily  removed.  The  success 
attending  the  systematic  inspection  of  troops,  emigrants  and  others,  in  checking  the 
outbreaks  of  infectious  diseases,  still  more  convenient  would  the  work  of  supervision 
be  in  the  case  of  schools.  Instead  of  a  changing  mass  of  people  of  all  ages,  the 
inspectors  would  have  to  deal  with  the  same  persons  for  several  years,  and  that  at  an  age 
when  the  face  soon  indicates  illness.  To  obtain  good  results  the  inspection  ought  not 
to  be  of  the  intermittent  kind.  By  such  means  the  extension  of  disease  would  be 
checked  and  much  of  the  illness  incidental  to  childhood  and  consequent  suffering 
in  adult  life  caused  by  conditions  in  the  schoolroom  be  obliterated. 

It  is  incumbent  on  us  as  women  to  see  w^ith  all  care  that  the  growth  of  children  dur- 
ing their  years  of  puberty,  which  is  of  vital  importance,  is  not  disturbed,  or  disturbed 
by  influences  adverse  to  nature. 

The^  education  of  the  young  people  of  a  nation  is  to  that  nation  a  subject  of  vital 
importance.  This  fact  has  been  clearly  recognized  at  all  periods  of  the  human  race. 
Into  the  hands  of  the  children  now  at  school  we  must  in  the  near  future  place  the 
destiny  of  this  great  nation.  With  them  it  rests  to  decide  the  question  whether  our 
national  greatness,  wealth,  industry  and  well-being  shall  continue,  shall  not  only  con- 
tinue, but  increase.  From  all  points  of  view,  religious,  social,  moral,  political  or  utili- 
tarian, it  is  necessary  that  young  America  be  properly  educated;  surely  it  behooves  us 
carefully  to  consider  how  we  may  best  impart  the  requisite  knowledge  with  the  least 
detriment  to  health. 

We  turn  to  the  main  question:  is  it,  or  is  it  not,  the  fact  that  in  simply  applying  a 
uniform  pressure  to  a  vast  number  of  boys  and  girls,  some  must  be  in  the  nature  of 
things  too  weak  or  not  sufficiently  developed  to  bear  the  strain  thrust  upon  them? 
It  would  seem  to  us  a  proper  time  for  a  declaration  of  rights  in  behalf  of  helpless 
children,  and  in  behalf  of  future  generations,  whom  we  shall  load  with  a  burden  more 
disastrous  and  heavy  than  the  national  debt,  a  burden  of  disintegration  and  disease. 
What  a  monstrous  and  inexplicable  blunder,  this  insistance  upon  a  level  code  of 
education  for  all!  Even  as  regards  a  soldier  or  sailor,  a  medical  examination  precedes 
the  commencement  of"  the  drill,  and  medical  inspection  from  time  to  time  keeps  the 
question  of  health  in  view.  Muscular  weakness  is  not  half  so  serious  a  bar  to  physical 
training  as  mental  weakness  is  to  intellectual  exercise.  Is  it  not  strange  then  that, 
without  any  medical  examination  whatever,  the  brains  are  formed  of  multitudes  of 
children,  the  majority  of  whom  are  under-fed?  It  is  not  enough  to  know  the  age  of  a 
recruit  for  the  army  or  navy;  means  are  taken  to  ascertain  whether  his  heart,  lungs  and 
organs  generally  are  healthy,  and  medical  officers  are  specially  appointed  to  examine 
them  from  time  to  time  with  a  view  to  determine  whether  he  is  bearing  the  strain 
healthily;  but  no  provision  is  made  for  testing  or  watching  the  immature  cerebral 
organs  upon  which  the  public  pedagogue  is  not  only  left  free,  but  is  required  to  operate. 
The  brain,  according  to  all  we  know  of  that  organ,  is  the  last  to  reach  perfection  of 
growth  and  maturity  of  any  in  the  body,  and  therefore  of  all  others  the  last  that  should 
be  overworked  in  childhood,  when  its  specific  gravity  and  development  are  utterly 
incomplete  and  unfitted  to  bear  overstraining.  Whereas  as  the  body  ceases  to  grow 
after  twenty-five  years,  the  brain,  we  know  absolutely,  grows  in  bulk  for  fifteen  years 
longer.  And  if  the  mind  is  any  index  of  its  perfection  it  certainly  increases  m  strength 
and  capacity  for  work  for  fifteen  years  after  that.  The  functions  of  the  brain  may  be 
stunted  and  crippled  as  those  of  the  body  often  are.  They  may  be  cramped,  dull  or 
precocious,  accordingly  requiring  intellectual  work  in  proportion  to  their  development. 

The  days  of  whipping  children  to  death  are  gone.  We  are  more  refined  now;  we 
whip  their  brains  instead,  and  if  the  brutality  is  not  so  repulsive,  it  is  equally  efficacious 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  731 

in  the  end,  and  far  more  cruel,  as  the  process  is  slow  and  its  ultimate  consequences  are 
far  more  serious,  for  it  effects  the  generations  yet  unborn.  There  is  over-pressure  and 
over-crowding,  and  the  effects  are  becoming  evident  in  the  prevalence  of  nervousness, 
especially  among  girls,  due  to  the  circumstances  of  school,  such  as  overwork,  punish- 
ments, the  excitements  of  examinations,  harsh  treatment,  etc.  The  origin,  progress 
and  development  of  St.  Vitus  dance  is  probably  due  to  the  causes  named  above. 

Statistics  report  that  during  the  last  decade  the  American  quota  to  the  popula- 
tion has  fallen  off  over  one  million,  that  the  negro  and  the  lowest  of  the  foreign  born 
have  greatly  increased.  We  must  never  lose  sight  of  the  elements  which  go  to  make 
a  powerful  and  enduring  nation.  It  is  not  by  propagating  the  worst  elements.  Time 
is  not  given  me  to  enter  into  the  discussion  of  this  serious  question.  It  is  the  duty  of 
every  American  woman  to  arraign  herself  at  the  bar  of  her  own  conscience  and  call 
her  duty  in  question  in  this  matter,  for  it  has  a  close  relationship  to  the  many  mental 
and  physical  ills  that  afiflict  the  women  of  the  day,  which  specialists  have  recognized 
and  profited  by.  A  noted  foreign  specialist  who  has  achieved  fame  and  fortune 
through  the  practice  of  his  specialty  condemns  vivisection  on  animals,  but  does  not 
hesitate  to  experiment  on  women.  An  American  gynecologist  equally  successful  has 
in  his  annual  report  of  a  few  years  ago  stated  that  after  an  experience  of  over  twenty- 
five  years  in  his  specialty  that  more  than  half  of  the  operations  performed  by  him  during 
the  last  ten  years  were  errors.  We  may  well  ask  if  during  the  latter  period  more  than 
half  are  acknowledged  errors,  how  many  errors  were  there  during  the  first  fifteen  years? 
We  are  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  at  least  two-thirds  were. 

As  a  woman  intimately  and  widely  concerned  in  the  application  of  human  knowl- 
edge for  the  preservation  of  human  life  and  the  relief  of  human  suffering,  I  would  say 
that  we  are  in  great  need  of  restrictive  legislation  for  this  practice.  And  were  we 
properly  educated  in  physiology  public  sentiment  would  demand  these  restrictions. 
This  branch  of  surgery  calls  for  special  exercise  of  the  protective  and  educational 
functions  of  the  state. 

A  writer  in  the  New  York  Tribune,  of  July  6,  1893,  says:  "  If  hospital  experi- 
ence makes  students  less  tender  of  suffering  vivisection  deadens  their  humanity  and 
begets  indifference  to  it."  And  again:  "  By  experimentation  that  has  no  restrictions 
but  the  will  of  the  experimenter,  by  the  slow  process  of  benumbing  pity  in  the  young 
students,  may  it  not  be  tending  to  deteriorate  one  of  the  chief  safeguards  of  society, 
the  moral  sensibility  of  the  future  physician?  There  is  an  astounding  record  of 
utterly  heartless  crime  by  educated  men.  What  else  is  the  cause  of  it?  What  is  the 
underlying  cause  of  that  mysterious  outbreak  of  homicide  among  physicians  revealed 
by  the  criminal  records  of  1892?  The  object  of  one  physician  for  the  commission  of 
several  homicides  was  the  pleasure  of  killing.  That  pf  nearly  all  the  others  was 
money."  The  great  crimes  of  history  may  be  often  traced  to  the  education  of  youth. 
Surely  this  is  a  serious  question.  Cassandra  goes  on  to  ask,  "  to  what  lengths  unre- 
strained by  law  or  religion  a  scientific  investigator  sometimes  permits  himself  to  go." 
Another  evil  is  the  use  of  hypnotism  by  the  medical  profession,  of  which  a  recent  med- 
ical authority  says:  "Therapeutically  the  value  of  hypnotism  is  obviously  but  slight 
and  occasional.  Its  moral  and  social  perils  are  certain  and  serious."  I  would  say  in 
conclusion,  "  that  there  is  an  urgent  need  for  the  protecting  services  of  women  as  physi- 
cians, as  officers  of  public  health,  factory  inspectors,  members  of  school  boards  and 
school  inspectors,  superintendents  of  all  hospitals,  asylums  and  places  where  women 
and  the  young  of  both  sexes  are  kept  and  employed.  There  are  obviously  a  vast  num- 
ber of  complaints  of  evils  that  should  be  remedied,  and  of  inconveniences  that  should 
not  be  suffered,  which  would  much  more  readily  be  brought  before  the  notice  of  women 
inspectors  than  before  men  occupying  a  similar  position,  or  would  be  made  to  the 
latter  under  any  circumstances.  We  may  hope  for  many  improvements  in  the  condi- 
tion of  women  when  their  interests  are  guarded  by  one  whose  training  and  tastes  have 
been  so  congenial  to  the  subjects  which  would  be  brought  under  her  constant  notice. 
There  are  many  among  my  audience  who  have  nothing  to  learn  in  the  matter  of 


732  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

enlightened  and  energetic  work  for  the  benefit  of  humanity.  Many  it  is  safe  to  say 
from  the  chairman  of  these  congresses,  Mrs.  James  P.  Eagle,  to  Mrs.  Mary  Pugh 
Hart  and  many  of  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  whose  lives  were 
honorable  examples  of  self-sacrifice  to  duty.  But  something  more  is  required  than 
individual  initiative  and  exertion,  however  well  directed  and  exemplary.  The  field 
for  woman's  work  in  the  hygienic  re-habilitation  of  America  is  not  only  broad  but 
easily  understood  and  attractive.  The  main  factors  will  be  personal  and  public  well 
being,  and  will  contribute  to  that  most  desirable  consummation  by  which  every  indi- 
vidual shall  be  taught  to  become  the  intelligent  custodian  to  her  own  health."  By 
thus  inculcating  the  future  generations,  particularly  the  women,  in  all  that  conduces  to 
the  healthy  and  natural  life,  there  is  prepared  that  public  opinion  so  sorely  desired. 
On  you,  the  women  of  America,  rests  the  moral  and  physical  regeneration  of  American 
youth.  In  this  combat  for  humanity  there  are  posts  innumerable.  Let  each  select  her 
part,  great  or  small,  according  to  her  strength,  her  vocation.  Let  us  consider  it  a 
sacred  duty  to  give  of  our  means  and  abilities  to  the  nation's  wards.  And  so  from  the 
luminous  examples  of  female  heroism  which  honor  women,  will  emerge  the  collective 
power  of  educated  duty.  Not  by  self-seeking,  but  by  spontaneous  instinct  and  senti- 
ment will  become  one  of  the  most  vigorous  of  the  healing  forces  of  national  well 
being.  A  ladies'  national  health  association  would  have  the  strength  of  angels  and  of 
men.  Any  great  sanitary  improvement  of  the  nation  must  be  the  result  of  elaborate 
co-operation,  legislation  and  administration  before  we  can  effect  any  good  result. 
Everything  that  concerns  health  and  morals  and  education  occupies  the  minds  of 
women  ten  times  more  than  it  occupies  the  minds  of  their  husbands  or  fathers.  Their 
standards  of  administrative  ability  are  fifty  per  cent  higher  than  that  of  men.  Woman 
holds  the  key  to  the  solution  of  this  serious  problem. 

Preventive  medicine  covers  all  physical  and  moral  evils.  The  social  relation  of 
the  classes  to  each  other,  and  of  labor  to  capital,  of  man  to  woman,  of  both  to  the 
state,  are  destined  to  be  tested  by  that  new  power  which  is  just  feeling  its  strength.  It 
is  of  vital  importance  to  us  that  the  guiding  of  this  new  power  should  be  in  the  hands 
of  those  who  are  actuated  by  deep  and  enduring  principles,  and  prepared  to  use 
their  influence. 

In  these  glorious  days  of  the  nation's  history,  these  days  of  Columbian  celebra- 
tion, the  rise  and  progress  of  this  great  American  nation  from  1492  down  to  1893  has 
been  recognized,  eulogized  and  glorified.  The  achievements  of  every  walk  in  life, 
the  wonderful  discoveries,  the  innumerable  inventions,  the  magnificent  results  which 
are  found  here  displayed  in  this  magnificent  White  City,  the  Woman's  Building,  its 
beauties,  its  comforts,  its  joys  and  delights,  must  all  be  considered.  And  the  sum  total 
stands  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  nations. 

During  a  period  of  four  hundred  years,  great  work  has  been  accomplished,  and  we 
stand  before  the  gaze  of  the  entire  world,  at  this  moment,  as  a  nation  exemplifying 
the  truest  type  of  Christian  civilization.  While  all  this  progress  has  been  reviewed  and 
considered,  American  work  can  not  be  said  to  be  a  mere  herald  and  forerunner  of  a  still 
greater  and  better;  that  its  proud  distinction  was  to  have  found  man  ignorant  of  much 
that  concerned  health  and  happiness  and  to  have  left  him  better  protected  against  ill- 
ness and  misery;  to  have  found  him  insensible  to  their  moral  and  intellectual  power,  and 
have  awakened  them  to  a  sense  of  duty  and  responsibility  to  which  God  and  nature 
had  called  them. 


THE  YOUNG  WOMAN  OF  THE  SOUTH. 


J^. 


*  V 


By  MRS.  JEAN  LOUGHBOROUGH   DOUGLASS. 

Since  the  first  days,  when  in  the  dawn  of  humanity  the  destiny  of  the  race  was 
shaped  by  the  single  act  of  a  woman,  her  "hand  has  ruled  the  world."     Statesmen 

and  warriors  have  trifled  with  the  fate  of  nations,  and 
intoxicated  beyond  reason  have  madly  flung  away 
earthly  power  and  hope  of  Heaven  for  a  woman's 
smile!  How  great  has  been  her  power  history  alone 
can  tell.  It  has  ever  been  her  divine  right  to  mold 
and  shape  the  lives  of  men,  to  comfort  and  uphold 
the  weak,  and  to  admire  and  reverence  the  strong. 
But  it  is  needless  to  mention  the  grace  and  charm 
which  has  ever  been  conceded  to  women  born  under 
Southern  skies  and  fanned  by  semi-tropic  breezes. 

It  is  of  the  young  woman  of  this  day  that  I 
wish  especially  to  speak,  mentioning  in  their  social 
and  business  relations  and  calling  attention  particu- 
larly to  their  high  order  of  talent. 

To  the  old  dominion  belongs  the  honor  of  hav- 
ing had  more  famous  beauties  than  any  other  state. 
Her  daughters  have  shone  socially  the  world  over, 
and  many  have  married  men  of  title  and  note  abroad. 
The  White  Sulphur  Springs,  the  social  Mecca  of  the 
South,  has  been  the  scene  of  some  of  the  most  courtly 
gatherings  of  this  country.  There  the  beautiful  Miss 
Mattie  Quid,  of  Richmond,  was  wooed  by  a  score  of 
suitors,  and  her  witty  sayings  are  still  remembered.  South  Carolina,  Alabama  and 
Tennessee  also  gave  many  famous  women  to  the  world.  The  wife  of  Commodore 
Vanderbilt  was  from  the  last  named  state.  To  her  the  South  is  indebted  for  one  of  its 
most  valuable  institutions  of  learning — the  university  that  bears  his  name  was  erected 
by  her  husband  as  a  tribute  to  this  lovely  woman.  Indeed,  the  beauty,  grace  and 
charm  of  Southern  women  has  been  too  often  sung,  and  is  too  well  known  to  need  any 
comment.  Their  refinement  and  culture  are  most  marked  and  represent  the  purely 
American  type,  having  none  of  that  affectation  apd  imitation  of  foreign  customs  that 
some  of  their  Eastern  sisters  consider  necessary  for  a  woman  of  society  to  acquire. 

While  the  South  has  reason  to  be  proud  of  the  achievements  of  her  daughters,  it 
is  but  just  to  mention  first,  their  mothers,  the  noble  women  who  were  the  heroines  of 
that  unfortunate  epoch,  the  Civil  War.  For  that  true  remark  of  Matthew  Vassar  in  his 
first  speech  to  the  trustees  of  Vassar  College,  is  most  applicable:  "  The  mothers  of  a 
country  mold  the  character  of  its  citizens,  determine  its  institutions,  and  shape  its 
destiny."  To  quote  from  the  recent  speech  of  one  of  the  most  brilliant  young 
orators  of  the  South: 

Mrs.  Jean  LoughborouBh  Donglass  was  a  resident  for  many  years  of  Little  Rock,  Ark.  She  was  bom  in  St.  Louis,  Mo. 
Her  parents  were  Mr.  James  M.  Loaghborongh,  of  Kentacky,  and  Mrs.  Mary  Webster  Loughborongh,  of  New  York  City.  She 
was  edncated  at  Mrs.  Cuthbert's  Seminary,  St.  Loais,  Mo.  She  has  traveled  ext-ensively  in  the  United  States  and  in  Mexico. 
She  married  Mr.  Frank  Middleton  Douglass,  a  native  of  New  York  City.  He  is  now  connected  with  R.  G.  Dun  &  Co.,  Chicago. 
Her  special  literary  work  has  been  for  newspapers.  She  is  a  member  of  the  National  Press  Association  and  the  Woman's 
Press  League,  of  Chicago.  Her  principal  literary  work  is  as  associate  author  of  "  Three  Girls  in  a  Flat."  Mrs.  Douglass  is  a 
most  popular  and  gifted  woman,  possessed  of  many  personal  charms.  In  religious  faith  she  is  a  Presbyterian.  Her  postoliice 
address  is  No.  369  Chicago  Avenue,  Chicago,  lU. 

733 


MRS.  JEAN  LOUGHBOROUGH  DOUGLASS. 


734  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

*'  Of  all  the  pages  of  history  written  of  our  great  fratricidal  strife,  there  are  none 
so  fraught  with  glory  and  true  bravery  and  high  patriotic  endeavor  as  those  which  tell 
us  of  woman's  love  and  woman's  self-sacrifice  and  devotion  and  woman's  tears.  Let 
us  not  forget  the  mothers  and  wives  and  sisters  and  daughters  whose  best  days  of 
womanhood  were  consecrated  to  a  '  Lost  Cause.'  " 

Patient,  courageous  and  strong  were  these  women,  and  what  was  left  for  them  to 
do  after  the  war? 

To  rise  up  bravely  and  found  new  homes  upon  the  ashes  of  their  former  glories, 
to  encourage  and  inspire  their  husbands,  to  teach  their  young  sons  and  daughters  to 
be  courageous,  and  above  all,  to  keep  up  a  cheerful  spirit  under  the  most  depressing 
circumstances  with  which  gentle  women  have  ever  had  to  deal  in  the  history  of  our 
country. 

Is  it  possible  to  think  that  the  heroism  and  self-sacrifice  shown  by  them  at  this 
crucial  time  in  their  lives  could  fail  to  implant  a  like  nobility  of  character  in  their 
daughters? 

It  is  a  true  saying  "  that  a  fountain  never  rises  higher  than  its  source,"  and  in 
speaking  of  the  present  young  women  of  the  South  let  us  first  remember  the  mothers 
who  influenced  and  molded  their  characters.  It  is  from  these  women  that  a  race  of 
daughters  has  sprung  whose  necessity  for  self-reliance  and  independence  has  steadied 
their  characters  and  been  the  means  of  developing  the  deeper  and  more  serious  part 
of  their  natures. 

The  desperate  feeling  which  took  possession  of  the  Southern  people  immediately 
after  the  war  made  them  realize  that  a  mighty  effort  was  needed  to  bring  about  a 
change  of  affairs.  This  feeling,  which  has  made  the  New  South,  did  much  toward 
making  it  possible  for  young  women  to  be  self-supporting,  and  opened  avenues  of 
work  for  them  which  were  formerly  pre-empted  by  men.  The  Southern  legislatures 
have  within  recent  years  allowed  young  women  to  be  elected  to  the  offices  of  enroll- 
ing and  engrossing  clerk  in  the  House  and  Senate,  while  there  are  a  number  of  post- 
offices  and  public  libraries  in  charge  of  women. 

In  many  Southern  states  there  are  women  who  own  and  manage  large  plantations, 
and  the  outdoor  life  seems  peculiarly  fitted  for  them;  while  in  Texas  they  own  and 
successfully  manage  large  stock  farms.  One  young  woman  in  Arkansas  was  left  a 
very  valuable  plantation  by  her  husband.  Owing  to  his  long  illness,  however,  it 
became  embarrassed  with  debt,  and  upon  his  death  suits  were  brought  against  the 
estate.  The  widow  took  entire  charge  of  affairs,  and  on  horseback  personally  super- 
intended the  two  thousand  acres  and  five  hundred  employes;  at  the  same  time  prac- 
tically acting  as  her  own  financier  and  bookkeeper.  She  built  gins,  attended 
to  the  cultivation  of  the  ground,  the  picking  of  cotton,  etc.,  and  in  five  years  this 
plucky  woman  cleared  the  plantation  from  all  indebtedness  and  made  it  one  of  the 
most  prosperous  in  the  state.  Another  young  woman  of  whom  her  state  is  justly 
proud  is  Mrs.  Mary  B.  Murrell,  of  Little  Rock,  Ark.,  who  organized  a  Young  Wom- 
an's Building  Association,  and  as  its  secretary  carried  out  a  number  of  series  success- 
fully and  made  it  a  splendid  interest-bearing  investment.  She  has  written  various 
articles  on  finance  for  New  York  papers,  and  was  the  only  woman  chosen  by  Mr. 
Seymour  Dexter,  of  New  York,  to  read  a  paper  in  the  General  Congress  on  Building 
Associations. 

A  most  important  business  position,  and  the  only  one  of  the  kind  occupied  by 
a  woman,  is  that  held  by  Mrs.  Annie  Moore,  who  is  president  of  the  First  National 
Bank  of  Mount  Pleasant,  Tex.  She  is  said  to  be  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  banking 
business,  and  can  shave  a  note  or  refuse  a  loan  with  as  much  facility  as  any  of  her 
male  colleagues. 

There  are  various  newspapers  in  the  South  edited  and  managed  entirely  by  women, 
while  the  South  has  given  her  daughters  numerous  other  positions  of  trust,  which  they 
fill  with  credit  to  themselves  and  honor  and  dignity  to  their  states. 

The  World's  Fair  has  been  justly  called  "  woman's  opportunity,"  and  it  has  been 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  785 

especially  an  occasion  for  Southern  women  to  show  their  executive  ability,  courage 
and  persuasive  power.  There  is  no  more  striking  instance  of  this  than  the  erection  of 
the  Texas  State  Building.  After  six  months  of  hopeless  effort  the  Texas  World's  Fair 
Association  announced  its  inability  to  erect  a  building,  and  forfeited  all  right  to  the 
ground  set  apart  for  Texas.  It  was  then  that  Mrs.  Benedette  B.  Tobin,  president  of 
the  Woman's  Board,  came  forward"  and  obtained  a  promise  that  if  the  women  would 
begin  work  in  ten  days  after  July  19,  1892,  the  site  would  be  reserved  for  them.  Mrs. 
Tobin  immediately  took  out  a  charter  for  the  Women's  World's  Fair  Association  of 
Texas,  and  assisted  by  the  other  members  of  the  board,  began  the  difficult  task  of 
raising  money,  handicapped  as  she  was  by  the  failure  of  the  old  organization,  political 
dissensions,  and  the  financial  depression  that  the  people  of  Texas  were  laboring  under. 
Sufficient  money  was  finally  raised,  and  the  beautiful  building,  which  was  copied  from 
the  Alamo,  in  San  Antonio,  was  considered  by  architects  and  artists  one  of  the  most 
artistic  in  Jackson  Park.  Thus  it  is  to  the  ceaseless  labor  and  indomitable  courage  of 
Mrs.  Tobin  that  the  people  of  Texas  are  indebted  for  representation  at  the  World's 
Fair,  and  well  may  they  be  proud  to  do  her  honor. 

Another  Southern  state  which  is  largely  indebted  to  the  work  of  her  women  for  a 
state  building  is  Arkansas.  When  the  legislature  failed  to  make  an  appropriation,  in 
1890,  for  a  creditable  display  of  her  resources  at  the  World's  Fair,  Gov.  James  P.Eagle, 
who  realized  what  such  a  failure  meant  for  the  state,  called  a  World's  Fair  convention, 
and  an  association  was  formed  to  raise  funds  by  popular  subscription.  Mrs.  Eagle  then 
asked  that  a  clause  be  inserted  in  the  by-laws  of  this  association  creating  a  woman's 
board.  The  request  was  granted,  and  thus  officially  recognized  the  women  of  the  state 
commenced  their  valuable  work.  Mrs.  Eagle,  as  president  of  this  board,  did  most 
valuable  service  in  collecting  funds  and  perfecting  organization.  She  was  efficiently 
aided  by  the  other  members  of  the  Woman's  State  Board.  Women's  Columbian  Clubs 
were  formed  in  all  the  large  cities  of  the  state,  and  each  club  made  most  valuable  con- 
tributions to'the  work. 

In  speaking  of  Southern  writers,  the  woman  who  compiled  *'  Living  Female  Writers 
of  the  South  "  some  years  ago  spoke  in  her  preface  of  the  slight  encouragement  given 
the  women  who  had  ventured  upon  a  literary  career.  In  the  case  of  Rebecca  Harding 
Davis,  Mrs.  Terhune  (Marion  Harland),  Margaret  J.  Preston,  Catherine  Ann  Warfield, 
Virginia  L.  Townsend,  and  many  others  we  might  mention,  the  world  of  letters  has 
welcomed  their  ability  and  genius  with  generous  praise  and  acclaim.  The  prolific  pen 
of  Augusta  J.  Evans  has,  it  is  true,  been  severely  criticised,  but  "  honor  where  honoris 
due  "  has  surely  been  accorded  these  early  writers. 

Today  we  point  with  pride  to  the  young  women  who  are  undoubtedly  set  high 
among  young  competitors  for  secure  distinction  in  the  noble  art  of  letters.  Amelie 
Rives,  that  wild  bird  of  brilliant  plumage,  who  appeared  so  suddenly  among  the  sober- 
tinted  song  birds  of  the  South,  has  called  forth  more  criticism,  favorable  and  unfavor- 
able, than  any  young  writer  has  done  before  or  since.  Coming  of  a  family  of  talent,  it 
is  not  remarkable  that  her  first  effort  should  have  shown  great  strength.  She  is  a  real- 
istic writer,  and  raised,  as  she  was,  afield  and  on  horseback  in  the  balmy  climate  of 
Virginia,  she  seems  to  have  absorbed  the  tropic  sun  of  many  summers,  and  the  inten- 
sity and  fierceness  of  an  ungoverned  mind  is  everywhere  discernible.  Her  writing  has 
been  pronounced  inaccurate  and  not  painstaking,  but  there  is  nothing  tedious  in  it,  and 
her  prodigal  use  of  fervid  and  intense  words  leaves  a  highly  colored  picture  in  the  mind 
of  the  reader  which  is  not  easily  forgotten. 

Entirely  different  are  the  wonderful  pen  pictures  of  Miss  Murfree  (Charles 
Egbert  Craddock),  and  her  correct  representation  of  the  queer  people  in  the  mount- 
ain districts  of  Tennessee  has  been  received  with  enthusiasm  by  critics.  The  highest 
praise  a  young  writer  could  ask  was  given  Miss  Murfree  when  her  delineation  of  char- 
acter was  compared  to  that  of  George  Eliot. 

Pressing  close  upon  these  two  daughters  of  the  .South,  most  famous  for  literary 
distinction,   come    Mrs.    Burton    Harrison,    Grace    Denio   King,  Julia  Magruder  and 


736  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Minnie  McClellan,  while  Ruth  McEnerny  Stuart  has  a  wonderful  gift  for  dialect 
stories.  Frances  C.  Baylor  has  written  some  extremely  clever  satires,  and  Mary 
Moore  Davis  is  one  of  the  Southern  contributors  to  "  Harpers'  Monthly,"  while  a  score  of 
others  might  be  named  who  contribute  to  the  literature  of  the  day.  Kentucky  has  been 
proud  to  claim  that  charming  young  woman  and  clever  dramatic  artist,  Mary  Anderson 
Navarro,  who,  though  born  in  California,  spent  the' early  years  of  her  life  in  Kentucky 
and  there  received  her  education  and  training.  Music  owes  much  also  to  this  state, 
for  Miss  Curry  Duke,  the  daughter  of  Gen.  Basil  Duke  of  Louisville,  stands  today 
with  the  foremost  violinists  of  the  country.  Miss  Enid  Yandell  of  Kentucky,  whose 
fine  statue  of  Daniel  Boone  stands  before  the  Kentucky  State  Building,  has  received 
much  favorable  criticism  from  artists. 

Another  sculptor  of  note  is  Vinnie  Ream  Hoxie  of  Missouri,  whose  work  in  the 
Woman's  Building  has  been  given  a  place  of  honor,  and  whose  statues  of  Farragut  and 
Lincoln  have  a  world-wide  reputation.  Caroline  Shaw  Brooks,  whose  "  Sleeping 
lolanthe,"  modeled  in  butter,  was  one  of  the  attractions  of  the  Centennial,  is  a  native 
of  Missouri.  It  has  been  said  that  the  South  has  produced  no  artists  worthy  of  note, 
but  there  are  at  least 'three  whom  the  world  has  honored.  Mrs.  Frederic  McMonnies, 
a  native  of  Missouri,  and  the  wife  of  the  artist  who  designed  the  beautiful  fountain  in 
the  Court  of  Honor,  has  enriched  the  north  tympanum  of  the  hall  of  the  Woman's 
Building  by  a  decorative  painting  representing  the  primitive  woman,  which  has 
received  most  favorable  comment;  while  Miss  Mary  Solari,  one  of  the  judges  of  fine 
arts,  and  the  first  woman  ever  admitted  to  the  Academy  of 'Beaux  Arts  in  Florence, 
although  of  Italian  parentage,  was  born  in  Memphis,  Tenn.,  where  she  spent  the  early 
years  of  her  life.  Still  another  woman  is  Mrs.  Dobe  of  Helena,  Ark.,  and  her  work, 
which  had  a  creditable  representation  in  the  Woman's  Building,  was  admitted  to  the 
Paris  Salon.  These  three  have  come  prominently  into  notice  in  connection  with  the 
World's  Fair,  but  there  are  many  other  Southern  women  who  have  attained  distinction 
in  the  critical  world  of  art. 

In  summing  up  the  three  classes,  can  we  find  a  happier  combination  of  them  all 
than  that  possessed  by  the  young  Southern  woman  who  has  stood  so  nobly  at  her 
post  as  President  of  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  for  the  past  three  years?  Only 
those  who  have  seen  her  from  day  to  day  realize  fully  her  wonderful  capabilities.  In 
situations  that  would  have  tried  the  souls  and  tempers  of  the  greatest  statesmen  in  the 
country  she  has  been  calm,  diplomatic  and  thoroughly  mistress  of  the  situation.  It 
is  well  known  that  her  magnetism  and  influence  in  Washington  did  more  toward 
obtaining  an  appropriation  from  Congress  for  the  Columbian  Exposition  than  all  the 
arguments  of  the  Solons  put  together.  And  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  most  skillful 
politician  of  his  day  could  never  have  accomplished  what  Mrs.  Palmer  has  done  in 
matters  of  tact  and  diplomacy  connected  with  the  management  of  the  Board  of  Lady 
Managers.     To  her  the  poet's  words  may  well  apply: 

"  The  reason  firm,  the  temperate  will, 
Endurance,  foresight,  strength  and  skill." 

Standing  today  in  this  building,  where  we  breathe  the  very  atmosphere  of  the 
concentrated  genius  of  the  nineteenth  century  woman,  the  air  is  fairly  charged  with 
inspiration.  Instead  of  criticising  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers,  or  drawing  attention 
to  the  petty  differences  which  have  arisen  in  their  meetings,  as  some  small-minded 
people  have  done,  let  us  rather  look  at  the  splendid  result  of  their  three  years'  work. 
They  have  held  out  a  hand  to  woman  the  world  over,  aided  her  development  and 
encouraged  her  in  all  branches  of  art  and  industry.  In  every  way  have  they  strength- 
ened the  weak  and  encouraged  the  strong. 

All  honor  to  these  women  who  have  made  it  possible  for  the  young  women  of  the 
North  and  South  to  clasp  hands,  and  to  stand  upon  the  threshold  of  a  new  life!  And 
as  they  stand,  their  faces  turned  toward  the  future,  and  their  hearts  filled  with  the  desire 
to  give  the  highest  and  best  in  them  toward  the  ennobling  of  their  race,  let  us  hope 
that  their  lives  may  be  full  of  earnest  purpose  and  noble  endeavor,  and  that  the  world 
may  be  the  better  for  their  having  lived  in  it. 


INTELLIGENT  TREATMENT  OF  THE  BODY, 


By  MRS.  MARIE  MOTT  GAGE. 

1  am  one  of  those  who  believe  in  the  dignity  of  the  body;  the  sacredness  of  things 
physical.    I  am  convinced,  however,  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  people  do  not  so 

believe,  and  that  the  vast  majority  have  no  definite 
ideas  or  convictions  whatever  upon  the  subject.  It  is 
matter  of  common  experience  to  hear  the  human 
body  depreciated,  not  to  say  reviled,  as  frail,  infirm, 
perishable;  a  heavy  burden  to  be  tolerated  with  as 
much  resignation  as  possible  until  final  dissolution 
shall  set  the  uncongenial  spirit  free  from  a  hateful 
bondage.  Now  this  is  all  wrong;  all  contrary  to 
nature;  betokens  conditions  wholly  morbid,  and,  as  I 
believe,  results  in  untold  sorrow,  misery  and  suffering, 
and  loss,  spiritual  and  intellectual  not  less  than  phys- 
ical. For  so  fine  is  the  adjustment,  so  delicate  the 
balance  established  by  nature  between  the  physical, 
the  moral  and  the  mental,  that  you  can  not  ignore  or 
neglect  one  of  these  without  serious  damage  to  the 
others.  The  world  at  large  is  incapable  of  dealing 
successfully  with  abstract  ideas.  The  vast  majority  of 
people  are  neither  by  nature  nor  by  training  spiritual, 
and  if  we  really  desire  to  benefit  them  in  any  given 
direction  we  must  adapt  our  methods  to  their  possi- 
bilities. In  other  words,  we  must  be  practical.  The 
accepted  method  of  working,  first,  for  spiritual,  and 
second,  incidentally,  for  physical  regeneration  and  uplifting  is  empirical,  illogical, 
wholly  unscientific  and  out  of  harmony  with  nature.  Otherwise  how  can  we  account 
for  such  pitifully  meager  results  from  so  gigantic  and  persistent  efforts.  As  the 
visible  material  universe  is  the  physical  manifestation  of  Deity,  so  I  regard  the 
human  body  as  the  mental  manifestation  of  the  human  soul.  As  such  it  rises  to  very 
high  dignity  and  demands  thorough,  honest  and  respectful  attention.  When  a  mere 
child  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  hear  a  truth  bearing  upon  this  point  so  forcibly  and 
clearly  presented  that  it  impressed  me  more  profoundly  than  any  sermon  which  I  have 
ever  heard.  The  words  of  wisdom  fell  from  the  lips  of  a  noted  educator,  casually,  in 
the  course  of  general  remarks  to  his  pupils.  He  said:  "  Respect  your  bodies,  for  they 
are  sacred."  Whether  regarded  as  a  divinely  perfect  machine,  or  as  the  abiding  place 
of  the  soul,  the  human  body  is  of  the  highest  dignity.  Never  permit  frivolous  or  care- 
less familiarity  with  your  person  on  the  part  of  your  companions;  though  seemingly 
innocent,  the  tendency  is  wrong.  Regard  the  violation  of  the  simplest  law  of  health 
as  equally  sinful  with  the  violation  of  a  moral  law."  This  is  the  doctrine  which  I 
believe,  were  it  earnestly  and  universally  taught,  impressed  upon  the  young  and  carried 

Mrs.  Marie  Mott  6a^  was  bom  in  Vermont.  Her  parents  were  Hon.  Ashley  Mott,  a  professor  of  physical  sciences, 
and  Rosetta  Abigail  Graves,  also  a  teacher.  She  was  educated  at  Vassar  College,  receiving  in  1885  the  degree  of  B.  A.  Her 
specific  aim  is  to  teach  women  how  they  may  make  the  most  of  themselves  physically ;  how  by  intelligent  observance  of 
Nature's  laws,  physical  beaaty  and  grace  may  be  developed  and  retained.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  contribations  to 
the  "  Centnry,"  Harpers' publications,  CAris^ian  f/nion  and  New  York  Tribune.  Her  profession  is  chemistry  as  applied  to 
the  manufacture  of  toilet  preparations.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Protestant  £piscoi>al  Church.  Her  postoffice  address  is 
Cfaicatfo,  111. 

(*7J  7.37 


MRS.   MARIE   MOTT  GAGE. 


738  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

out  in  detail,  would  result  in  the  complete  physical  and  moral  regeneration  and  sal- 
vation of  the   nations  of  the  earth.     I  would  make  physical  health  and  development 
the  solid  foundation  of  all  spiritual  and  intellectual  work.     I  would  place  the  dignity 
of  the  body  on  a  level  with  that  of  the  spirit  and  the  intellect.     I  would  make  physical 
laws  pertaining  to  the  health  and  preservation   of  the    body  as  sacred  and  binding 
as  the  most  sacred  moral  law.     So  much  for  theory.     Now  how  shall  we  obtain  prac- 
tical results?     In  all  efforts  for  the  improvement,  the  uplifting,  the  advancement  of 
our  fellows,  I  hold  that  we  should  take  advantage  of  and  utilize  to  the  uttermost  all 
the  natural  instincts  and  impulses,  only  one  of  which,  in  so  brief  space,  shall  I  attempt 
to  discuss.     I  refer  to  the  almost  wholly  misunderstood  instinct  for  physical  personal 
beauty,  involving  the  universal  desire  to  be  pleasing  to  others.    This  instinct  is  usually 
characterized    as   vanity,  sinful,  selfish,   ignoble.     The  desire  to    please  is  so  deeply 
rooted,  particularly  in  the  feminine  breast,  that  it  certainly  must  be  recognized  as  a 
natural  instinct.     If  it  is  a  natural  instinct  it  is  of  God,  and  is  intended  to  serve  some 
wise  and  useful   purpose.    As  such,  it  should  neither  be  ignored  nor  suppressed.    In 
fact,  its  total  obliteration,  if  such  a  thing  were  possible,  would  result  in  utter  paralysis 
and  stagnation  of  the  entire  being.     If  we  closely  scrutinize  humanity,  we  find  that 
every  natural  impulse,  when  rightly  directed,  serves  some  high  and  necessary  end, 
promoting  true  development  in  some  direction.     We  also  find  that  in  order  to  accom- 
plish development  or  regeneration  in  any  desired  respect,  the  surest  and  easiest  method 
is  to  stimulate  the  natural  impulse  tending  thereto.     This  is  nature's  method,  and  we 
can  not  possibly  improve   upon  it.     Now  in  this  desire  to  please,  usually  and  fash- 
ionably denounced   so   unsparingly  as  woman'a  vanity,  I  can  see  a  lever  by  which 
womanhood  can  be  moved  to  its  very  depth,  and  woman  may  be  made  to  strive  most 
ardently  for  self-improvement  along  all  lines — physical,  spiritual  and  intellectual.    For 
is  it  not  manifestly  better  economy  to  utilize  a  force  already  in  existence  than  to 
attempt  the  double  task  of  suppressing  the  natural  motive  and  creating  an  artificial 
one?     By  the  inductive   method  I  would  teach  women  to  strive  for  perfection  in  all 
things.     Upon  the  broad  and  enduring  foundations  of  the  necessary  and  the  useful   1 
would  rest  the  development  of  the  beautiful.     Women  must  learn  that  beauty  is  soul 
deep,  or  it  is  not  true  beauty.     The  old  saying,  "  Beauty  is  but  skin-deep,"  originated 
in  an  unscientific  age.     Modern  science  brings  forth  records  to  prove  that  there  never 
has  been  a  beautiful  idiot  or  a  really  comely  lunatic,  Shakespeare  to  the  contrary,  not- 
withstanding.    It  is  fully  proved  by  all  asylum  records  that  the  downfall  of  spiritual 
empire  obliterates  whatever  of  beauty  the  unfortunate  may  have  once  possessed.  The 
features  lose  their  harmony  of  contour;  the  divine  light  vanishes  from  the  eyes,  which 
now  become  either  dull  or  fiendish;   the  skin  becomes  coarse  and  of  repulsive  color; 
the  very  hair  degenerates,  growing  harsh  and  lusterless. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  argue  in  this  enlightened  day  to  convince  women  that  a  per- 
fect physique  is  desirable.  The  day  of  the  artificial  is  wholly  past.  The  wasp  waist, 
drooping  shoulders  and  invalidism  in  general,  which  under  the  name  of  delicacy  were 
wont  to  be  admired,  are  now,  thank  Heaven!  out  of  fashion.  Women,  the  world  at 
large,  have  learned  that  nothing  is  beautiful  which  is  artificial;  or,  in  other  words,  a 
perversion  of  nature.  Consequently  any  new  theory  or  system  of  physical  culture 
advanced  today  must,  at  the  very  outset,  prove  itself  to  be  scientific — strictly  in 
accord  with  the  sacred  laws  of  health— or  it  will  be  promptly  rejected.  True  beauty 
can  not  be  cultivated  without  the  most  careful  observance  of  health  laws,  conse- 
quently the  development  of  physical  beauty  has  today  the  full  sanction  of  modern 
science,  and  rests  upon  a  sound  scientific  basis.  Listen:  if  you  would  be  beautiful,  if 
you  would  have  an  admirable  physique,  you  must  have  exercise  in  the  open  air,  pure 
air  in  the  house,  proper  food,  sensible  hygienic  clothing,  frequent  baths  and  plenty  of 
refreshing  sleep.  Again,  if  you  would  be  truly  beautiful,  you  simply  must  practice 
self-control.  You  must  not,  at  the  peril  of  your  beauty,  indulge  in  evil  passions,  such 
as  envy,  hatred,  malice  and  anger.  Why?  do  you  ask.  Because  all  violent  emotions 
by  unduly  contracting  the  facial  muscles,  not  only  rob  the  face  of  its  calm  dignity, 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  739 

always  one  of  its  chief  charms,  but  also  tend  to  harden  the  entire  countenance,  engrav- 
ing harsh,  rigid  lines  where  only  softest  curves  and  dimples  belong.  Again,  unhappy 
states  of  mind  habitually  indulged,  particularly  fretfulness,  discontent  and  despond- 
ency, by  depressing  the  animal  spirits,  tend  directly  to  paralyze  the  sympathetic 
nerves  which  control  the  vital  functions.  The  general  physical  tone  or  vitality  being 
thus  lowered,  stagnation  more  or  less  complete  of  all  the  vital  organs  is  the  sure 
result.  Those  members  most  directly  and  unfavorably  effected  are  the  stomach,  liver 
and  heart;  and  right  here,  in  indigestion,  torpid  liver  and  sluggish  circulation,  is  to 
be  found  the  origin  of  nearly  all  unhealthiness,  and  at  the  same  time  the  chief  blemishes 
of  beauty.  Is  it  not  a  most  significant  fact,  and  one  worthy  of  respectful  attention, 
that  every  noble,  worthy,  generous,  gentle  and  pure  emotion,  without  one  solitary 
exception,  tends  directly  to  beautify  the  face  and  to  produce  physical  grace?  The 
beautifying  power  of  love  is  well  known.  Under  the  magic  influence  of  this  gentle  and 
tender  emotion  the  hardest  face  will  soften  into  lines  of  beauty.  Sometimes  the 
transformation  is  so  marked  that  beholders  are  amazed  and  wonder  how  it  is  that 
homely,  commonplace  Mary  is  actually  growing  beautiful.  On  the  other  hand  do  not 
fail  to  observe  the  boldly  destructive  work  of  all  harsh,  violent,  ignoble  and  selfish 
emotions  stamping  their  ugly  traces  deep  into  the  brow  and  about  the  mouth. 
Obtuse  indeed  must  be  the  woman  who  does  not  read  between  these  lines  a  message 
both  of  warning  and  of  inspiration.  I  would  have  every  woman  understand  that  it  is 
worldly  wisdom  to  cultivate  an  angelic  disposition.  Why,  I  personally  know  numbers 
of  beautiful  women  who  simply  can  not  be  ruffled  by  any  annoyance.  The  world 
wonders  at  their  remarkable  preservation  of  youthful  charms,  their  grace,  their  love- 
liness. Only  those  who  penetrate  into  the  charmed  circle  of  their  private  life  can 
know  that  the  physical  beauty  so  largely  a  reflection  of  the  angelic  spirit  is  the 
result  of  absolute  self-control.  The  woman  who  realizes  that  she  is  undeniably  plain 
and  unattractive  should  at  once  take  a  strict  and  careful  inventory  of  her  traits  of 
character  and  her  ruling  emotions.  She  must  show  herself  no  mercy  in  this  intro- 
spection- beholding  herself  "  as  in  a  looking  glass."  If  she  be  an  intelligent  woman 
she  will  not  go  about  the  task  in  an  aimless,  haphazard  manner,  thereby  lessening  her 
chances  of  final  victory.  She  will  not  only  take  a  rigid  inventory  of  her  defects,  but 
also  she  will  seek  out  the  most  scientific  and  trustworthy  methods  for  their  eradica- 
tion. She  is  doubtless  in  danger  of  becoming  disheartened,  but  she  must  be  made  to 
realize  that  her  case  however  serious  is  not  hopeless;  that  it  all  rests  with  her  whether 
she  shall  continue  to  sit  idly  down  and  nurse  her  defects,  silently  envying  those 
graces  in  others  which  she  lacks,  or  whether  she  shall  nobly  gird  on  the  armor  of  high 
resolve  and  successfully  encounter  and  overcome  every  foe.  I  have  a  gospel  of  hope 
for  every  daughter  of  Eve.  I  hold  that  there  is  no  woman  blessed  with  reason,  aver- 
age physical  endowment  and  good  common  sense,  who  may  not,  if  she  will,  become 
an  ideal  woman  after  her  type. 


VOCAL  ART. 


By  MME.  THORA  KUNIGUNDE  BJORN. 

The  voice  is  spiritual;  therefore  it  holds  the  absolute  position  as  the  leading  prin- 
ciple, which  becomes,  in  consequence,  the  vocal  center.   This  principle  expresses  itself 

distinctly  and  invariably  through  the  vocal  glottis. 

Why  we  can  find  the  key  to  the  natural  voice  in  this 
part  of  our  natural  organism  is,  because  the  ligaments 
and  tissues  of  the  glottis  in  the  larynx  are  alone  capa- 
ble of  the  friction  which  determmes  pure  vibration. 
Because,  secondly,  these  edges  are  provided  with  the 
motor  fibers  which  furnish  them  capacity  for  stretch- 
ing or  lengthening,  identical  with  the  pitch  or  range. 
Because,  thirdly,  the  same  glottis  can  become  sus- 
tained as  open  or  respiratory  by  other  fibrous  muscles 
which,  when  understood,  do  not  need  to  disturb  or 
interfere  with  the  two  other  functions.  In  all  and 
every  known  method  of  singing,  one  and  often  two 
of  these  principles  become  obscure,  insufficient  or 
changed.  The  spiritual  voice  means  perfect  control 
for  expression  of  the  soul,  mind  and  body,  which, 
vocally  defined,  is  pure  vibration,  respiration  and  res- 
onance. So,  of  course,  methods  are  experimental," 
because  they  deal  with  observation  from  effects,  for 
it  is  a  very  easy  thing  to  compel  a  determinate  form 
m  singing  through  the  study  of  Italian,  French  or 
promiscuous  original  ideas.  These  become,  indeed, 
quite  consistent  and  uniform  as  to  results,  so  as  to  deceive  most  listeners,  in  mistakes, 
the  great  labor  and  wonderful  art  which  have  made  so  much  out  of  these  effects  for 
the  perfect  cause  itself,  the  natural  voice  par  excellence.  And  on  the  other  hand,  we 
can  not  leave  the  voice  untrained  until  we  understand  its  nature.  We  once  in  a 
while  hear  people  speak  of  the  freaks  of  nature,  but  those  who  really  discover  any 
natural  law  can  never  find  anything  but  absolute  order  and  unchangeable  results  from 
the  same  process.  Nobody  denies  that  we  have  to  deal  with  the  most  subtle  obser- 
vation in  regard  to  the  human  voice,  which  would,  in  my  own  case,  have  caused  noth- 
ing but  fear,  doubt  and  hesitation,  but  for  the  purpose  of  my  endeavoring  to  present 
the  true  vocal  principle  for  universal  use;  for,  to  my  thinking,  only  that  which  can  be 
of  universal  use  and  pleasure  has  any  established  and  recognizable  order.  Therefore 
we  can  lay  the  ever  increasing  vocal  mistakes  to  the  fact  that  vocal  art  has  been 
experimental  and  initiatory  from  the  first,  and  has  so  remained,  and  is  so  today,  in 
spite  of  all  we  have  done;  and  it  will  remain  as  unsatisfactory  unless  a  good  part  of 
the  public  decide  for  an  acceptance  of  entirely  new  premises  of  observation. 

We  are  not  used  to  associate  the  voice  with  the  idea  of  having  a  distinct  law  for 
its  vibrations,  and  it  might  be  suggested  that,  if  this  be  found  controllable,  it  would 

Mme.  Thora  Kunigande  Bjorn  was  born  in  Christiania,  Norway.  Her  parents  were  Consul  and  Fra  Arentz.  She 
was  educated  mainly  in  Copenhagen,  Denmark.  She  has  traveled  in  the  northern  countries  of  Europe,  and  came  as  a  widow 
to  this  country.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  vocal  and  instrumental  music.  Her  principal  literary  works 
are  articles  on  tlje  voice  in  several  magazines.  As  a  child  she  played  the  piano  and  studied  with  Die  BuU ;  Niels  Wilhelm 
Gade  became  interested  in  her  voice,  through  her  singing  she  was  offered  the  position  as  vocal  teacher  at  Vassar  College 
but  accepted  and  retained  such  a  position  at  Miss  Porter's  School,  Farmington,  for  several  years.  In  religious  faith  she  is 
a  Protestant.    Her  postofiBce  address  is  No.  2  Commonwealth  Avenue,  Boston,  Mass. 

740 


MME.  THORA  KUNIGUNDE  BJORN. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  741 

sound  mechanical  or  monotonous.  No  more  likely  than  that  the  law  of  harmony, 
which  is  founded  on  the  twelve  fundamental  tones,  though  the  result  of  this  is  listened 
to  in  ever  varying  effects,  ergo  our  conclusion  must  be  that  the  unclassical  is,  at  the 
best,  a  loss  of  time. 

The  second  point  of  my  subject  is  the  natural  respiration,  which  means  both 
inspiration  and  expiration.  What  is  natural  should  be  no  effort,  and  the  methods  of 
taking,  holding  or  losing  breath  means  nothing  less  than  strain,  effort  and  insufficiency. 
To  my  thinking,  the  artificial  singing  and  effort  of  unnatural  ways  of  breathing  is  the 
reason  we  have  so  little  genuine  expression.  How  can  one  look  for  a  realization  of 
what  we  conceive  to  be  ideal  singing  when  there  is  nothing  but  difficulty  in  doing 
what — well,  what  is  unnatural?  It  would  take  as  long  as  a  Wagner  opera  to  dwell 
upon  the  various  expressions  and  agonies  of  so  many  singers,  before  and  after  the 
breath  has  become  controllable,  but  I  think  these  present  know  by  sight  and  sound 
'the  truth  in  this  matter.  I  thought  first  of  proving  the  value  of  true  respiration  by 
vocally  giving  the  contrast  of  all  the  different  ways  in  which  the  air  is  taken,  held  or 
sustained,  but  the  dragon  is  so  many-headed  and  would  leave  me  exhausted  and  unfit 
to  proceed  farther,  so  I  will  be  satisfied  with  illustrating  a  few  of  these.  I  think  my 
audience  will  be  able  to  judge  by  the  sounds  whether  my  statement  may  be  credited, 
that  the  breath  for  the  tone  forms  in  a  decided  channel.  The  breath,  which  is  in  con- 
stant respiration  while  singing,  is  moving  in  the  vocal  channel,  which  belongs  to  the 
principle  of  vibration,  and  constitute  the  nostrils,  nasal-chamber,  head-passages,  soft 
palate,  pharynx,  tongue,  epiglottis,  vocal  glottis  and  trachea,  in  connection  with  the 
lower  portion  of  the  pharynx,  which  combine  with  the  oesophagus.  This  current  is  up 
and  down.  The  slower  and  softer  motion  is  from  back  forward.  The  air  through  the 
nostrils  becomes  inspirational  through  the  uvula,  and  can  be  expirational  as  well  in  the 
mouth  through  the  lower  soft  palate.  We  can  perceive  the  fibrous  and  more  delicate 
muscles  absorb  air  on  the  sides  around  the  main  channel  for  strength  or  action.  The 
vibrations  react  on  the  membrane  with  which  certain  and  various  muscles  are  invested. 
The  action  and  the  reaction  thus  form  resonance  in  all  directions,  still  this  could  not 
be  done  fully  and  satisfactorily  without  the  assistance  of  the  muscles  themselves. 

The  lungs  not  being  inflated,  expanded,  nor  muscular  for  the  sake  of  being  expelled 
or  held  but  by  their  natural  capacity  for  natural  work,  deep  expression  should  compel 
their  strength  where  they  are  most  sufficient,  not  least,  and  this  is  necessary  above  all 
so  as  not  to  interfere  with  the  emotional  parts  of  the  lungs  and  free  circulation.  The 
Italians  depend  on  clavicles  and  chest,  which  we  do  also,  and  we  add  the  spine, 
which  preserves  ease  and  again  assists  the  diaphragm,  leaving  the  stomach  free,  while 
all  are  remaining  natural,  not  raised  or  depressed.  As  the  lower  neck  and  upper 
chest  are  considered  immutable,  and  are  so  nearly,  the  knowledge  of  one  who  has  had 
patience  and  courage  to  mvestigate  the  nature  and  functions  of  these  very  parts  will 
no  doubt  be  appreciated  by  the  results  derived  from  this  study.  The  lower  neck  and 
upper  chest  contain  the  respiratory  glottis  and  trachea,  the  dividing  line  from  the 
frontal  bronchia  to  the  posterior  roots  of  the  lungs.  Thus  the  intimate  connection 
between  the  full  but  curved  length  of  the  main  channel  for  respiration,  the  vertebra 
through  its  center,  and  the  nerve  center,  direct  through  the  spinal  cord  and  the  var- 
ious other  leading  nerves,  probably  forming  an  oblong  circle  through  the  directing 
center  from  the  medulla  oblongata,  or  lower  brain. 

Vibrations — not  "  vibratos  " — are  the  law  of  the  perfect  voice,  and  these  occur  on 
an  up  and  down  line  on  the  fibrous  sides  of  larynx  and  pharynx;  these  absorb  and 
cause  the  coarser  vibrations,  and  are  derived  from  the  incoming  and  rising  air.  The 
finer  and  absolutely  musical  vibrations  occur  only  through  the  impressions  of  the  more 
purified  air  passing  through  or  touching  the  sensitive  membrane,  though  the  ligaments 
act  with  one  and  all  the  others  through  successive  changes.  The  articulating  muscles 
have  usually  no  vibratory,  much  less  resonant,  capacity,  therefore  the  voice  with  so- 
called  distinct  articulation  becomes  so  monotonous.  Alas!  it  is  all  so  monotonous. 
Where  are  the  expression  changes  we  dream  of  for  the  delight  of  our  souls?  where  is 


742  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

the  coloring?  In  "  coloratour"  perhaps.  Well,  how  can  we  expect  to  have  beauty^ 
strength  and  ease  on  theories  of  diaphragmatic  breathing,  which  kills  natural  respira- 
tion; on  theories  of  forming  tones  where  they  are  not  indicated  by  a  single  natural 
reason,  to  be  taught  that  the  breath  makes  the  tone,  and  then  expelling  the  breath, 
which  stops  the  incoming  air?  Rubenstein  has  made  the  statement  that  the  human 
voice  is  a  less  perfect  instrument  than  any  string  instrument.  As  a  rule  he  is  cer- 
tainly right.  I  am  just  bringing  conviction  to  a  good  many  people  that  we  have  looked 
on  the  wrong  side  in  training  it,  in  judging  it,  in  merely  hearing  it.  In  fact,  what  is  it, 
what  should  it  be? 

In  the  Parliament  of  Religions  held  in  Chicago  the  outcome  was,  I  believe,  love, 
truth,  unity,  form  and  color  may  vary;  but  love,  which  vibrates  through  the  human 
voice,  must  be  felt;  and  truth,  which  is  expressed  through  the  classic  ideal  as  purity, 
must  be  observable.  Then  we  shall  hear  the  voice,  made  by  no  hands,  superior  to  all 
other  imitations  of  it;  then  methods  and  false  foundations  shall  vanish;  then  the 
clashing  of  dissonances  in  the  realm  of  harmony  will  be  transformed  into  an  earnest 
and  successful  endeavor  to  work  out  good  and  beauty  through  knowledge  of  Divine 
laws. 


^^ 


ENCOURAGEMENT  OF  HOME  INDUSTRIES. 

By  LADY  ISHBEL  ABERDEEN. 

My  subject  may  perhaps  seem  a  little  out  of  place  here  in  the  midst  of  an  Expo- 
sition in  which  the  highest  triumphs  of  mechanical  skill  and  invention  are  shown  in 

such  perfection,  but  a  moment's  reflection  will  show 
this  was  not  so.  For  in  the  first  place  this  Exposition 
has  endeavored  throughout  to  give  honor  to  whom 
honor  was  due,  and  therefore  has  traced  back  in  every 
department  to  its  earliest  source  the  beginnings  of 
those  arts  and  industries  which  have  gradually  been 
evolved  by  the  hard  toil  and  concentrated  thought 
of  many  humble  workers,  until  they  are  now  the  won- 
der and  admiration  of  the  civilized  world. 

We  can  here  watch  the  gradual  stages  of  transfor- 
mation from  the  rude  canoe,  hollowed  with  flint  im- 
plements, to  the  gigantic  liners  which  now  annihilate 
the  ocean  distance  between  the  continents;  we  are 
vvvsATOmB^-— »•  T        swHCMO/         sliovvn  the  quaint  devices  of  the  cave  men  of  antiquity 
v^^^^lR    J^ii^\§I^M^^^     leading  on,  step  by  step,  to  the  noble  works  of  art, 
"^^  ^S^tj/^BsSu^n^     which  are  the  pride  of  the  nation  who  produced  the 
jl^^j^^^^^^tmBB  artists;  we  see  the  first  rough  attempts  to  make  wear- 

^^■*^^^^^^^^™^^  ing  material  leading  on  to  the  fine  linens  and  woolens 

and  silks  and  brocades  of  modern  times.     All  the 

triumphs  that  civilization  can  boast  of  must  be  traced 

LADv  ISHBEL  ABERDEEN.  back  to  thc  ingculous  contrivances  of  our  forefathers, 

and  especially  of  our  foremothers  under  very  adverse 
circumstances,  and  with  very  few  resources. 

And  here  in  this  Woman's  Building  I  may  be  pardoned  for  again  drawing  atten- 
tion to  the  facts  which  Mrs.  Potter  Palmer  has  so  eloquently  pointed  out — that  it  is 
women  who,  for  the  most  part,  invented  the  means  of  carrying  on  domestic  industries, 
that  men  only  took  them  up  and  developed  them  on  a  larger  scale  when  they  saw 
there  was  a  profit  to  be  made  out  of  them. 

But  there  is  another  special  interest  attaching  to  home  industries  as  connected 
with  this  Exposition,  and  that  is,  that  you  find  amongst  its  choicest  treasures  are 
exhibits  by  human  hands  alone.  Look  at  the  paintings,  the  fine  embroideries,  the 
lace  work,  the  carvings  in  this  very  building.  Look  at  the  homespun  skirt  I  am  wear- 
ing, made  in  the  wilds  of  Donegal  where  it  was  presented  to  me  a  few  weeks  ago; 

Lady  Ishbel  Aberdeen  is  a  native  of  Scotland.  She  was  born  in  March,  1857.  Her  parents  were  Lord  and  Lady  Tweed- 
month,  both  of  old  Scottish  families,  though  Lady  Tweedmouth  is  also  of  ancient  Irish  descent.  She  was  educated  in  her 
own  home  by  governesses  and  masters.  She  has  traveled  in  many  countries  and  all  around  the  world,  especially  in  the 
British  Empire,  India,  Ceylon,  Australia,  New  Zealand  and  Canada.  She  married  the  Earl  of  Aberdeen  in  1877,  a  strong 
Liberal,  a  supporter  of  Gladstone,  prominent  for  many  years  in  both  the  political  and  philanthropic  world,  holding  the 
office  of  Viceroy  of  Ireland,  and  at  the  present  time  Governor-General  of  Canada.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest 
of  women,  both  in  the  religious  and  political  sphere ;  also  in  the  promotion  of  home  industries,  and  the  extension  of  a  market 
for  home  goods.  She  established  for  this  purpose  the  Irish  Village  at  Chicago,  which  has  resulted  in  the  setting  up  of  a  per- 
manent office  at  279  Wabash  Avenue,  Chicago.  Her  principal  literary  works  area  magazine  for  women,  "  Onward,  Upward," 
one  for  children  also,  and  an  account  of  her  travels  in  Canada  entitled,  "  Through  Canada  with  a  Kodak."  In  her  religious 
faith  she  is  broad  in  her  sympathies,  and  is  a  member  of  both  the  Episcopalian  and  Presbyterian  churches.  Her  permanent 
postoffice  address  in  Great  Britain  is  Hadde  House,  Aberdeen,  Scotland,  but  for  the  next  six  years  she  will  reside  at  Govern- 
ment House,  Ottawa.  She  is  president  of  the  International  Council  of  Women,  of  the  Canadian  National  Council  of  Women- 
of  the  Women's  Liberal  Federation  of  England,  of  the  Women's  Liberal  Federation  of  Scotland,  of  the  Upward,  Onward 
Association,  of  the  Irish  Industrial  Association,  and  of  many  other  societies. 

743 


744  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

this  homespun  cloak  from  Sutherlandshire,  this  fine  crochet  work  from  Clones,  this 
point-lace  handkerchief  from  Youghall.  Is  it  possible  for  such  work  as  this  to  be  pro- 
duced by  machinery,  however  delicate?  No;  let  us  be  thankful  that  the  work  of 
trained  human  fingers  is  still  superior  in  many  directions  to  the  iron  monsters  devised 
by  human  brains,  and  that  there  are  manufactures  which  can  not  be  turned  out  by  the 
dozen,  and  where  every  value  consists  in  their  not  being  so  turned  out.  But  then  the 
question  arises.  Is  it  desirable  to  encourage  or  continue  the  existence  of  these  home 
industries,  which  are  produced  at  the  expense  of  so  much  more  labor  than  the  machine 
goods,  and  which  in  comparison  cannot  be  paid  so  well  for  the  time  and  toil  and  outlay 
given,  or  should  they  be  regarded  even  as  these  beautifully  illuminated  manuscripts  of 
bygone  days,  things  to  be  admired  and  treasured,  but  the  production  of  which  now 
would  mean  willful  waste  of  life. 

Now  as  far  as  the  starting  or  maintenance  of  such  home  industries  in  a  compara- 
tively young  country  like  this  simply  from  a  commercial  point  of  view  would  be  a 
doubtful  proceeding,  as  far  as  I  can  understand,  and  I  speak  under  correction.  It  is 
very  different  in  the  old  countries  on  the  other  side,  and  especially  in  agricultural 
districts  where  there  is  so  much  difficulty  in  getting  the  people  to  remain  on  the  land. 
A  few  extra  shillings  there  makes  all  the  difference  between  want  and  comfort,  and 
you  can  very  easily  mark  the  difference  between  districts  where  such  industries  exist 
and  those  in  which  they  are  not  to  be  found.  My  experience  is  gathered  from  Scot- 
land and  Ireland,  but  I  imagine  the  same  result  is  found  in  other  countries.  The  spe- 
cial field  where  home  industries  are  of  peculiar  use  as  a  source  of  maintenance,  is  in 
the  country  there  where  women  and  children  can  employ  their  leisure  time  in  carry- 
ing it  on  and  where  men  can  do  so  also  through  the  winter.  Then  when  a  bad  season 
comes  the  people  have  something  else  to  fall  back  on  besides  the  precarious  and 
often  scanty  crops.  It  was  in  times  of  famine  that  most  of  the  lace-^making  indus- 
tries had  their  origin,  benevolent  ladies  setting  themselves  to  teach  the  people  some 
work  whereby  to  gain  a  little  money,  and  the  quick  Celtic  fingers  learning  the  art 
rapidly  and  successfully.  And  it  was  in  a  time  of  distress  that  a  clergyman's  wife, 
Mrs.  Webster,  taught  the  women  of  Pitsligo  in  Aberdeenshire,  how  to  make  the  only 
hand-made  lace  which  is  still  produced  in  Scotland.  Other  ladies  have  perceived  in 
the  home-made  stuffs  and  knitting  made  from  their  own  wool  possibilities  for  a  wider 
market,  and  have  instructed  the  people  so  to  dye  it  and  weave  it  as  to  make  it 
attractive  to  the  fashionable  public.  I  knew  a  lady  in  Invernesshire,  who  for  many, 
many  years  has  made  her  own  house  a  sort  of  center  and  depot  for  knitting  and 
home-made  stuffs.  She  instructed  herself  also  in  how  to  make  home-made  dyes  from 
vegetables  and  mosses,  like  Mrs.  Ernest  Hart  has  done  so  successfully,  and  revived 
this  knowledge  among  the  people  and  sold  their  goods  for  them. 

A  large  knitting  industry  in  the  Northwest  of  Ireland,  though  poorly  paid,  sup- 
ports in  large  measure  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  families  who  have  but  little  other 
resource  than  harvest  work,  which  the  men  go  to  seek  in  Scotland.  The  people  walk 
miles  to  get  this  work.  This  home-spun  industry  is  also  one  that  supports  a  whole 
district.  It  is  an  increasing  industry,  and  we  hope  that  our  Irish  Industries  Associa- 
tion has  been  able  to  find  a  way  of  improving  it  with  a  large  shirt  and  underclothing 
industry  of  the  North  of  Ireland,  the  Shetland  knitting  of  the  Shetland  Isles. 

I  have  only  mentioned  these  examples  to  show  you  why  I  and  others  are  such 
enthusiastic  supporters  of  home  industries  in  our  own  country  if  only  from  a  com- 
mercial point  of  view.  If  you  could  see  these  poor  people  clamoring  for  work,  if 
you  could  see  the  earnestness  with  which  they  put  themselves  to  it  when  they  do  get 
it,  you  could  have  a  notion  of  the  comfort  and  brightness  that  the  sale  of  their  goods 
in  that  Irish  Village  yonder  has  brought  to  many  and  many  an  Irish  home,  you  would 
not  wonder  at  our  enthusiasm. 

But  there  is  another  side  to  these  industries  besides  the  commercial  one,  and  this 
is  one  which  applies  to  all  countries  alike,  and  even  if  there  were  no  money  to  be  made 
out  of  them,  I  would  be  a  strong  upholder  of  them  because  of  their  educational  and 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  745 

moral  training.  I  know  you  recognize  this  to  the  full  in  America  by  having  manual  and 
technical  instruction  introduced  into  your  educational  establishments;  but  nowhere  do 
I  think  is  the  principle  sufficietitly  recognized  that  our  hands  need  training  as  much 
as  our  heads  and  that  training  in  some  home-industry  prepares  the  boy  or  girl  for 
skilled  paying  work  hereafter,  and  not  only  does  it  train  the  hand  but  the  eye  and 
the  sense  of  beauty,  too.  The  young  people  who  are  taught  to  draw,  carve  and  model 
and  do  carpentry  will  also  surely  wish  to  beautify  their  own  homes  and  thus  become 
more  attached  to  home  life,  and  more  likely  to  make  good  husbands  and  good  wives, 
good  fathers  and  good  mothers  and  good  citizens.  Then  again  think  of  the  happiness 
it  brings  into  a  life  if  there  is  some  useful  hobby  to  pursue,  no  listless  hanging  about 
if  the  weather  is  wet,  no  "I've  nothing  to  do  mother,"  and  in  consequence  a  habit  is 
formed  of  healthy  pleasurable  occupation  which  will  prove  a  valuable  safeguard 
against  the  attractions  of  the  bar  in  after  life,  in  times  of  sickness,  of  sorrow  and  of 
old  age  too,  the  knowledge  of  some  handicraft  which  will  divert  the  thoughts  from  self 
is  a  possession  not  to  be  despised.  So  for  all  reasons  the  cultivation  of  home  arts  and 
industries  among  persons  of  all  classes  is  greatly  to  be  encouraged  both  for  what 
they  prevent  as  well  as  for  what  they  promote  and  for  their  influence  on  both  national 
and  individual  character. 

But  in  order  that  they  may  obtain  their  full  scope,  whether  in  commercial,  educa- 
tional, artistic  or  moral  grounds,  they  need  some  organizing. 

The  tendency  of  the  present  day  is  to  organize,  perhaps  to  over  organize,  but  in 
this  case  it  is  certainly  necessary  to  make  some  arrangement  whereby  the  country 
workers  can  be  put  on  a  level  with  town  workers,  and  whereby  those  scattered  in  rural 
districts  can  obtain  good  designs  and  can  be  put  in  touch  with  a  good  market.  A 
considerable  movement  to  endeavor  to  effect  this  has  been  noticeable  in  the  British 
Isles  during  the  last  years,  and  several  associations  has  been  the  result.  There  has 
been  the  Royal  School  of  Art  Needlework,  under  Her  Royal  Highness,  Princess 
Christian,  which  has  had  for  its  object  to  train  workers  and  to  spread  beautiful  designs 
and  work  and  the  taste  for  them,  and  the  result  of  that  school  and  of  the  sister  school 
in  Ireland  may  be  seen  in  the  British  show  case  in  this  building. 

Then  there  is  the  Recreative  Evening  Schools  Association,  which  has  for  its  object 
to  enable  boys  and  girls  who  have  left  school  to  continue  their  education,  and  they, 
recognizing  the  fact  that  simple  plodding  book-work  is  very  unattractive  to  young 
people  who  have  been  working  all  day,  have  introduced  into  their  system  the  instruc- 
tion of  various  crafts  and  hand-work,  as  well  as  other  kinds  of  recreative  instruction. 
The  Home  Arts  and  Industries  Association  touches,  however,  the  country  districts  of 
which  I  have  spoken  more  directly  than  the  other  two  I  have  mentioned.  They  have 
in  the  last  few  years  started  over  five  hundred  classes  in  England,  Scotland  and  Ire- 
land, where  wood-carving,  metal  work,  embossed  leather,  basket-work,  and  such  like 
have  been  taught.  This  association  has  done  much  good,  its  aims  have  been  chiefly 
from  the  artistic  and  moral  standpoint,  rather  than  from  the  commercial,  though  it 
holds  most  successful  exhibitions  and  sales  annually. 

The  Scottish  and  the  Irish  Industries  Associations  with  which  I  am  chiefly  asso- 
ciated, lay  great  stress  on  the  commercial  side,  as  well  as  on  the  educational.  Roughly 
speaking,  we  may  say  that  both  associations  have  two  main  aims,  one  being  to  open 
up  a  market  for  the  goods  produced  by  the  peasant  workers  of  Scotland  and  Ireland, 
the  other  being  to  educate  them  to  keep  on  producing  better  and  better  work  and  such 
work  as  will  meet  the  demands  of  the  public. 

In  both  associations  we  pride  ourselves  on  not  being  charitable  societies;  we  are 
educational  and  commercial,  and  we  are  striving,  only  striving,  to  help  the  people  to 
help  themselves  through  honest  work,  and  in  both  associations  we  unite  persons  of  all 
politics  and  creeds. 

It  is  to  objects  such  as  I  have  mentioned  that  every  penny  of  the  surplus  from  the 
Irish  Village  will  be  devoted.  I  have  had  more  than  one  opportunity  of  speaking  in 
Chicago  of  the  object  of  the  Irish  village,  and  of  the  association  which  erected  it, 


746  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

before  now.  I  only  wish,  therefore,  to  take  this  opportunity  of  thanking  you,  ladies, 
and  through  you  the  public  of  Chicago,  for  the  kind  interest  that  you  have  taken  in 
our  work  as  there  exemplified. 

I  can  assure  you  that  the  kindness  shown,  both  by  the  people  of  Chicago  and  by  the 
press,  has  been  very  warmly  appreciated  by  the  people  of  Ireland,  and  on  their  behalf, 
of  our  association  and  for  myself,  I  tender  you  my  most  grateful  thanks.  I  am  proud, 
indeed,  of  the  success  of  the  village,  and  I  am  free  to  speak  of  that  success,  as  it  is 
mainly  due  to  first,  the  preliminary  organization  of  the  late  Mr.  Peter  White,  and  then 
to  the  wonderful  executive  ability,  tact  and  untiring  zeal  shown  by  Mrs.  Peter  White. 
I  am  proud,  too,  in  a  special  way  of  the  village,  for  it  can  be  truly  said  to  represent 
the  people  of  Ireland,  in  as  much  as  it  has  the  personal  support  of  every  class,  creed 
and  politics  in  Ireland,  from  the  leaders  downward.  This  is,  indeed,  a  proud  boast  to 
make,  but  it  is  a  true  one,  and  it  has  been  a  very  marked  feature  of  our  association 
throughout  and  one  which  it  will  be  our  constant  aim  to  preserve.  If  corroboration 
of  my  word  on  this  point  is  required,  it  can  be  had  from  the  Lord  Mayor  of  Dublin  on 
the  one  side,  and  the  Hon.  Horace  Plunket,  M.  P.,  on  the  other,  who  are  both  in  Chi- 
cago at  this  time,  and  who  are  both  on  our  committees. 

But  there  is  another  thing  in  connection  with  the  village  of  which  I  am  most 
thankfully  proud.  I  am  proud  that  the  people  of  Ireland  have  been  so  well  repre- 
sented as  they  have  been  by  the  village  staff.  The  enthusiasm,  the  true  patriotism, 
the  loyal  unselfishness  and  brightness  which  they  have  thrown  into  their  work,  is  past 
all  praise,  and  their  country  may  well  be  proud  of  them. 

The  forty  Irish  girls  whom  we  brought  out  with  us,  go  back  the  pure,  true,  sunny 
maidens  that  came  out  with  us,  and  I  know  that  my  friends  on  the  Board  of  Lady 
Managers  will  rejoice  that  I  am  able  to  state  this  without  fear  of  challenge,  but  in  a 
spirit  of  deep  thankfulness.  And  so  once  more  I  thank  you,  and  may  I  also  thank 
you  for  favors  to  come — we  shall  not  be  content  if  we  are  only  able  to  open  up  an 
American  market  to  our  poor  workers  this  year — that  would  have  been  but  opening 
the  door  of  hope  to  shut  it  again  in  their  faces.  No,  we  hope  to  establish  a  perma- 
nent depot  for  Irish  goods  under  Mrs.  Peter  White's  management,  and  I  would  like  to 
solicit  your  interest — and  your  custom,  for  that.  We  do  not  ask  you  to  buy.  for  char- 
ity; we  only  ask  you  to  buy  what  you  deem  to  be  good  and  beautiful  of  its  kind;  but 
in  buying  that,  and  thus  benefiting  yourselves,  I  will  guarantee  that  you  will  bring 
sunshine  and  hope  into  many  a  heart  and  home  beyond  the  seas. 


ORGANIZED  MOTHERHOOD. 


By  MRS.  LIDE  MERIWEATHER. 

The  word  gospel  means  glad  tidings.  The  gospel  of  organization  is  preached  in  all 
of  nature's  temples.     "The  locusts  have  no  king,  but  they  go  forth  in  bands,"  and  the 

whole  country  pays  tribute  to  their  needs.  "  The  ants 
are  a  people  not  strong,  but  they  prepare  their  meat 
in  summer;"  and  not  alone  that,  but  they  make  war, 
take  prisoners,  keep  them  in  servitude,  and  provide 
means  of  offense  and  defense  by  a  systematized 
organization  which  no  human  ingenuity  could  im- 
prove upon.  The  birds  accomplish  their  semi-annual 
migration  in  organized  bands,  and  by  preconcerted 
action.  All  animated  nature,  from  the  tiny  ant  be- 
neath our  feet  to  the  huge  bison  of  our  Western  plains, 
shows  the  unerring  instinct  that  illustrates  and  em- 
phasizes the  inspired  words,  "  In  the  multitude  of 
council  there  is  wisdom." 

But  the  world  of  humanity  has  been  slow  to 
interpret  nature's  language,  and  only  in  these  late 
December  days  the  Christmas-tide  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  the  shepherds  on  the  plains  of  toil  and  the  war- 
ders on  the  watch-towers  of  reform,  alike  have  caught 
the  seraph  song,  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,"  for 
the  work  that  brings  surcease  of  sorrow,  and  the 
friendly  clasp  of  organization's  hand  that  yet  shall 
bring  "  peace  on  earth,  and  good-will  to  all  men." 
Every  era  of  the  world  has  had  its  key-note  rung  out  from  the  great  clock  of  the 
centuries;  these  eras  bring  marked  and  open  uprisings  of  forces  for  whose  organized 
action  the  sentiment  had  been  growing  through  long  and  silent  years.  Such  an  era 
was  the  fifteenth  century,  when  Columbus  found  the  new  world,  and  Luther  found  the 
new  faith,  and  the  conquering  career  of  printing  began.  All  through  these  years 
another  force  had  been  gathering — the  Brotherhood  of  Man.  Today  this  vital  force 
has  woven  its  sensate  wires  in  and  out  through  all  classes  of  men,  making  every  pulse 
thrill  at  the  electric  touch  of  a  clasping  hand,  and  every  heart  respond  to  the  "touch 
of  human  kindness,  that  makes  all  the  world  akin." 

This  same  key-note  sounds  on,  but  another  and  yet  clearer  note  is  the  voice  of 
today.  Time,  touching  the  keys  of  the  nineteenth  century,  has  rung  out,  clear  and 
strong,  a  sound  all  Christendom  has  heard,  and  whose  echoes  have  reached  the  isles 
of  the  sea.  All  humanity  knows  it,  for  through  it  "  hands  grow  more  helpful,  voices 
grow  more  tender."  And  this  sound  has  reached  woman's  heart  as  it  was  never 
reached  before,  for  *'  woman  is  the  mother,  the  mother  is  life,  and  life  is  love."  And 
thus  we  have  climbed  another  round  of  the  ladder,  beyond  the  Brotherhood  of  Man, 
up  to  the  Motherhood  of  Woman.  How  strange  it  seems  to  us,  upon  whose  heads 
many  winters  have  sifted  their  snows,  to  look  back  and  realize  that  half  a  century  ago 

Mrs.  Lide  Meriweatherisa  native  of  Virginia.  She  was  born  Octobar  16, 1829.  Her  parents  were  Mays  and  Elizabeth  Pflr- 
ker  Smith  of  Acconnac  County,  Va.  She  was  edacated  at  Washington,  Pa.,  gradaating  from  thatinstitation  in  October.  1845. 
She  married  Mr.  Niles  Meriweather  of  Christian  county,  Ky.,  October  K,  1855.  She  interests  herself  largely  in  philanthropy, 
and  social  and  political  reform.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  "One  or  Two,"  a  volume  of  poems,  and  "Soundings,"  a  plea 
for  erring  women.  She  is  a  woman  of  liberal  views  and  all-embracing  charity.  Postoffice  address  No.  14  Talbot  Street, 
Memphis,  Tenn. 

747 


MRS.   LIDE  MERIWEATHER. 


748  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

there  was  no  such  thing  in  our  land  as  an  organization  of  women,  and  the  mere  sug- 
gestion of  such  a  possibility  would  have  produced  a  moral  earthquake  in  masculine 
ranks.  Today  there  is  not  a  home  in  America  that  has  not  felt  the  power  of  her 
organized  motherhood.  Women  who  sit  in  the  darkness  of  Eastern  despotism  have 
felt  the  benediction  of  this  mother-love.  She  has  touched  the  doors  of  colleges  and 
universities;  the  locks  were  rusty  and  the  hinges  creaked,  but  they  have  swung  wide 
open  that  her  daughters  might  walk  in.  And  today  those  daughters  are  artists,  sculp- 
tors, poets,  novelists,  and  successful  business  women — ay,  M.  Ds.  and  D.  Ds. — and 
nobody  is  hurt.  In  conference  and  convention  these  mother-hearts  meet  and  discuss 
great  social,  moral,  and  political  questions,  and  nobody  marvels.  Churches  that  but 
a  few  years  ago  would  have  been  considered  desecrated  had  a  woman's  gown  but 
touched  the  pulpit  floor  now  give  her  cordial  welcome;  sad  eyes  in  prisons  and  asylums 
look  up  and  smile  beneath  her  motherly  care;  schools  are  made  more  practical  by  her 
oversight,  and  churches  more  charitable  by  her  influence.  The  loving  arms  of  organized 
motherhood  have  encircled  the  world. 

These  bands  of  organized  mothers  are  known  by  many  different  titles:  the 
Woman's  Missionary  Society,  King's  Daughters,  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union,  Woman's  Suffrage  Association,  Free  Kindergarten,  Working  Woman's  Guild, 
Association  for  Advancement  of  Women.  These  are  but  a  few  branches  on  the  giant 
tree  of  organized  motherhood;  but  by  whatever  name  known,  "their  toils,  their  hopes, 
their  aims  are  one" — the  progress  and  elevation  of  the  children  of  their  love. 

In  the  band  of  organized  motherhood,  of  which  this  little  white  ribbon  is  the  sign 
and  seal  of  membership,  the  motherly  arms  are  opened  as  wide  as  the  world,  the 
mother-heart  bows  in  benediction  over  every  son  and  daughter  of  Adam.  This  band 
is  organized,  armed  and  equipped  with  the  weapons  of  offense  and  defense— first, 
against  the  three  great  dragons  that  devour  humanity — Alcohol,  Tobacco,  Impurity — 
these  three,  and  the  greatest  of  these  is  alcohol,  for  in  his  slimy  trail  inevitably  follow 
all  the  rest.  Our  great  dominant  issue  is  the  extermination  of  the  liquor  traffic,  whose 
baneful  effects  it  is  needless  that  I  should  tell  you — not  a  man,  woman  or  child  in 
America  but  knows  them.  To  this  end  we  work  along  three  great  lines:  Prevention, 
first  and  best  of  all,  for  that  means  educating  all  the  children  of  the  land  scientifically 
against  its  baneful  influence;  next,  reformation  of  the  drunkard  whenever,  whatever, 
and  by  whatever  means  it  may  be  possible;  and,  lastly,  legislation  as  the  only  feasible 
means  of  making  such  reformation  possible  and  permanent. 

Could  the  individual  efforts  of  these  two  hundred  thousand  women  ever  have 
wrought  out  one  tithe  of  the  marvelous  results  that  have  been  achieved  by  the  com- 
bined and  systematic  action  of  this  great  organization? 

This  mother-host  takes  into  its  loving  care  the  entire  child-life  of  the  nation,  from 
the  day  the  baby  first  opens  its  wondering  eyes  upon  the  world  until  it  reaches  young 
manhood  or  womanhood,  and  is  then  transferred  to  the  sheltering  arms  of  the  White 
Cross  or  the  protecting  aegis  of  the  White  Shield.  First,  for  the  baby,  comes  the 
creche  or  day-nursery,  where  the  children  of  wage-working  mothers  can  be  cared  for 
while  the  mother  goes  out  to  work.  Here  all  comforts  are  provided;  the  little  one  is 
bathed,  dressed,  fed,  and  cared  for  by  kindly  nurses.  In  the  evening  the  mother 
comes  and  takes  it  home  for  the  night.  For  this,  if  able,  she  pays  ten  cents  a  day; 
if  not,  the  care  is  given  free.  In  any  case,  the  little  fee  is  taken  to  foster  an  inde- 
pendent spirit  in  the  mother. 

Next  comes  the  baby  hospital,  where  the  sick  baby  is  taken  and  given  medical 
treatment  without  the  mother.  Dr.  Sarah  McNutt  of  New  York,  who  founded  the 
first  baby  hospital,  has  evolved  a  new  idea  in  hospital  life.  Among  her  friends  are 
many  young  girls,  daughters  of  well-to-do  or  wealthy  parents,  whom  she  has  organized 
into  what  she  calls  the  petting  committee.  She  maintains  that  petting  is  just  as 
necessary  to  the  health  of  a  well  baby  or  the  care  of  a  sick  one  as  food,  fire  or  medi- 
cine. So  each  day  a  certain  detailed  number  of  these  girls  go  to  the  hospital,  carrying 
toys,  pictures,  flowers,  and  such  delicacies  as  the  doctor  will  permit;  then  they  carry, 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  749 

play  with  and  pet  the  babies — to  the  great  delight  of  the  little  ones,  and  their  manifest 
improvement  as  well.  To  my  mind,  that  was  the  sweetest  thought  that  ever  entered 
the  heart  of  woman.  And  yet  some  folks  think  that  women  have  no  business  to  study 
or  to  practice  medicine. 

Next  for  babyland  comes  the  care  of  the  little  toddling  waifs  in  the  free  kinder- 
garten. The  best  physicians  are  not  those  who  follow  disease,  but  those  who  go  ahead 
and  prevent  it.  If  the  child  is  taught  to  be  virtuous,  self-governing,  law-abiding, there 
will  be  no  need  to  spend  later  years  in  re-formation.  After  nineteen  centuries  the 
"  little  child  "  still  stands  in  our  midst,  and  these  loving  mothers  have  taken  him  by 
the  hand,  and  it  is  a  pledge  and  prophecy  of  the  coming  of  the  blessed  Master's 
kingdom. 

After  this  comes  the  kitchen  garden,  where  neglected  girls  from  tenement-house 
districts  of  our  cities  are  gathered  and  taught  the  rudiments  of  an  education,  also 
cooking,  sewing,  housework,  and  other  means  of  making  their  homes  brighter  and 
better,  or  of  making  other  homes  pleasanter  by  becoming  competent  servants. 

And  for  that  great  multitude,  the  poorest  of  all  God's  poor,  that  innumerable  and 
sorrowful  company  who,  even  in  years  which  my  memory  can  recall,  were  deemed 
utterly  lost  and  hopeless,  whose  name  must  never  be  breathed  by  a  good  woman,  and 
for  whom  it  was  almost  a  crime  to  pray — for  these  outlawed  and  wandering  ones  the 
nation's  motherhood  has  built  the  anchorage,  the  mission  home,  the  refuge,  the  open 
door,  wherein  the  best  and  brightest  of  these  loving  hearts  preside,  where  the  mother's 
welcoming  hand  is  always  outstretched,  and  her  sweet  voice  is  calling,  day  by  day  and 
night  by  night,  to  the  weakest,  the  guiltiest,  the  most  despairing,  the  most  desperate: 
"Come  back,  no  matter  how  or  from  whence;  here  is  home,  here  is  mother,  here  is 
always  'a  light  in  the  window  for  thee.'" 

Dear  sister  woman,  you  who  have  been  standing  afar  off,  folding  idle  hands  and 
sitting  "at  ease  inZion,"  do  you  feel  no  pulse  of  pity  for  the  great  multitude  who  live 
and  weep  and  sin  and  suffer  all  around  you?  Do  you  see  nothing  helpful,  noble,  grand 
in  this  great  band  of  organized  motherhood?  Can  you  with  a  clear  conscience  longer 
sit  with  folded  hands,  turn  deaf  ears  to  their  pleadings,  and  refuse  to  come  up  to  their 
help?  "Your  days  vanish  as  a  tale  that  is  told;"  the  sun  of  your  years  hastens  toward 
its  going  down.  Oh,  kindle  your  zeal  at  the  altars  of  their  glowing  example;  let  your 
faith  be  firm,  your  courage  strong,  your  love  limitless!  Awake,  arise,  and  fight  the 
good  fight  ere  yet  your  sun  has  set,  that  you  go  not  down  to  the  dark  valley  with  the 
blood  of  souls  resting  upon  your  head. 

Mother,  do  you  see  the  great  multitude  whom  no  man  can  number  standing  out- 
side the  door  of  pity  and  protection  with  outstretched  hands  imploring  help — the 
drunkard's  wife,  the  convict's  mother,  the  murderer's  child,  the  poor,  the  weak,  the 
ignorant,  the  guilty?  Day  by  day,  hour  by  hour,  they  call  you.  Will  you  come  up  to 
their  help?  And  when  you  have  crossed  the  swelling  river  and  the  pearly  gates  swing 
open,  will  you  miss  the  blare  of  trumpets  or  the  clash  of  cymbals,  if  only  there  shall 
stand  within  that  radiant  gateway  the  familiar  face  of  some  poor,  sin-stained  woman, 
whose  bleeding  feet  you  once  helped  to  climb  the  shining  stair?  Will  you  sigh  for  the 
golden  vesture  or  the  jeweled  crown  if  she  but  hold  out  toil-worn,  welcoming  hands, 
and,  smiling,  say:  "Come  over  the  threshold?" 

Among  the  manifold  works  and  ways  of  the  organized  motherhood  of  this  land 
not  the  least  important,  and,  I  am  grieved  to  say,  by  no  means  the  least  painful  and 
pitiful,  has  been  that  of  petition  and  legislation.  This  being  interpreted,  reads:  The 
mothers'  petitioning,  and  the  fathers,  in  legislative  hall  convened,  making  of  their  peti- 
tions subjects  for  the  amusement  of  the  assembly.  Nearly  one-half  the  papers  I  pick 
up  contain  pointers  on  this  subject.  Should  I  try  to  use  all  I  find  1  should  be  still  talk- 
ing to  you  at  the  day  of  dawn  of  1893,  which  wouldn't  be  comfortable  for  you.  So, 
leaving  out  all  the  rest,  I  take  for  illustration  one  near  home.  The  issue  of 
August  4  contains  an  account  of  a  mothers'  meeting,  from  which  I  quote  this  para- 
graph: 


750  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

"  The  scientific  temperance  course  of  instruction  is  now  a  part  of  the  common 
school  course  in  all  our  states  save  seven,  Tennessee  ranking  the  least  hopeful  of  the 
seven  in  all  movements  of  reform  and  advancement.  Strenuous  efforts  were  made  dur- 
ing the  last  legislative  session  to  introduce  our  scientific  temperance  educational  bill, 
but  it,  as  well  as  all  the  bills  for  promotion  of  social  purity  and  other  reforms,  were 
deemed  good  jokes,  and  afforded  occasion  for  great  hilarity  among  our  wise  and  hon- 
orable lawmakers." 

My  own  experience  among  our  legislative  Solons,  both  state  and  national,  has 
brought  me  to  the  conclusion  that  among  all  the  feminine  opponents  of  woman's  bal- 
lot there  is  but  one  woman  who  claims  my  sincere  sympathy,  and  she  is  the  affectionate 
spouse  of  the  politician  who  said:  "  No,  John,  I  don't  want  any  woman  suffrage." 
"  You  don't?  Why  not?"  *' Well,  John,  just  because  if  I  had  it  1  should  always  feel 
like  voting  for  you,  and  I  don't  think  I  could  conscientiously  do  it." 

I  know  a  worker  who  once  upon  a  time,  when  she  was  a  trifle  more  verdant  than 
she  is  today,  carried  a  petition  for  better  temperance  legislation,  signed  by  fifteen  thou- 
sand women  of  her  state,  to  a  friend  in  the  Senate,  and  asked  him  to  present  it.  He 
declined.  "Why,  Mr  B,"  said  she,  "  I  thought  you  believed  in  temperance."  "  Oh,  so 
I  do."  "  Well,  don't  you  think  this  is  a  good  bill?"  "Yes — just  between  us."  "Well, 
then,  why  don't  you  present  it?"  "  Why,  my  dear  friend,  you  know  I  am  a  politician. 
I  don't  expect  to  stop  here.  I  am  heading  for  Congress.  Now,  suppose  I  present  this 
bill  and  champion  it,  some  of  my  friends  would  not  stand  by  me  when  that  race  comes 
off."  "  But  we  women  will  stand  by  you,  every  one,  and  here  are  fifteen  thousand  of 
us."  Here  he  broke  into  a  loud  laugh.  "  My  dear  madam,  did  you  say  that  ironically? 
It's  capital  if  you  did."  "Ironically!  Indeed  I  didn't;  what  do  you  mean?"  "Oh, 
well,  then,  you're  more  innocent  than  I  had  supposed.  My  friend,  how  much  do  you 
suppose  your  fifteen  thousand  women  would  weigh  in  an  election  scale  against  two 
German  votes  ?"  Suppose  these  fifteen  thousand  women,  wanting  this  voting  well  done, 
could  have  done  it  themselves,  and  so  neutralized  fifteen  thousand  German  votes,  would 
that  gentleman  have  declined  to  present,  plead,  and  vote  for  that  bill?    I  trow  not. 

In  the  columns  of  the  average  newspaper,  or  the  fulminations  of  the  average  orator, 
one  can  scarcely  go  amiss  for  censorious  remarks  regarding  the  "wild  and  fanatical  female 
who  is  shrieking  for  the  suffrage,  for— she  knows  not  what,  expecting  to  be  benefited — 
she  knows  not  how."  These  gentlemen  are  either  stubbornly  or  wilfully  blind,  or  they 
have  penetrated  a  very  short  distance  into  the  tangled  morass  of  woman's  legal  and 
political  situation.  Ask  any  widow  in  this  state,  whose  wayward  boy  is  daily  and 
hourly  being  lured  down  to  destruction,  if  she  thinks  her  ballot  would  be  of  any  benefit 
to  her  or  her  boy  in  an  anti-saloon  fight.  Ask  the  tax-paying  widow  who  sung  and 
prayed  and  talked  and  worked  and  paid  all  through  our  late  prohibition  amend- 
ment campaign  what  she  saw  when  she  went  to  the  polls  on  election  day.  She  will 
tell  you  that  she  saw  scores  of  male  paupers,  whom  her  quota  of  tax  helped  to  feed 
and  clothe  and  shelter,  driven  from  the  poorhouse  to  put  in  their  ballots  for  the  defeat 
of  the  amendment;  but  if  she  had  attempted  to  cast  a  ballot  it  would  have  been  tossed 
scornfully  aside,  and  she  would  have  been  subject  to  punishment  for  illegal  voting. 
Ask  her,  if,  in  the  light  of  that  experience,  she  thinks  she  "  shrieks  for — she  knows 
not  what." 

During  our  legislative  session — I  mean  during  the  brethren's  legislative  session 
of  1888 — a  bill  was  introduced  "  for  the  better  protection  of  the  property  of  married 
women."  It  was  referred  to  a  committee,  recommended  by  that  committee  for  rejec- 
tion, and  our  honorable  Solons  promptly  followed  that  advice. 

Ask  the  drunkard's  wife,  who  toils  day  and  night  for  the  support  of  her  children, 
whose  hard  earnings  may  be  taken  any  day,  even  to  the  table  at  which  they  eat 
and  the  bed  from  under  them,  to  pay  her  husband's  saloon  bills — ask  that  woman, 
when  she  pleads  for  a  voice  in  making  the  law  or  choosing  the  lawmakers,  if  she  is 
clamoring  for — "  she  knows  not  what."  Go  to  the  poor,  barren  tenement  of 'the  work- 
ing girl,  whose  young  life  is  dragged  out  in  ceaseless  drudgery,  who  toils  month  after 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  751 

month  for  the  merest  pittance  of  starvation  wages — ask  the  sad-eyed  mother  who 
watches  her  roses  fade  and  her  young  strength  fail,  who  knows  the  terrible  temptations 
that  daily  beset  her  in  that  unequal  race — ask  her  if,  in  pleading  to  be  made  a  member 
of  a  representative,  not  a  silent  and  subject  class,  she  is  asking  for — "she  knows  not 
what."  Ask  that  widowed  mother,  whose  ceaseless  "  stitch,  stitch,  stitch"  from  day- 
dawn  till  midnight  scarcely  provides  the  coarsest  and  commonest  food  and  shelter  for 
herself  and  her  little  girl,  who  knows  that  after  her  tenth  birthday  no  law  stands 
between  that  baby-girl  and  the  devouring  wolf  of  legalized  sensuality — ask  that  anxious 
heart  if,  when  she  prays  for  the  day  when  she  shall  hold  in  her  hand  the  only  weapon 
with  which  she  can  protect  that  child  she  is  sending  up  vain,  ignorant  petitions  to  a 
merciful  Father  pleading  for — "  she  knows  not  what." 

We  read  in  olden  story  how  a  Scottish  leader  inclosed  the  heart  of  the  hero  of 
Bannockburn  in  a  silver. casket,  and  hurled  it  into  the  ranks  of  the  enemy,  that  his 
devoted  followers  might  rush  after  it  with  the  instinctive  battle-cry:  "  Heart  of  Bruce! 
I  follow  thee!" 

Brothers!  not  the  dead  senseless  ashes  inclosed  in  silver  shrine,  but  the  living,  bleed- 
ing, breaking  heart  of  American  motherhood  lies  trodden  under  foot  in  the  ranks  of  the 
enemy.  The  chords  that  vibrated  to  sweetest  melody  when  the  eyes  of  her  first-born 
son,  the  hope  of  her  heart  and  house,  smiled  up  into  hers,  lies  torn  and  bleeding  under 
the  relentless  tread  of  the  legalized  liquor  traffic.  The  strings  that  were  twined  with 
a  life  and  death  clasp  around  the  life  and  destiny  of  her  little  baby  girl  lie  crushed 
and  quivering  in  the  devouring  jaws  of  legalized  and  law-protected  sensuality.  The 
ebbing  life  blood  oozes,  drop  by  drop,  as  her  fair  young  daughter,  hounded  on  by  the 
pursuing  fiends  of  ill-paid  labor,  treachery  and  starvation,  plunges  over  the  fatal 
precipice  and  is  lost  in  the  black,  fathomless  abyss  of  moral  and  social  degradation 
and  death. 

And  as  of  old  that  Scottish  leader  stood,  so  stand  I  here  today;  and  I  call  upon 
you,  friends!  brothers!  fellow  soldiers!  knights  of  the  nineteenth  century!  Let  your 
battle-cry  ring  out  so  loud  and  clear  that  all  the  world  shall  hear  it:  "  Mother  heart!  I 
follow  thee!" 


SYNOPSIS  OF  A  PAPER  ON  CHARLES  LAMB. 

By  MRS.  C.  A.  R.  DEVEREUX. 

Mrs.  Devereux's  paper  was  both  analytical  and  dramatic.  She  spoke  at  the 
outset  of  the  peculiar  quality  of  the  wit  and  humor  of  Charles  Lamb,  as  it  shim- 
mers and  sparkles  in  his  essays  and  sayings  and  gives 
luster  to  his  letters.  She  said  in  brief  what  follows: 
To  quote  boldly  his  quaint  and  delicate  fancies  is  like 
tearing  a  bunch  of  wood  violets  from  their  mossy 
nest  and  holding  them  up  to  the  sunshine — they 
wither  at  the  touch.  Lamb's  wit  is  not  simply  a 
tissue  of  jests  and  far-fetched  conceits,  but  a  combin- 
ation of  humor  and  pathos  essentially  different  from 
that  of  any  other  man. 

Taking  her  audience  with  her  in  a  charmingly 
confidential  manner  the  essayist  looked  in  at  the 
South  Sea  House,  Oxford,  Christ  Church  Hospital, 
and  crossed  the  pleasant  fields  of  Hampstead; 
lunched  off  roast  pig  with  Bo-bo,  and  drank  Hyson 
out  of  Bridget  Elias'  China  teacups,  with  the  man- 
darins on  the  saucers,  and  then  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  the  family  at  the  rambling  old  house  in  Nor- 
folk where  Grandmother  Field  used  to  see  the  appa- 
ritions of  the  two  golden-haired  infants  glide  up  and 
down  the  staircase  near  where  she  slept. 

Then  Mrs.  Devereux  touched  upon  the  story  of 
Charles  Lamb's  life,  his  griefs  that  make  him  vener- 
ated, his  frailties  that  make  us  press  our  fingers  to  our  lips  and  command  silence. 

His  life  is  a  story  of  insanity,  and  the  shadow  never  left  it.  His  sister  Mary,  in  a 
moment  of  frenzy,  killed  her  mother,  an  old,  infirm  invalid.  His  was  the  hand  that 
snatched  the  knife  from  her  grasp.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  for  thirty  years  after- 
ward (he  was  then  a  man  of  twenty)  he  devoted  himself  to  her  with  a  singleness  of 
purpose  entirely  without  parallel.  Talford  says  that  when  these  fearful  times  came 
upon  her  she  blazed  out  into  descriptions  of  bygone  days  in  jeweled  words  and 
speeches  like  those  running  through  the  works  of  the  old  comedy's  masters. 

An  interesting  portion  of  the  essay  was  a  description  of  an  evening  at  Charles 
Lamb's  humble  quarters  in  the  inner  temple,  with  word  pictures  of  Leigh  Hunt,  Haz- 
litt,  Coleridge,  Godwin,  Talford  and  Holcroft,  where  the  champagne  was  in  the  talk, 
whose  aroma  and  effervescence  has  come  down  to  us  and  will  go  on  forever. 

The  essay  concluded  with  a  little  circlet  of  Williant's,  a  few  examples  of  Lamb's 
quaint  and  jocose  speech  that  have  escaped  into  notoriety  so  well  presented  that  their 
luster  was  scarcely  dimmed. 

His  was  a  many-sided  mind.  His  wit  wins  us,  his  pathos  woos  us,  his  grand  and 
simple  nature  fills  us  with  equal  awe  and  reverence.  His  is  an  influence  that  can  never 
die. 


MRS.  C.   A.  R.  DEVEREUX, 


Clara  A.  R.  Deverenx  was  born  in  Boston,  Mass.  Her  parents  were  Zoeth  and  Phcebe  Rich.  She  was  educated  at 
Oread  Institute,  Worcester;  at  Framingham  and  Bedford  Academies.  She  has  traveled  extensively.  She  married  Gen, 
Arthur  Forrester  Devereux,  of  Salem,  Mass.  Her  special  work  has  been  editorials  and  correspondence  on  the  staff  of  the 
Cincinnati  Commercial  Gazette,  Mrs.  Devereux  enjoys  the  distinction  of  being  one  of  the  most  brilliant  writers  on  the 
Western  press.  Her  ready  wit  and  warm  heart  make  her  equally  admired  and  beloved  by  all  who  know  her.  Her  profession, 
journalism.    In  religious  faith  she  is  Episcopalian.    Posfoffice  address  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

762 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  753 

We  do  not  say,  "  I  should  have  loved  him  had  the  self-same  day  but  found  us  liv- 
ing, but  I  hold  him  dear  now,  at  this  moment,  and  if  patient  ears,  wrapped  in  God's 
silence  dimly  now  and  then,  catch  echoes  of  the  grateful  love  of  men,  Charles  Lamb 
rests  happily  through  all  these  years." 


(48) 


OUR  SPANISH-AMERICAN  NEIGHBORS. 


MRS.   ANNA  A.   DODD. 


By  MRS.  ANNA  A.  DODD. 

In  January,  1891,  I  sailed  from  New  York  for  the  purpose  of  taking  the  position 
of  principal  literary  teacher  in  the  Santiago  College,  Chili,  the  largest  and  best  En- 
glish college  in  South  America.  At  the  end  of  eight 
days,  after  experiencing  every  variety  of  climate  and 
weather,  including  a  fierce  storm  off  Cape  Hatteras, 
we  reached  Colon.  Here  a  perfect  transformation 
scene  awaited  us — a  new  Heaven,  a  new  earth  and  a 
new  people,  who  spoke  to  us  in  a  new  and  unknown 
tongue. 

It  required  five  hours  to  cross  the  isthmus,  which 
seemed  a  mammoth  conservatory  of  tropical  plants, 
or  a  glimpse  into  the  interior  of  Africa,  with  its  banana 
plantations  and  the  rude  huts  of  the  negroes,  made  of 
sticks  and  plastered  with  mud  and  thatched  with 
grass.  The  people  appeared  to  be  an  indigenous 
growth,  and  they  were  as  listless  and  aimless  as  the 
vegetation  of  which  they  seemed  a  part.  The  chil- 
dren were  suggestive  of  the  real  in  art,  and  would 
have  delighted  the  heart  of  the  sculptor.  They  were 
wholly  nude.  Their  minds  had  never  been  profaned 
with  the  cultivated  idea  of  modesty  of  some  of  our 
ultra  civilized  contemporaries,  who,  for  the  sake  of 
ethics,  would  drape  the  cold  and  unresponsive  marble 
that  leaves  so  little  for  the  imagination. 
I  might  linger  here  and  tell  you  much  of  the  ruined  and  wrecked  machinery  and 
the  deserted  villages,  which  mutely  represented  the  wrecked  fortunes  and  hopes  of 
thousands  of  people,  as  well  as  the  ruined  reputation  and  lost  manhood  of  the  specu- 
lators whose  infamous  conduct  has  furnished  food  for  scandal  in  the  late  Panama 
swindle,  but  I  must  hasten  on. 

The  evening  of  the  same  day  we  took  the  elegant  English  steamer  Santiago  for 
our  three  weeks'  voyage  to  Valparaiso,  the  port  of  Santiago.  To  exchange  the  choppy 
Caribbean  Sea  and  the  tempest-tossed  Atlantic  for  the  mild  and  undulating  swells  of 
the  Pacific  was  a  happy  release  for  the  seasick  passengers.  The  ship  stopped  at  every 
port,  which  gave  a  good  opportunity  to  observe  the  country  and  the  people,  but  this 
soon  becomes  monotonous,  as  it  is  a  constant  repetition.  The  rugged  Andes  are  bare 
and  desolate,  except  now  and  again  a  fertile  strip  of  land  watered  by  a  mountain 
stream  on  its  way  to  the  ocean.  At  Guayaquil  the  weather  was  truly  tropical,  100°  in 
the  shade  in  February.  It  was  toward  the  close  of  the  rainy  season,  and  the  streets 
were  full  of  green  and  stagnant  water,  which  offered  good  breeding  ground  for  the 
yellow  fever.  Callao  was  reached  in  the  height  of  the  carnival  season.  The  captain 
advised  us  if  we  went  on  shore  to  put  on  such  garments  as  we  would  be  willing  to  cast 
overboard   on   our  return,  for  the   revelers  were   no  respecters  of  person.     We  dis- 

MrB.  Anna  A.  Dodd  was  bom  at  North  Bend,  Ohio,  in  1834.  Her  parents  were  natives  of  the  United  States.  She  is  a 
granddaughter  of  James  Silver,  -who  was  a  judge  in  ( "incinnati.  Ohio,  for  twenty  years.  She  was  educated  in  the  free  schools  of 
Cincinnati,  including  the  Hughes  High  School.  She  has  traveled  in  her  own  country  and  South  America,  having  spent  nine 
months  in  Chili.  She  married  Edwin  D.  Dodd,  of  Cincinnati,  who  is  now  deceased.  She  is  the  mother  of  three  daughters. 
Mrs.  Dodd  was  principal  of  a  Cincinnati  school  five  years.  In  religious  faith  she  has  been  an  Episcopalian.  Her  postoffice 
^iddresB  is  South  Bend,  Ind. 

754 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  755 

erectly  remained  on  board  the  ship.  The  condition  of  the  watermen  who  came  out 
the  following  day  bore  testimony  to  the  wisdom  of  the  captain's  warning,  for  their 
clothes  were  like  Joseph's  coat,  of  many  colors,  from  the  frequent  drenchings  of  col- 
ored fluids  cast  on  them  the  previous  day.  When  we  left  the  United  States  there  was 
a  small  speck  on  the  political  horizon  of  Chili,  which  had  rapidly  developed  into  a 
portentous  war-cloud,  of  which  we  were  blissfully  ignorant  until  we  reached  Callao. 
Here  the  captain  of  the  Santiago  received  orders  to  go  no  further,  but  to  transfer  all 
passengers  to  the  Pizarro,  an  older  and  less  valued  vessel.  On  entering  Chilian  waters 
a  man-of-war  fired  a  shot  across  our  bows  and  ordered  us  to  halt.  As  the  muzzles  of 
some  very  fierce-looking  guns  were  peering  through  the  portholes  of  the  aforesaid 
man-of-war,  no  time  was  lost  in  obeying  orders.  We  remained  quite  stationary  while 
the  man-of-war  performed  a  sort  of  nautical  war-dance  or  waltz,  by  moving  entirely 
around  our  vessel,  while  the  captain  asked  several  questions,  which  being  answered 
satisfactorily,  we  were  ordered  to  "move  on."  We  began  to  feel  like  poor  Joe  in 
"  Bleak  House,"  who  responded  to  a  like  order  by  saying,  "Where  would  you  have  a 
poor  cove  move  on  to?"  For  we  had  been  told  that  in  all  probability  we  would  not 
be  allowed  to  land  at  a  single  Chilian  port,  but,  fortunately,  results  proved  otherwise. 
We  tarried  in  the  Bay  of  Valparaiso  all  night  waiting  for  the  captain  of  the  port  to 
give  us  permission  to  go  ashore,  still  in  a  state  of  uncertainty.  But  morning  brought 
a  blessed  relief  to  mind  and  body,  and  we  lost  no  time  in  accepting  the  freedom  of 
the  city. 

When  I  reached  Santiago  the  following  day  I  was  literally  turned  round.  Mid- 
summer in  February!  Washington's  birthday  anniversary  the  hottest  of  the  season! 
The  sun  rose  in  the  East  as  usual,  but  turned  to  the  North  instead  of  to  the  South,  The 
constellations  had  reversed  their  positions.  The  Dipper  was  lost  to  view.  The  South- 
ern Cross  was  not  a  compensation,  for  it  was  a  disappointment. 

The  school  year  began  in  March  and  closed  for  the  summer  holidays  at  Christ- 
mas. Santiago  is  the  head  of  a  system  of  schools  established  in  Chili  for  the  purpose 
of  furnishing'funds  for  missionary  purposes.  It  is  on  the  plah  of  our  seminaries  in  the 
North,  but  it  is  not  intended  for  propaganda.  It  meets  a  much  needed  want  for  edu- 
cational purposes.  Its  patronage  is  from  the  best  families  in  Chili,  and  now  numbers 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty  students.  The  most  of  the  teachers  are  from  the  United 
States.  The  graduating  class,  which  I  taught,  was  composed  of  Spanish,  French, 
German,  English  and  American,  the  latter  being  represented  by  one  girl.  They  all 
spoke  two  or  three  languages.  The  school  observes  all  feast  days  that  the  national 
banks  do,  but  the  greatest  feast  day  was  the  7th  of  July.  The  United  States  minister 
also  observes  this  day  by  a  formal  reception  of  all  good  Americans,  foreign  ministers 
and  state  ofificials. 

Just  here  I  wish  to  offer  a  tribute  of  respect  to  Patrick  Egan  who,  whatever  may 
have  been  his  errors  of  commission  or  omission  politically  or  ministerially,  proved 
himself  a  humane.  Christian  gentleman,  as  his  legation  was  a  place  of  refuge,  not  only 
for  Americans  during  that  fierce  and  bloody  war,  but  for  the  opposing  factions  who 
sought  his  protection. 

^'  Old  Glory  "  never  appeared  to  a  better  advantage  than  when  peacefully  floating 
in  the  breeze  as  a  menace  even  in  a  foreign  country,  when  the  war-dogs  were  loosened 
to  hound  down  those  who  had  the  courage  of  their  convictions  and  openly  asserted 
themselves.  Every  building  in  the  city  is  required  by  law  to  erect  a  flagstaff,  that  the 
national  flag  may  be  raised  when  the  order  is  given  to  do  so,  a  custom  worthy  of  imi- 
tation. The  college  rejoiced  in  two,  one  for  the  flag  of  Chili  and  one  for  the  "stars 
and  stripes."  The  latter  was  treated  with  all  the  respect  due  it  during  the  terrible 
sacking  of  the  city  that  followed  the  close  of  the  war. 

Santiago,  a  typical  Spanish-American  city,  is  the  finest  on  the  Pacific  slope.  From 
its  geographical  position  it  enjoys  a  delightful  climate  much  of  the  year,  but  its  close 
proximity  to  the  mountains  that  are  covered  with  snow  in  the  rainy  season  brings  the 
mercury  down  to  forty  or  fifty  degrees,  and  occasionally  to  the  freezing  point.     There  is 


756  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

a  scarcity  of  fuel,  as  the  early  Spanish  settlers  cut  away  the  timber,  and  tree  planting- 
has  not  become  a  universal  custom  with  their  descendants.  Coal  is  found,  but  it  is 
expensive;  hence  the  people  accustom  themselves  to  do  without  fire  save  for  cooking 
purposes.  The  result  is  great  mortality  among  children  and  anaemia  among  women 
who  rarely  live  to  an  advanced  age.  Men  wear  their  overcoats  in  and  out  of  doors, 
rub  their  fingers  to  excite  warmth,  and  imbibe  wine  and  strong  drink,  not  only  to  relieve 
the  biting  cold  of  winter,  but  also  the  oppressive  heat  of  summer.  Servants  move 
about  with  shawls  on  their  heads  and  cover  their  mouths  to  retain  the  heat  from  exha- 
lation. It  is  a  pitiful  sight  to  see  the  poor  and  thinly  clad  sitting  outside  of  their 
miserable  adobe  huts  when  the  weather  is  fine  to  enjoy  the  warmth  of  the  sun.  The 
stores  are  never  heated,  and  the  fruit  and  flower  venders  may  be  seen  the  whole  year 
round  in  the  open  air.  This  remarkable  country,  with  more  attention  to  the  amenities 
of  life,  would  be  a  delightful  abiding  place.  It  is  free  from  thunderstorms^  cyclones 
and  blizzards,  and  there  is  no  snow  except  in  the  mountains.  The  people  are  occa- 
sionally shaken  by  an  earthquake  which  at  the  time  is  very  terrifying,  to  which  I  can 
bear  testimony  by  personal  experience.  The  name  Valparaiso  means  "  Vale  of  Para- 
dise," which  is  significant  of  the  climate.  There  are  three  distinct  grades  of  society 
in  Spanish  America,  the  rich,  the  middle  class  and  the  very  poor.  The  rich  are  the 
aristocracy,  or  nobility,  as  they  style  themselves.  They  are  very  exclusive,  and  only 
admit  people  of  their  own  rank  to  intimacy.  Their  revenues  are  obtained  from  mines 
and  haciendas,  which  are  worked  by  the  peons,  a  mixture  of  Spanish  and  Indian. 

The  rich  lead  lives  of  idleness,  the  men  are  fond  of  gain  and  gambling,  and  the 
women  of  dress  and  gossiping.  The  sons  of  rich  men  are  often  educated  abroad,  and 
the  daughters  acquire  a  few  superficial  accomplishments  and  a  smattering  of  lan- 
guages, either  in  the  convents  or  from  foreign  governesses.  They  have  the  Spanish 
style  of  beauty,  and  are  very  devout  about  attending  mass  every  morning,  wearing  a 
black  dress  and  the  Spanish  mantilla,  as  bonnets  are  forbidden  in  the  churches  of  Chili. 
In  the  afternoon  they  may  be  seen  riding  or  walking,  with  uncovered  heads.  It  is  a 
disgrace  for  a  lady  to  nurse  or  attend  to  her  children.  These  (maternal)  functions 
are  delegated  to  servants  who  are  ignorant,  and  most  of  them  examples  of  total 
depravity,  as  they  are  supposed  to  break  every  commandment  in  the  decalogue. 
Women  do  not  command  respect,  but  simply  admiration  in  proportion  to  their  beauty,, 
courtesy  and  gallantry  on  the  part  of  the  men  being,  like  veneering,  but  on  the  surface. 
Young  women  dare  not  venture  on  the  street  in  daytime  without  an  escort  or  chap- 
eron. Schoolgirls  are  not  allowed  to  go  and  come  from  school,  no  matter  how  short 
the  distance,  without  a  servant  at  their  heels,  or  a  protecting  guardian  beside  them. 
In  Chili  a  woman  is  an  infant,  under  the  law,  until  she  reaches  the  age  of  twenty-five 
years.  To  marry  under  that  age  without  the  consent  of  parents  or  guardian,  would  be 
illegal.  If,  by  any  stretch  of  the  imagination,  we  could  fancy  these  women  organizing 
a  literary  club  after  the  manner  of  our  women,  from  the  largest  cities  to  the  smallest 
villages,  they  would  be  the  butt  of  ridicule  in  the  newspapers  and  clubs,  or  thought  fit 
subjects  for  a  lunatic  asylum.  The  women  of  the  United  States  are  regarded  by  our 
Spanish-American  neighbors  as  very  despotic,  and  are  rarely  selected  by  them  as 
wives. 

Schools  are  greatly  needed  in  these  countries  to  elevate  the  women  as  well  as  the 
masses.  Missionary  schools  are  doing  much  good,  but  in  many  ways  they  are  handi- 
capped and  fail  to  reach  the  large  majority,  who  need  to  learn  that  labor  is  honorable 
and  that  idleness  is  vice.  President  Balmaceda  understood  the  wants  of  the  people. 
He  was  a  progressive  and  broad-minded  man.  He  built  fine  public  schools  to  educate 
the  common  people,  and  did  much  to  improve  the  country,  but  his  efforts  did  not  suit 
the  conservative  element,  and  he  was  falsely  accused  of  squandering  the  public  money, 
which  finally  precipitated  the  late  war  in  Chili,  with  which  you  are  all  familiar.  These 
schools  now  stand  for  his  monuments,  and  the  time  will  come  when  his  memory  will 
be  respected  The  people  are  patriotic,  in  their  way;  they  are  great  hero-worshipers, 
and  love  to  honor  their  distinguished  men,  when  dead,  by  erecting  statues  to  their 
memory  in  the  public  squares  and  other  places  of  public  resort. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  757 

The  bulk  of  the  property  is  held  by  the  church,  and  a  small  minority  of  the  peo- 
ple, who  make  the  laws  and  place  only  a  nominal  tax  on  the  realty.  To  meet  gov- 
■ernment  expenses,  heavy  duties  are  imposed  on  the  necessaries  of  life,  but  the  lux- 
uries escape  with  a  small  tribute. 

Nearly  all  business  is  in  the  hands  of  foreigners.  Every  store  and  shop,  even  to 
a  cobbler's  stall,  must  pay  a  license  or  patent  for  revenue.  An  auctioneer  pays  one 
thousand  dollars  and  upward  per  annum.  This  burdens  the  tradespeople  and  the 
poor,  and  there  is  no  redress,  the  despotism  of  the  rulers  being  proportioned  to  the 
ignorance  of  the  people  as  a  mass.  There  is  no  provision  made  for  the  indigent  poor; 
the  halt,  the  lame  and  the  blind  all  meet  in  the  marketplaces  and  other  conspicuous 
points  and  beg  for  aid.  Yet  the  religion  of  these  people  is  noticeable  in  all  relations 
•of  life.  Even  business  houses  are  dedicated  to  a  patron  saint,  whose  name  is  deeply 
cut  in  the  pavement,  and  his  figure  placed  in  the  window  where  goods  are  exposed  for 
sale.  Private  houses  often  have  a  niche  in  the  outer  wall,  in  which  is  placed  an  image 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  surrounded  by  plants  and  cut  flowers,  and  lighted  at  night  by 
a  gas  jet.  Cemeteries  are  filled  with  tombs  built  above  ground,  descending  two  or 
three  stories,  under  which  is  a  receptacle  for  the  bones  of  the  "  oldest  inhabitant." 
These  tombs  are  fashioned  like  Greek  temples,  and  are  guarded  by  a  favorite  saint 
and  the  Virgin  cut  in  marble.  Some  of  them  are  very  expensive.  One  belonging 
to  the  De  Soto  family,  built  wholly  of  white  marble,  surmounted  by  a  life-sized  angel 
•exquisitely  carved,  cost  twenty-five  thousand  dollars.  The  poor  have  no  permanent 
burial  place;  a  hole  is  made  in  the  ground,  the  same  being  rented  for  a  certain  length 
of  time,  but  at  the  expiration  of  the  lease,  the  body  is  thrown  into  the  Gehenna  beyond 
the  wall,  and  covered  with  lime.  The  cities  have  no  beautiful  suburbs.  There  are 
quintas  and  chacras  of  a  block  or  a  few  acres,  surrounded  by  high  adobe  walls  to 
exclude  the  "Goths  and  Vandals."  These  grounds  are  highly  cultivated  by  the  aid  of 
irrigation.  Statuary  is  largely  used  for  decorating  the  grounds  as  well  as  the  houses. 
Except  in  the  parks,  there  are  no  fine  driveways;  the  country  is  in  a  state  of  nature, 
and  during  the  rainy  season  the  roads  are  wellnigh  impassable.  Agriculture  is  con- 
ducted on  the  chacras  or  small  farms  in  the  most  primitive  manner.  The  old  Abra- 
hamic  plow  is  used  to  tickle  the  ground  that  is  expected  to  laugh  with  the  harvest. 
Donkeys  with  their  panniers,  and  clumsy  carts  drawn  by  oxen,  carry  the  fruits  and 
vegetables  to  market.  In  the  month  of  September  I  spent  the  diez  e  ocho  holiday  of 
ten  days  on  a  large  hacienda  of  five  thousand  acres,  valued  at  six  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  which  formerly  belonged  to  Balmaceda.  Three  thousand  acres  were  in  wheat 
in  all  stages  of  growth.  Peons  were  plowing  for  the  last  sowing,  twenty  in  a  field. 
These  haciendas  are  superintended  by  practical  Scotchmen  or  Englishmen,  who  require 
the  peons  to  use  modern  plows.  They  are  stubbornly  opposed  to  change  of  tools  or 
fashion.  Thousands  of  horses,  cattle  and  sheep  roamed  over  the  foot-hills,  often 
straggling  across  the  mountains  to  the  other  side.  Once  a  year  the  cattle  of  the 
country  are  driven  in  by  herdsmen  to  an  appointed  place,  and,  as  each  owner  has  his 
brand,  they  are  easily  assorted,  taken  where  they  belong  and  sold. 

The  peons  live  for  successive  generations  on  the  same  hacienda.  Each  family 
has  an  adobe  house  and  a  plat  of  ground,  and  they  close  together  in  a  sort  of  village. 
They  work  for  hire,  and  are  faithful  servants.  No  provision  is  made  for  the  intellect- 
ual and  moral  elevation  of  these  people.  They  amuse  themselves  on  Sundays  with 
horse-racing,  etc.  Bull-fighting  is  prohibited  in  Chili,  but  not  in  Peru  or  Mexico. 
The  Chilians  are  experts  in  the  use  of  the  lasso. 

Manufactures  are  limited  to  a  few  necessary  articles  of  but  inferior  quality. 
Americans  have  built  most  of  their  railroads,  the  French  improved  their  harbors,  and 
these,  with  the  German  and  English,  established  their  commerce. 

Briefly  outlined,  this  is  the  social  and  political  condition  of  a  typical  Spanish- 
American  country,  which,  after  an  existence  of  over  three  hundred  and  fifty  years,  is 
walking  in  the  beaten  paths  and  living  after  the  manner  of  its  ancestors.  With  a 
desire  for  liberty  and  independence,  it  threw  off  the  yoke  of  Spain,  but  among  them- 


758  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

selves  there  is  a  constant  struggle  for  supremacy.  They  are  proud,  fond  of  power, 
gain,  ease  and  luxury. 

The  docile  peons,  although  free,  are  still  slaves,  and  constitute  the  fighting  force 
in  time  of  war.  Through  their  veins  trickles  the  same  blood  that  coursed  through 
those  of  the  early  Spanish  discoverers  and  conquerors.  Cortezand  Pizarro  were  relig- 
ious bigots  and  fanatics,  who  came  with  the  sword  in  one  hand  and  the  cross  in  the 
other.  They  fought  in  the  name  of  Spain's  patron  saint,  lago,  but  showed- a  greater 
desire  to  obtain  gold  than  to  convert  souls  to  Christianity.  "  They  came,  they  saw, 
they  conquered,"  and  the  descendants  of  the  Incas  and  the  Aztecs  rest  like  an  incubus 
on  the  sleeping,  dreaming  Spanish-Americans,  who  have  not  only  exonerated  the 
crimes  of  Pizarro,  but  first  exalted  him  as  an  hero  and  later  as  a  saint.  After  three 
hundred  years  his  body  was  exhumed,  placed  in  a  glass  casket,  and  enshrined  in  the 
cathedral  at  Lima,  Peru,  where  I  saw  it  on  my  return  home.  Minister  Hicks,  who  was 
present,  related  to  me  the  ceremonies  that  attended  his  consecration.  This  was  done 
at  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  soil  of  Peru  is  so  impregnated  with  niter 
that  the  bodies  of  the  dead  are  preserved. 

The  early  settlements  of  Spanish  America  were  almost  one  hundred  years  in 
advance  of  those  of  North  America.  The  very  garden  of  the  continent  was  their 
chosen  abiding  place.  From  Mexico  to  Chili,  nature  has  been  lavish  in  her  gifts  of 
climate,  soil  and  products.  Within  a  space  embracing  the  tropics  and  semi-tropics, 
sea  girt  on  all  sides,  with  ranges  of  mountains  inclosing  fertile  valleys  and  rising  into 
tablelands  adapted  to  the  culture  of  every  cereal,  fruit  and  plant  that  may  be  culti- 
vated for  the  sustenance  and  the  pleasure  of  man;  gold,  silver  and  precious  stones, 
as  well  as  the  baser  metals;  large  domains  suited  to  the  grazing  of  cattle  or  agricul- 
tural purposes;  forests  in  which  abound  the  greatest  variety  of  woods;  rivers  navigable 
far  into  the  interior,  of  the  country  on  the  banks  of  which  the  soil  is  inexhaustible; 
rare  and  beautiful  plants,  that  may  adorn  the  conservatory  or  supply  the  alembic  of 
the  chemist  for  medicinal  purposes.  Surrounded  by  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans, 
barter  and  trade  may  be  carried  on  between  the  two  Americas  with  almost  as  much 
ease  as  on  our  great  rivers  of  commerce,  as  the  ships  that  ply  up  and  down  tKe  coast 
are  rarely  out  of  sight  of  land;  so  that  to  those  who  enjoy  ocean  travel  is  offered  the 
most  delightful  opportunity,  as  summer  reigns  the  year  round  and  the  traveler  may 
revel  in  all  the  luxuries  of  the  tropic  and  temperate  zones. 

Yet,  with  all  these  advantages,  our  Spanish-American  neighbors  have  failed  to  keep 
abreast  of  the  times.  It  is  mostly  due  to  two  causes:  first,  the  homogeneousness  of 
the  people;  second,  uniformity  of  religion.  In  the  plan  of  creation  a  diversity  of  races 
was  wisely  provided,  with  the  differences  of  temperament  and  color  to  adapt  them  to 
the  various  locations  wherein  they  dwell.  The  different  species  of  the  same  race  also 
seems  necessary  to  evolve  or  develop  the  highest  and  best  conditions  of  society.  To 
this  variety  is  due,  no  doubt,  in  part,  the  remarkable  advancement  and  prosperity  of  the 
United  States.  By  tacit  consent,  we  all  learn  to  speak  the  same  language  which  enables 
us  to  travel  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  without  guide  or  courier,  and  distinguishes 
us  from  Europe  by  removing  the  insuparable  barriers  to  free  intercourse  and  travel. 

The  same  language  is  universal  in  Spanish-America,  but  there  the  antecedents 
have  been  the  same,  and  their  habits  and  customs  gain  nothing  by  contact  with  each 
other.  Uniformity  of  religion  leads  to  bigotry  and  intolerance,  as  well  as  persecution 
of  those  whose  beliefs  and  forms  of  worship  differ  from  those  of  the  established 
church.  This  is  largely  true  in  all  of  Spanish-America.  In  Peru,  to  preach  the  gospel 
in  Spanish,  except  after  the  prescribed  methods,  subjects  the  offender  to  arrest  and 
imprisonment.  Chili  is  more  tolerant.  Protestant  churches  are  allowed,  but  they  are 
not  permitted  to  have  a  belfry  or  tower  in  which  to  place  a  bell  to  call  the  people  to 
worship.  Differences  of  religion  and  politics  are  better  for  the  body  politic  if  they 
may  be  openly  expressed.  Free  speech,  free  press,  free  schools  and  freedom  to 
worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  one's  own  conscience,  lie  at  the  foundation 
of  true  republicanism. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  759 

With  a  deep  sense  of  gratitude  to  Spain  for  having  made  it  possible  for  Columbus  to 
discover  America,  where  so  many  millions  of  people  find  free  and  happy  homes,  there 
is  a  tinge  of  regret  that  her  own  offspring  in  the  New  World  has  been  surpassed  in 
achievement  and  enterprise  by  her  twin  sister,  North  America.  Columbus  was  not  a 
Spaniard,  He  owed  his  nativity  to  that  land  that' has  produced  poets,  painters,  sculp- 
tors and  men  of  letters,  where  they  breathe  an  atmosphere  filled  with  inspiration. 
Columbus  felt  its  influence,  and  it  stirred  his  pious  soul  to  its  very  depths.  He  felt 
God  had  given  him  a  mission,  but  he  was  looked  upon  at  home  and  abroad  as  an 
impracticable  dreamer,  until  a  woman,  who  understood  and  interpreted  his  dream,  lent 
a  helping  hand,  and  that  woman  was  a  Spaniard. 

When  Columbus  landed  on  the  shores  of  the  New  World,  he  claimed  it  in  the 
name  of  his  benefactors;  when  he  planted  the  cross,  he  dedicated  it  to  Christianity, 
Since  then  thousands  of  people  who  have  been  persecuted  for  opinion's  sake  have 
here  sought  refuge  and  found  a  home. 

With  the  dawn  of  the  twentieth  century  may  our  Spanish-American  neighbors,  who 
are  bound  to  us  by  natural  ties,  be  still  closer  bound  by  bands  of  steel,  bearing  the 
cars  of  progress  laden  with  a  higher  civilization.  May  there  be  a  transfusion  of 
Anglo-Saxon  blood  to  quicken  their  sluggish  veins,  to  lift  them  to  a  higher  and  bet- 
ter condition  materially  and  spiritually. 


AGRICULTURE. 

By  MRS.  AMANDA  M.  EDWARDS. 

The  first  efforts  of  the  human  family  toward  a  livelihood  must  have  been  to  till 
the  soil.     Necessity  demanded  it.     The  rich  soil  of  the  valleys  was  utilized  for  farm- 
ing purposes,  and  in  time  the  hilly  portions  of  the 
country  were  covered 'with  "  cattle  upon  a  thousand 
hills." 

The  first  agriculturists  were  the  prime  factors  in 
the  wealth  and  stability  of  the  land,  and  of  untold 
influence  in  elevating  the  nations  to  positions  of 
splendor  and  power;  and  today  we  have  proof  on 
every  hand  that  agriculture  is  the  leading  industry  of 
the  world.  With  the  settlement  of  the  various  colo- 
nies, agriculture  was  the  first  and  most  important 
branch  of  business.  With  it  was  allied  the  raising  of 
stock,  and  the  differentiation  of  industry  which  must 
follow  the  manufacture  of  the  various  articles  of 
clothing  from  the  raw  material  thus  provided. 

Columbus  in  his  second  voyage  brought  the  first 
cattle  to  America.  Careful  practical  study,  and  knowl- 
edge applied,  has  developed  great  improvement  in  all 
our  breeds.  They  are  also  fed  and  fattened  accord- 
ing to  scientific  principles. 

Nature  has  most  lavishly  placed  at  man's  com- 
MRs.  AMANDA  M.  EDWARDS.  "1.^"^  thc  richcs  of  hcr  hattdiwork  in  natural  growths, 

with  all  the  opportunities  of  advancement. 
The  early  Romans  did  not  bring  the  art  of  agriculture  to  its  most  perfect  con- 
dition, but  they  understood  a  mode  of  culture  which  insured  abundant  crops. 

Some  claim  that  those  who  would  make  a  failure  of  all  other  business  could  profit- 
ably engage  in  agricultural  pursuits;  but  to  obtain  the  greatest  success  a  farmer  must 
know  more  of  the  occupation  than  merely  the  sowing  and  reaping.  It  is  not  enough 
to  put  some  seed  in  any  ground  and  wait  for  the  harvest.  The  grain  must  be  sown  upon 
soil  best  adapted  to  it,  and  the  natural  fertility  of  the  soil  must  be  retained.  The  prac- 
tical and  scientific  agriculturist  understands  the  composition  and  formation  of  soils, 
and  the  economy  of  nature  in  making  the  various  deposits  of  fertilizing  matter  in  such 
form  as  to  be  utilized  by  man  as  necessity  requires.  He  must  judge  of  its  texture,  its 
composition  and  its  productiveness.  He  must  understand  the  definitions  of  soils  from 
their  obvious  qualities,  and  be  able  to  designate  from  their  composition  the  clays, 
loams,  sands,  gravels,  chalks  or  peats,  and  to  tell  of  their  texture  whether  heavy,  stiff, 
or  impervious,  or  light  friable  or  porous;  whether  wet,  cold  and  late,  or  dry,  warm  and 
early,  and  according  to  their  measure  of  fertility  whether  rich  or  poor.  He  learns  the 
color-tone  of  darkness  of  the  soil,  which  conveys  to  his  practical  eye  the  power  of 
vegetable  production.  He  detects  the  badge  of  mourning  resulting  from  the  decom- 
position or  slow  cremation  of  organic  material.  He  learns  of  the  ways  and  means  of 
nature  whereby  the  richest  elements  in  the  soil  can  be  set  free  from  the  organically 

Mrs.  Amanda  M.  Edwards  is  a  native  of  Montgomery  County,  New  York.  She  was  born  May  16,  1848.  Her  parents 
were  Isaac  Mereness  and  Sarah  Bingham.  She  was  educated  at  Ames  Academy,  Whitestown  Seminary,  and  at  Utica,  N.  Y., 
and  has  traveled  in  th  United  States  and  Great  Britain.  She  married  De  Wayne  Palmer,  Utica,  N.  Y.,  1870,  and  Ira  Edwards^ 
New  Hartford,  New  York,  1878.  Mrs.  Edwards  is  engaged  in  agriculture  and  stock  farming.  She  is  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Fremont,  Neb. 

760 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  761 

dead  to  the  organically  living  state,  and  to  note  the  steady  resurrection  from  death  to 
life.  He  can  judge  of  the  adaptation  of  different  sections  to  the  growth  of  varied  soil 
products,  and  their  resources  in  the  essential  elements  of  fertility.  He  is  able  to  select 
the  localities  and  conditions  best  adapted  to  the  largest  growth  of  farm  products  and 
to  state  where  the  greatest  nutritive  value  to  such  growths  would  be  imparted. 

Education  with  the  farmer  has  become  a  pressing  necessity.  The  claims  of  agri- 
culture and  of  education  are  co-extensive.  The  greater  the  appliances  of  mind  to  any 
department  of  physical  labor  the  greater  the  results.  Well  trained  and  informed  mind 
can  control  physical  energies  quite  as  it  pleases,  and  never  is  its  power  of  control  of 
more  avail  than  in  the  business  of  husbandry.  Brains  are  brought  into  use  as  well  as 
muscle.  In  order  to  have  any  worthy  success  the  agriculturist  must  carry  into  his 
work  a  fullness  of  knowledge;  not  merely  a  sufficiency,  but  more  than  a  sufficiency. 
His  success  calls  for  intelligence  and  observation,  and  pays  a  premium  on  energy  and 
ability.  With  the  naturally  sound  judgment  which  his  business  cultivates,  the  farmer 
needs  a  good  education,  as  well  as  the  lawyer,  the  physician  or  the  clergyman.  The 
times  demand  this  on  considerations  quite  distinct  from  mere  agricultural  skill.  The 
affairs  of  state  and  the  intimate  relations  of  agriculture  to  them  call  our  legislators 
from  the  intelligent  body  of  agriculturists. 

That  which  is  true  of  the  farmer  applies  to  each  and  all  the  departments  of  agri- 
culture. 

Among  the  many  good  things  which  stamp  the  agriculturist's  work  as  of  Divine 
appointment  is  its  diversity.  While  it  always  includes  contact  with  and  care  of  the 
soil,  its  wide  range  allows  us  to  speak  of  the  agriculturist  as  a  farmer  or  a  shepherd, 
or  a  grain-grower,  or  a  stock-raiser,  or  a  market-gardener,  or  a  dairyman,  or  a  granger, 
or  a  hayseed,  all  of  which  vocations  are  unlimited  in  their  aim  and  broad  in  their 
scope,  and  are  capable  of  developing  a  variety  of  talents  or  gratifying  a  wide  range  of 
tastes. 

It  has  been  said  that  "Agriculture  is  a  born  science."  It  is  full  of  botany,  zoology, 
geology  and  entomology.  It  is  full  of  chemistry  from  the  soil  to  the  growing  plant. 
It  gives  full  employment  to  the  powers  of  both  mind  and  body.  An  agriculturist  may 
have  the  best  thought  of  the  vocation  which  he  represents.  He  may  daily  find  a 
broader  sphere  than  that  prescribed  by  the  dollars  invested.  Owing  to  the  fact  that 
he  is  closely  associated  with  nature,  he  is  in  close  relation  with  the  spirit  of  all  life, 
and  in  the  immediate  presence  of  the  Great  Author.  The  natural  tendencies  of  his 
aspirations  are  daily  led  toward  good  and  toward  God.  From  the  day  the  farmer 
sows  his  seed  until  he  harvests  his  crop,  every  day  of  the  season,  he  is  dependent  upon 
beneficent  Providence  for  favor  and  prosperity  upon  his  broad  fields,  and  is  intuitively 
led  to  look  from  "  Nature  up  to  Nature's  God." 

The  great  freedom  from  excitement,  peculiar  to  the  farmer  more  than  any  other 
class  of  citizens,  gives  opportunity  for  cool  and  undisturbed  investigation,  ancj  helps 
to  form  a  character  which  the  clergyman  covets  most  for  his  hearers  and  which  our 
judiciary  system  most  needs  for  the  jury  box.  In  no  department  of  work  is  good 
judgment  more  essential  than  in  agriculturcc 

The  farmer  is  obliged  to  deal  with  many  things  which  are  entirely  beyond  his 
power  to  control.  He  can  not  control  the  seasons,  the  weather  or  the  markets. 
While  he  may  base  his  calculations  upon  facts  obtained  from  observation  and  expe- 
rience, his  own  judgment  must  decide  whether  the  season  is  late  or  early,  when  to 
plant,  when  to  harvest,  and,  in  fact,  the  seasonable  time  for  all  his  work.  There  is  no 
person  engaged  in  business  of  any  kind  who  is  not  dependent  upon  the  prosperity  of 
the  agriculturists  for  his  own  success.  If  crops  fail  the  merchants,  ministers,  doctors 
and  lawyers  all  suffer  from  the  failure.  The  welfare  of  our  towns,  cities,  states  and 
nations  is  due  to  the  adequate  success  of  agriculture.  Failure  upon  the  farm  brings 
financial  distress  to  every  business  enterprise,  while  abundant  harvests  insure  great 
national  prosperity. 

We  as  a  people  realized  the  value  of  good  crops  recently,  when  Russia  needed 
our  corn  and  we  needed  their  gold. 


762  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

The  quality  and  standing  of  any  honorable  calling  can  only  be  measured  by  the 
character  of  the  men  and  women  engaged  in  it.  No  occupation  affords  better  oppor- 
tunity for  mental,  moral  and  social  advancement  than  agriculture. 

In  the  primitive  days  crude  implements  and  primitive  methods  were  used  in  culti- 
vating the  soil.  The  exhibit  here  at  Jackson  Park,  of  agricultural  machinery,  in  qual- 
ity, in  artistic  presentation  and  in  infinite  variety,  proves  that  we  live  in  an  age  of 
invention  and  of  application  of  ideas  to  the  interests  of  humanity,  whereby  agricul- 
ture is  made  less  laborious,  more  pleasant,  more  refined  and  remunerative.  Progress 
is  illustrated.  The  bent  stick  and  wooden  plow  is  replaced  by  magnificent  steel 
plows;  the  sickle  by  the  powerful  reapers  and  binders,  and  we  are  led  to  believe  that 
in  the  near  future  electricity  will  be  used  to  draw  agriculture  onward.  With  the 
progress  before  us  may  we  not  expect,  in  the  world's  tomorrow,  to  see  the  golden  era 
in  which  the  alchemist's  dream  is  more  than  realized,  and  some  of  the  latent  forces  of 
nature  utilized  in  the  fertilization  of  the  soil,  and  that  our  statesmen  will  see  the  air 
turned  into  gold  and  silver. 


MASTER  WILLIE  K.  DOTY. 


MISS  CLARIBEL  THATCHER. 


MISS  FLORENCE  THATCHER. 


MISS  ADA  FIERCE. 

PAGES  OF  THE  CONGRESSES  HELD  IN  THE  WOMAN'S  BUILDING. 


SYNOPSIS  OF   LECTURE  ON  MARGARET  FULLER. 

By  MRS.  CELIA  PARKER  WOOLLEY. 

Margaret  Fuller  belonged  to  the  most  brilliant  era  in  the  intellectual  growth  of 
America,  whose  highwater  mark  was  reached  in  Emerson,  and  whose  lesser  waves  are 

counted  in  the  names  of  Alcott,  Thoreau,  Ripley, 
Theodore  Parker  and  others  of  almost  equal  fame — 
with  one  woman  among  the  rest,  the  acknowledged 
peer  of  the  best,  a  thinker  and  scholar,  and  a  woman 
of  passionate  moral  conviction  besides, 

Margaret  Fuller  was  the  typical  woman  of  her 
age,  because  she  embodied,  so  far  in  advance  of  their 
more  general  recognition  and  demand,  those  qualities 
of  mental  courage,  industry  and  devotion  which  alone 
can  bring  about  that  new  state  and  ideal  of  woman- 
hood so  much  talked  of  in  the  present  day.  Margaret 
Fuller  was,  in  culture,  in  character,  in  influence  and 
in  the  permanent  quality  of  her  work  what  the  women 
of  a  later  age  are  eagerly  contending  in  their  clubs 
and  conventions  women  might,  could  and  should  be. 
What  we  in  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  are 
declaring  women  ought  to  do  and  ought  to  be  allowed 
to  do,  Margaret  Fuller,  back  there  in  the  first  half  of 
the  century,  did;  and  that  at  a  time  when  the  obsta- 
cles to  woman's  progress  were  tenfold  as  numerous 
and  difficult  as  now. 

Margaret  Fuller  was  the  typical  woman,  not  only 
Through  toil  and  talent  she  became  the  possessor  of 
a  rich  and  varied  culture  that  linked  her  with  the  older  civilizations  of  the  past,  but 
she  always  remained  true  to  those  principles  of  individual  worth  and  freedom  on 
which  our  republic  is  based.  She  was  thoroughly  American,  an  enthusiastic  believer 
in  our  national  standards  and  ideas.  She  loved  and  believed  in  her  kind.  She  lived 
before  the  day  when  the  advocates  of  higher  culture  tried  to  demonstrate  themselves 
such  by  decrying  all  that  pertains  to  their  own  age  or  country  in  favor  of  the  time-worn 
systems  of  the  past.  Culture  was  to  her  a  means  of  clearer  understanding  of  the  prac- 
tical problems  of  life;  she  wished  to  know  more  in  order  to  be  more.  Pettiness  of  all 
kinds  was  far  removed  from  her.  Her  faults  were  those  of  a  rich  and  ardent  nature; 
they  were  her  virtues  run  to  excess. 

It  was  Margaret  Fuller's  fortune  to  live  at  a  time  when  the  highest  exponents  of 
the  intellectual  life  were  also  the  known  champions  of  the  most  unpopular  reforms. 
She  was  one  of  the  reformers  not  in  any  perfunctory  sense;  her  name  was  identified 
with  no  particular  movement  or  cause,  but  her  sympathies  for  all  forms  of  human  suf- 
fering and  wrong  were  active  and  deep.  She  was  always  a  strong  friend  of  her  own  sex 
and  employed  her  talents  in  practical  efforts  for  the  improvement  of  the  condition  of 
women.  The  lesson  of  this  woman's  life  lies  in  the  thoroughness  of  her  work.  She  was 
fully  equipped  for  every  task  she  undertook.  She  will  also  always  be  gratefully 
remembered  for  the  nobility  of  her  aim,  her  unworldliness  and  constancy  to  high  prin- 
ciple, a  moral  activity  which  found  outlet  in  many  directions  Her  attainments  and 
her  character  will  remain  an  inspiring  example  to  the  world  for  all  time  to  come. 

Mrs.  Celia  Parker  Woolley  is  a  native  of  Toledo,  Ohio.  Shewasborn  June  17, 1848.  Her  parents  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  M.H. 
Parker,  of  Coldwater.  Mich.  She  was  educated  at  Coldwater,  Mich.,  and  Painesville,  Ohio  (Lake  Erie  Seminary).  She 
married  J.  H.  Woolley,  Esq.,  in  1868.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  three  novels:  "Love  and  Theology,"  "A  Girl  Gradu- 
ate," and  "  Roger  Hunt."  Mrs.  Woolley  was  formerly  a  writer,  and  is  now  a  minister.  In  religions  faith  she  is  a  Unitarian, 
and  a  minister  of  the  society  at  Geneva,  lU.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Chicago,  111. 

763 


MRS.  CELIA  PARKER  WOOLLEY. 

of  her  age,  but  of  her  country. 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  MODERN  WOMAN. 


By  MRS.  CAROLINE  K    SHERMAN. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  condition  of  woman  in  the  early  periods  of  the  world's 
history  was  inferior  to  that  of  man.     During  the  Middle  Ages  the  tendency  was  to 

treat  her  as  a  being  "  enskied  and  sainted,  and  to  be 
dealt  with  in  sincerity  as  with  a  saint."  The  disposi- 
tion in  this  modern  time  is  to  treat  her  neither  as  an 
inferior  nor  superior  to  man,  but  as  a  being  having 
a  status  of  her  own,  and  not  necessarily  to  be  judged 
in  comparison  with  man.  In  this  paper  I  speak,  there- 
fore, of  the  condition  of  woman  at  the  present  time, 
the  causes  which  led  to  that  position,  and  the  possi- 
bilities which  may  result  from  it. 

So  long  as  the  political  conditions  of  a  country 
are  insecure  and  its  resources  limited,  woman  is 
obliged  to  accept  the  position  allotted  her,  whether  it 
be  the  low  position  assigned  her  by  the  Orien- 
tals and  Greeks,  or  the  higher  one  granted  in  the 
Middle  Ages.  In  either  case  what  privilege  she  en- 
joyed was  not  granted  as  a  right,  but  conceded  as  a 
favor.  As  civilization  advances,  however,  and  politi- 
cal conditions  become  more  stable,  material  resources 
at  the  same  time  being  easier  of  access,  woman  nat- 
urally occupies  a  place  quite  different  from  any  she 
has  known  hitherto.  Those  manifold  events  which 
mark  the  change  from  the  mediaeval  to  the  modern 
era,  necessarily  affected  the  status  of  woman.  The  invention  of  printing,  and  with  it 
the  diffusion  of  learning,  the  discovery  of  gunpowder,  and  the  changed  modes  of  war- 
fare, the  Reformation  and  its  emphasis  on  the  rights  of  the  individual — each  of  these 
was  significant  in  opening  larger  and  freer  opportunities  to  woman.  The  invention  of 
printing  meant  liberal  means  of  culture  for  all,  woman  as  well  as  man,  greater  range 
and  freedom  of  thought  and,  naturally,  greater  freedom  of  expression.  The  discov- 
ery of  gunpowder  meant  a  death-blow  to  feudalism — to  that  system  of  helpless 
dependence  by  which  the  masses  were  held  as  serfs  and  servants  because  of  the  neces- 
sity for  military  protection.  The  improved  modes  of  warfare  gave  to  the  lower  as 
well  as  to  the  upper  classes  opportunity  for  other  occupations,  while  at  the  same 
time  the  peculiar  sentiment  of  chivalry,  as  it  prevailed  in  the  Middle  Ages,  died  a  nat- 
ural death,  since  women  were  no  longer  to  be  protected  by  the  right  arm  of  valiant 
knight,  but  by  the  cannon,  the  musket,  and  the  shell. 

The  influence  of  the  Reformation  was  to  set  a  higher  value  on  the  good  things  of 
the  world.     Hence  the   impetus  to   modern  science  and   the  fruitful  discoveries  and 

Mrs.  Caroline  K.  Sherman  was  born  in  MaseachuBetts.  Her  parents  were  Silas  Swift  and  Lydia  Davis  Kempton  Swift, 
She  graduated  from  the  New  Bedford  High  School,  and  later  from  Wheaton  Seminary,  Norton,  Mass.  Also  was  instructed  by 
private  tutor,  who  was  a  theological  graduate  of  Andover.  She  was  early  grounded  in  sound  orthodox  theology,  and  under 
the  direction  of  her  private  tutor  went  forward  with  the  study  of  theology  as  well  as  philosophy.  She  married  Mr.  Jonathan 
Sherman  Jr.,  of  Boston,  Mass.  She  is  vice-president  of  the  Aristotelian  Society,  an  organization  of  scholarly  people  who 
devote  themselves  to  the  study  of  Aristotle.  She  was  chairman  of  the  Woman's  Branch  Department  of  Philosophy  and 
Science,  World's  ('ongress  Auxiliary  World's  Columbian  Exposition,  and  is  at  present  a  member  of  the  Chicago  Board  of 
Education.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Concord  School  of  Philosophy,  and  delivered  a  lecture  there  in  1885.  Her  postoffice 
address  is  No.  225  South  Leavitt  Street,  Chicago,  111. 

764 


MRS.  CAROLINE  K.  SHERMAN. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  765 

inventions  resulting  from  it,  which,  perhaps  more  than  anything  else,  have  contributed 
to  the  freer  and,  as  we  hope,  better  condition  of  woman.  While,  to  the  praise  of  the 
Mediaeval  Church,  it  recognized  the  fact  that  we  must  look  to  spiritual  rather  than  to 
material  discoveries  for  the  highest  welfare  and  happiness,  it  sometimes  neglected 
the  other  important  fact  that  spiritual  well-being  is  dependent  on  physical  and  intel- 
lectual agencies,  and  that  only  by  the  proper  use  of  these  can  the  desired  spiritual 
attainment  be  made.  Protestantism  recognized  this  neglect  and  directed  itself  at 
once  to  these  forces  which  have  reference  to  the  physical  side  of  life,  to  whatever 
would  increase  thesum  total  of  human  pleasure  and  decrease  the  amount  of  pain,  and 
the  results  are,  as  we  all  know,  marvelous  beyond  expectation.  It  is  true  that  in 
avoiding  the  mistake  which  the  Mediaeval  Church  had  made.  Protestantism  incurred 
the  danger  of  going  to  the  opposite  extreme,  and  of  regarding  physical  and  intel- 
lectual comforts  as  most  important  so  far  as  this  world  goes,  while  spirituality  too 
often  is  thought  desirable  only  as  a  preparation  for  death. 

If  this  were  the  necessary  and  veritable  outcome  of  modern  science,  we  might 
well  question  whether  the  loss  were  not  greater  than  the  gain,  especially  to  the  women 
who  partook  so  fully  of  the  best  which  the  mediaeval  life  had  to  offer;  but  every 
thoughtful  person  knows  that  the  largest  means  are  best  for  the  highest  ends,  and  that 
it  is  only  irrational  souls  who  lose  sight  of  final  purposes  to  rest  satisfied  with  what 
are  only  means  to  an  end.  As  it  is,  all  these  developments  of  physical  science  will,  in 
our  opinion,  eventually  lead  to  the  best  results.  This  being  admitted,  women  can  look 
upon  the  achievements  of  science  as  the  important  factor  which  has  brought  about 
for  them  the  great  changes  from  a  state  of  helpless  dependence  to  one  of  desirable 
self-reliance  and  more  efficient  activity.  So  long  as  women  were  compelled  by  neces- 
sity to  spin,  weave,  sew,  care  for  their  households  and  attend  the  sick,  so  long  their 
time  and  hands  were  fully  occupied,  leaving  little  opportunity  or  strength  for  other 
pursuits.  This  certainly  was  the  case  with  wives  and  mothers,  while  the  condition  of 
unmarried  women  was  even  less  desirable,  compelled,  as  they  often  were,  to  suffer  the 
humiliation  of  receiving  a  precarious  living  from  strangers,  or  possibly  worse  yet,  of 
accepting  a  humble  seat  at  the  table  of  kindred,  for  Protestantism  did  not,  as  Cathol- 
icism did,  offer  a  refuge  and  a  vocation  to  unmarried  women. 

The  various  organizations  at  the  present  time  afford  splendid  opportunity  for  the 
wise  use  of  surplus  time  secured  by  the  introduction  of  machinery,  and  women  are 
not  slow  of  availing  themselves  of  it  since  they  have  learned,  what  it  was  not  possible 
for  them  to  know  before,  the  value  of  organized  effort.  The  worth  of  organized 
activity  is  seen  in  the  various  reformatory  methods  introduced  into  our  hospitals  and 
prisons,  by  which  more  humane  and  refined  influences  are  brought  to  bear  in  the  treat- 
ment of  criminals  and  the  insane.  It  is  seen  in  educational  matters  where  women 
occupy  positions  of  trust,  not  simply  because  of  the  desirability  of  having  women  to 
co-operate  with  men  in  public  affairs,  but  because  in  many  cases  these  women  repre- 
sent the  sentiment  of  a  large  body  of  thoughtful  women  whose  opinions  it  would  not 
be  politic  to  ignore.  Nor  is  it  only  among  the  so-called  leisure  class  that  there  is  the 
disposition  for  self-improvement  and  for  these  advantages  that  come  from  wisely- 
organized  effort.  I  have  been  surprised  as  I  have  talked  with  members  of  the  Knights 
of  Labor,  and  others  of  the  wage-earning  class,  women  of  comparatively  little  culture, 
perhaps,  but  with  an  earnest  purpose  to  make  the  absolute  best  of  themselves  and  of 
the  circumstances  which  too  often  dwarf  rather  than  develop  them.  They,  too,  are 
disposed  to  let  the  old  routine  of  personal  matters  and  petty  gossip  give  place  to 
questions  of  wider  scope.  They,  too,  are  taking  an  interest  in  public  matters,  knowing 
by  painful  experience  how  closely  the  decision  of  these  questions  may  affect  them, 
their  homes  and  especially  their  children.  And  already  their  interest  in  these  broader 
affairs  has  obtained  results  in  a  practical  way.  Their  demand  that  children  born  of 
the  abject  poor  shall  not  be  defrauded  of  their  childhood,  but  that  they  shall  have 
opportunity  for  education,  is  meeting  a  response  all  over  this  country,  not  only  from 
public  sentiment,  but  from  public  sentiment  as  expressed  by  law.     In  these,  as  in  so 


760  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

many  other  philanthropic  aims  and  purposes,  intelligent  women  of  all  classes  are 
heartily  engaged,  and  the  unity  of  aim,  the  common  purpose  in  public  matters,  espe- 
cially in  matters  which  bear  directly  on  the  home,  is  one  of  the  happiest  results  of  the 
enlarged  opportunity  which  this  modern  time  affords.  It  not  only  promises  benefit  to 
all  classes  of  women  by  giving  to  each  the  moral  support  of  the  other,  but  it  tends 
also  to  do  away  with  the  artificial  system  of  caste  among  women,  which  is  almost 
inevitable  where  there  is  a  division  of  interests,  and  an  inability  to  recognize  the  prin- 
ciple that  the  good  of  each  is  bound  up  in  the  good  of  all. 

I  The  strength  which  comes  and  shall  come  from  this  wider  union  of  interests  and 
influences  can  hardly  be  estimated.  We  know  that  the  power  of  woman's  influence  has 
been  acknowledged  in  all  times;  that  poets  have  sung  it,  and  men  have  delighted  to 
echo  the  song.  Again  and  again  the  refrain  comes:  "  The  hand  that  rocks  the  cradle 
is  the  hand  that  moves  the  world,"  but  that  was  the  influence  of  individual  women  and 
of  woman  in  the  abstract.  It  was  very  intangible,  very  indefinite,  limited  in  the  main 
to  a  narrow  circle,  or  affected  a  wide  range  only  through  narrower,  naturally  losing 
force,  as  .all  power  does,  by  the  greater  number  of  media  through  which  it  is  transmit- 
ted before  reaching  the  desired  end.  Now  for  the  first  time  that  influence  is  taking  on 
a  more  definite  form,  is  more  surely  felt.  That  it  will  increase  instead  of  decreasing  is 
but  natural,  since  "  it  is  not  the  genius  of  civilized  institutions  to  take  away  social  or 
political  rights  that  have  once  been  granted."  That  woman's  influence  will  radically 
change  the  character  of  public  affairs  is  not  to  be  anticipated,  since  the  intellect  of 
woman  does  not  differ  essentially  from  that  of  man,  and  it  is  these  two  forces,  the  intel- 
lectual and  the  moral,  which  are  to  be  the  controlling  forces  in  the  future.  The  greatest 
changes  and  the  greatest  advantage  arising  from  the  new  order  of  things  will  be  to 
woman  herself.  The  enlarged  opportunity  of  the  present  time  means  for  her,  first  of 
all,  the  privilege  of  gaining  an  independent  livelihood,  or,  in  other  words,  of  deciding 
for  herself  the  direction  of  her  life.  How  much  this  signifies,  and  what  a  unique  privi- 
lege this  has  been  hitherto,  they  know  best  who  are  most  familiar  with  the  social  con- 
dition of  woman  from  barbaric  times  to  the  present.  There  was  no  choice,  so  to  speak. 
Marriage  was  almost  the  sole  opportunity  of  gaining  or  obtaining  a  desirable  living, 
and  even  then  the  decision  was  usually  made  by  parents,  brothers  or  near  kindred,  and 
not  by  the  person  whose  fate  was  the  most  concerned.  If,  as  in  more  recent  times,  the 
woman  was  allowed  the  choice,  it  was  often  necessity  rather  than  free  choice  which 
directed  her,  and  too  often  she  was  compelled  to  be  governed  by  motives  of  prudence 
rather  than  inclination. 

The  narrow  means  and  necessarily  contracted  habits  of  the  woman  who  remained 
unmarried  made  her  an  object  of  silent  contempt,  not  from  any  fault  of  her  own,  but 
because  outside  of  wedded  life  and  the  interests  of  rearing  a  family  there  was  no  indus- 
try that  offered  a  worthy  compensation  for  her  work,  and  her  whole  thought  was  neces- 
sarily bent  on  a  narrow  economy  that  could  save  where  it  could  not  earn.  The  manifold 
employments  that  are  now  open  to  women,  employments  that  are  rapidly  increasing 
year  by  year,  offer  for  the  first  time  the  glad  opportunity  of  avocations  that  in  their 
way  command  respect  as  marriage  commands  respect.  We  have  only  to  call  the  names 
of  Harriet  Hosmer,  Clara  Barton,  and  others,  and  proof  is  at  once  given.  Many  less 
widely  known  testify  to  the  same  effect,  and  the  day  is  fast  passing  away  when  women 
will  be  obliged  to  accept  marriage  either  for  the  sake  of  support  or  to  avoid  the  con- 
tempt once  attached  to  the  unmarried.  This  freedom  of  choice  naturally  increases  the 
respect  given  to  woman,  whether  the  choice  she  makes  is  in  favor  of  marriage,  or 
whether  she  decides  to  follow  a  profession.  The  woman  who  accepts  a  husband  out 
of  pure  and  free  inclination,  conscious  that  this  union  is  for  her  the  surest  opportunity 
for  happiness  and  usefulness,  must  stand  much  higher  in  the  estimation  of  the  husband 
than  the  one  who  marries  simply  because  there  is  for  her  no  other  alternative,  while 
the  woman  who  is  wedded  to  her  profession  in  the  thought  of  bettering  her  own  and 
the  world's  condition  must  gain  the  respect  which  is  naturally  accorded  to  those  who 
have  an  earnest  purpose  in  life  and  steadfastly  adhere  to  it. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN  767 

I  know  it  may  be  said  that  this  large  opportunity  for  women  does  not  necessarily 
imply  greater  improvement  on  their  part.  It  may  be  said  that  women  in  the  future, 
as  in  the  past,  will  still  continue  to  live  in  the  narrow  routine  of  a  circumscribed  life; 
or,  if  their  ambition  takes  a  wider  range,  it  is  in  the  direction  of  richer  apparel, 
daintier  food  and  costlier  living.  It  may  be  claimed,  too,  that  in  many  cases  the 
great  advantage  offered  by  the  so-called  modern  improvements  have  only  led  to 
greater  complexity  of  living  and  still  greater  perplexity,  and  that  the  added  leisure 
furnishes  opportunity  for  added  frivolities.  The  justice  of  the  claim  is  admitted,  but 
at  the  same  time  I  am  right  in  refusing  to  admit  that  the  latter  class  of  women  are  the 
representative  women  of  our  time.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  the  women  who  are  making 
the  absolute  best  of  themselves  and  of  their  fortunate  surroundings  who  are  the  truly 
representative  women  of  our  time.  These  evince  the  latent  bent,  the  tendency  of  the 
masses,  and  the  success  possible  to  all,  A  tree  is  to  be  judged  not  alone  by  its  fruits, 
but  by  its  fairest  fruits,  because  these  show  its  possibilities,  these  show  what  the 
others  might  have  been  if  earth  and  air  and  sunshine  had  been  graciously  disposed, 
and  the  noble-minded  women  who  are  availing  themselves  of  the  glad  privileges  of 
the  present  time  are  the  truly  representative  women  because  they  are  those  who  are 
shaping  the  influences  which  are  affecting  the  masses  beneath  them,  and  they  are 
representative  women  also  because  all  other  women  would  desire  the  higher  rational 
life  if  they  only  had  a  consciousness  of  the  joy  which  the  rational  life  alone  can  give. 

If  there  be  any  fear  lest  this  higher  life,  as  we  are  pleased  to  term  it,  and  these 
broader  opportunities  for  women  may  lead  them  in  time  to  the  extreme  of  ignoring 
limitations  of  family  life,  and  of  preferring  the  more  public  career  of  business  or  a 
profession,  so  that  family  life  would  become  distasteful  to  the  extent  that  the 
welfare  and  perhaps  even  the  existence  of  the  race  would  be  in  danger,  we  can 
reassure  ourselves  with  the  fact  that  nature  will  take  care  of  all  that  without  any 
anxiety  on  our  part,  for  "  nowhere  is  she  so  sensitive  to  encroachments  as  in  those 
matters  which  lie  at  the  foundation  of  life."  We  may  cheat,  distort  and  circumvent 
her  in  other  respects,  but  nowhere  is  she  so  keen,  cunning,  so  absolute  and  imperative 
as  in  this  determination  for  life,  this  will  to  live,  as  Schopenhauer  expresses  it.  Nor 
need  there  be  any  fear  lest  these  higher  opportunities  open  to  women  shall  take  away 
their  tenderness,  their  confiding  trust,  or  any  of  these  finer  qualities  which  are  usually 
termed  "womanly;"  for  the  grace  which  comes  from  strength  is  far  more  graceful 
than  that  which  comes  from  languor;  the  tenderness  which  comes  from  efficient 
sympathy  is  no  less  tender  because  of  its  efficiency,  and  the  trust  which  is  based  on 
a  full  recognition  of  all  that  love  and  trust  and  self-surrender  imply  is  certain  to  be 
more  permanent  than  the  trust  that  is  based  on  ignorance. 

I  know  the  sweet  illusions  that  still  adhere  to  the  idea  of  chivalrous  devotion  on  the 
part  of  man,  and  of  clinging  dependence  on  the  part  of  woman,  and  this  might  be  well 
perhaps  if  men  were  always  strong  and  women  always  young  and  beautiful;  yet  even 
here  it  is  questionable  whether  it  were  possible  for  a  woman  to  find  lasting  happiness 
merely  as  a  passive  recipient  of  loving  admiration,  however  ardent,  for  so  long  as  a 
woman  has  a  rational  and  spiritual  nature,  so  long  she  fails  of  highest  happiness  if  these 
are  lost  sight  of.  And  further,  grant  that  these  conditions  of  devotion  upon  the  part  of 
man  and  clinging  dependence  on  the  part  of  woman  could  be  permanent,  it  is  question- 
able whether  such  a  state  would  be  healthful  to  either  mind  or  body,  since  this  form  of 
selfishness,  like  any  other,  is  liable  to  die  of  its  own  excesses.  Furthermore,  the  fates 
of  the  Juliets,  the  Ophelias,  the  Desdemonas,  and  of  countless  hosts  of  other  women 
who  were  all  that  is  gentle,  sweet  and  confiding,  does  not  lead  to  the  belief  that  the 
fate  of  such  women  is  at  all  enviable.  On  the  other  hand,  the  tragic  consequences  of 
all  this  emotional  fervor,  this  unrestrained  expression  of  feeling,  especially  when  com- 
bined with  artless  simplicity  and  utter  ignorance  of  what  is  worthy  to  be  loved,  which, 
strange  to  say,  men  and  women  are  so  slow  to  learn;  for  this  frenzied  emotion  and 
intensity  is  still  hallowed  with  the  name  of  love,  its  dicta  are  regarded  infallible,  and 
that  too  in  the  most  important  concerns  of  life. 


768  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

If  the  privileges  now  afforded  to  women  shall  lead  them  to  more  realistic  views  in 
regard  to  the  affections,  incalculable  results  for  good  must  in  eviably  follow;  for  there 
is  no  truth  that  men  and  women  need  to  see  more  plainly  than  the  fact  that  the 
emotions  and  the  affections  are  to  be  kept  under  wise  control,  and  they  are  of  value 
only  as  they  are  under  control,  and  that  the  infallibility  of  love  is  not  in  proportion 
to  its  intensity,  but  rather  in  proportion  to  its  clearsightedness.  How  plainly  Dante 
saw  this  truth,  and  how  firmly  he  was  guided  by  it  is  evident  from  what  he  says  in  the 
"Vita  Nuova,"  after  describing  his  first  meeting  with  Beatrice:  "  I  say  that  from  that 
time  love  quite  governed  my  soul,  and  with  so  safe  and  undisputed  lordship  that  I  had 
nothing  left  for  it  but  to  do  all  his  bidding  continually.  And  albeit  her  image  that 
was  with  me  always  was  an  exaltation  of  love  to  subdue  me,  it  was  yet  of  so  perfect 
a  quality  that  it  never  allowed  me  to  be  overruled  by  love  without  the  faithful  counsel 
of  reason  whensoever  such  counsel  was  useful  to  be  heard."  I  know  the  tendency 
of  women  is  to  live  in  their  feelings;  still  this  tendency  need  not  be  abnormally  culti- 
vated, as  it  has  been  in  times  past,  and  above  all  things  this  emotional  state  should 
not  be  considered  the  ideal  condition  for  woman,  for  in  whatever  way  we  may  regard 
woman,  whether  as  an  individual  of  and  for  herself,  or  whether  we  regard  her  as  a 
helpmate  for  man,  in  either  case  it  is  the  rational  life  that  gives  a  permanent  worth  to 
the  emotional  life.  Desirable  and  indispensable  as  the  latter  may  be,  its  best  signifi- 
cance is  in  its  subordination  to  the  rational.  Shakespeare  knew  this  well,  and  while 
he  has  portrayed  every  phase  of  the  emotions  with  all  the  allurements  and  attractions 
which  undisciplined  ardor  knows  how  to  offer,  he  has  not  failed  to  show  the  evil 
results  which  are  sure  to  follow  when  reason  fails  to  obtain  control.  The  Juliets,  the 
Ophelias  and  the  Desdemonas  perish,  the  victims  of  their  own  impulses,  but  women 
like  Portia,  whose  wealth  of  feeling  was  not  under  the  sway  of  caprice,  loved,  not  only 
to  their  own  advantage,  but  to  that  of  their  households.  No  submission  is  more 
womanly  than  that  of  Portia  to  her  husband,  but  it  is  the  submission  of  strength  and 
not  of  weakness. 

Of  the  many  old  superstitions  in  regard  to  woman  there  is  one  which  has  not 
entirely  passed  away,  and  that  is  that  women  by  a  kind  of  intuition  or  divination  have 
a  feeling  for  truth,  which  is  an  easy  substitute  for  the  unremitting  labor  and  continual 
mental  activity  that  is  essential  to  the  logical  comprehension  of  truth.  Hence  the 
inexactness  of  women  and  their  inability  to  tell  the  truth,  not  from  lack  of  moral 
sincerity,  but  because  they  do  not  recognize  the  fact  that  a  clear  apprehension  of  the 
truth  is  not  a  free  natural  gift,  but  is  an  acquired  ability,  that  is  gained  only  by  the 
most  rigorous  mental  discipline.  It  would  be  quite  as  easy  to  gain  strong  physical 
power  without  continuous  exercise  of  the  muscles  as  to  gain  intellectual  and  moral 
strength  without  the  constant  activity  of  the  moral  and  intellectual  faculties,  and 
women  can  never  expect  to  arrive  at  an  accurate  knowledge  of  any  subject  so  long  as 
they  are  willing  at  a  moment's  notice  to  give  hasty  answers  to  the  most  profound 
problems,  social,  economical,  religious  or  philosophical,  merely  to  follow  some  impulse 
that  with  them  takes  the  place  of  intelligent  conviction.  So  long  as  this  is  the  case, 
so  long  as  feeling  takes  the  place  of  accurate  thinking,  women  can  not  have  that 
subtlety  of  analysis  and  sustained  power  of  reasoning  which  is  absolutely  essential  to 
the  correct  investigation  of  any  subject,  philosophical  or  scientific. 

And  so  of  those  other  mists  of  feeling  which  obscure  the  problems  with  which 
women  of  today  have  to  deal,  especially  the  disposition  to  let  personal  matters  decide 
rather  than  the  consideration  of  broad  universal  principles.  It  is  not  strange  that  this 
is  the  case,  since  women  have  been  governed  so  long  by  motives  of  personal  con- 
siderations. Yet  if  they  will  share  in  the  larger  life  of  today  it  will  be  by  a  recognition 
of  the  value  of  underlying  principles,  and  not  through  the  oldtime  artifice,  intrigue 
and  use  or  abuse  of  personal  influence.  Is  it  not  a  little  singular  that  while  patience, 
one  of  the  most  significant  virtues  in  the  Middle  Ages,  and  one  considered  essentially 
feminine,  that  in  the  modern  time  women  are  restlessly  impatient?  Here  I  should 
make  a  distinction  and  say  that  they  are  patient  under  inevitable  physical  ills,  but  are 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  769 

exceedingly  impatient  under  moral  wrong.  At  first  thought  this  may  seem  a  virtue 
rather  than  otherwise,  for  so  long  as  the  bad  can  be  made  good,  and  the  good  made 
better,  no  one  has  a  right  to  be  passively  indifferent. 

The  difficulty  lies  in  women  failing  to  perceive  that  the  process  of  the  universe 
can  not  be  violently  hastened;  that  the  moral  world  as  well  as  the  physical  has  its 
laws  which  must  be  regarded  if  success  is  to  be  attained.  It  is  not  easy  for  women  to 
see  that  what  ought  to  be  may  be  practically  impossible  at  present,  and,  indeed,  in 
many  cases  can  be  reached  only  by  the  slowest  processes,  but  this  impatient  haste  on 
the  part  of  women  will  brook  no  delay.  They  have  a  restless,  feverish  desire  for 
activity,  and  inability  to  stay  quiet,  an  irritable  impatience  to  accomplish  something 
and  to  see  immediate  returns  for  the  amount  of  energy  expended.  Increased  oppor- 
tunities for  philanthropic  and  reformatory  effort  have  added  to  the  intensity  of  this 
impatience.  Seeing,  as  they  believe,  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  to  be  within  reach,  they  are 
ready  to  take  it  by  violence,  and  so  defeat  the  object  in  view.  It  should  be  said,  how- 
ever, that  within  the  last  few  years  there  is  evidence  of  decided  change  in  this  respect. 
Already  the  disciplinary  power  of  systematic  thought  and  study  is  making  itself  felt 
among  women  who  have  availed  themselves  of  it,  and  instead  of  bending  their  energies 
exclusively  in  trying  to  alleviate  poverty,  squalor  and  degradation,  we  find  many  of 
them  making  earnest  inquiries  as  to  the  cause  of  all  this  poverty  and  vice — trying  to 
find  out  the  underlying  causes  which  bring  about  the  need  of  charity  and  almsgiving, 
for  that  there  should  be  continued  poverty  among  men  and  women  sound  in  mind  and 
body  proves  a  radical  injustice  somewhere.  And  women  as  well  as  men  should  make 
it  their  duty,  if  not  pleasure,  to  know  where  the  evil  lies,  and  apply  the  remedy  there 
instead  qf  resting  content  with  the  system  so  long  in  vogue  of  almsgiving  out  of 
ignorant  pity  and  useless  sympathy.  It  is  a  question  much  discussed  at  the  present 
time  what  effect  the  increase  of  thought  and  study  will  have  upon  the  health  of  women. 
Docto-rs  disagree  upon  the  subject,  but  meanwhile  women  are  going  right  along 
solving  the  problem  in  a  practical  way.  Whether  the  answer  will  be  in  the  nega- 
tive or  affirmative  is  not  yet  apparent,  but  this  much  is  certain,  as  Professor  Mor- 
ris has  so  aptly  put  it,  "  Patient  thought  and  study  are  not  half  so  perilous  to  one's 
nerves  and  brains  as  are  the  fret  and  worry  incident  to  the  strife  for  the  possession  of 
the  thousand  and  one  now  alleged  necessaries  of  decent  living.  Genuinely  patient 
thought  and  study  are  as  much  a  sedative  as  an  excitant,  for  they  bring  the  repose  of 
strength."  So  far  as  my  own  observation  goes,  it  is  not  the  stimulus  of  thought  and 
study  which  works  the  ills  of  which  physicians  complain  today  as  it  is  the  irrational 
life  which  women  are  disposed  to  live,  simply  because  material  productions  have 
increased  so  rapidly  that  it  is  comparatively  easy  for  nearly  every  home  to  have  an 
excess  of  luxuries,  which,  instead  of  adding  to  the  well-being  of  those  who  possess 
them,  are  often  an  increased  perplexity  and  aggravation. 

Until  our  homes  are  simpler  and  less  an  object  of  care  and  anxiety,  until  our  dress 
is  determined  by  beauty,  health  and  utility  rather  than  by  fashion  or  caprice,  and  until 
our  tables  are  ordered  with  regard  to  physical  well-being,  we  do  wrong  to  lay  the 
various  forms  of  nervous  prostration  to  the  account  of  thought  and  study.  Even  in 
cases  where  household  luxuries  are  not  an  occasion  of  fret  and  worry  there  is  danger 
of  pernicious  influence  from  them,  since  they  lead  one  to  rest  content  with  the  lower 
forms  of  happiness  rather  than  to  seek  the  higher.  The  sense  of  vision  is  the  most 
tyrannical  of  all  our  senses,  and  few  women  have  it  under  wise  control.  I  would  not 
wish  to  advocate  stoicism  and  puritanism  in  the  home,  but  this  love  of  luxury,  this 
gratification  of  the  senses  tends  to  enervate  and  make  us  satisfied  with  ourselves  and 
our  surroundings,  forgetful  of  the  facts  that  it  is  in  the  activity  of  our  powers  rather 
than  in  the  passive  gratification  of  them  that  we  eventually  come  to  that  real  satisfac- 
tion which  alone  is  the  object  of  highest  desire. 

In  reflecting  upon  the  broader  opportunities  open  to  women,  the  question  arises 
as  to  what  effect  they  will  have  upon  religion  and  the  church.  Hitherto  women  have 
been  the  conservative  element  in  the  church  and  its  chief  support.   Evidently  a  change 


770  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

in  this  respect  is  going  on,  and  remembering  the  effect  which  the  logical  keenness  of 
the  Mary  Shelleys,  the  Harriet  Martineaus,  the  George  Eliots  has  had  upon  their 
religion,  it  is  not  strange  that  there  is  serious  questioning  as  to  what  will  become  of 
the  church  in  the  future,  and  whether  religion  is  to  be  thrown  aside  as  a  thing  of  the 
past  if  women  are  no  longer  to  be  its  chief  supporters.  But  to  my  mind  there  is  little 
cause  for  apprehension  on  this  score.  So  long  as  there  is  in  humanity  a  spirit  that 
impels  one  to  the  knowledge  and  performance  of  practical  duties,  so  long  as  there  is 
a  desire  for  such  an  explanation  of  the  universe  as  shall  give  life,  aim  and  meaning,  so 
long  as  there  is  a  love  for  the  truth  which  shall  make  one  free,  so  long  there  need  be 
no  questioning  but  what  religion  in  some  form  will  claim  the  deepest  interests  of 
humanity,  and  whatever  form  that  religion  may  take,  women  in  the  future  as  in  the 
past  will  give  to  it  loyal  fidelity  and  faithful  service. 

In  conclusion,  let  me  add  that  if  in  my  paper  I  have  said  some  things  of  women 
that  seemed  ungracious,  it  is  not  because  I  do  not  appreciate  women  or  because  I  do 
not  know  them — for  I  know  woman  well,  the  good,  the  bad  and  the  indifferent,  and 
have  hope  for  all.  If  what  I  have  said  shall  lead  any  to  the  higher  rational  life  of 
which  I  have  spoken,  the  object  of  my  paper  will  be  accorrtplished. 


CULTURE— ITS  FRUIT  AND  ITS  PRICE. 


By  MRS.  MAY  WRIGHT  SEWALL. 

Every  time  has  its  catch  words,  its  popular  phrases  indicativ^e  of  the  caprice,  the 
motive,  the  opinion  or  the  aspiration  which  rules  the  passing  hour. 

In  the  verbal  currency  of  our  day  perhaps  no 
other  word  experiences  more  frequenter  more  aston- 
ishing fluctuations  than  the  word  culture.  As  young 
people  are  certain  to  infer  the  definition  of  terms 
from  their  use,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that, 
through  its  numerous  and  contradictory  applications, 
the  meaning  of  culture  is  in  many  youthful  minds 
vague  and  nebulous. 

Culture,  when  applied  to  men,  is  often  used  as  a 
synonym  for  learning;  when  ascribed  to  women  it  is 
frequently  employed  as  an  equivalent  for  accomplish- 
ment. Thus  one  may,  within  the  same  hour,  have 
culture  predicated  of  a  distinguished  linguist  and  of 
a  noted  aesthete,  of  one  woman  who  paints  china  and 
velvet  and  of  another  who  does  Kensington  embroid- 
ery; of  one  who  reads  French,  of  another  who  speaks 
German,  and  of  a  third  who  sings  Italian;  and  it  is 
daily  asserted  with  lavish  impartiality  of  companies 
of  women  who  in  clubs  and  classes  are  continuing  an 
education  which  in  their  youth  and  in  its  proper  sea- 
son suffered  an  untimely  abridgement. 

Thisundiscriminatinguseof  the  word  has  debased 
its  originally  noble  significance,  and  it  has  come  to  suggest  to  the  inquiring  and  crit- 
ical mind  a  tendency  to  dabble,  a  dilettant  habit,  and  superficial  acquirements  in 
superfluous  departments  of  study. 

This  misuse  of  the  word  has  been  followed  by  a  misunderstanding  of  the  sub- 
stance which  it  rightly  names,  and  it  is  the  fashion  of  the  day  in  certain  circles  to 
scoff  at  culture,  to  belittle  it  by  making  it  take  on  a  provincial  air  through  limiting  it 
to  a  single  locality,  and  playing  that  Boston  is  its  habitat;  to  degrade  it  by  a  ridicu- 
lous orthography  and  an  affected  pronunciation;  sneeringly  to  attribute  it  to  fops  and 
pedants,  and  finally,  to  put  it  on  the  defensive  by  assuming  that  it  belongs  to  the  dead 
past,  that  it  is  inimical  to  modern  progress,  and  must,  in  the  interests  of  progress,  be 
shelved  and  labeled  with  other  interesting  but  outgrown  antiquities,  or  ticketed  with 
the  extinct  arts. 

In  recent  years  another  word  has  gained  a  strange  ascendency  over  the  popular 

Mrs.  May  Wright  Sewali,  of  Indianapolis,  vice-president  International  Council  of  Women,  president  of  the  National 
<k>oncil  of  Women  of  the  United  States,  chairman  of  the  committee  on  a  World's  Congress  of  Representative  Women,  is  a 
native  of  Wisconsin.  Her  parents,  however,  were  both  from  old  New  England  families.  She  was  graduated  from  the 
Northwestern  University  of  Evanston,  111.,  with  the  degree  A.  B.,  in  1867.  The  degree  of  A.  M.  was  conferred  upon  her 
three  years  later.  Mrs.  Sewali  is  known  as  a  most  thorough  and  successful  educator.  She  united  in  marriage  with  Mr.  The- 
odore L.  Sewali  in  1880.  In  1882  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sewali  opened  a  private  school  for  girls,  known  as  the  Girls'  Classical  School. 
She  is  a  member  of  the  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Women,  an  honorary  member  of  the  American  Historical  Asso- 
ciation of  Sorosis,  etc  She  has  spent  several  summers  in  England,  France,  Germany  and  Italy.  Mr.  Sewali  h&s  many  lee 
tares  on  social,  educational  and  reform  topics.  She  is  perhaps  at  her  best  as  an  extemporaneous  speaker,  her  style  being 
olear,  cogent  and  eloquent.  To  various  activities  Mrs.  Sewali  adds  those  of  a  housekeeper  and  entertainer,  her  Wednesday 
afternoon  receptions  being  a  feature  of  the  intellectual  and  social  life  of  her  city.  Her  postofiice  address  is  Indianapo- 
lis, Ind. 

771 


MRS.   MAY   WRIGHT  SEWALL. 


772  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

mind,  the  influence  of  which  has  increased  as  the  authority  once  associated  with  the 
word  culture  has  declined.  The  word  practical  acts  on  large  numbers  in  every  mod- 
ern community  as  a  charm  in  superstitious  eras  acted  upon  its  victims. 

Let  any  new  interpretation  of  religion,  any  new  system  of  education,  any  scheme 
of  finance,  any  civil  policy  be  heralded  as  practical,  and  its  advocates  may  rely  upon 
an  immediate  following  to  be  enumerated  by  thousands.  It  is  by  the  victims  of  this 
epithet,  by  the  worshipers  of  utility,  by  the  self-styled  practical  people,  that  culture  is 
held  in  disdain.  One  sometimes  questions  whether  the  disdain  springs  from  con- 
scious superiority  or  from  envy,  which  is  the  forced  confession  of  conscious  inferior- 
ity. Whatever  its  source,  disdain  is  a  poisoned  weapon,  and  it  is  the  weapon  of 
suicide. 

The  man  of  action  is  the  hero  of  the  practical  world,  and  hardly  less  does  the 
woman  of  action  control  the  imagination  of  contemporary  maidenhood.  But  far  from 
being,  what  numbers  of  their  admirers  proclaim  them  to  be,  the  foes  of  culture,  living 
proofs  of  the  uselessness  of  culture,  men  of  action  and  in  a  very  particular  sense 
women  of  action,  are  the  heralds  of  culture,  its  prerequisites,  and  almost  always  its 
agents. 

The  achievements  of  practical  men  are,  to  the  great  and  permanent  detriment  of 
numberless  young  people  in  this  generation,  frequently  cited  to  show  how  unessential 
to  success  culture  is.  When  men  of  action,  like  Fulton  or  Whitney,  like  A.  T,  Stew- 
art, Vanderbilt  or  Jay  Gould,  or  in  very  different  lilies  of  action,  like  Edison,  or  Pull- 
man, or  Powderly  are  under  discussion,  the  feature  of  their  careers  which  is  dwelt  upon 
with  particular  insistence  is,  that  "they  were  or  are  men  of  no  culture;"  that  "they 
were  or  are  men  of  no  education,"  or  "  men  of  the  most  elementary,"  or  in  favorite 
phrase  "  of  the  most  practical  education."  It  is  readily  admitted  that  the  madequate 
education  of  these  men  is  an  element  which,  in  their  careers,  was  calculated  to  attract 
attention;  an  element  properly  emphasized  by  biographers  and  economists,  since  the 
fact  emphasizes  their  extraordinary  ability  in  the  direction  of  their  successes. 

Such  careers  may  be  regarded  with  complacency,  with  certain  pride  by  every 
human  being,  since  they  indicate  the  dignity,  the  potency  of  the  human  spirit,  which 
can  set  all  obstacles  at  defiance  and  transcend  circumstances.  But  such  careers  do 
not,  as  too  many  young  people  are  led  to  believe,  prove  that  success  is  the  logical  out- 
come of  ignorance,  the  calculable  goal  of  mind  minus  culture.  What  the  man  with- 
out culture,  the  practical  man,  has  achieved  in  the  world  of  matter  may  but  grossly 
figure  what  the  same  man  with  culture  might  have  achieved  in  the  world  of  thought; 
and  one  element  never  to  be  forgotten  in  calculating  one's  achievements  is  the  plane 
upon  which  they  are  won.  It  is  mainly  the  result  of  such  careers  and  of  the  partial 
interpretation  given  to  them  that,  in  popular  language,  the  antithesis  of  culture  is 
practical  education.  It  is  by  the  advocates  of  practical  education,  who  assume  the 
role  of  the  natural  and  necessary  sponsors  of  progress,  that  culture  has  been  put  on 
the  defensive.  By  them  she,  who,  like  beauty,  has  been  wont  to  consider  herself  her 
own  divine  excuse  for  being,  is  compelled  to  state  other  and  lower  grounds  which 
justify  her  continued  existence.  Thus  any  analysis  of  culture  seems  to  involve  an 
analysis  of  practical  education;  and  in  attempting  such  an  analysis  a  numble  disciple 
of  culture  hopes  to  show  that  the  practical  education,  far  from  being  the  antithesis  of 
culture,  is  the  straight,  broad  path  to  it. 

You  will  see  then  that  the  first  question  that  arises  in  an  attempt  to  define  culture 
is:  What  is  meant  by  a  practical  education?  Is  it  not  fair  to  reply  that  a  practical 
education  is  such  an  education  in  kind  and  degree  as  can  be  practical,  as  can  be  used 
with  effectiveness  in  subsequent  life?  Is  not  a  practical  education  one  that  looks  to 
a  definite,  a  distinct  and  probably  attainable  end,  instead  of  to  the  vague  and 
intangible  end  of  personal  development,  which  is  culture's  avowed  aim?  One  of  the 
striking  advantages  of  the  practical  education  is  that  its  end  is  thus  definable;  that  it 
has  an  infallible  test.  One  laying  claim  to  a  practical  education  must  be  ready  at  any 
hour  to  make  answer  to  the  pass-word  of  the  work-a-day  world:  "What  can  you  do?" 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  773 

This  necessity,  although  deplored  by  shallow  pretenders  to  culture  who  deem  it  antag- 
onistic, is  really  one  of  culture's  strongest  allies.  The  man  who  can  make  no  response 
to  the  challenge  of  the  business  world,  "  What  can  you  do?  "  is,  by  the  modern  code,  a 
tramp,  a  vagrant.  The  demand  that  she  too  shall  meet  this  test,  that  she  too  shall 
answer  to  the  password  of  the  practical  world,  "What  can  you  do?"  is,  remembering 
all  other  boons — I  say  it  deliberately  and  with  no  reserve — the  greatest  boon  that  mod- 
ern civilization  has  conferred  upon  woman.  Today  the  ability  to  give  a  sufificing 
reply  to  this  challenge  is  essential  to  self-respect  in  man  or  woman,  and  that  it  is  so 
is  a  triumph  of  practical  education;  but  the  ability  to  answer  this  question  is  also  a 
proof  of  culture. 

In  this  assembly  one  could  confidently  inquire,  "What  do  you  expect  your  edu- 
cation here  to  do  for  you?"  Probably  every  young  man  and  every  young  woman 
would  be  ready  with  a  definite  answer.  They  have  formed  definite  expectations  of 
the  education  they  are  engaged  in  obtaining,  and  their  parents  have  formed  definite 
expectations  of  them  and  of  what  their  education  will  do  for  them.  It  is  definitely 
expected  that  this  education  will  make  of  those  who  pursue  it  competent  civil  or 
mechanical  engineers;  or  good  draughtsmen  or  designers,  or  efficient  farmers,  poul- 
terers, horticulturists  or  stock  raisers,  or  reliable  pharmacists  or  chemists,  or  skillful 
wood  carvers  or  decorators;  and  looking  toward  these  occupations  most,  if  not  all  of 
them,  see  in  the  education  they  are  getting  here  a  direct  means  of  self-support.  This 
is  admirable.  If  life  itself  is  noble  and  dignified,  that  which  alone  can  support  it  can 
not  be  ignoble  and  mean;  and  any  institution  which  stands  for  the  dignity  of  labor 
and  which  brings  up  successive  generations  of  young  people  with  sound  healthy 
notions  of  labor  is  a  source  of  benefactions. 

There  is  a  tacit  division  of  society  into  the  professional  and  practical  classes,  and 
a  tacit  assumption  that  these  classes  are  reciprocally  inimical:  the  division  is  mislead- 
ing, and  the  assumption  arising  from  it  absurd.  The  professional  class  includes  cler- 
gymen, lawyers,  physicians  (broadly  embracing  surgeons  and  dentists)  and  teachers; 
and  latterly  authors  and  artists;  the  practical  class  includes  the  followers  of  business 
trades,  of  mechanical  arts,  and  indeed  of  all  pursuits  not  specifically  included  under 
professional,  but  following  either  the  etymology  of  the  two  words  or  the  simple  facts 
regarding  the  two  classes  of  workers,  do  not  the  practical  profess  as  much  as  the  pro- 
fessional? and  do  not  the  professional  practice  as  much  as  the  practical? 

As  for  the  tacit  assumption,  often  boldly  proclaimed,  that  the  professional  class 
prey  upon  the  practical,  that  the  professional  class  consumes  what  the  practical  class 
produces,  is  not  its  refutation  read  in  the  statement?  The  two  classes  serve  one 
another,  and  to  a  corresponding  extent  live  on  one  another.  This  is  inevitable  and  it 
is  to  the  common  advantage  of  both. 

A  second  division  of  society  follows  the  lines  of  the  first,  and  assumes  that  the 
cultured  class  is  identical  with  the  professional  and  that  the  uncultured  is  synonymous 
with  the  practical.  If  absurdity  could  pass  beyond  the  first  division,  it  may  be  said 
to  culminate  in  the  second.  That  a  man  is  a  member  of  one  of  the  so-called  profes- 
sions (in  distinction  from  one  of  the  so-called  business  avocations)  is  no  ground  for 
the  inference  that  he  is  a  man  of  culture.  The  professions,  once  called  the  liberal 
professions,  where  thus  called  because  no  man  could  hope  to  enter  thern  who  had  not 
enjoyed  a  liberal  education,  A  particular  education  was  called  liberal  from  the  gen- 
eral belief  that  certain  studies  tended  to  liberalize  the  mind,  and  by  putting  it  into 
possession  of  the  best  thoughts  of  all  times  and  all  enlightened  countries,  freed  it 
from  the  bondage  of  the  prejudices  of  its  own  time  and  its  own  land  At  a  time  when 
such  a  liberal,  i.  e.,  such  a  liberalizing  education  was  the  indispensable  condition  for 
beginning  the  preparation  of  a  professional  career,  it  was  reasonable  to  infer  culture 
of  a  man  in  any  one  of  the  professions;  but  now  when  the  call  to  preach  may  come  to 
the  most  illiterate,  and  when  the  license  may  be  granted  to  whomsoever  claims  the 
call;  when  the  degree  of  M.  D,  will  be  granted  to  the  youth  or  maiden  who  will  give 
an  indifferent  attention  to  two  or  three  courses  of  lectures;  when  anyone  may  be  made 


774  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN 

a  notary,  and  any  notary  may  be  admitted  to  the  bar,  it  is  folly  to  profess  to  maintain 
the  old  and  honorable  identification  of  culture  with  these  professions. 

********** 

Since  success  is  that  which  everyone  most  desires,  the  relative  probabilities  of 
success  that  wait  on  different  courses  usually  determine  the  young  man's  or  young 
woman's  choice  among  them.  The  lowest  measure  of  success  to  which  one's  life  can 
be  subjected  is  the  character  of  the  shelter  and  the  quality  and  the  quantity  of  the  food 
and  raiment  which  he  has  been  able  to  provide  himself.  Measured  by  this  lowest  unit, 
I  believe  the  cultured  as  a  class  are  more  successful  than  the  practical  as  a  class.  Let 
success  be  first  gauged  by  bread  and  butter  if  you  will;  you  will  find  the  whitest  loaves 
cut  in  the  thinnest  slices,  most  thickly  spread  with  butter  are  on  the  table  and  in  the 
larder  of  the  cultured  man.  The  second  measure  of  success  is  in  the  number,  the 
variety  and  magnitude  of  material  luxuries  in  excess  of  the  three  primal  necessities, 
shelter,  clothing  and  food,  enjoyed  by  the  man  himself,  and  in  the  number  and  mag- 
nitude of  material  benefits  bestowed  by  him  upon  the  community.  In  the  personal 
application  of  this  second  measure,  the  average  man  of  culture  has  the  undoubted 
advantage  of  the  average  man  destitute  of  "culture.  Measured  by  the  material  bene- 
factions which  they  bestow  upon  the  public,  it  is  granted  that  the  non-cultured  man 
enjoys  a  relatively  superior  degree  of  success.  Great  inventors,  great  discoverers,  great 
business  magnates,  who  generally  belong  to  the  practical  as  distinguished  from  the 
cultured  class,  have  been  conspicuously  successful  in  promoting  the  material  interests 
of  the  world.  To  them  society  owes  the  railroads,  the  steamships,  the  telegraphs,  the 
telephones,  the  artificial  lights,the  banks,  the  insurance  companies,  and  an  innumerable 
et  ccBtera  of  devices  fo  rdeveloping  material  resources  and  for  increasing,  distributing 
and  preserving  material  benefits.  But  all  of  these  intruments  of  material  advancement 
are  immediately  made  the  instruments  of  culture,  and  are  noble  in  just  the  degree  to 
which  they  can  be  used  to  promote  the  ends  of  culture. 

The  third  measure  of  relative  success  may  be  taken  in  the  public  honors  enjoyed 
by  the  two  classes.  The  impartial  application  of  this  measure  nearly  establishes  an 
equilibrium  between  the  two  classes;  and  as  the  young  man  fevered  by  ambition 
applies  it,  he  may  feel  the  balance  tip  in  favor  of  the  practical  class,  especially  as  he 
sees  representatives  of  this  class  in  increasing  numbers  pushed  into  high  public  offices 
and  into  the  social  prominence  incident. to  exalted  official  station.  But  even  in  the 
world  of  politics,  of  all  worlds  that  most  easily  conquered  by  the  practical  man,  that 
world  which  offers  an  exceptional  field  for  the  exercise  of  practical  qualities,  that 
world  whose  atmosphere  lends  a  peculiar  glamor  both  to  practical  talent  and  to  its 
rewards,  even  in  this  world,  the  highest  department  of  service  is  almost  exclusively 
reserved  for  men  of  culture.  In  the  diplomatic  department  the  diplomatic  man  stands 
aside  for  the  man  of  culture;  in  the  records  of  diplomacy  one  reads  few  names  of  mer- 
chants, mechanics  or  inventors,  but  here  with  Franklin,  the  one  conspicuous  repre- 
sentative of  the  practical,  and  who  is  equally  a  representative  of  culture,  in  diplomacy 
are  registered  the  names  of  Ticknor,  Taylor,  Prescott,  Bancroft,  Adams,  Motley  and 
Lowell,  of  men  equally  at  home  in  the  world  of  letters  and  in  the  world  of  affairs;  of 
men  whose  culture  was  the  instrument  of  their  success  in  the  practical  world,  and  was 
the  occasion  of  their  official  elevation  and  whose  elevation  in  turn  advanced  their 
culture. 

A  fourth  measure  of  success  may  be  found  in  the  degree  to  which  a  man  has  con- 
tributed to  the  amelioration  of  human  hardships,  to  the  eradication  of  human  wrongs, 
to  the  promotion  of  intelligence  and  virtue,  and  maintenance  of  institutions  and  soci- 
eties for  the  spread  of  learning,  for  the  practice  of  benevolence,  and  for  the  promotion 
of  religion.  By  this  measure  the  success  of  the  cultured  as  a  class  is  relatively  taans- 
cendent.  The  churches,  the  colleges,  the  universities,  even  the  public  schools,  which 
are  the  sharpeners  of  the  practical  wits  of  the  practical  class — all  of  these  institutions 
which  hold,  perpetuate,  increase  and  measure  the  civilization  of  our  period  are,  with 
some  notable  exceptions,  the  products  and  the  movements  of  men  of  culture. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  775 

Shall  fame  be  counted  one  of  the  units  of  measure  by  which  relative  success  can 
be  computed  ?  Whose  names  does  the  gilded  trumpet  proclaim  in  tones  that  promise 
echoes  from  unborn  generations?  Croesus  is  seldom  remembered  save  when  and  because 
•associated  with  Solon.  In  this  respect  an  exquisite  irony  seems  to  wait  on  practical 
men;  having  served  the  practical  all  their  lives  to  insure  fame,  they  dedicate  the 
practical  results  of  their  lives  to  the  ideal.  Having  worshiped  all  their  lives  at  the 
altar  of  utility,  at  their  deaths  to  purge  the  gold  they  have  won  from  their  goddess, 
and  to  secure  from  it  an  immortal  gilding  for  their  names,  they  must  needs  desert  her 
and  lay  her  gifts  upon  the  shrine  of  culture.  Through  what  agencies  are  the  names  of 
Astor,  Girard,  Cooper,  Cornell  and  Hopkins  kept  green  in  the  grateful  memories  of 
generations  that  knew  them  not?  Not  through  trading  stations,  commercial  agencies, 
financial  systems  and  mammoth  business  enterprises,  but  through  the  colleges,  the 
universities,  the  art  institute,  the  library  which  they  respectively  founded.  Through 
giving  local  habitations  to  culture  do  these  kings  of  the  practical  alone  secure  a  name. 

This  generation,  reared  in  the  doctrines  of  Utility,  promises  to  be  conspicuous 
above  all  generations  by  virtue  of  the  voluntary  tributes  which  her  most  distinguished 
apostles  of  the  practical  pay  to  culture.  Nevef  has  the  practical  been  more  exalted 
or  more  faithfully  served  than  by  the  adventurous  explorers  and  speculators  who  have 
pursued  its  ends  on  the  Pacific  Coast;  but  Leland  G.  Stanford  entrusts  the  perpetua- 
tion of  his  name  not  to  ranch  or  mine  'or  mint,  or  vineyard  or  gold  mine,  but  to  that 
noble  university  where  his  practical  successes  shall  all  be  transmuted  into  the  Olympic 
nectar,  the  Hymethian  honey  and  the  fair  Minervan  loaves,  upon  which  Culture  feeds 
her  children;  and  his  compeer,  James  Lick,  builds  his  millions  and  his  hope§  of  fame 
into  the  stately  columned  and  towered  observatory  which  shall  hold  his  name  always 
above  the  clouds,  and  link  it  with  celestial  contemplations. 

To  one  who  will  consult  their  inner  significance,  these  tributes  of  the  practical  to 
the  ideal  make  touching  appeal.  In  that  the  name  of  Aristotle  will  outlast  that  of 
Astor,  of  Claude  Lorraine  that  of  Cooper,  of  Bacon  that  of  Girard;  in  that  the  names 
of  Homer  and  Dante  and  Milton  will  outlive  that  of  Stanford  and  those  of  Galileo, 
Bruno  and  Herschel  will  outreach  that  of  Lick,  there  are  two  lessons  which  he  who 
runs  may  read. 

The  first  is  that  the  humblest  lover  and  devotee  of  culture  has  a  claim  upon  im- 
mortality which  can  not  be  won  by  those  vVho  build  even  the  proudest  altars  in  her 
honor,  if  they  have  spent  their  own  lives  in  worshiping  at  other  shrines. 

The  second  is  that  there  is  no  quarrel  between  the  practical  spirit  and  culture,  but 
that  as  God  makes  the  wrath  of  man  to  serve  him,  so  culture  turns  the  fruit  of  prac- 
tical careers  into  soil  and  seed,  which  shall  insure  the  enlargement  of  her  harvests. 
Culture  has  repeated  these  object  lessons  so  often  that  practical  minds  are  beginning 
to  see  the  corollary  of  them,  and  are  wisely  using  culture  as  an  instrument  in  forward- 
ing their  plans  for  the  conquest  of  the  material  world. 

They  are  unmistakable  evidences  that  culture  is,  more  and  more,  commanding 
from  the  devotees  of  the  practical  that  recognition  which  is  her  due;  that  she  will 
never  be  satisfied  with  the  tribute  of  temples  and  altars  from  the  practical  world  until 
that  world  shall  carry  into  its  offices  and  market  places  the  spirit  and  methods  to  be 
learned  only  at  her  feet. 


COME  SOUTH,  YOUNG  WOMAN. 

By  MRS.  MARTHA  R.  FIELD  (CATHERINE  COLE). 

The  invitation  which  I  have  today  the  honor  and  the  pleasure  to  extend  to  that 
most  important  class  of  American  citizens,  the  young  women,  is  inspired  by  the  triple 

forces  of  selfishness,  patriotism  and  hospitality. 

It  is  selfishness  of  the  most  admirable  quality  to 
enrich  our  riches  by  an  access  of  the  pure  gold  of 
young  American  womanhood.  It  is  a  patriotism  of  a 
high  order  to  labor  for  the  proud  progress  of  one's 
own  state,  and  it  is  hospitality  of  the  old-time,  un- 
quenchable, Southern  sort  to  open  our  doors,  our 
arms  and  our  hearts  and  give  with  that  largest  benefi- 
cence of  all,  not  only  the  best  we  have,  but  all  we 
have. 

These  are  the  sentiments,  and  this  the  spirit  in 
which,  with  a  great  state  behind  me  to  corroborate  my 
words,  I  give  the  invitation:  "  Come  South,  young 
woman." 

In  directing  an  immigration  address  to  young 
women,  rather  than  to  young  men,  I  am  conscious 
that  I  am  inverting  the  old  order  of  things,  but  speak- 
ing to  women  in  a  woman's  building  that  is  filled  with 
woman's  work — much  of  it  of  a  character  to  still  hap- 
pily demonstrate  the  fact  that  women,  like  pigeons, 
,.»    ...„^^,  „  ^,^,^  have  not  yet  lost  their  homing  virtues — I  could  hardly 

MRS.   MARTHA   K.   FIELD.  -^  *=>  .,  tii-  i 

address  any  other  than  my  sex.  Also,  1  believe  that 
wherever  brave,  bonnie,  winsome  young  women  are,  there  also  the  strong,  sturdy, 
desirable  young  man  will  be. 

Some  one  tells  a  story,  by  the  way,  to  the  effect  that  once  on  a  time  all  the  men 
were  put  on  one  island  and  all  the  women  on  another,  and  that  an  ocean  rolled  between, 
and  that  all  the  women  got  drowned.  I  do  not  believe  it,  but  I  do  believe  that  the 
future  of  Louisiana  is  assured  if  the  young  women  of  the  North,  East  and  West  take 
us  at  our  word  and  come  South.  From  the  earliest  records  of  our  country,  the  extreme 
South  has  managed,  somehow,  to  be  always  in  evidence.  It  has  contributed  to  litera- 
ture some  of  its  most  picturesque  and  dramatic  pages;  to  history  some  of  its  most 
heroic  deeds,  and  to  the  civilization  of  the  New  World  it  has  given  the  most  gorgeous 
and  splendid  illustrations  of  effete  and  luxurious  living. 

Today  life  is  easier  in  the  South  than  elsewhere  in  the  United  States.  The  far- 
sighted  observer  watching  the  direction  of  capital,  the  gradual  opening  up  of  the  inex- 
haustible resources  of  the  New  South,  is  already  certain  that  the  Southern  States  are 
inevitably  circling  back  to  an  indestructible  prosperity  that  is  to  be  based  this  time  on 
the  substantial  and  entirely  commendable  foundation  of  material  resources  that  are 
being  practically  developed,  w^ithout  the  work  of  any  "slave-driver's  whip"  or  the  fear 
of  any  intervening  disruption. 

Mrs.  Martha  R.  Field  (Catherine  Cole)  is  a  native  of  Lexington,  Mo.  She  was  educated  in  New  Orleans  at  the  Mac6 
Lef  ranc  Institute.  She  has  traveled  all  over  Europe,  America  and  Mexico.  She  married  Charles  W.  Field,  a  prominent  stock 
broker  of  San  Francisco.  Her  special  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  literature,  decidedly  eclectic  and  especially  in  the 
interest  of  Louisiana.  Her  profession  is  that  of  a  journalist,  and  she  is  the  best  known  newspaper  woman  in  the  South. 
During  the  Chicago  Fair  she  wrote  daily  letters  from  thereto  the  Picayune,  which  were  declared  by  the  New  York  press  to  be 
the  finest  accounts  of  the  Fair  published.  In  religious  faith  she  is  an  Episcopalian :  member  of  the  Trinity  Church  in  New 
Orleans.    Her  postoifice  address  is  New  Orleans,  La.,  care  of  Picayune  office. 

776 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  777 

Less  than  a  year  ago  it  was  my  good  fortune  to  make  the  entire  tour  of  the  big, 
beautiful,  and  infinitely  varied  State  of  Louisiana.  Less  sensational  than  a  journey  into 
darkest  Africa  or  a  race  over  the  globe,  it  was  a  long  story  of  unique  experiences. 

With  only  a  small  colored  lad  to  drive  my  wiry  little  Creole  ponies,  and  a  compass 
and  map  for  a  guide,  I  visited  each  one  of  our  thirty-nine  parishes.  Traveling  in  a 
buggy,  or  often  in  a  canoe,  or  even  on  that  mercurial  craft  whose  equanimity  is  as 
susceptible  as  that  of  a  spirit  level — I  mean,  a  pirogue — the  journey  covered  nearly 
eighteen  hundred  miles.  It  extended  from  the  fated  Island  of  the  Cheniere  Caminada, 
wrapped  in  its  scarf  of  sand,  to  the  high  red  hills  of  Caddo  parish,  touching  shoulders 
with  Arkansas;  from  the  cypress  swamp  of  the  east  boundaries  to  the  salt  licks  and 
long  levels  of  prairie  that  margin  the  shores  of  the  Texan  Sabine. 

Sometimes,  through  the  pine  forests,  it  meant  thirty  miles  from  house  to  house; 
sometimes  it  meant  a  pallet  on  the  floor,  sweet  potatoes,  and  bacon;  sometimes  it  meant 
a  bed  a  prince  of  the  blood  royal  had  slept  in  and  frapped  champagne.  But  whatever 
the  material  environment,  on  every  hearth  there  burned  the  torch  of  hospitality  that, 
come  good  fortune  or  ill,  never  goes  out  while  the  home  walls  hold  together. 

Once  our  buggy  broke  down  in  a  dismal  swamp,  and  I  had  to  walk  out  of  it  nine 
miles.  Once  we  were  taken  for  patent  medicine  show  people.  But  wherever  I  went  I 
only  gathered  more  facts  to  prove  that  Louisiana  is  the  best  poor  man's  country,  and 
that  on  its  lands  and  under  its  sky  no  one  need  feel  the  biting  teeth  of  hunger,  the 
quick  of  poverty,  or  know  the  lack  of  home  comforts. 

Louisiana  is  vaguely  but  popularly  supposed  to  be  composed  of  swamps,  Spanish 
moss,  and  alligators — three  things  that,  by  the  way,  have  an  appreciable  market  value. 
My  colored  friends  assure  me  that  a  nice  boiled  alligator's  tail  is  very  good  eating;  in 
fact,  I  know  that  it  is  a  sort  of  mock  pork,  and  the  amphibian's  skin  is  reserved  only 
for  the  use  of  the  rich.  Spanish  moss,  that  hangs  our  great  cave-like  forests  with  its 
airy  stalactites,  is  worth  from  three  to  seven  cents  a  pound,  and  time  and  time  again 
have  I  seen  a  colored  woman  snatch  up  a  large  bundle  of  it  from  her  fence  and  rush 
off  to  the  little  cross-roads  store  to  exchange  it  there  for  green  coffee  or  gin.  Perhaps 
all  of  you  have  stood  in  the  superb  vestibule  of  the  Forestry  Building,  with  its  amber 
walls  inlaid  with  onyx-colored  panels  of  "curly"  cypress.  It  is  a  hall  fit  for  a  king. 
Less  than  eighteen  months  ago  all  of  it  was  the  heart  of  a  moss-hung  Louisiana  swamp. 

These  beautiful  woods — the  world's  future  strong  ships,  casks  for  its  most  precious 
wines,  cabinets  for  its  loveliest  gems,  homes  for  its  richest  people — these,  lying  undis- 
turbed in  forest  primeval,  these  are  the  unquarried  Canovas,  and  quite  as  precious,  of 
Louisiana. 

That  beautiful  vestibule  is  the  enterprise  of  a  Northern  firm,  who  are  thriftily  buying 
up  timber  lands  all  over  the  South,  knowing  it  is  inevitably  the  site  of  the  future  fac- 
tory and  the  future  mill. 

So  you  see,  if  we  do  have  swamps,  Spanish  moss  and  alligators,  they  yield  us 
money  as  readily  as  Aladdin's  lamp  gave  him  gold.  If  one  should  try  to  paint  the  pict- 
ure of  Louisiana  it  would  be  as  difificult  a  task  as  trying  to  write  the  great  American 
novel.  Too  many  conditions  and  phases  of  life  are  American  to  be  compressed  into 
the  limits  of  one  story!  Too  many  geographical  features  belong  to  the  great  Southern 
state  to  be  artistically  placed  on  one  canvas. 

High  hills,  rocks  and  marbles,  gushing  waterfalls,  mineral  springs,  rolling 
uplands,  clover  pastures,  boundless  prairies,  traveled  by  wild  ponies,  pine  forests  like 
great  green  cathedrals,  cypress  swamps  all  hung  with  weeping  moss,  salt  sea  marshes, 
long  sand  dunes,  sluggish  bayous,  brooks  like  crystal — all  these  are  Louisiana.  The 
alligator  and  the  turtle,  the  mocking-bird  and  the  linnet,  the  pompano  and  the  brook- 
trout,  the  quail  and  the  papabotte,  the  deer  and  the  bear — all  these  are  Louisiana. 

The  squalor  of  the  cabin,  the  comfort  of  the  prosperous  home,  the  splendor  of  the 
old  historic  mansion — all  these  are  Louisiana.  W'e  have  almost  the  oldest  towns  in  the 
Union,  and  millions  of  acres  that  no  spade  has  ever  touched.  We  have  a  culture 
incomparable,  and  an  ignorance  almost  incomparable,  but  between  t^iese  two  is  a 


778  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

great,  hearty,  wholesome,  humanity  that  knows  more  of  the  sweet  side  of  life  than  the 
bitter,  as  little  of  want  as  Marie  Antoinette  knew  of  the  price  of  bread,  and  lives 
like  a  king  with  a  sugar  cane  for  a  scepter,  a  cotton  boll  for  a  royal  standard,  who 
tickle  the  soil  with  a  plow  and  it  laughs  into  a  golden  harvest  for  them. 

About  the'lonely  waters  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  sand  lands  dribble  off  through 
rushes  to  the  sea.  These  island  lands  are  the  homes  of  gulls,  terns,  and  those  beauti- 
ful white-plumaged  pelicans  we  call  the  white  aigrettes,  and  which  are  hunted  for  that 
single  dainty  feather  that  floats  like  a  thistle  down  on  many  a  lady's  best  bonnet.  It 
takes  sixteen  thousand  aigrettes  to  make  a  pound,  and  a  pound  fetches  seven  hundred 
dollars.  The  deer  hide  in  the  salty  sedges,  and  through  the  soilless  wastes  the  bayous 
trickle  like  sprawling  watery  fingers,  reaching  out  from  the  land  to  clutch  the  sea. 

On  these  low  coasts  and  islands  are  orange  groves  and  cauliflower  farms,  and 
here  the  fisher  folk  dwell,  their  only  vehicle  a  little,  red  latteen-sailed  lugger,  their 
only  law  the  good  priest  whose  teachings  keep  them  from  evil  just  as  the  gulf  waters 
keep  them  "far  from  the  madding  crowd."  Westward  the  coast  gets  firmer,  and  the 
live  oak  trees  lean  with  the  bend  of  the  wind.  The  orange  trees  are  taller.  In 
Cameron  Parish,  not  twenty  miles  from  the  gulf,  there  is  a  grand  old  tree  that  many 
times  has  borne  in  one  crop  ten  thousand  oranges.  I  have  seen  it  so,  and  it  is  a  sight 
to  put  all  the  golden  apples  of  Hesperides  to  the  blush. 

Beyond  the  lowlands  of  the  coast  we  come  into  a  stretch  of  magnificent  prairie, 
boundless  and  golden  as  Nebraska,  that  unfurls  like  a  scroll  waiting  to  be  written  on 
in  all  the  paying  hieroglyphics  of  the  plow  and  harrow. 

Almost  all  the  northern  and  western  people  who  have  come  into  the  state  have 
settled  on  this  western  prairie  or  in  the  priceless  pine  forests  that  clasp  it  like  a 
girdle.  It  is  a  great  rice  country.  Every  fruit  known  to  the  Middle  and  Southern 
states  flourishes  here  and  vegetables  grow  to  an  almost  unequaled  perfection.  From 
ten  to  twenty  dollars  an  acre  is  the  selling  price  of  these  lands.  Cattle  on  these 
prairies  do  not  need  to  be  housed  at  all  during  the  year,  and  require  not  more  than 
six  weeks'  feeding,  even  for  milk  cows. 

To  the  East,  the  rolling  lands  begin  to  take  on  hardwood  trees;  the  streams  that 
we  call  "bayous"  braid  in  and  out  like  silver  threads  through  a  sober  fabric;  the 
ombs  of  red-tiled  roofs  and  the  admonishing  crosses  of  the  village  churches  paint 
their  serene  pictures  on  the  bending  sky.  The  fallow  fields  swell  as  if  breathing,  and 
here  we  are  in  the  heart  of  the  "  Attakapas  country,"  the  land  of  "Evangeline"  and 
the  home  of  the  Arcadians. 

It  is  all  as  pastoral  as  England.  The  green  banks  of  the  Teche  slope  like  gardens 
along  the  Thames;  the  light  mosses  on  the  oaks  float  the  gray  crape  of  their  veils  so 
that  their  most  delicate  tendrils  are  etched  against  the  air;  the  Creole  cattle  stand 
knee-deep  in  the  clover  or  in  the  bayou  shallows  cropping  lily  pods.  Beyond  the 
banks  you  catch  the  broad  green  flicker  of  the  cane  ribbons.  The  contented  negro 
croons  over  his  hoe;  a  plantation  bell  rings  off  the  workmen  for  the  noonday  rest; 
a  wagon  creaks  by,  frothing  over  with  fresh  cotton;  a  mocking-bird  sings  on  a 
Cherokee  hedge;  a  pelican  rests  on  the  queer  pontoon  bridge  that  clasps  shore  to 
shore.    This  is  Louisiana. 

In  the  northern  parishes,  where  cotton  is  an  ungrateful  king,  are  steep  hills, 
a  great  untouched  marble  quarry  bursting  its  bondage  to  earth,  and  the  long  country 
roads  are  lined  with  walnut  and  persimmon  trees  and  are  thick-set  with  hazel  bushes. 
Here  in  the  orchards  apples,  peaches,  pears  and  plums  pelt  their  fruits  down  into 
the  tangled  grasses. 

In  very  truth  only  a  minor  portion  of  the  state  is  composed  of  swamp  land  or  salt 
water  marsh;  only  a  small  portion  is  in  danger  of  overflow;  and  in  the  best  alluvial 
districts  the  black  soil  will  be  thirty  feet  deep.  There  are  farms  in  Louisiana  that 
have  been  in  cultivation  for  fifty  years,  have  never  had  a  pound  of  fertilizer  used  on 
them,  and  yet  show  no  signs  of  giving  out.  These  lands  are  sold  at  from  twenty  to 
fifty  dollars  an  acre,  according  to  the  improvements. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  -  779 

I  should  like  to  say  a  word  about  the  tenant  or  share  system.  Any  large  planter 
will  rent  a  man,  black  or  white,  a  farm  of,  say,  forty  acres.  On  it  will  be  a  house,  a 
mule,  a  plow,  harness  and  garden  tools.  It  includes  the  right  to  free  fuel.  The  rent 
is  half  the  man's  crop.  That  is,  if  he  makes  four  bales  of  cotton,  two  go  to  the  planter. 
This  liberal  system  exists,  I  believe,  nowhere  else  in  the  world.  It  offers  to  every 
immigrant  a  chance  for  a  home  and  a  fortune. 

A  great  many  good  things  are  free  in  Louisiana.  In  one  of  the  pine  land  parishes 
there  is  a  great  salt  well.  If  one  touches  a  match  to  this  water  it  flames  up  over  all 
its  surface  and  burns  for  several  seconds.  The  neighboring  farmers  collect  annually 
at  this  well,  boil  huge  kettles  of  the  water,  and  by  this  entirely  simple,  primitive  and 
picturesque  process  get  salt  enough  to  savor  life. 

Louisiana  is  waiting  to  be  cut  up  into  small  holdings,  just  as  it  is  waiting  with  all 
its  fallow  fields  for  the  young  owners  and  the  new,  brave,  blood  that  is  to  come  to  it 
from  all  parts  of  the  country.  These  Corydons  and  Phyllises  will  grow  crops  for  the 
central  factory;  they  will  have  market  gardens,  orchards,  dairy  farms  and  poultry- 
yards.     They  will  grow  flowers  and  make  honey. 

Splendid,  indeed,  are  the  stories  of  whatyoung  women  have  done  in  Louisiana.  It 
is  a  record  of  bravery  worthy  of  a  state  that  allows  a  woman  to  be  captain  of  a  steam- 
boat— Captain  Mary  Miller;  of  a  state  that  builds  a  great  monument  to  the  memory  of 
a  woman  who  never  had  on  a  kid  glove  in  all  her  life,  who  could  not  write  her  own  name, 
who  was  only  great  in  her  goodness.  I  mean  Margaret  Haughery,  the  baker  woman, 
whose  loaves  built  asylums  and  yet  feed  thousands  of  hungry  ones. 

A  few  years  ago  a  family  owning  prairie  land  in  Cameron  Parish  built  themselves 
a  home  on  it.  The  nearest  neighbor  was  fifteen  miles,  the  nearest  tree  four  miles.  In 
February  they  took  possession  and  in  July  of  that  year  I  visited  them.  The  cottage 
was  canopied  with  roses,  and  phlox  and  zennias,  carnations  and  geraniums  splashed 
all  the  garden  walks  with  bloom.  In  the  kitchen  garden  where  six  months  since  had 
been  only  wild  hay,  corn,  tomatoes,  ochra,  potatoes,  egg  plants,  peas,  beans,  pump- 
kins, beets,  lettuce  and  melons  grew,  equal  to  the  best  I  have  seen  at  this  fair.  Two 
young  girls  had  made  that  garden,  and  their  sweet  faces  it  was,  I  reckon,  that  coaxed 
from  Mother  Earth  this  tribute  of  all  her  graces. 

Not  far  from  Jennings  is  a  little  estate  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  a  cottage 
of  three  rooms,  a  few  fruit  trees,  good  fences,  and  all  about  waving  fields  of  that  most 
beautiful  crop,  rice.  This  is  the  rice  farm  of  a  girl  squatter,  a  young  Iowa  woman,  who» 
with  her  sixteen-year-old  brother  came  South,  took  up  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
government  land,  and  whose  first  rice  crop  paid  her  Si, 200.  Her  nearest  neighbor  is 
another  girl  farmer  who  got  her  land  the  same  way,  and  who  is  growing  an  orchard 
that  already  yields  her  a  comfortable  living. 

Here  in  Chicago  there  lives  a  young  dressmaker  who  saved  up  enough  money  to 
buy  twenty  acres  of  land  in  Louisiana  and  to  start  a  poultry  farm  on  a  small  scale. 
She  sent  her  mother  and  brother  to  run  the  farm,  and  so  successful  have  they  been 
that  this  year  she  is  to  resign  from  "  seam  and  gusset  and  band,"  and  go  south  to  its 
pine-scented  hills,  its  flower-set  hedges,  its  glorious,  generous  climate,  where,  raising 
her  strawberries  and  early  peas  for  Chicago  millionaires,  she  shall  meantime  live  like 
a  little  autocrat  on  her  own  principality.  All  along  the  line  of  the  Illinois  Central 
road,  when  it  reaches  Mississippi  and  Louisiana,  are  fruit  and  vegetable  farms  man- 
aged by  women,  most  of  them  new  comers.  A  young  lady  told  me  how  she  was  one 
day  packing  her  berries  for  the  Chicago  market  when  she  ran  out  of  clover.  "I  just 
went  to  an  old  mint  bed  under  the  parlor  window  and  cut  mint  and  covered  my  boxes 
with  that,"  said  she.  "  To  my  surprise  my  Chicago  merchant  sent  me  back  a  dollar 
for  the  mint.  During  the  rest  of  the  year  I  shipped  him  fifteen  dollars'  worth  of 
mint  and  ten  dollars'  worth  of  camelias." 

On  an  old  plantation  just  below  New  Orleans  there  lives  a  woman  who  had  this 
house  but  no  money.  She  could  not  eat,  wear  or  read  her  queer  old  gabled  home, 
but  she  sold  her  camelias  and  has  been  twice  to  Europe  on  the  profits.     These  are  grand 


780  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

bushes,  and  I  can  not  describe  their  alabaster  beauty  when  each  one  has  on  it  a  thou- 
sand stainless  blooms. 

On  a  cotton  plantation  in  the  Red  River  country,  in  Grant  Parish,  lives  an  eight- 
een-year-old girl  who  is  her  father's  engineer.  She  runs  the  cotton  gin  and  gins 
every  year  about  eighteen  hundred  bales.  She  handles  that  snorting  machine  as  if  it 
were  a  baby,  oils  it,  feeds  it,  feels  over  it,  scolds  it,  tidies  it  up,  and  when  it  is  working 
as  good  as  gold  she  sits  beside  it — dear,  dainty  and  only  eighteen — crocheting  lace 
for  her  petticoats.  Dead  forever,  in  the  face  of  these  shining  facts,  is  the  old 
reproach,  "  as  helpless  as  a  woman!"  In  every  parish  are  women  farmers,  stock  raisers 
and  planters,  and  a  typical  Louisiana  woman  planter,  honorably  representing  the  gra- 
cious womanhood  of  her  state  on  your  Board  of  Lady  Managers,  is  our  Miss  Katherine 
L.  Minor.  All  professions  are  open  to  woman.  She  is  legally  eligible  for  any  office. 
I  wear  today  on  my  breast  a  medal  given  me  by  the  working  women  of  New  Orleans; 
the  givers  represented  twenty  different  trades  and  professions;  and  that  is  not  bad 
for  the  South,  whose  women  Lincoln  emancipated  when  he  did  the  slaves. 

Women  are  a  power  in  the  South  of  fearful  force  when  they  organize.  It  was  the 
women  of  Louisiana  who  killed  the  Louisiana  State  Lottery.  When  the  Women's 
Anti-Lottery  League  was  formed,  the  lottery  leaders  practically  admitted  they  had 
got  their  Waterloo. 

I  have  said  that  life  is  easy.  Perhaps  it  is  too  easy  to  be  quite  good  for  us.  One 
day  I  called  a  colored  man  out  of  the  street  to  help  us  move  some  furniture.  He  was, 
as  he  expressed  it,  "  settin'  on  the  wheel  of  time,"  and  "letting  it  roll  over  with  him." 
I  offered  him  a  quarter  for  the  job.  He  rummaged  in  his  pockets  and  finally  bawled 
back  at  me:  "  I  reckon  I  ain't  gwine  to  missy;  I'se  got  fifteen  cents." 

Our  climate  is  genial.  We  do  not  need  heavy  clothes  or  big  fires.  In  the  coun- 
try, and  in  nearly  all  the  small  villages  and  towns,  fuel  costs  only  for  the  hauling. 
Diphtheria,  typhoid  fever  and  small-pox  are  never  dangerously  prevalent.  Yellow 
fever  has  been  quarantined  out  of  the  state  successfully  for  fifteen  years.  It  will  never 
devastate  us  aagain.  House  rents  are  cheap,  schools  are  good,  and  it  is  indeed  God's 
country  for  little  children. 

And  this  brings  me  to  say  a  word  on  the  relations  between  the  blacks  and  the 
white  people.  What  a  child-like,  lovable,  improvident,  aggravating,  dependent  crea- 
ture the  negro  is  on  his  native  heath  only  those  who  are  born  and  brought  up  amongst 
them  know.  It  is  to  the  older  ones  we  must  turn  for  all  those  beautiful  and  humor- 
ous traits  that  grace  the  exquisite  and  tender  stories  of  Thomas  Nelson  Page,  Richard 
Malcolm  Johnson  and  Joel  Chandler  Harris.  What  a  pride  of  family  have  these  fine 
old  mammies  and  sable  men-servants  who  toted  their  masters  and  mistresses  when  all 
were  children  together.  In  my  own  family  is  an  eccentric  old  fellow  who  owns  us  all 
and  rules  us  with  a  rod  of  iron.  His  name  is  "  Mr.  Montague."  Often  on  those  red  let- 
ter Sundays  when  we  are  to  have  ice  cream  for  dinner,  he  will  go  to  the  street  corner 
and  call  back  to  know  if  it  is  time  to  come  and  freeze  the  cream.  I  mildly  scolded 
him  for  this.  "Well,"  said  he,  "when  we  is  going  to  have  ice  cream  we  might  as  well 
let  the  neighbors  know  about  it." 

One  proud  old  mammy,  who  is  now  out  at  pasture,  or  "  exempt,"  in  the  home  she 
served  so  faithfully,  told  me  with  delight  that  when  the  soldiers  came  to  search  her 
madame's  house  during  the  war,  she  hung  all  the  family  silver  under  her  dress  and, 
sitting  by  the  fire,  pretended  she  was  too  old  and  too  fat  to  stir.  I  might  tell  stories 
galore  of  the  picturesque,  pathetic  and  sweet  side  of  the  negro  character  as  we  know 
it  best. 

Is  a  woman  safe  in  the  South? 

A  thousand  times,  yes.  She  gets  always  what  she  asks  for,  and  every  man  is  her 
guard  of  honor.  To  the  working  woman  every  man's  hat  is  off,  and  in  social  life  she 
holds  securely  the  position  that  her  virtues,  her  brains  and  her  blood  demand.  I  can 
say  no  better  word  for  the  chivalry  of  the  men  of  my  state  than  to  remind  you  that 
alone,  with  a  twelve-year-old  lad,  I  traveled  in  a  private  vehicle  eighteen  hundred 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  781 

miles  in  Louisiana  as  safely  and  unafraid  as  I  could  walk  the  halls  of  this  Woman's 
Temple. 

Divorces  are  almost  unheard  of  in  my  state.  Even  in  the  newspapers  a  woman's 
name  is  sacred. 

The  South  has  faith  in  its  women,  especially  its  coming  women;  such  faith  even  as 
Mrs.  Gladstone,  who  knows  him  best  of  all,  has  in  the  Grand  Old  Man.  One  day  a 
clergyman  went  to  call  on  the  Gladstones  to  condole  with  them  at  a  particularly 
troublous  time.  Mr.  Gladstone  was  not  present,  and  the  visitor  said:  "Do  not 
despair,  dear  Mrs.  Gladstone,  there  is  One  watching  overall."  "  Indeed,  I  know  there 
is,"  exclaimed  the  lady;  "he's  just  changing  his  shirt,  and  bid  me  say  he'd  be  down 
in  a  moment."  They  tell  the  story  of  a  Kansas  family  who  moved  so  much  that 
whenever  the  chickens  saw  a  covered  wagon  come  into  the  yard,  they  laid  down  on 
their  backs  and  put  up  their  legs  to  be  tied.  If  that  family  had  only  moved  South, 
even  the  chickens  would  have  known  it  was  for  good  and  forever. 

Come  South,  young  woman,  and  you  will  never  leave  it.  You  will  take  root  in 
its  rich  soil  and  flower  there,  perfuming  all  the  air  with  your  sweetness.  There  you 
can  be  freely  what  you  will — an  ant  in  the  morning,  a  bee  at  noon  and  a  butterfly  at 
night.  Once  on  a  time  there  were  two  knights  who  went  away  from  their  beautiful 
home  gardens  to  search  for  some  wonderful  roses.  They  went  the  wide  world  over 
and  at  last  came  back  with  empty  hands.  Lo!  upon  the  old  familiar  walls  there  grew, 
as  for  years,  the  very  roses  of  their  quest. 

In  the  sweet  gardens  of  Louisiana  there  are  blossoming  the  most  beautiful  roses 
the  heart  can  wish — the  immortal  flowers  of  time,  opportunity,  content,  love  and  hap- 
piness.    These  are  the  roses  of  our  quest. 


AN  IDEAL  HOME  FOR  CHILDREN. 

By  MRS.  KATE  OLDHAM  MILLER. 

Visions  are  sometimes  fulfilled.  The  Dream  City  is  indeed  the  fulfillment  of  Tenny- 
son's vision  when  he 

"  Saw  the  heavens  filled  with  commerce  argosies  of 

magic  sails, 
Pilots  of  the    purple   twilight,  dropping  down  with 

costly  bales. 
Till  the  war-drum  throbbed  no  longer,  and  the  battle 

flags  were  furled 
In  the  parliament  of  man,  the  federation  of  the  world. 

My  theme,  a  vision,  is  worthy  of  your  attention 
if  only  for  these  two  words  that  the  world  will  not 
forget:  Home  and  Children.  When  I  visit  the  mag- 
nificent cities  of  our  land  there  is  always  one  thought 
that  saddens  me — the  children  are  in  jail.  Dashing 
down  Drexel  avenue  the  other  day  with  a  gay  party  of 
friends,  filled  with  enthusiasm  and  admiration  for  the 
wonderful  achievements  of  man  seen  in  the  magic 
White  City  and*  in  Chicago  itself,  I  was  gay  with  the 
rest,  when  by  accident,  or,  as  I  believe,  by  the  subtle 
influence  of  some  higher  power,  my  eyes  turned  sud- 
denly to  a  face  at  a  window — the  face  of  a  child 
framed  in  golden  curls  all  in  perfect  order.  Every  deli- 
cate ringlet  around  the  pale  temples  clung  just  where 

it  should,  and  the  lips  were  parted,  smiling,  as  she  trundled  a  toy  horse  on  the  casement. 

But  the  smile  seemed  sad  to  me,  and  the  eyas,  which  must  have  been  blue,  looked 

longingly  for  something  nearer  akin  to  nature. 

"Dainty  little  maiden,  whither  would  you  wander. 

Whither  from  this  pretty  house,  this  city  house  of  ours?" 
"Far  and  far  away,"  said  the  dainty  little  maiden, 
"All  among  the  meadows,  the  clover  and  the  clematis, 

Daisies  and  kingcups  and  honeysuckle  flowers." 

I  found  myself  whispering,  "Open  the  window;  oh,  open  the  window  and  let  her 
fly.  I  would  not  imprison  a  bird.  God  made  the  birds  and  the  children  to  be  free  to 
learn  from  nature's  books.  Let  her  drink  from  the  running  streams,  and  let  the  bright 
curls  wave  and  tangle  in  the  sunlight  as  she  chases  the  butterflies  over  the  clover. 

The  city  is  well  for  the  busy  men  and  women  of  the  world;  but  the  inventor  who 
can  contrive  some  way  to  have  all  the  children  of  every  condition  reared  in  the  coun- 
try, where  the  boys  may  have  the  natural  companionship  of  animals,  where  the  ponies 

Mrs.  Kate  Oldham  Miller  is  a  native  of  Kentucky.  She  is  the  daughter  of  William  K.  Oldham  of  Kentucky,  and  J. 
Kate  Brown  Oldham  of  Virginia.  She  was  educated  for  the  most  part  at  home  under  private  tutors,  but  was  graduated  from 
the  Richmond  Female  Seminary  of  Kentucky.  She  has  given  several  years  of  her  life  to  teaching  select  schools,  and  is  a 
most  successful  and  popular  teacher.  In  1885  she  married  Mr.  Will  H.  Miller,  for  many  years  the  efficient  and  popular  circuit 
clerk  of  Madison  County,  Kentucky,  where  they  still  reside.  Mrs.  Miller  is  a  handsome,  accomplished  and  gifted  woman. 
She  does  not  claim  to  be  an  author  in  any  sense,  but  has  from  time  to  time  published  short  articles  in  periodicals  that  have 
always  elicited  favorable  comment.    She  is  a  member  of  the  Regular  Baptist  Church.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Richmond, 


MRS.  KATE  OLDHAM  MILLER. 


Ky. 


782 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  783 

come  to  the  door  for  the  girls,  where  their  bodies  strengthen  and  develop  that  they 
may  lay  by  a  large  store  of  constitution  to  draw  upon  when  the  real  work  of  life  begins, 
will  confer  a  greater  benefit  on  mankind  than  Promethius,  who  brought  fire  from 
Heaven  that  the  blood  of  man  might  be  warmed  into  quicker  motion.  Another  fire 
we  need  to  keep  alive  the  one  that  glows  but  never  burns,  or  burns  out  all  too  soon  in 
our  dwindling  race.  Our  best  men  and  women  are  breaking  down  and  passing  to 
dumb  inactive  dust,  with  work  half  finished.  Children  whose  lives  begin  in  the  city 
are  apt  to  take  up  the  serious  questions  and  purposes  of  existence  before  the  body  is 
able  to  bear  their  weight. 

They  are  generally  reckoned  far  in  advance  of  the  country  child  in  knowledge, 
but  I  think  the  difference  consists  rather  in  kind  than  quantity.  This  often  makes  an 
exchange  of  ideas  between  the  city  and  country  child  most  amusing.  They  are  both 
kept  in  a  state  of  perfect  amazement  during  the  interview.  This  is  an  example: 
*'  Mother,  Laura  says  she  never  saw  Washington's  monument;"  and  "Auntie,  Charlie 
says  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  spring  of  nice  water  running  out  from  a  hill,  and 
Charlie  won't  talk  about  anything  but  the  mint,  and  I  don't  know  what  is  the  mint." 
Then  Charlie  complains:  *'  Mother,  Laura  says  she  sees  at  her  home  in  the  country 
every  colored  bird  growing  loose  in  the  fields  and  woods — woodchucks,  rabbits  and 
squirrels;  what  are  they,  mother,  and  why  don't  they  come  to  the  city  to  live?  " 

One  little  country  miss,  anxious  to  improve  her  manners,  and  learning  from  a  city 
cousin  that  calling  was  visiting,  was  noticed  to  take  up  the  expression  and  was  soon 
calling  on  the  cat,  the  dog,  the  flowers,  and  even  the  garden. 

In  my  life,  or  in  my  dreams,  it  was  once  my  good  fortune  to  see  a  home  created 
by  nature  expressly  for  the  children,  and  as  the  bees  know  where  to  find  the  sweetest 
flowers,  the  children  far  and  near  found  this  ideal  home.  Often  its  hospitable  roof 
sheltered  as  many  as  thirty  of  them  on  a  single  night,  and  oh,  what  happy  times  they 
had. 

Passing  through  a  long  rolling  pasture,  with  its  carpet  of  blue  grass,  you  came  to 
the  old-fashioned  farmhouse,  green  with  its  vines  and  its  flowers,  and  all  the  air  fra- 
grant with  the  breath  of  the  honeysuckle  and  the  rose.  Its  beauties  began  to  burst 
upon  you  the  moment  the  gate  of  the  dusty  highway  closed,  and  one  thought  filled 
all  your  mind — the  thought  of  "  Home,  Sweet  Home."  Large  sturdy  oaks  stood  as 
sentinels  in  speaking  distance  of  each  other  near  the  entrance  to  the  farm,  and  through 
their  midst  a  tiny  stream  meandered,  just  that  its  miniature  banks  might  be  orna- 
mented with  wild  flowers  and  beautiful  dark  stones,  some  of  them  large  enough  for 
the  children,  on  the  rare  summer  days  when  they  wandered  that  far  from  home,  to  call 
cliffs  of  the  far-famed  Hudson ;  or  if  the  fancy  struck  them  the  stream  was  the  Kentucky 
River,  and  they  legislated  about  "locking  and  damming,"  making  thrilling  speeches 
from  the  pinnacles  of  the  largest  stones.  I  can  not  think  of  one  thing  lacking  in  this 
ideal  home  for  children.  It  had  its  haunted  house,  that  dream  of  childhood,  just  in 
sight  about  half  a  mile  from  the  dwelling,  a  heavy  structure  built  of  rough,  undressed 
stones,  tall,  angular  and  cold.  Near  to  the  ground  a  black  hole  yawned,  in  reality, 
the  entrance  to  the  cellar,  but  to  the  imaginative  child  well  instructed  in  such  lore 
by  the  more  imaginative  negro,  the  very  entrance  to  the  unseen  world.  The  children 
were  proud  of  the  possession  of  the  old  "  stone  house."  Only  half  believed  the  stories 
about  it,  but  took  their  strolls  in  other  parts  of  the  grounds  unless  strongly  guarded. 
Whenever  they  passed  near  its  tall,  cold  walls  it  was  with  bated  breath,  turning  their 
heads  away  and  unconsciously  quickening  their  steps.  If  perchance  a  stray  sheep 
was  noisily  licking  salt  in  the  open,  unused  pantry,  it  was  to  them  "  a  confirmation 
strong  as  proofs  of  holy  writ." 

Entering  the  inclosure  near  the  home,  the  whole  country  around  seemed  under 
the  shade  of  the  royal  locusts  which  grew  there.  Over  a  hundred  feet  in  height,  and 
measuring  from  three  to  five  feet  in  diameter,  they  told  of  many  years  gone  by,  and 
as  the  bold  boy  climbed  into  their  dizzy  heights,  and  dropped  the  snowy  flowers  on  the 
heads  and  into  the  aprons  of  the  children  playing  below,  the  locusts  whispered  and 
the  children  heard: 


784  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

"  We  have  stood  many  years  in  the  sun  and  the  rain, 
And  crowned  many  children  before  you  came, 
Our  blossoms  as  white,  their  fragrance  the  same. 
Then  the  noisy  blackbird,  raising  his  wing. 
On  the  topmost  branch  would  shout  spring!  spring! 
The  locust,  our  home,  is  king,  king! 
Wait,  chirped  the  robin,  you'll  see,  you'll  see! 
From  the  boughs  of  the  black-heart  cherry-tree." 

How  the  bodies  of  children  grow  and  strengthen  in  such  a  place,  ay,  and  their 
minds  as  well.  They  are  laying  by  a  fund  of  useful  knowledge,  and  study  ornithology 
and  natural  history  fresh  from  Nature's  hands. 

The  fine  old  garden,  which  made  a  part  of  this  ideal  home,  with  its  broad  walks 
crossing  at  right  angles  in  the  center,  was  a  world  within  itself  to  the  children.  It  was 
as  full  of  birds  as  of  flowers;  and  the  beautiful  borders  of  blue-bells,  snow-drops  and 
lilies  of  the  valley,  the  lilac,  the  snow-ball,  and  the  mock  orange  trees,  all  belonged  to 
them.  They  made  seats  in  their  shade  and  swinging  shelves  from  their  branches,  which 
sometimes  held  a  pitcher  of  cool  water,  sometimes  mother's  knitting,  and  were  often 
converted  into  gorgeous  flower-decked  tables  for  the  marriage  supper  of  a  favorite  doll. 
Here  they  made  beautiful,  soft,  green  nests  for  the  birds,  and  when  they  had  set  them 
in  the  boughs  wondered  why,  and  grieved  because,  their  little  friends  did  not  use  them. 
Through  the  shady  yard,  which  stretched  out  tronr.  the  long  back  porch,  where  the 
damson  and  the  plum  trees  grew,  a  narrow  path  through  the  grass  led  to  a  dear  old 
lumber-house  on  the  brink  of  "  Spring  Hill;"  three  stories  high  it  stood,  with  a  large, 
round  ice-house  underneath,  all  walled  up  with  stone,  that  seemed  to  be  always  about 
half-full  of  ice  and  pretty  yellow  straw.  Inside  there  were  old  looms,  those  clumsy 
devices  of  a  past  age,  curious  little  spindles,  broaches,  quills,  shuttles,  bits  of 
woven  cloth,  moth-eaten  balls  of  yarn,  wheels  to  turn  and  cords  to  twist,  the  cast-off 
occupation  of  a  people  who  were  now  devoting  all  their  time  and  abilities  to  the  new. 
business  of  voting.  These  happy  children  had  fallen  heirs  to  the  whole,  together  with 
some  little  black  children  which  their  aspiring  and  ambitious  parents  had  left  behind. 
The  first  they  put  to  uses  new  and  strange,  the  last  they  taught  to  love  them,  and  for 
the  sake  of  that  love,  to  make  themselves  useful  then  and  in  after  years.  Many  bright 
winter  days  were  there,  but  summer-time  brought  them  to  the  orchard  just  beyond,  the 
finest  in  all  the  country  round,  and  which  furnished  apples  through  all  the  autumn  and 
winter.  At  the  foot  of  the  hill  was  the  stone  walled  spring  and  milk  house,  from 
which  milk  and  water  seemed  to  flow  with  like  abundance.  Below  the  spring  a  huge, 
flat  rock,  tilted  up  on  the  hill  at  just  the  right  angle  for  sliding  on  boards  from  top  to 
bottom,  affording  a  trial  of  skill  and  good  muscular  exercise  to  climb  to  the  top  again. 
Oh,  happy  time!  Oh,  charming  place!  Was  there  ever  a  better  one  for  children?  On 
the  banks  of  the  artificial  pool,  below  this  gushing  underground  spring,  were  molded 
from  the  fine  blue  and  white  clay  marvelous  tea-pots,  all  kinds  of  dishes,  horses, 
camels  and  buffaloes  with  humps  on  their  backs  that  would  make  the  originals  blush 
for  shame.  No  sculptor  whose  works  now  adorn  the  Art  Palace  was  ever  prouder  of 
his  achievements  than  these  who  molded  blue  clay  at  the  foot  of  "  Spring  Hill." 

Sometimes  wandering  down  the  spring  branch  through  the  beds  of  mint  dipping 
in  the  cool  water,  and  chewing  the  fragrant  leaves,  they  came  to  a  stream  of  more 
importance  in  their  eyes  because  they  knew  it  to  be  the  headwater  of  a  creek  not  far 
away,  which  emptied  into  a  river  that  flowed  into  the  great  Mississippi,  then  to  the 
Gulf;  and  so  in  fancy  they  followed  the  waters  all  over  the  world,  from  the  spring 
which  gushed  from  the  hillside  in  their  own  yard,  and  often  started  out  a  little  craft 
talking  of  the  possibility  of  its  reaching  the  sea.  Their  bodies  grew  and  their  minds 
expanded  as  they  wandered  down  the  stream  to  where  it  dashed  over  a  fall  fifteen 
feet  high,  bubbled  and  rolled  through  a  wild  ravine.  The  waterfall  they  called  the 
Niagara,  and  it  was  to  them  a  veritable  illustration  of  that  wonder  of  creation.     Thus 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  785 

they  mapped  out  in  the  pleasant  fields  and  streams  everything  they  learned,  and  geog- 
raphy became  an  open  book. 

The  ravine  was  deep  and  dark,  romantic  and  beautiful,  in  some  places  completely 
hidden  by  the  overlapping  branches  and  huge  bowlders  which  had  rolled  down  from  the 
hills;  again  opening  into  a  small  valley  dotted  thick  with  daisies  and  blue  forget-me- 
nots.  Upon  the  steep  hillsides  the  wake-robbins  grew  in  the  crevices  of  the  rocks  and 
the  woodbine  clambered  up  their  sides;  twenty-five  or  thirty  varieties  of  flowers  were 
often  collected  on  a  single  expedition,  and  thus  with  a  little  help  from  mother  or  gov- 
erness botany  was  learned  without  study.  It  needed  but  a  small  stretch  of  the  imagi- 
nation to  people  this  weird  place  with  elves  and  fairies;  echo  shouted  to  them  from 
the  hills;  Narcissus  smiled  at  his  face  in  the  brook,  and  Orpheus  moaned  among  the 
trees  for  Eurydice.  They  learned  all  the  myths  and  legends  of  the  Ancients,  for  they 
had  need  of  them.  Having  the  groves,  the  cliffs,  and  the  streams,  they  must  find  for 
them  inhabitants  Oh  that  every  child  could  be  reared  in  such  a  paradise.  While 
the  mind  thus  feasts  on  the  good  things  of  nature  and  assimilates  them,  the  body  is 
nourished  by  the  purest  food;  fresh  vegetables  and  berries  from  the  garden  never 
stale  or  withered;  fruits  juicy  and  ripe  from  the  orchard  in  summer,  and  the  same  pre- 
served after  the  most  approved  style  in  winter,  with  only  the  freshest  of  milk,  butter 
and  eggs  that  never  gave  out. 

These  children  of  this  ideal  home  were  bound  by  few  rules,  unwholesome  food 
and  imposition  on  each  other  were  almost  the  only  things  forbidden.  They  never 
seemed  to  be  watched,  guarded  or  chaperoned.  Their  wonder  was  how  "  the  umpire  " 
or  "  the  physician  "  always  appeared  on  the  scene,  unbidden,  when  a  difificulty  or  an 
accident  occurred;  it  was  almost  a  superstitious  belief  with  them  that  all  trouble  came 
bringing  with  it  "the  remedy." 

About  this  old  house  of  my  dream  were  endless  pleasant  nooks  and  apartments; 
the  children  loved  to  gather  in  the  "  family  room  "  and  hear  the  old  folks  talk,  and  to 
sit  on  the  straight,  long  seats  in  the  high  portico  in  front  of  the  parlor  door,  shaded 
by  the  green  vines,  and  watch  the  humming-birds.  One  place  in  particular  the  chil- 
dren and  their  visitors  loved.  It  was  a  large  upper  room,  the  fartherst  removed  from 
that  occupied  by  the  heads  of  the  family,  that  they  might  not  be  disturbed  by  the 
noise,  full  of  light  and  sunshine  and  warmed  by  a  big  open  wood  fire,  with  ceiling 
high  and  white  and  a  pretty  flowered  carpet.  Here  they  played  their  games  in  winter 
dressed  their  dolls,  and  at  the  approach  of  the  Merry  Christmas  season,  with  the  door 
carefully  locked  or  guarded,  with  an  air  of  greatest  secrecy  and  mystery,  they  con- 
trived all  kinds  of  surprises  for  the  grown  members  of  the  family  and  the  smaller 
children.  Tiiey  became  adepts  in  the  art  of  needlework,  in  the  use  of  paste  and 
scissors,  made  pincushions,  'kerchief  bags,  letter  boxes,  paper  holders,  pretty  little 
chairs,  etc.  One  old  lady  said  admiringly:  only  give  the  little  witches  the  material 
and  they  could  make  a  hornet's  nest.  All  the  interior  of  the  house  and  the  grounds 
was  a  faint  foreshadowing  of  this  wonderful  Woman's  Building.  The  clay  dishes  and 
statuary,  the  swinging  seats  in  the  trees,  the  bridges  over  the  spring  branch,  the  cur- 
ious headdresses,  baskets  plaited  from  the  long  trailing  branches  of  the  weeping 
willow,  the  bur  baskets,  the  moss-covered  swinging  baskets  for  delicate  vines  and 
flowers  were  all  the  work  of  the  feminine  fingers  or  the  inventions  of  feminine  minds. 
There  were  just  enough  boys  to  be  useful,  and  the  girls  were  inclined  to  be  a  "  Board 
of  Lady  Managers." 

So  ran  my  pleasant  dream  of  happy  childhood's  happy  home. 

"  But  if  I  dream  that  all  these  are 
They  are  to  me  for  that  I  dream. 
For  all  things  are  as  they  seem  to  all, 
And  all  things  flow  like  a  stream." 

Are  not  these  things  infinitely  better  than  Fifth  Avenue,  the  Mint,  Smithsonian 

(50) 


786  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

Institution,  the  wonders  of  Libby  Prison,  or  even  a  menagerie  for  the  children?  Are 
they  not  better  for  the  growing  mind  and  body  than  the  Lottery,  the  city  streets, 
cigarettes,  smoke  and  dust,  or  even  elegant  steam-heated  or  furnace-heated  mansions? 
Make  homes  like  this  for  the  children  and  man's  days  will  be  a  hundred  years  on  the 
earth  and  great  things  will  be  accomplished. 

"Is  the  goal  so  far  away? 
Far,  how  far  no  one  can  say; 
Let  us  dream  our  dream  today. 

And  mix  the  seasons  and  the  golden  hours, 
Till  each  man  find  his  own  in  all  men's  good, 
And  all  men  work  in  noble  brotherhood." 


LECTURES  TO  WOMEN. 

By  MISS  SUSAN  B.  ANTHONY. 

Miss  Anthony  appeared  at  the  Congress  and  spoke  on  more  than  one  occasion, 
but,  as  she  did  not  read  from  manuscript,  and  spoke  entirely  without  notes,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  give  here  any  one  of  her  addresses.  Her 
appearance  was,  on  every  occasion,  the  signal  for  much 
applause,  and  she  was  listened  to  with  the  greatest 
interest  whatever  the  theme  to  which  her  attention  was 
given.  Despite  her  advanced  age,  she  exhibited  her 
old-time  vigor  and  earnestness,  and  evidently  enjoyed 
the  Congress  very  much,  as  certainly  she  added  to 
the  enjoyment  of  others. 

Speaking  in  almost  every  state  in  the  Union  as 
she  has  done,  and  before  large  audiences,  there  were 
still  many  thousands  of  people  who  were  curious  to 
see  her  but  who  had  never  had  the  opportunity  before 
to  look  upon  Miss  Anthony,  and  whenever  it  was 
announced  that  she  would  speak  there  was  certain  to 
be  a  crowded  Auditorium.  Among  the  many  famous 
women  brought  together  by  the  events  of  the  Exposi- 
tion, she  was  at  all  times  a  conspicuous  and  interesting 
figure.  Her  lecture  on  "Woman's  Influence  versus 
Political  Power  "  was  a  specimen  of  that  line  of  reason- 
ing so  generally  employed  by  the  advocates  of  woman 
suffrage  in  pleading  for  equal  rights.  It  was  argued 
that  woman's  influence  had  accomplished  more  in  the 
field  of  reform  than  man,  backed  by  political  power,  had  been  able  to  achieve,  and  that 
such  power,  given  to  woman,  would  be  used  to  far  greater  advantage  and  to  the 
greater  glory  of  the  nation.  Miss  Anthony's  other  address,  "  Benefits  of  Organization" 
was  a  plea  to  the  w'omen  of  America  to  unite  in  working  for  their  rights,  and  so  make 
a  formidable  and  impressive  showing  in  demanding  recognition  from  the  law-making 
bodies  of  the  country. 

Miss  Susan  B.  AnthoDy  was  born  at  South  Adams,  Berkshire  County,  Mass.,  February  15, 1820.  Has  spent  most  of  her 
life  in  New  York.  Her  parents  were  Lucy  Read  and  Daniel  Anthony.  Her  father,  being  a  Friend  (Hicksite  Quaker),  had  his 
children  educated  mainly  in  private  schools  at  home.  Her  last  school  days  were  spent  at  Deborah  Moulson's  Quaker  Board- 
ing School  in  Philadelphia;  she  taught  in  the  district  schools  in  New  York  for  fifteen  years;  has  traveled  in  nearly  every 
state  in  the  union  lecturing  on  woman's  need  of  the  ballot  as  a  means  of  protection  to  her  person  and  property,  and  of  secur- 
ing to  her  equal  chances  in  education  and  in  the  world  of  work.  She  advocates  equal  rights  for  women,  civil,  political,  edu- 
cational, industrial,  social  and  moral.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  the  publication  of  The  Revolution,  a  weekly 
woman's-rights  paper,  and  "  The  History  of  Woman's  Suffrage"  in  three  large  volumes.  Miss  Anthony  has  carved  for  hei^ 
self,  through  an  independent,  and  for  years  a  most  unpopular,  course,  a  monument  of  esteem,  respect  and  veneration  in  the 
hearts  of  the  women  of  the  world.  In  religious  faith  she  is  a  Hicksite-Quaker  or  Friend.  Miss  Anthony  took  active  inter- 
est in  all  congresses  held  in  connection  with  the  Columbian  Exposition,  and  made  two  addresses  in  the  Woman's  Building 
on  the  following  subjects:  "  Woman's  Influence  versus  Political  Power"  and  "  Benefits  of  Organization."  As  she  invariably 
speaks  without  notes  it  was  impossible  to  secure  either  address  for  pablication.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Rochester,  N.  Y. 


MISS  SUSAN  B.  ANTHONY. 


787 


EXTRACTS  FROM  "WOMAN  AND  RELIGION." 

By  REV.  IDA  C.  HULTIN. 

Let  me  say  first  that  I  deplore,  as  much  as  anyone  can,  the  necessity  for  dividing; 
humanity;  and  in  the  discussion  of  high  themes  of  treating  men  and  women  as  though 

they  were  not  naturally  and  similarly  related  thereto. 
But  the  necessity  is  upon  us,  and  however  it  may  have 
come  about,  it  is  a  fact  that  men  and  women  sustain 
different  relations  to  some  of  the  most  vital  questions- 
of  the  day. 

We  who  are  hoping  to  help  in  the  bringing  about 
of  greater  freedom  of  thought  and  action  for  the 
woman  half  of  humanity  are  anxious  for  a  state  of 
affairs  that  shall  be  beneficial  for  men  as  well  as  for 
women.  For  we  recognize  the  inevitable  law  of  asso- 
ciation and  that  "  they  rise  or  fall  together."  Every 
right  that  we  ask  for  woman  we  ask  in  the  name  of  a 
better  humanity.  It  is  true  great  advance  has  been 
made;  it  is  just  as  true  that  more  is  yet  to  be  won. 

While  woman  has  been  in  conversation  and  in 
complimentary  address  associated  with  the  angels, 
and  while  it  has  been  superficially  understood  that 
she  is  better  religiously  than  the  other  half  of  human- 
ity, yet  when  we  come  to  examine  her  relations  to 
real  religious  thought  and  life  we  have  not  always 
found  her  occupying  the  most  enviable  of  positions. 
We  do  not  mean  by  religion  theology,  theories 
about  religion — methods  of  theological  exegesis  or  warfare.  We  mean  the  capacity 
for  godliness  inherent  in  the  human  soul;  in  action  it  becomes  the  science  of  the 
highest  human  development.  So  understood  it  has  relation  to  the  commonest  details 
of  the  everyday  and  to  the  supremest  moments  of  prophetic  insight  and  conservation. 
In  religion,  so  understood,  there  are  lessons  to  be  learned,  questions  to  be  answered, 
mysteries  to  be  probed,  problems  to  be  solved,  work  to  be  done,  and  struggle  and 
growth  resulting  in  life  moving  on  and  on  to  diviner  issues.  In  such  religious  living 
there  can  be  no  artificial  vicariousness.  No  one  human  being  can  think,  learn,  ques- 
tion, live  for  another.  The  whole  of  humanity  can  not  be  complete  in  its  religious 
life  till  each  one  has  untrammeled  opportunity  to  live  such  life  for  himself  or  herself. 
If  woman's  morality  means  no  more  than  the  result  of  coddling  or  coercion,  then 
it  is  not  vital  morality.  If  her  piety  is  the  result  of  repression,  then  it  is  not  regenerat- 
ing piety.  If  her  soundness  in  doctrine  is  the  result  of  ignorance  and  irresponsible 
submission,  there  is  no  real  soundness.  In  short,  if  her  religious  life  is  the  result  of 
automatic  processes,  it  is  not  religion  and  it  is  not  life.  There  must  be  freedom, 
thought,  action,  growth,  in  order  that  the  inherent  religious  possibilities  of  the  human 
soul  may  find  Divine  fulfillment. 

With  such  an  understanding  of  religion,  we  claim  for  woman  the  freedom  and 
the  right  to  undertake  the  solutions  of  all  of  the  problems  relating  to  the  subject.    We 

Rev.  Ida  C.  Haltin  was  born  in  Michigan.  Her  parents  were  Dr.  Karl  Constance  Hultin,  born  and  educated  in  Swe- 
den, and  Susan  Parkins  Soman,  born  in  Michigan  and  educated  in  same  state.  Miss  Hultin  was  educated  in  Michigan  High 
School  and  Michigan  University.  She  has  traveled  somewhat  extensively  in  the  United  States.  She  has  rare  gifts  as  a  public 
speaker  and  lecturer.  Her  profession  is  that  of  minister.  In  religious  faith  she  is  Unitarian,  Her  postoffice  address  is 
Moline,  11.'. 

788 


REV,   IDA  C.   HULTIN. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  789 

claim  for  her  the  right  to  tread  any  path,  enter  any  door,  probe  any  mystery,  ask  and 
try  to  answer  any  question  that  has  significance  to  her  as  a  responsible  and  religious 
being;  a  right  to  become  the  prophet  of  any  gospel  whose  message  has  transformed 
her.  This,  to  the  end  that  her  morality  may  partake  of  the  healthfulness  that  comes 
only  through  trial  and  choice,  that  her  piety  may  be  the  result  of  self-conscious  devo- 
tion to  truth  and  right,  that  her  soundness  of  doctrine  may  mean  the  legitimate  con- 
clusions of  her  own  independent  thinking.  In  short,  that  religion  shall  not  mean  to 
her  the  imposed  or  borrowed  theories  of  masculine  authority,  but  the  progressive 
enunciations  of  her  own  personality;  her  own  thinking,  loving,  living  self;  a  manifesta- 
tion of  her  own  spiritual  life  in  vital  relationship  with  the  Infinite  life.  If  this  shall  be, 
then  woman  alone  will  not  be  lifted,  but  humanity  as  a  whole  must  be  benefited. 
There  would  be  one  practical  result  of  such  a  change  as  this,  which  in  itself  would 
almost  revolutionize  society,  the  establishment  of  one  code  of  morals  for  both  men 
and  women. 

It  is  not  the  masculine  in  the  woman,  but  the  womanly  element,  the  mother  element, 
which  has  so  long  been  lacking.  This  we  need  in  the  religious  life  of  the  world.  Not 
this  at  the  expense  of  the  masculine  half,  but  both  together — man  thinking  and  doing  in 
man's  way,  woman  thinking  and  doing  in  woman's  way.  He,  true  manly;  she,  true 
womanly;  each  intelligently,  responsibly,  personally  religious,  thus  complementing 
each  other  and  each  other's  work,  and  helping  and  blessing  the  world.  Woman  will 
thus  become  a  better  homekeeper,  truer  wife,  fitter  mother,  a  more  refining  influence 
in  society,  a  greater  shaping  power  in  the  nation  and  the  world.  Man  will  become  a 
better  home-founder,  truer  husband,  fitter  father,  more  efificient  member  of  society,  a 
more  potent  factor  in  the  nation  and  the  world.  Out  of  such  a  sainthood,  which 
recognizes  no  sex  in  the  realm  of  religious  experience,  will  come  the  divine  brother- 
hood of  the  human  race,  a  brotherhood  recognizing  inevitably  the  Fatherhood  of  God. 

I  have  not  been  pleading  for  any  ism  or  creed.  Theologies  become  trifles  in  com- 
parison with  the  one  supreme  subject  of  real  and  universal  religion.  Be  true  in  that 
which  seems  to  you  to  be  true,  and  let  religious  consecration  be  the  sacred  impulse  of 
the  faith  you  cherish.  Recognize  the  right  of  every  man  and  every  woman  to  that 
form  of  truth  which  seemeth  to  them  to  be  sacred,  and  be  very  sure  that  wherever 
there  is  a  human  being  there  is  God,  and  between  that  human  being  and  God  there 
is  a  relationship  which  in  its  essence  is  religious.  Is  it  a  lowly,  unfortunate,  chaotic 
soul?  God  is  there  working  and  working  at  a  disadvantage,  until  you  and  I  lend  our- 
selves and  the  divine  in  us  to  the  struggle.  Is  it  a  lofty,  victorious,  calm  soul?  God 
is  there,  and  no  matter  the  name  of  the  prophet,  no  matter  from  what  uttermost  part 
of  the  earth  he  may  come,  no  matter  the  form  of  his  faith,  God  is  there  with  a  bene- 
diction, a  baptism  for  you  and  for  me  if  only  we  are  able  to  bear  it. 

It  is  not  the  province  of  religion  to  do  away  with  different  forms  of  faith,  but  it  is 
the  duty  of  religious  men  and  women  to  be  so  religious  that  forms  shall  be  forgotten. 
Let  us  work  toward  a  diviner  conception,  a  more  abundant  realization  of  religion,  a 
religion  which  shall  unite  the  peoples  of  the  earth  and  make  men  and  women  one 
in  God. 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  VALUE  OF  APPLIED  ARTS. 


MISS  ELIZABETH   B.   SHELDON. 


By  MISS  ELIZABETH  B.  SHELDON. 

The  value  of  any  education  is  two-fold;  first,  to  make  life  more  valuable  to  the 
individual,  and,  second,  to  make  the  individual  more  valuable  to  society.   An  untrained 

person  is  not  merely  passively  useless.    He  is  actively 
dangerous — to  himself  and  to  the  community. 

The  world  has  begun  to  realize  the  dangers  of 
ignorance,  hence  we  have  free  public  schools.  The 
world  is  beginning  to  realize  the  dangers  of  idleness; 
of  mere  head-cramming  without  hand  training;  and 
is  establishing  free  manual  training  schools  as  a  cor- 
rective. 

Now  that  it  has  been  discovered  that  man  has  a 
body  as  well  as  a  brain,  moral  and  educational  reform- 
ers claim  that  the  salvation  of  the  masses  lies  in  uni- 
versal manual  training. 

I  would  take  one  step  further.  I  would  teach 
them  not  only  to  do  something,  and  to  do  it  well,  but 
to  make  it  beautiful. 

I  would  do  this  as  a  matter  of  public  improve- 
ment and  public  economy,  as  well  as  a  matter  of  indi- 
vidual benefit.  I  would  carry  into  the  manual  train- 
ing schools  the  kindergarten  idea  of  making  work 
attractive  by  adding  the  element  of  beauty,  by  giving 
play  to  the  imagination,  and  by  developing  still  fur- 
ther the  universal  creative  instinct.  We  have  happily 
evolved  from  the  idea  that  work  is  a  curse  and  beauty  an  invention  of  the  devil.  We 
now  see  in  the  former  a  glorious  opportunity  for  culture  and  service — the  two  things 
that  make  life  worth  living — and  in  the  love  of  beauty  inherent  in  every  child  of  God 
we  recognize  a  link  connecting  us  with  "that  power  not  ourselves  that  makes  for 
righteousness." 

Our  desires  for  usefulness  and  for  beauty  are  legitimate,  natural,  vital,  and  should 
be  developed  equally.  Through  the  lingering  effects  of  our  stern  Puritan  training  our 
tendencies  are  overwhelmingly  utilitarian.  Only  that  side  of  our  natures  has  been 
cultivated.  Imagination  still  lies  dormant,  overshadowed  by  the  unparalleled  growth 
of  our  practicality.  It  is,  however,  criminal  wastefulness,  from  an  economic  stand- 
point, to  ignore  the  possibilities  of  wealth  and  culture  in  a  general  thorough  under- 
standing of  the  principles  of  applied  art. 

A  nation  is  rich  in  proportion  as  its  inhabitants  have  the  ability  to  turn  ideas, 
taste  and  manual  dexterity  into  things  desirable. 

The  inimitable  French  touch,  like  a  fairy's  wand,  transforms  four  or  five  dollars' 
worth  of  ribbon,  flowers  and  lace  into  a  bonnet  for  which  women  willingly  pay  twenty 
dollars — five  dollars  for  the  material  and  fifteen  dollars  for  their  skillful  arrangement — 
and  the  important  part  of  it  is  that  the  Frenchman  still  has  the  same  skill  to  put  into 
another  bonnet  the  next  day,  for  which  he  may  receive  another  fifteen  dollars,  and  so  on 

Miss  Elizabeth  B.  Sheldon  is  the  daughter  of  Joseph  Sheldon  and  Abby  B.  Barker  Sheldon.  She  was  educated  in  the 
public  school  of  New  Haven,  Conn.,  and  at  the  Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts.  She  has  traveled  in  Europe  since  maturity 
and  spent  part  of  her  childhood  abroad  with  her  parents.  Miss  Sheldon  has  delivered  speeches  in  many  Eastern  cities.  She 
is  a  member  of  Sorosis.  New  York  City.  She  is  a  decorator  by  profession.  In  religious  faith  a  Unitarian,  Her  postoiiice 
address  is  No.  364  Mansfield  Street,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

790 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  791 

indefinitely.  It  is  a  sort  of  cake  that  you  can  eat  and  have,  too.  Had  he  put  equal 
skill  into  raising  grain  or  potatoes  he  could  have  had  but  one  crop  to  sell  in  a  year, 
and  that  one  would  have  been  subject  to  the  accidents  and  freaks  of  nature  during 
the  long  period  of  its  growth.  This  is  the  secret  of  the  universal  inferiority  of  agri- 
cultural nations  as  compared  with  manufacturing  ones. 

It  was  just  this  faculty  and  manufacturing  skill  in  the  French  people — developed 
in  every  direction — that  enabled  them  to  pay,  in  three  years,  that  enormous  indemnity 
demanded  of  them  by  Germany  in  1871.  It  was  the  direct  result  of  the  general 
applied  art  training  of  the  masses — the  philosopher's  stone  creating  gold  out  of  sim- 
ple raw  materials,  mixed  with  brains,  taste  and  dexterity. 

The  French  government  maintains  the  most  elaborate  and  efficient  system  of  free 
art  schools  and  schools  of  design  that  the  world  knows.  As  a  result  her  decorative 
manufactures  are  unrivaled,  and  are  her  greatest  source  of  wealth. 

The  Columbian  Fair  has  been  an  object  lesson  of  our  position  in  applied  art  and 
its  kindred  professions.  Its  architecture  is  surpassingly  beautiful.  Our  architects, 
however,  after  securing  more  or  less  knowledge  of  their  subject  in  one  of  our  four  or 
five  good  schools,  have  been  abroad  to  reap  the  advantages  offered  by  more  liberal 
and  far-sighted  governments  than  ours,  as  well  as  to  study  from  original  masterpieces 
of  the  world  s  architecture. 

This  is  true  also  of  our  artists.  In  both  of  these  departments  our  standing  is 
creditable,  for  in  these  the  necessity  of  rigorous  training  has  been  recognized  and 
accepted.  Not  so,  however,  with  our  designers.  The  great  majority  of  them  are 
practically  amateurs.  They  have  never  even  imagined  that  there  are  comprehensive 
principles  underlying  design.  Their  aim  is  to  evolve  some  fantastic  idea  that  will 
attract  attention  by  its  novelty,  irrespective  of  merit.  The  community  receives  a  suc- 
cession of  shocks,  and  mistakes  its  curiosity  for  admiration.  Of  course  there  are  glo- 
rious exceptions  among  our  designers,  and  more  every  year.  But  back  of  their  work 
you  will  find  patient,  intelligent  study  and  hard  training  possibly,  a  rare  case  of  what 
— from  their  demoralizing  influence  upon  designers — I  hesitate  to  call  "  happy  acci- 
dents." They  lure  us  into  relying  upon  luck  rather  than  upon  a  comprehensive  under- 
standing of  cause  and  effect  and  conscientious  painstaking. 

In  the  main  our  decorative  art  is  hopeful  in  its  vitality — it  is  pitiful  in  its  crude- 
ness.  It  is  struggling  for  existence  like  a  mob,  with  vigor,  but  without  method  or  con- 
certed action.  Our  failures  in  design  are  the  legitimate  result  of  ignoring  theory  and 
trying  to  stand  on  the  single  slender  leg  of  one  person's  experiments — discarding  the 
accumulated  wisdom  and  experience  of  other  times  and  nations. 

We  have  in  this  country  possibly  ten  fairly  good  schools  of  design — all  private 
enterprises — one  school  to  seven  million  people.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  ugliness  is 
rampant  in  the  land?  That  we  find  homely  domestic  tools,  insulted  by  paint,  gilding 
and  a  ribbon  bow,  masquerading  apologetically  as  decorations  in  our  parlors?  That 
parasitical  ribbon  bows  flaunt  themselves  from  every  possible  coigne  of  vantage,  reduc- 
ing all  things  to  the  level  of  millinery?     It  would  be  ludicrous  if  it  were  not  so  sad. 

It  is  a  pitiful  expression  of  the  hunger  of  our  people  for  decorative  effects  and 
their  blind  grouping  after  the  good  they  scent  afar  off.  They  are  eager  to  learn.  They 
only  need  to  be  convinced  of  the  necessity  and  money  valueof  such  education.  If  we 
could  but  engraft  upon  their  quick  wit  and  inventiveness  the  refinement  and  unseduced 
patience  of  the  Japanese,  our  manufacturers  would  stand  pre-eminent. 

The  Japanese  and  the  French  realize  that  the  best  results  are  obtained  when 
the  designer  is  also  the  workman,  and,  above  all,  an  artist. 

In  this  country,  however,  designing  is  usually  spoken  of  lightly — as  a  limited 
business,  requiring  only  originality,  and  of  very  little  consequence  anyway. 

In  fact,  however,  the  study  of  design  is  of  particularly  far-reaching  importance. 
The  material  for  this  study  is  the  visible  universe.  Everything  may  give  a  suggestion 
of  form  or  color.  The  range  of  its  application  is  whatever  may  be  fashioned  by  man. 
The  field  is  sufficiently  broad — the  opportunities  are  infinite. 


792  THE  CONGRESS  OE  WOMEN. 

If  the  training  I  plead  for  were  general,  the  advantages  accruing  to  society  would 
be — an  improved  public  taste,  demanding  better  goods,  a  constant  rise  in  the  standard 
and  value  of  our  decorative  manufactures,  until  salesmen  should  tempt  us  by  saying  that 
their  wares  were  of  domestic  make,  instead  of  relying  upon  the  magic  word  "imported" 
to  make  a  sale,  and  upon  the  popular  belief  in  the  efficacy  of  a  sea  voyage  to  render 
any  goods  desirable. 

It  would  mean  beauty  in  the  place  of  ugliness;  a  large  crop  of  ideas — the  most 
profitable  crop  that  can  be  raised — and  an  army  of  artist  artisans  in  the  place  of 
bungling  amateurs.  Probably  the  most  important  advantage  to  the  individual  in-this 
study  is  in  learning  to  see  and  discriminate.  We  are  all  more  or  less  blind — princi- 
pally more. 

I  know  a  bright  college  girl  who  was  taken  through  a  garden  last  summer.  The 
owner  pointed  out  his  fine  strawberries,  peas,  lettuce,  etc.,  all  of  which  were  duly 
admired.  At  length  they  came  to  a  long  row  of  bean  vines  trained  to  grow  in  decor- 
ous stripes  on  the  garden  fence.  "  Oh,"  said  this  educated  young  person,  "  what  a 
great  quantity  of  morning  glories  you  are  raising  this  year! " 

She  literally  did  not  know  beans.  The  next  day,  however,  when  she  saw  the 
gardener  transplanting  some  tobacco  plants,  she  capped  the  climax  by  saying,  "  Well, 
I  do  know  cabbages  if  I  don't  know  beans!"     Truly  we  have  eyes,  but  we  see  not. 

We  learn  to  see  things  by  modeling  and  drawing  them — especially  with  the  idea 
of  using  them  in  design.  We  learn  to  discriminate  between  the  fundamental  charac- 
teristics and  the  details — the  important  and  the  unimportant — a  most  valuable  accom- 
plishment in  every  department  of  life.  The  imagination  is  quickened  and  the  invent 
ive  genius  developed  by  the  possibilities  of  design  everywhere  suggested  if  we  have 
but  learned  to  look  for  them.  We  learn  the  adaptation  of  means  to  ends,  and  gain  a 
new  perception  of  beauty  in  common  things. 

The  best  way  to  attain  general  culture  is  to  study  a  specialty — making  it  a  base- 
line from  which  to  branch  out  to  take  measurements  and  compute  values. 

No  study  could  be  better  for  this  purpose  than  applied  art.  It  is  educating  and 
refining — it  is  also  the  means  of  earning  a  living.  It  is  thoroughly  practical  and 
equally  ideal.  Beauty  and  utility  meet  there  on  common  ground.  It  broadens  our 
outlook  in  every  direction.     It  touches  our  life  in  the  most  constant  and  intimate  way. 

It  makes  life  and  the  individual  more  interesting,  for  a  person  is  interesting  in 
proportion  as  he  is  interested  in  living,  in  learning,  in  doing;  in  proportion  as  he 
irradiates  facts,  ideas  and  enthusiasm. 

In  our  day  and  generation  subtraction  and  division  are  lost  arts.  We  only  remem- 
ber how  to  add  and  multiply  our  needs,  our  luxuries,  our  duties.  I  would  add,  there- 
fore, to  our  manifold  requirements  a  general  comprehension,  at  least,  of  the  principles 
of  applied  art,  believing  that  it  would  be  of  infinite  advantage  to  every  one  of  us  and 
a  source  of  unmeasured  wealth  to  the  nation. 

Metaphysicians  assure  us  that  every  deed,  yes,  every  thought,  is  eternal  and  inef- 
faceable. Then  let  the  product  of  our  hands  and  the  thoughts  of  our  hearts  make  for 
beauty  and  for  harmony  evermore. 


NOT  THINGS,  BUT  WOMEN. 


By  MRS.  EFFIE  PITBLADO. 

Things  are  great.  They  are  either  the  thought  of  God  or  man.  Natural  things  are 
the  thoughts  of  God;  artificial  things  are  the  thoughts  of  man.     But  woman  is  greater 

than  things,  because  she  is  the  breath  of  God,  or  soul. 
Things  are  matter;  woman  is  spirit.      So  she,  with 

.,..  .  -. .  man,  has  dominion  over  things.    The  meaning  of  soul 

grows  upon  us,  as  we  see  it  gaining  the  mastery  over 
natural  things — over  wave  and  wind,  over  thunderbolt 
and  sunbeam.  The  greatness  of  soul  grows  upon  us, 
as  we  see  it,  turning  thoughts  into  things  of  its  own — 
into  pictures,  sewing  machines,  congress  buildings, 
glass  dresses;  into  things  that  make  not  only  the 
esthetic  soul  sing,  but  the  utilitarian  heart  rejoice.  Out 
of  the  silence  of  thought  c^me  all  these  forms  ot 
beauty  and  things  of  usefulness  we  see  at  this  World's 
Fair.  Things  represent  ideas.  Ideas  are  not  mascu- 
line or  feminine,  but  human.  Ideas  are  uppermost 
here.  The  dominion  of  mere  physical  force  is  dying. 
The  dominion  of  mental  and  moral  ideas  is  growing 
wider  and  stronger.  It  is  evident  from  what  we  see 
at  this  World's  Fair  that  women  of  ideas  and  moral 
stamina  are  fast  coming  to  the  front.  Woman  has  a 
great  part  to  play  in  this  age,  and  she  is  prepared  and 
is  preparing  for  it.  The  arguments  against  equality 
are  all  answered,  and  today  we  smile  at  the  belated 
being  that  talks  about  the  superiority  of  the  masculine  intellect  to  the  feminine.  They 
are  both  superior  in  their  way,  and  the  sphere  they  choose  is  their  sphere.  If  a  man 
may  sell  ribbons  and  cut  dresses,  a  woman  may  sit  in  the  editor's  chair,  give  a  mission- 
ary address,  deliver  a  political  oration,  open  a  drug  store  or  run  a  convention  or  a  mill. 
It  is  too  late  to  deny  that  her  imagination  is  just  as  fine  and  full  of  eyes  as  man's^ 
that  her  heart  is  just  as  brimming  over  with  poetry  and  pathos,  that  her  reason  is  just 
as  forceful  and  keen  as  man's. 

The  thought  is  growing  that  God  has  ordained  certain  rights  to  woman  that 
somebody  has  denied.  She  is  beginning  erradually  to  seek  to  stand  alongside  her 
brother,  her  husband  and  lover  in  all  the  rights  of  mankind  and  in  all  the  ordinances 
of  our  great  Father.  Such  women  still  get  a  great  deal  of  advice.  They  are  told 
that  woman  was  made  for  a  higher  sphere  (or  hemisphere),  the  home;  and  that  if  she 
departs  from  it  her  womanhood  will  suffer,  and  the  domestic  shrine  be  overthrown. 
But  all  this  is  contradicted  by  the  facts  and  experiences  and  history  of  today.  Who 
ever  thinks  of  saying  that  Mrs,  Cady  Stanton's  domestic  shrine  is  overthrown,  or 
that  Mrs.  Isabella  Beecher  Hooker's,  or  Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe's,  or  Mrs.  Mary  A. 

Mrs.  Effie  Pitblado  was  bom  in  Edinhnrgh,  Scotland,  in  1849.  Her  parents  were  Hngh  Wilson,  a  lawyer,  and  Eaphemia 
Gibb  Wilson.  She  was  educated  in  Edinburgh,  and  afterward  in  England.  She  has  traveled  in  Europe,  Canada,  and  in 
America,  and  has  crossed  the  Atlantic  five  times.  She  married  Rev.  C.  B.  Pitblado,  D.  D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  is  the  mother  of  two  sons.  Her  principal  literary  works  are  addresses  upon  temperance,  woman's  suffrage,  missions, 
education  and  religion.  In  religious  faith  she  is  a  Methodist.  Mrs.  Pitblado  has  been  a  delegate  to  the  National  Woman 
Suffrage  Association  Convention  in  Washington,  the  New  England  Woman's  Suffrage  Association  Conventions,  the  National 
Women's  Christian  Temerpance  Union  Conventions  in  New  York,  Denver  and  Chicago,  and  to  the  annual  Woman's  Foreign 
Missionary  Conventions  in  Lowell  and  Boston,  Mass. 

793 


MRS.  EFFIE  PITBLAUO. 


794  THE  CONGRESS  OE  WOMEN. 

Livermore's  children  are  neglected,  or  their  husbands  not  attended  to,  or  their  dishes 
not  washed  and  stockings  not  darned?  This  wail  about  domestic  shrine  belongs  to 
past  history;  we  live  in  new  times.  I  wish  we  had  time  to  speak  of  the  many  great 
and  useful  women  of  our  homes  and  hearts. 

Mrs.  Isabella  Beecher  Hooker,  as  everyone  knows,  belongs  to  the  wonderful 
Beecher  family,  and  is  decidedly  one  of  the  most  talented  among  them.  She  stands 
at  the  front  among  the  leaders  of  the  great  vital  reforms  of  the  day.  She  is  a  woman 
of  marvelous  force  of  character,  and  to  her  the  women  of  Connecticut  owe  the 
improvement  of  the  laws  in  that  state  with  regard  to  their  property. 

I  have  enjoyed  the  hospitality  of  her  delightful  home  in  Hartford  many  times, 
and  she  did  me  the  honor  to  introduce  me  to  the  judiciary  committee  in  the  Capitol 
at  Washington  as  a  Scotch  woman  who  would  speak  to  them  on  the  political  status 
of  women  in  Great  Britain,  when  I  went  up  with  the  committee  of  our  National 
Woman  Suffrage  Association.  I  was  at  Washington  in  1888  when  I  first  became 
acquainted  (through  Mrs.  Hooker)  with  her  co-worker,  Susan  B.  Anthony,  a  woman 
who  is  known  everywhere  for  her  principle  and  pluck,  power  and  purpose.  Elizabeth 
Cady  Stanton  is  another  woman  of  brains  and  bravery.  She  is  one  of  the  ablest 
women  of  our  times.  Julia  Ward  Howe  is  not  only  the  author  of  the  "  Battle 
Hymn  of  the  Republic,"  and  of  other  poems  as  rich  and  grand,  but  she  is 
also  a  leading  philanthropist  and  lecturer.  Lucy  Stone  was  a  woman  of  radical 
ideas,  and  quiet,  magnetic  eloquence  and  heroic  individuality.  We  all  regret 
that  we  can  never  again  hear  her  (as  I  have  often  heard  her)  plead  before  the 
Legislature  of  Massachusetts  for  the  enfranchisement  of  women. 

Mrs.  Mary  A.  Livermore  has  for  twenty-five  years  been  one  of  the  star  lecturers 
in  our  most  attractive  lyceum  courses,  and  she  never  was  more  popular  than  she  is 
today.     She  is  one  of  the  ablest  lecturers  in  the  country  at  this  hour. 

I  have  heard  her  tell  of  Lady  Henry  Somerset's  life  and  work  in  such  glowing 
terms,  that  we  could  almost  worship  our  English  White  Ribbon  Queen,  who  is  to  the 
British  women  what  our  Frances  Willard  is  to  our  American  women — the  head  and 
the  heart  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union.  Lady  Henry  Somerset's 
sympathy  for  and  helpfulness  to  our  American  queen  has  been  truly  beautiful,  and 
we  love  her  not  only  for  it,  but  for  her  own  sweet  self.  Mrs.  Ormiston  Chant  is 
another  English  woman  who  has  charmed  us  with  her  inspirational  speeches  in 
behalf  of  womanhood,  and  she  also  is  devoted  to  the  elevation  of  woman,  and  the 
salvation  of  mankind.  On  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  we  have  Mrs.  Van  Cott,  a  really 
successful  evangelist,  and  Mrs.  Annie  Wittenmyer,  one  of  the  grandest  philanthropists 
that  ever  lived.  Frances  E.  Willard,  our  queen  of  reforms,  has  probably  more  influence 
in  this  country  than  any  other  man  or  woman.  She  is  president  of  the  World's 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  which  has  at  least  three  hundred  thousand 
members. 

What  a  fine  looking  body  of  women  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  are,  with  their 
attractive  and  gracious  president.  Mrs.  Potter  Palmer  has  visited  nearly  every  court  in 
Europe  in  the  interest  of  women,  and  she  has  won  by  their  exhibits  official  recogni- 
tion from  every  foreign  country.  She  has  also  enlisted  the  co-operation  of  the  women 
of  her  own  country  for  the  World's  Fair,  and  addressed  congressional  committees 
with  such  genius  that  she  obtained  from  them  the  legislation  necessary  to  begin  and 
carry  on  the  work,  and  at  the  dedicatory  services  of  this  great  Columbian  Exposition 
crowned  all  by  her  splendid  address,  in  which  she  said:  "  Even  more  important  than 
the  discovery  of  America  is  the  fact  that  Government  has  just  discovered  woman." 

We  have  always  had  our  queens  since  the  days  of  Queen  Esther,  Queen  of  Sheba, 
Queen  Semiramis  and  Queen  Boadicea,  but  never  have  we  had  more  worthy  queens 
than  those  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Who  can  forget  the  smiling  face  of  Vice-President  Mrs.  Charles  Henrotin  as  she 
gave  her  delightful  address  of  welcome  to  every  World's  Congress?  Who  but  will  say 
that  our  chairman  of  the  Committee  on   Congresses  in  this  Woman's  Building,  Mrs. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  795 

James  P.  Eagle,  has  not  only  shown  great  ability  and  tact,  but  a  remarkable  degree  of 
executive  power  and  steady  perseverance  to  arrange  for,  and  preside  at,  all  these 
addresses,  every  forenoon,  for  so  many  months?  Her  beauty  and  grace  and  kindly 
manners  to  all  her  speakers  have  added  greatly  to  the  charm  of  these  Congresses  in 
the  Woman's  Building. 

I  wish  there  was  time  to  speak  of  Mrs.  Palmer's  secretary  and  her  assistant  secre- 
tary, Mrs.  Helen  M,  Parker,  in  whose  home  I  had  the  pleasure  of  stopping  for  a  few 
weeks,  and  who,  as  you  know,  has  been  elected  treasurer,  at  our  last  convention,  of 
the  National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union.  It  would  be  impossible  in  my 
limited  time  to  tell  you  about  the  many  gifted  women  in  that  organization.  We  have 
our  lecturers,  like  Mrs.  Mary  Lathrop,  whom  you  all  know,  and  Rev.  Annie  Shaw;  we 
have  our  superintendents,  like  Mrs.  Mary  H.  Hunt. 

We  also  have  missionaries,  like  our  all-round-the-world  missionary,  Mrs.  Mary 
Clement  Leavitt,  who  has  had  in  connection  with  her  addresses  the  services  of  two 
hundred  and  twenty-nine  interpreters,  in  forty-seven  languages.  She  has  carried  our 
white  ribbon  around  the  globe.  And  secretaries  like  Miss  Anna  A.  Gordon;  and  state 
presidents  like  Mrs.  Clara  Hoffman,  so  well  known  here;  and  sergeants- at-arms  like 
Mrs.  Cornelia  B.  Forbes,  of  Connecticut,  to  keep  our  great  national  conventions  in 
order;  and  organizers  like  Mrs.  Mary  Seymour  Howell;  and  preachers  like  Miss 
Greenwood,  of  New  York;  and  elocutionists  like  Miss  Eva  Shonts,  who  read  on  this 
platform,  and  who  is  called  by  Miss  Willard  our  white  ribbon  elocutionist.  I  wish  I 
had  time  to  speak  of  such  women  as  Pundita  Ramabai,  the  student  and  teacher  of 
the  young  widows  of  India,  and  of  the  heroic  women  who  have  gone  out  to  heathen 
lands  to  carry  the  glad  tidings  of  the  Gospel  to  their  sisters,  and  of  the  grand  women 
at  home  whose  plans  and  gifts  have  created  such  an  organization  that  they  can  now 
disburse  annually,  for  the  work  and  support  of  these  missionaries,  one  million  five 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  I  need  not  tell  you  about  the  president  of  our  National 
Council  of  Women,  Mrs.  May  Wright  Sewell,  for  many  of  you  have  heard  her  brilliant 
and  learned  addresses  in  this  assembly  hall;  nor  of  Miss  Elizabeth  B.  Sheldon,  who 
decorated  our  Connecticut  room  in  this  building  with  such  delicate  taste  and  fine  har- 
mony of  color;  nor  of  Miss  Hosmer,  the  sculptor,  for  you  have  seen  her  exquisite 
statues  and  busts,  and  you  know  that  her  statue  of  Queen  Isabella  has  been  secured 
for  the  Californian  World's  Fair  and  will  find  a  home  in  San  Francisco.  Neither  do 
I  need  to  speak  to  you  of  my  countrywoman.  Lady  Aberdeen,  for  you  have  seen 
her  exhibit  here  of  the  industries  of  the  Irish  women,  and  you  have  heard  what 
she  is  doing  for  women  in  Great  Britain  at  the  head  of  the  Woman's  Liberal 
Federation.  Few  men  have  spoken  out  so  freely  against  social  wrongs  as  Mrs. 
Josephine  Butler  of  England,  and  Dr.  Kate  Bushnell  of  this  country.  From  the  days 
of  Madam  Roland  women  have  never  been  without  their  champions  like  Flor- 
ence Nightingale,  and  Mrs.  Browning,  our  delightful  poet.  Time  would  fail  us 
to  speak  of  our  women  journalists,  like  Mrs.  Frank  Leslie  and  Alice  Stone  Black- 
well;  our  women  ministers,  like  Rev.  Olympia  Brown  and  Dr.  Augusta  J.  Chapine 
who,  as  chairman  of  Women's  Religious  Congresses,  discovered  that  seventeen  denom- 
inations have  ordained  women  to  the  ministry;  our  discoverers,  like  Mrs.  French 
Sheldon,  ¥.  R.  G.  S.,  who  went  unattended  by  a  single  white  person  through  the  wilds 
of  Africa;  and  our  temple  builders,  like  Mrs.  Matilda  B.  Carse,  of  Chicago,  whose 
"Woman's  Temple"  is  the  finest  oflfice  building  in  the  world,  and  the  architect  of  this 
beautiful  Woman's  Building,  which  is  a  monument  to  the  brain  and  work  of  woman. 
But  we  must  stop  mentioning  names,  for  the  gifted,  all-sided  women  of  our  land  are 
legion.  Many  of  them  are  unknown  to  the  great  public,  and  do  their  work  quietly  in 
their  own  church  or  town  or  home,  and  many  of  them  have  voluntarily  become  the 
rounds  of  the  ladders  on  which  their  brothers  and  sons  and  husbands  have  climbed  to 
fame.  But  many  of  them  do  their  work  in  the  eye  of  the  world.  Some  of  them  are  gen- 
iuses— none  of  them  are  angels — all  of  them  are  peers  of  men.  Among  them  are 
inventors,  lawyers,  architects,physicians,  painters,  engineers,  astronomers,  editors,  edu- 


796  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

cators,  actresses,  novelists  and  brilliant  authors.  Well  known  to  all  readers  are  such 
names  as  Margaret  Fuller,  Lydia  Maria  Child,  Fanny  Fern  (or  Mrs.  Parton),  Gail  Ham- 
ilton (or  Miss  Dodge),  Louisa  May  Alcott,  Pansy  (or  Mrs.  R.  G.  Alden),  Josiah  Allen's 
wife  (or  Miss  Marietta  Holly),  Elizabeth  Stuart  Phelps,  Kate  Field,  Mrs.  Helen  Hinsdale 
Rich,  the  poet  of  the  Adirondacks,  and  last,  but  not  least,  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe, 
There  is  about  their  writings  and  addresses  a  sterling  sense,  a  short-handed  reasoning, 
that  is  not  only  charming  but  oracular.  They  are  giving  literature  a  healthy, 
fireside  tone.  These  women,  and  many  unnamed  by  me,  are  among  the  leaders  of 
thought  today. 

Religion  to  them  is  the  divinest  reality.  They  believe  in  God,  and  so  feel  that 
man  and  woman  must  grow  into  mutual  greatness  and  goodness. together,  and  that 
the  ages  have  never  yet  seen  the  regal  men  and  women  that  are  to  illustrate  God's 
ideal  of  humanity. 


A  BUSINESS  WOMAN  IN  KENTUCKY*. 

By  MISS  FLORENCE  BARLOW. 

Some  eight  or  ten  years  since  a  pleasant  escort  and  curiosity  took  me  to  a  ball  at 
the   Lunatic  Asylum  in  Lexington,  Ky.     These  balls  are  given  by  the  board  for  the 

pleasure  of  the  inmates.     The  visitors  are  expected  to 
dance  with  the  lunatics  and  assist  in  making  the  even- 
ing pleasant  for  these   unfortunates.     While  in  con- 
1,,  versation  with  one  of  the  board,  he  remarked  to  me 

that  if  it  should  ever  be  necessary  I  would  make  a 
success  as  a  business  woman.  He  little  knew  the 
seed  of  encouragement  he  was  sowing  in  the  remark, 
and  it  pleased  me  to  have  him  say  this.  A  business 
woman — that  which  my  heart  had  most  yearned  to  be 
for  years.  But  I  had  been  raised  surrounded  with 
all  the  comforts  of  a  delightful  Kentucky  home,  and 
at  a  time  when  it  was  considered  a  reflection  upon  the 
head  of  the  family  for  the  women  to  be  self-support- 
ing, or  do  anything  out  of  the  ordinary  duties  allotted 
to  women.  But  in  a  few  years  reverses  came  upon 
my  family  as  they  will  come  to  the  best  of  us.  Then 
for  the  first  time  I  realized  I  must  act  for  myself,  for 
with  the  loss  of  home  my  father,  who  was  nearing 
seventy,  was  declining  in  health  and  years,  and  too 
old  to  recover  from  losses,  or  do  anything  but  submit 
to  the  inevitable.  And  so  began  my  career  as  a  busi- 
ness woman  of  Kentucky. 
Thrown  upon  my  own  resources,  what  were  they?  I  had  never  before  stared  the 
question  fairly  in  the  face;  and  when  I  did,  I  saw  none;  that  is,  I  had  no  training  or 
preparation  for  any  special  vocation.  Oh  if  fathers  and  mothers  could  only  realize 
they  are  killing  their  daughters  with  kindness,  as  it  were,  by  not  fitting  them  for 
some  special  life-work,  just  as  they  do  their  boys,  how  happiness,  self-reliance  and 
prosperity  would  take  the  place  of  anxiety,  suffering  and  poverty. 

All  honor  and  glory  to  the  great  and  good  women,  the  projectors  of  the  "Vir- 
ginia Dare  Association."  God  speed  them  in  their  noble  work,  and  crown  them  with 
success.  Open  the  hearts  and  pockets  of  men  and  Congress  to  build  these  manual  train- 
ing schools  for  girls  all  over  the  land,  and  endow  them  as  the  emergency  of  the  times 
demand,  that  they  may  redound  to  the  credit  o£  the  American  woman  as  nothing  else 
ever  has.  To  my  mind,  it  is  one  of  the  greatest  ideas  conceived  by  the  women  of  our 
country,  and  should  be  nourished  by  the  support  of  every  man  and  woman.  My 
resources  were  a  very  good  school  education,  such  as  the  girls'  colleges  of  Kentucky 
afford,  but  I  did  not  feel  capable  of  any  adaptability  to  teach  or  train  young  minds. 
I  speak  of  those  days  until  some  of  you  may  think,  as  my  little  niece  did  when  I 

Miss  Florence  Barlow  is  a  native  of  Lexington,  Ky.  Her  parents  were  Milton  Barlow,  Sr.,  and  Anaatasia  C.  Thompson 
Barlow.  She  was  educated  in  Richmond,  Ky.,  and  has  traveled  through  the  eastern  and  southern  portions  of  the  United 
States.  Her  si>ecial  line  of  work  has  been  in  the  interest  of  newspapers  and  magazines.  She  is  a  professional  business 
woman,  in  religious  faith  a  Presbyterian,  being  a  member  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Lexington,  Ky.  Miss  Barlow 
is  a  beautiful,  cultivated  and  most  charming  woman,  whose  lovely  character  and  winsome  manners  always  surround  her 
with  a  host  of  admiring  friends.    Her  postoffice  address  is  Lexington,  Ky. 


MISS  FLORENCE  BARLOW. 


*The  foil  title  of  Miss  Barlow's  address  was  "The  £zt)erience  of  a  Basinees  Woman  in  Kentacky." 

797 


798  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

tried  to  persuade  her  to  wear  the  long  white  aprons  I  think  so  pretty  for  little  school 
girls,  by  telling  her  I  wore  them  when  I  was  a  little  girl.  "  Well,  but  aunty,"  she  said, 
"you  lived^in  ancient  times."  Well,  I  didn't  exactly  live  in  ancient  times,  but  you 
know  until  the  past  few  years  very  few  colleges  were  open  to  girls.  I  had  a  general 
knowledge  of  housekeeping  that  I  saw  no  way  of  turning  to  a  very  profitable  account. 
I  did  have  some  knowledge  of  painting  and  drawing,  such  as  we  acquire  in  boarding 
schools.  I  had  taken  lessons  one  year  when  I  was  about  fifteen  years  of  age,  but  com- 
bined with  some  talent  and  love  for  art,  I  had  made  unusual  progress,  and  had  a  greater 
degree  of  excellence,  probably,  than  anyone  in  the  little  city  of  Richmond,  Ky.,  at 
that  time  my  home.  I  had  taught  a  few  friends  on  china,  having  had  more  advan- 
tages in  that  line  than  anyone  else  in  the  town,  and  had  taught  so  well  that  one  of  my 
pupils  took  the  premium  over  me  at  the  county  fair. 

I  suppose  I  ought  to  have  felt  chagrined,  but  I  felt  pleased  and  flattered  and 
encouraged  to  teach  art,  drawing  and  painting  in  oil,  water  and  china.  And  so  I  opened 
a  studio,  teaching  for  several  years.  In  that  time  I  found  that  I  was  doing  a  great  deal 
of  hard  work,  with  small  profits  and  breaking  myself  down.  I  had  not  learned  to  teach 
and  save  myself.  I  concluded  art  in  Kentucky  did  not  pay.  My  ambitions  were  cramped. 
I  was  not  satisfied.  While  in  this  frame  of  mind  I  chanced  to  attend  a  press  associa- 
tion of  Kentucky,  and  there  I  met  one  of  the  solons  from  Middlesborough,  Ky.  I 
was  glad  to  meet  this  wise  man  from  this  interesting  city  of  the  mountains.  News- 
paper men  are  supposed  to  know  everything,  to  be  a  walking  encyclopaedia  for  the 
public's  use,  and  so  I  plied  him  with  many  questions,  as  to  the  advisability  of  my 
going  into  business  in  Middlesborough,  suggesting  real  estate  as  a  probable  opening. 
To  my  astonishment  and  pleasure  he  encouraged  me,  and  so  I  decided  at  once  that  was 
the  thing  I  would  do,  my  parents  having  gone  to  Southern  Florida  the  fall  before  to 
escape  the  chilling  blasts  of  winter.  I  returned  to  Lexington,  where  I  then  had  a 
studio,  dismissed  my  class  and  told  my  friends  I  was  going  to  Middlesborough  to  be  a 
real  estate  agent.  Most  of  my  friends  protested.  Who  is  going  to  chaperone  you? 
Who  is  going  to  meet  you?  Who  is  going  to  help  you?  were  some  of  the  more  im- 
portant questions  put  to  me.  But  I  told  them  I  couldn't  be  having  a  chaperone  all 
my  life;  I  couldn't  always  expect  the  pleasure  of  someone  meeting  me,  and  I  had  no 
reason  to  expect  any  but  Divine  help. 

It  was  in  the  latter  part  of  April,  and  the  May  sales  of  town  lots  were  near  at 
hand.  I  had  no  time  to  lose  if  I  wished  to  be  on  the  ground  and  get  information 
necessary  to  my  success,  I  had  absolutely  no  knowledge  of  the  business,  but  my 
father  and  grandfather,  having  been  most  distinguished  inventors  of  the  day,  and  my 
mother  a  woman  of  more  than  ordinary  ability,  I  knew  I  had  an  inherent  right  to  a 
degree  of  intelligence,  and  I  had  heard  Dr.  Willets  say  in  his  celebrated  lecture  on 
sunshine,  that  one  of  the  most  useful  and  best  traits  for  woman  to  possess  (a  good 
square  word;  it  was  found  in  all  the  dictionaries),  was  "  Gumption!' 

The  word  embraces  a  great  deal;  and  so  I  determined  to  cultivate  gumption,  and 
bring  into  use  all  the  intelligence  I  could  command. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  night  I  left  the  city  of  my  birth,  Lexington,  Ky.,  and  bade 
farewell  to  the  most  beautiful,  the  most  hospitable  and  devoted  people  the  sun  ever 
shone  upon.  To  give  this  in  exchange  for  a  new  town  in  the  mountains,  among  total 
strangers,  to  embark  in  business  I  had  no  knowledge  of  whatever,  with  no  financial 
backing,  defying  as  it  were  the  code  of  Southern  usages  in  sundering  the  bars  and 
going  into  new  fields  of  business  not  before  tried  by  a  Kentucky  woman,  I  knew  it 
was  a  venture  and  I  was  taking  desperate  chances,  but  the  occasion  demanded  this  at 
my  hands  and  I  determined  to  risk  it.  Nothing  ventured,  nothing  won,  an  adage 
worth  remembering.  These  and  many  more  were  the  thoughts  that  passed  through 
my  brain  when  I  was  given  time  for  reflection  as  the  lo  o'clock  train  rapidly  length- 
ened the  distance  between  those  I  loved  and  myself. 

When  I  had  taken  my  seat  I  discovered  I  was  the  only  lady  in  the  coach,  with 
about  twelve  or  fifteen  men,  principally  rough  men  of  the  mountains,  for  we  had  by 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  799 

this  time  gotten  into  the  knobs  of  Kentucky.  They  were  going  to  Middlesborough 
to  gather  tanbark  for  the  tannery  there,  the  largest  in  the  world.  More  than  once, 
when  several  of  them  grew  loud  or  boisterous,  one  would  say:  "  Keep  quiet;  there  is 
a  lady  in  the  car,"  showing  they  respected  my  presence,  which  pleased  me. 

After  a  few  stations  an  old  colored  woman  got  on.  I  beckoned  her  to  take  the  seat 
in  front  of  me  that  I  might  not  feel  so  alone.  I  saw  she  was  a  nice  old-fashioned 
darkey,  and  asked  her  if  she  knew  anything  about  that  part  of  the  country.  "  Bless 
your  heart,  honey,  I  was  born  and  raised  in  these  parts."  "Well,"  I  said,  "  I  am  glad 
to  know  that.  I  am  a  stranger  here  and  I  want  you  to  take  care  of  me  until  I 
reach  my  destination.''  We  who  have  been  raised  with  black  mammies  have  learned 
to  trust  them,  and  know  them  to  be  loyal  to  the  charge.  The  bonds  that  exist 
between  an  old-fashioned  mammy  and  the  white  mistress  must  be  felt  to  be  appre- 
ciated, and  it  has  been  felt  only  in  the  South. 

After  we  had  changed  at  Corbin,  at  3  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  most  deso- 
late, forsaken  spot  to  be  found,  where  the  answering  of  whip-poor-will  to  whip-poor- 
will,  at  the  silent  hour  of  3,  was  the  only  sound  to  be  heard,  I  gave  her  my  ticket 
and  told  her  I  was  going  to  take  a  nap,  and  she  must  hand  in  my  ticket,  so  I  would 
not  be  disturbed.  I  saw  she  was  pleased  with  my  confidence  in  her,  and  when  we 
reached  her  station,  just  before  Middlesborough,  she  passed  out  so  quietly  I  never 
knew  when  she  left. 

Si.x  o'clock  found  our  train  pulling  in  to  Middlesborough.  I  had  had  a  refresh- 
ing nap.  It  was  a  glorious  morning  early  in  May.  Everybody  was  hustling  and 
bustling.  The  steam  plows  worked  day  and  night,  moving  young  mountains,  build- 
ing roads  and  streets,  digging  canals;  hundreds  of  men  working  in  relays,  building 
a  city.  I  felt  the  inspiration  of  the  surrounding  scene,  and  felt  anxious  to  be  at 
work  doing  something.  The  very  atmosphere  was  exhilarating,  and  I  seemed  to 
breathe  a  new  life.  I  seemed  to  be  in  a  new  and  different  world  from  any  I  had 
ever  known.  The  city  was  in  the  shadow  of  early  morn  covered  with  the  snowy 
mantle  of  fog,  waiting  for  old  King  Sol  to  climb  yon  distant  mountain,  and  with 
his  warm  caresses  and  soft  blandishments  entice  it  up  into  fleecy  cloudlets,  bearing 
them  away  over  the  mountains,  into  other,  but  I  am  sure  no  fairer,  scenes.  I  wish  I 
had  time  to  describe  to  you  some  of  the  enchanting  views  and  historic  points  of  this 
interesting  place.  I  soon  found  a  room  to  my  taste  in  a  new  hotel,  just  opened, 
and  kept  by  a  widow  from  Central  Kentucky.  I  counted  myself  fortunate  in  being  so 
pleasantly  located,  and  rendered  thanks  unto  my  Maker  for  all  His  goodness  to  me, 
invoking  His  Divine  guidance  and  protection  in  my  new  career. 

The  first  thing  was  to  secure  an  office.  The  demand  for  offices  was  already  in 
excess  of  the  supply,  often  two,  three  and  four  going  into  one  office.  The  city  had 
a  few  weeks  before  gotten  out  a  city  charter,  and  had  just  had  its  first  election  of  city 
officers;  mayor,  three  councilmen,  etc. 

One  of  the  councilmen,  hearing  of  my  arrival,  came  into  the  parlor  before  break- 
fast to  meet  me,  and  extend  to  me  a  most  cordial  reception,  and  to  offer  any 
assistance  he  could  give  me.  That  was  encouraging,  and  he  proved  to  be  one  of  the 
stanchest  and  best  of  friends,  often  rendering  me  invaluable  assistance.  The  news 
soon  spread  that  a  real  lady  real  estate  agent  had  come  to  town.  I  was  scarcely 
through  my  breakfast  before  a  business  man  called  to  extend  to  me  a  cordial  welcome, 
handing  me  his  card,  saying  he  was  an  abstract  man;  I  would  no  doubt  want  abstracts, 
and  he  solicited  my  patronage.  This  struck  me  as  being  very  funny;  how  could  I  be 
buying  an  abstract;  what  was  an  abstract,  anyway?  I  hadn't  the  slightest  idea  what 
he  meant.  I  mention  this  because  there  are  plenty  of  young  ladies  with  finished 
education  who  are  no  wiser  than  I  was.  Of  course  I  knew  what  abstract  meant,  but  I 
couldn't  understand  his  application  of  it.  But  I  waited  my  time,  and  soon  learned  he 
meant  abstract  of  title  to  property  I  was  expected  to  sell.  The  Kentucky  gentlemen 
is  ever  ready  to  be  courteous  to  ladies,  and  ofttimes  will  put  themselves  to  great  incon- 
venience to  serve  or  favor  them.     I  have  had  frequent  evidence  of  this  in  my  varied 


800  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

experience.  A  young  man  offered  to  vacate  his  office  that  I  might  have  that,  the  best 
and  only  office  in  the  city  suitable  for  me,  on  the  first  floor,  he  going  in  an  upstairs 
room  with  several  others. 

I  fitted  up  my  office;  that  is^  I  had  a  new  carpet  put  down.  Then  a  new  friend 
came  in  and  said,  "  Don't  buy  a  desk;  I  have  two;  one  is  in  my  way,  and  you  will  do 
me  a  kindness  to  use  it.  I'll  send  it  in  for  you."  Another  said,  "  Don't  buy  chairs;  I 
have  half  a  dozen  extra  ones;  they  are  yours."  Another  sent  his  bookkeeper  to  open 
my  books,  put  up  my  maps,  tag  me  a  hundred  or  so  lots  for  sale  with  prices  and 
terms.  Another,  and  another,  and  another  called  to  extend  the  right  hand  of  fellow- 
ship, as  it  were,  and  proffered  their  assistance,  until  in  less  than  a  week  nearly  half 
the  men  in  town,  married  and  single,  had  enlisted  in  my  behalf,  and  declared  they 
would  rather  see  me  sell  a  lot  and  make  money  than  do  it  themselves. 

Well,  I  thought,  this  is  delightful.  If  this  thing  keeps  up  they'll  do  the  selling 
for  me  next  and  hand  me  the  commission.  But  it  was  gratifying  and  encouraging  to 
me  to  be  so  well  received  and  have  the  approval  of  these  splendid  men.  The  sales 
came  on  the  next  week;  the  city  was  full  to  overflowing  with  strangers  from  all  parts 
of  the  country,  and  many  from  abroad  came  to  invest  in  city  lots  and  build  industries. 
Everybody  was  in  a  state  of  feverish  excitement.  Bidding  ran  high,  corner  lots  ran 
up  to  ;^4I0  per  foot,  and  many  believed  that  this  city,  which  in  less  than  two  years  had 
grown  from  an  open  cornfield  into  a  population  of  five  thousand  people,  would  in  five 
years  be  twenty-five  or  thirty  thousand  souls.  Fabulous  prices  were  offered  for  cen- 
ter property,  some  few  taking  advantage  of  it  and  selling,  others  holding  on  for  still 
more  advance. 

After  the  Town  Company  had  continued  their  sales  for  four  days,  selling  many 
thousands  of  dollars  worth  of  lots,  the  real  estate  agents  declared  it  was  time  they 
should  have  a  chance  now,  and  the  company  should  take  their  property  off  the  mar- 
ket, which  they  consented  to  do  on  Friday.  Everybody  was  buoyant,  feeling  good, 
going  to  make  more  money  than  they  had  ever  heard  of.  The  real  estate  agents,  of 
which  there  were  something  less  than  a  hundred,  were  busy  making  their  arrange- 
ments to  reap  a  rich  harvest  in  the  next  week,  and  all  time  to  come.  Property  was 
already  beginning  to  change  hands  at  a  good  profit  to  the  seller  and  promise  of  better 
to  the  buyer.  Dozens  of  newcomers  were  locating  every  day.  Houses  could  not  be 
provided  for  them  fast  enough.  They  crowded  into  the  hotels  and  into  every  avail- 
able space,  paying  enormous  rent  and  board. 

An  agent  for  the  United  States  Building  and  Loan  Association  of  St.  Paul  came 
in  to  establish  an  agency.  He  asked  me  if  I  would  take  it.  1  told  him  I  knew  noth- 
ing of  the  workings  of  building  and  loan;  that  if  he  could  teach  me  I  would  take  it. 

He  was  pleased  to  find  that  after  I  had  read  the  matter  put  into  my  hands,  and 
heard  him  talk  "building  loan"  an  hour,  I  was  able  to  talk  "building  loan"  intelligently. 
Small  posters  were  struck  and  distributed,  "$200,000  to  loan  by  Miss  Barlow,"  and  I  at 
once  became  the  most  popular  woman  in  the  city.  (Money  makes  the  men  move.) 
Men  thronged  my  office  to  borrow  money,  but  when  they  found  they  must  give  a  first 
mortgage  on  real  estate,  and  could  only  borrow  fifty  per  cent  of  the  most  conserva- 
tive valuation  of  their  property,  they  gave  the  matter  more  deliberate  thought.  But 
we  had  no  trouble  in  organizing  a  good  board,  and  I  launched  into  the  "building  loan" 
business,  in  connection  with  real  estate,  with  the  brightest  prospect  of  doing  a  splendid 
business. 

You  must  not  think  I  had  gone  thus  far  without  having  to  overcome  an  immense 
amount  of  embarrassment  and  timidity.  No  one  can  ever  know  what  I  have  suffered 
from  timidity,  and  what  a  fight  1  have  had  to  overcome  it.  I  had  never  been  thrown 
with  people  before,  except  in  a  most  cordial,  social,  and  home-like  way;  and  all  this 
was  so  new  to  me,  and  I  was  so  timid  I  many  times  wished  I  could  hide.  But  I  had  a 
certain  feeling  of  pride  that  I  must  not  fail  at  anything  I  undertook;  that  often  came 
to  my  rescue.  I  remember  one  of  the  first  would-be  customers  who  came  into  my  office 
was  a  man  from  Massachusetts.    He  introduced  himself,  and  said  he  had  come  to  Mid- 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  801 

dlesborough  to  invest  in  improved  property,  and  he  had  come  to  me  first  as  a  lady, 
preferring  to  buy  from  me,  as  he  knew  women  were  more  honest  than  men,  and  he 
didn't  intend  to  be  fleeced  by  those  real  estate  agents.  He  was  a  great,  splendid-look- 
ing man,  about  six  feet  two  inches  high,  weighed  about  two  hundred,  age  about  forty- 
five,  handsome  to  a  remarkable  degree;  in  fact,  a  magnificent  specimen  of  manhood. 
To  say  I  was  embarrassed  and  overcome  would  be  putting  it  mildly,  I  had  had  my 
office,  probably,  a  week,  and  had  not  had  a  genuine  customer,  and  my  ability  had  not 
been  put  to  a  test.  Here  was  one  who  meant  business,  and  I  must  talk  real  estate  to 
him  intelligently.  Embarrassed!  Why,  the  room  turned  round,  the  blood  all  rushed 
to  my  eyes.  I  looked  at  my  map  on  the  wall,  and  for  the  life  of  fne  I  couldn't  distin- 
guish a  single  lot  for  sale,  though  there  were  a  hundred  of  them  tagged  right  before 
my  eyes,  and  as  many  more  listed  in  my  books;  and  so,  as  soon  as  1  could  command 
my  voice,  I  told  him:  Really,  I  did  not  think  he  could  buy  any  improved  property; 
that  those  who  owned  it  appreciated  its  value  and  did  not  care  to  part  with  it  at 
any  but  the  most  extravagant  prices,  and  I  would  not  advise  him  to  buy.  Of  course 
this  was  stunning  to  him.  "Well,"  he  said,  "  I  have  great  faith  in  the  outcome  here, 
and  I  am  very  anxious  to  invest."  "  Well,"  I  said,  "  you  can't  buy  property  now  unless 
you  pay  the  most  enormous  prices,  and  you'll  be  sure  to  lose  if  you  do."  I  had  rather 
have  lost  a  thousand  dollars  than  to  have  tried  to  make  a  sale  in  my  embarrassed  con- 
dition. And  so  we  chatted  a  few  minutes  pleasantly,  and  he  left.  I  was  heartily  glad 
when  he  was  out  of  my  sight,  and  hoped  another  man  would  never  come  into  my  pres- 
ence again  to  buy  lots. 

He  evidently  divined  my  feelings  and  was  much  amused,  and  related  the  incident 
at  the  table  of  one  of  the  hotels  much  to  the  amusement  of  some  of  my  friends,  who 
came  into  my  office  and  joked  me  considerably  over  it.  We  afterward  met  often  and 
became  good  friends.  He  did  invest  ^50,000  in  improved  property,  which  he  holds  to 
this  day,  and,  no  doubt,  has  wished  many  times  he  had  taken  my  advice.  He  would 
have  been  $50,000  better  off  if  he  had. 

The  next  day  was  Saturday;  the  people  had  scarcely  slept,  so  full  were  they  of  the 
feverish  excitement  incident  to  the  scenes  and  experiences  of  the  past  week — every- 
body talking  of  the  industries  that  were  already  planned  for,  of  the  wonderful  min- 
eral resources,  of  the  great  financial  backing  of  English  capitalists,  building  of  a 
canal  at  a  cost  of  $150,000,  planning  waterworks,  one  of  the  finest  in  the  South, 
enlarging  the  electric-light  plant,  and  extending  lights  away  out  into  the  fields  and 
woods. 

Capitalists  had  come  from  far  and  near  to  consult  with  the  president  of  the  Ameri- 
can Association  ( Limited )  and  Middlesborough  Town  Company  with  regard  to  locating 
industries,  and  almost  every  hour  word  was  given  out  that  a  new  industry  had  been 
negotiated  for — planing  mills,  tanneries,  shoe  factories,  glass  works,  clay-pipe  works, 
wood  works,  furniture  factories,  foundries.  The  great  Watts  Steel  and  Iron  Works 
were  already  well  under  way.  The  South  Boston  Iron  Works  were  to  be  transplanted 
in  our  midst  and  make  cannons  for  the  government.  Almost  every  known  industry 
had  been  encouraged  to  come.  The  hopes  of  the  people  ran  higher  than  the  old 
man  of  the  mountains,  perched  on  the  pinnacle  3,300  feet  in  the  air,  looking  down 
upon  us  with  an  approving  smile. 

I  had  gone  home  to  dinner  feeling  I  could  scarcely  take  time  to  eat.  As  dinner 
was  being  brought  in  the  cry  of  fire  rang  over  the  city.  You  people  of  Chicago  know 
better  than  any  people  on  earth  what  the  cry  of  fire  means  With  us  it  meant 
as  it  did  with  you — nearly  our  all.  I  looked  out  of  the  window  and  saw  the  flames 
leaping  high  from  a  shed  of  hay  back  of  one  of  the  business  houses.  I  knew  the  city 
was  doomed;  built  largely  of  inflammable  material  it  burned  like  tinder.  The  splendid 
new  engine  refused  to  work;  some  villain  had  plugged  the  hose  and  piston,  and  the 
fire  only  ceased  with  the  blowing  up  of  several  houses  with  dynamite  In  four  short 
hours  the  whole  business  portion  of  the  city,  with  the  exception  of  about  a  dozen 
houses,  had  been  swept  away. 

(51) 


802  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

And  now  the  people  were  as  distressed  and  depressed  as  they  had  been  buoyant 
and  hopeful  a  few  hours  before.  Hundreds  were  rendered  homeless,  no  provisions 
were  at  hand.  But  you  know  the  distress  following  a  fire.  Hundreds  of  people  left  the 
city  as  rapidly  as  the  trains  could  take  them  away,  going  back  to  their  old  friends  and 
homes.     Tents  were  provided  by  the  government  for  those  who  remained. 

What  must  I  do?  The  question  came  to  me  again.  I  shared  with  others  the 
depression.  To  go  back  to  my  friends  in  Central  Kentucky,  with  failure  written  on 
my  face,  I  would  not,  I  could  not  lend  money  for  my  building  and  loan,  because  all 
this  property  had  been  bought  on  payments  of  one,  two  and  three  years,  and  could 
not  give  first  mortgage,  and  no  one  had  money  to  take  stock  in  building  and  loan 
as  an  investment. 

In  a  few  days  they  began  talking  of  rebuilding  the  city.  The  city  council  met 
and  passed  an  ordinance  that  no  frame  houses  should  be  built  within  a  square  and  a 
half  of  the  principal  street,  Cumberland  Avenue.  I  reviewed  the  situation  and  knew 
if  they  did  build,  it  would  create  a  demand  for  building  material  of  all  kinds.  It  was 
then  I  conceived  the  idea  of  going  into  the  building  material  business  on  commission, 
as  ignorant  of  the  business  as  it  was  possible  for  a  woman  to  be.  But  by  the  time 
they  had  cleared  away  the  rubbish  I  had  corresponded  with  various  firms,  and  made 
satisfactory  arrangements  to  furnish  my  customers  to  be  with  brick,  lime,  sand,  doors, 
sash,  blinds,  lumber,  mantels,  grates  and  iron  fronts.  I  had  also  taken  the  agency  for 
Hall's  Safe  and  Lock  Co.,  and  sold  a  number  of  safes. 

One  thing  I  always  kept  before  me,  and  that  was  to  represent  none  but  the  best  of 
whatever  I  handled,  I  didn't  want  my  customers  to  be  saying  somebody  else's  mate- 
rial was  better  than  mine.  I  studied  and  worked  hard.  I  found  the  lumber  business  the 
most  difficult  to  learn  and  manage,  on  account  of  the  great  variety  of  woods  and 
measurements,  and  so  pushed  that  branch  of  my  business  less  than  any,  and  generally 
when  I  had  a  customer  sent  for  a  lumberman  to  come  and  take  the  order,  and  I  would  not 
advise  a  lady  to  take  up  this  business.  But  I  did  splendidly  in  all  the  other  branches, 
selling  thousands  of  brick,  a  large  number  of  mantels  and  grates,  many  car  loads  of 
sand,  and  a  number  of  iron  fronts,  now  to  be  seen  in  Middlesborough.  I  compelled 
my  mind  to  remember  the  different  grades  of  brick,  and  the  prices  of  each,  their 
weight,  how  many  a  car  would  hold,  how  much  the  freight  would  be,  the  rebate 
allowed  on  an  extra  quantity,  etc. 

I  ordered  my  common  brick  from  Knoxville;  they  were  not  smooth,  but  very 
hard  and  a  little  over  size,  which  made  them  popular  with  the  brickmasons.  Some  of 
my  pressed  brick  came  from  there,  too,  and  some  from  Findlay,  Ohio.  I  handled  the 
white  marble  lime  from  Knoxville;  it  was  a  few  cents  higher  than  the  limestone  lime, 
but  was  much  purer — being  ninety-eight  per  cent  pure  carbonate  of  lime — was  whiter 
and  worked  more  smoothly,  and  when  they  once  use  it  they  would  use  no  other;  and 
so  I  soon  established  a  good  trade  in  lime,  I  supplied  them  with  better  sand  than 
they  had  been  getting.  They  had  been  using  sand  that  had  earth  in  it,  so  that  several 
houses  had  to  betaken  down  to  the  foundation  on  account  of  it.  Mantels,  grates  and 
iron  fronts  came  principally  from  Chattanooga  and  Louisville,  They  have  a  furniture 
factory  there  now,  and  foundries  making  all  these,  I  made  friends  with  the  con- 
tractors and  the  workingmen,  they  ofttimes  giving  me  their  orders  in  preference  to  a 
man.  Of  course  this  business  brought  me  daily  in  contact  with  some  of  the  roughest 
workingmen,  but  in  all  my  business  relations  I  have  never  been  treated  with  the  slight- 
est discourtesy  or  rudeness.  I  never  forgot  I  was  a  lady  bred  and  born,  and  others 
always  remembered  it. 

My  attire  was  thoroughly  feminine.  I  do  not  believe  in,  nor  do  I  think  it  neces- 
sary, for  women  to  adopt  masculine  attire  for  business.  When  her  business  is  such  as 
to  demand  masculine  dress,  then  she  should  take  up  some  other  business.  I  believe 
woman  should  be  thoroughly  womanly  and  men  should  be  men.  It  isn't  necessary 
for  a  woman  to  adopt  a  stiff  shirt-front,  a  vest  and  a  mannish  hat  to  succeed,  and  men 
are  not  better  friends  for  this  poaching  on  their  preserves. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  803 

In  this  new  town  there  were  no  pavements  or  macadam  roads,  and  we  frequently 
had  to  go  through  mud  a  foot  deep  in  rainy  weather.  For  such  occasions  I  had  gum 
boots  and  a  cloth  dress  eight  inches  short;  this  was  also  a  comfortable  costume  for 
roaming  over  the  mountains,  boots  being  a  protection  against  snakes,  briers  and 
insects,  and  very  comfortable  to  walk  in.  I  frequently  needed  the  services  of  a  notary 
public,  and  so  I  obtained  suitable  credentials  and  wrote  to  the  Governor  for  a  com- 
mission as  notary  public.  I  remember  the  first  occasion  I  had  to  make  use  of  it  was 
with  one  of  the  native  mountaineers,  a  member  of  the  notorious  Turner  family,  a 
family  in  which  one  or  two  are  killed  every  year,  and  they  pride  themselves  on  dying 
game.  I  remember  how  dreadful  it  seemed  to  me  to  have  a  man  hold  up  his  hand 
and  swear,  and  how  I  impressed  on  him  the  solemnity  of  an  oath.  Although  he  was 
a  native  mountaineer,  fifty  years  old,  worth  sixty  thousand  dollars,  he  could  not  write 
his  own  name,  and  had  never  taken  a  drink  of  whisky  in  his  life.  Some  of  these  men 
are  as  simple  and  as  easily  managed  as  children,  and  would  come  to  me  with  their 
domestic  troubles.  One  man  was  going  to  leave  his  wife,  and  told  me  of  the  trouble 
between  them.  I  preached  him  a  regular  sermon  and  told  how  wrong  he  was  doing; 
that  he  had  taken  her  for  better  or  worse,  and  that  God  would  not  countenance  such 
proceedings  on  his  part,  etc.  He  said  he  had  never  had  anybody  talk  to  him  like 
that,  and  he  guessed  I  was  right  about  it. .  He  brought  his  wife  in  to  see  me  a  few  days 
after  that,  a  fine  looking  young  mountain  woman  of  about  twenty-three.  A  woman 
really  often  has  an  opportunity  of  doing  a  great  deal  of  Christian  work  in  being  thrown 
with  this  class  of  people,  and  can  exert  a  wonderful  influence  for  good. 

With  the  knowledge  of  business  came  confidence,  self-reliance  and  perfect  self- 
possession.  I  always  made  my  customers  feel  welcome  and  at  ease  in  my  ofifice.  I 
soon  learned  that  the  workingmen  generally  were  as  diffident  about  coming  to  me  as 
I  had  been  on  some  other  occasions.  When  I  found  this  out  1  hunted  them  up,  had 
a  few  pleasant  words  to  say  to  them,  let  them  know  I  was  interested  in  their  work, 
and  wanted  their  custom.  I  then  had  no  further  trouble;  they  came  to  me  without 
any  hesitation,  always  taking  off  their  hats  on  coming  into  the  office,  and  apologiz- 
ing if  their  coats  were  off,  as  work  often  demanded  they  should  be. 

Time  rolled  on,  business  flourished;  I  did  well  in  business.  Middlesborough  was 
handsomely  built  up.  Elegant  business  houses,  beautiful  stone  pavements  twenty  feet 
wide  on  the  main  avenue,  and  all  modern  improvements  provided,  when  the  financial 
crash  overtook  the  whole  country,  and  our  brave  little  city  once  more  succumbed  to 
the  inevitable.  Business  was  again  dead.  I  returned  to  my  former  home  as  business 
manager  of  the  Lexington  Observer,  a  weekly  paper,  and  later  went  on  the  staff  of  the 
Illustrated  Ke?ituckian.  Woman's  greatest  discovery  is  herself.  If  anyone  had  ten 
years  ago  told  me  I  could  accomplish  what  I  have  I  would  have  laughed  at  them. 
Every  little  accomplished  fits  us  for  further  attainments. 

I  am  now  with  "The  Southern  Magazine,"  edited  by  Gen.  Basil  Duke.  Itgives  me 
the  benefit  of  travel,  which  is  a  fine  schooling  for  me,  from  which  I  derive  great  ben- 
efits and  profit.  My  experiences  are  a  parallel  to  the  experiences  of  nearly  every 
business  woman  of  Kentucky.  They  are  always  given  a  most  cordial  and  hospitable 
reception,  and  every  encouragement.  If  any  of  you  young  women  anticipate  entering 
the  field  of  workers,  come  to  Kentucky;  we  will  give  you  a  hearty  welcome,  and  the 
field  is  broad. 


THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  SOUTH. 


•  'Wilt  ^ 


By  MRS.  S.  C.  TRUEHEART. 

Woman's  position  in  the  community  marks  the  stages  of  progress.  Her  name  is 
written  on  the  mighty  influences  of  the  ages,  and  most  conspicuously  upon  the  brow 

of  modern  civilization.  Examine  the  records  of  the 
past,  and  a  great  difference  will  be  noted  where  her 
touch  is  felt,  and  where  it  is  wanting.  It  is  felt  in  the 
intellectual,  but  more  deeply  in  the  spiritual  realm. 
The  domain  of  the  spiritual  seems  to  belong  to  her 
in  a  special  sense,  and  the  measure  of  spirituality  in 
thought  and  life  is  the  measure  of  the  best — the  highest. 
Without  this  softening  and  refining  power,  Greek  liter- 
ature is  cold,  lifeless.  Beautiful  it  is  certainly,  and 
wonderful,  but  it  is  the  beauty  of  polished  marble, 
with  no  tints  of  rich  life.  A  country  whose  literature 
breathes  a  spiritual  atmosphere  imparts  moral  tone, 
and  dissipates  mental  darkness.  In  America,  since 
woman  has  found  her  voice,  and  ventured  to  use  her 
pen  freely  from  platform  and  press,  have  gone  out 
influences  elevating  as  well  as  refining.  Since  she 
began  to  study  herself,  to  more  fully  realize  her  own 
powers  of  mind  and  spirit,  she  has  introduced  into 
our  literature  an  element  that  is  working  out  striking 
results.  She  takes  a  keen  delight  in  discussing  her- 
self— in  impressing  her  individuality  upon  every  sub- 
ject within  the  range  of  human  thought.  From  this 
platform,  during  the  passing  month  the  ablest  thinkers  and  speakers  have  discussed 
woman — her  place  in  history,  in  society,  in  church  and  state — woman's  work,  woman's 
destiny,  woman's  past,  present  and  future,  in  all  the  relations  of  life  as  citizen,  reformer, 
philanthropist,  daughter,  sister,  wife  and  mother — showing  satisfactorily  that  in  the 
tremendous  realities  and  activities  of  the  day,  she  is  an  indispensable.  I  wish  to  speak 
of  her  as  I  know  her  in  the  Southland — a  sister  beloved,  useful,  honorable.  Mrs. 
Helen  Watterson  protests  against  woman's  continual  excitement  over  women,  as  if  the 
agitation  of  the  question  would  postpone  the  full  recognition  of  her  worth.  The  agita- 
tion of  a  question  has  the  opposite  effect,  usually  rather  tending  to  bring  its  true 
worth  to  the  surface.  These  countrywomen  of  mine  are  not  dissatisfied  with  the  rec- 
ognition already  accorded,  and  are  convinced  that  their  position  among  men  is  as  they 
decide  to  have  it.  Truth  and  worth  speak  for  themselves,  and  in  the  end  prevail  in 
the  face  of  controversy  and  opposition.  A  luminous  body  shines;  one  does  not  have 
to  appeal  to  parliaments,  or  indeed  to  the  general  public  for  permission  to  shine. 
When  the  light  is  there  it  will  show  itself.     The  women  of  whom  I  wish  to  speak  dwell 

Mrs.  S.  C.  Traeheart  is  a  native  of  Middleway,  Jefferson  County,  W.  Ya.,  which  constitates  part  of  the  famed  Shenan- 
doah Valley.  •  Her  parents  were  natives  of  Virginia.  Her  father  was  a  tradesman,  her  mother  the  only  daughter  of  Dr.  .Tames 
Macoughtry,  a  celebrated  physician.  She  was  educated  in  Virginia  and  Maryland.  She  was  graduated  from  the  Baltimore 
Female  College,  Baltiioore,  receiving  the  degree  of  A.  B.,  and  from  the  same  college,  in  1870,  received  that  of  A.  M.  She 
married  Prof.  Wm.  E.  Trueheart,  of  Amelia  County,  Va.,  who  web  elected  principal  of  Stanford  Female  College,  in  Kentucky, 
in  1872.  He  died  in  1873;  his  wife  succeeded  him  as  principal  of  the  same  school,  which  position  she  occupied  for  twelve 
years.  As  a  teacher  she  has  also  spent  four  years  in  Staunton,  Va.,  one  year  in  the  Baltimore  Female  C^oUege,  and  since  1885 
has  been  teaching  in  the  Female  College,  Millersburg,  Ky.  She  is  a  devoted  Christian,  is  now  secretary  of  Home  AflFairs, 
Woman's  Board  of  Missions,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South,  of  which  church  she  is  a  member.  Her  postoffice  address 
is  Millersburg,  Bourbon  County,  Ky. 

804 


'^  '^1 


MRS.  S.  C.  TRUEHEART. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  805 

in  a  goodly  land,  pleasant  to  the  eye,  a  land  of  fine  resources,  both  agricultural  and 
mineral;  where  may  be  found  fertile  cotton  fields,  vast  rice  tracts,  large  sugar  planta- 
tions, bright  skies  and  balmy  breezes.  The  whole  land  is  plowed  by  mighty  rivers, 
is  ribbed  by  long  mountain  chains  and  washed  by  the  sea.  Such  natural  advantages 
have  been  attended  by  the  usual  results,  have  fostered  and  deepened  a  love  of  country 
strong  and  abiding,  and  rendered  the  people  averse  to  emigration.  Without  remark- 
ing upon  the  Anglo-Saxon  women  of  the  South  in  colonial  days,  or  of  revolutionary 
days  even,  as  the  time  will  not  suffice,  I  refer  to  them  as  I  knew  them  immediately 
before  1861,  before  the  changes  of  the  last  thirty  years. 

They  were  not,  as  some  have  supposed,  useless,  half  educated,  irresponsible  creat- 
ures, unable  to  handle  intricate  problems,  or  incapable  of  undertaking  enterprises 
of  moment.  They  did  not  always  rush  forward  along  any  lines.  They  usually  walked 
and  talked  without  hurry,  and  left  the  outside,  world-wide  interests  and  enterprises  to 
the  notice  and  management  of  others,  feeling  they  were  not  called  to  so  exercise  them- 
selves; but  they  were  ready  to  endure,  were  true  to  their  purposes  and  patient  in  the 
pursuit  of  those  matters  custom  authorized  as  their  proper  work.  As  priestesses  at 
the  home  altar,  these  women  felt  they  must  keep  the  sacred  fires  ever  bright  without 
being  fully  aware  that  any  other  and  better  plan  of  serving  could  be  devised.  As  are 
the  mothers,  so  are  the  daughters,  we  believe  with  intense  faith;  what  wonder,  then, 
that  the  daughters  were  slow  to  perceive  that  a  wider  place  for  the  exercise  of  their 
gifts  was  possible,  unless  they  neglected  the  imperative  duties  of  the  home.  The 
mothers  had  been  taught  that  without  the  sanctuary  of  the  inner  circle  they  were  not 
called.  These  mothers  committed  grave  interests  to  the  daughters  when  their  labors 
were  over  and  the  death  angel  bore  them  away.  As  little  as  such  an  inheritance  may 
have  been  desired,  it  came — it  could  not  be  otherwise;  came  with  all  its  responsibili- 
ties and  anxieties.  To  suppose  that  daughters  with  such  an  inheritance  had  nothing 
to  do — could  be  idle  or  lazy — is  a  serious  mistake.  True,  among  them  were  to  be 
found  individuals  whose  daily  lives  were  absorbed  by  trivial  concerns  or  frivolous 
nothings — who  wept  over  the  sad  fate  of  an  impossible  hero  in  the  pages  of  a  possible 
novel — who  were  distracted  if  a  favorite  poodle  turned  from  his  "  chops,"  or  a  pet 
canary  could  not  sing.  Weak  and  foolish  people  are  not  the  staple  product  of  this 
section,  and  of  course  can  not  be  regarded  as  representative.  Southern  women,  even 
women  of  great  wealth,  could  not  be  idle  had  they  been  inclined.  The  fact  is,  their 
hands  were  full  from  the  days  of  their  maturity  to  the  end  of  life.  Not  always,  not 
often,  perhaps,  were  they  engaged  in  manual  labor;  but  a  more  trying  work  was  theirs 
— that  of  keeping  others  busy  in  useful  tasks.  About  them  were  those  who  must  be 
taught  to  work,  must  not  be  permitted  to  suffer,  must  not  know  the  pain  of  sordid 
poverty.  The  wrinkled  matron  near  by,  sitting  childlike  and  improvident  in  the  cabin 
door,  appealed  to  heart  and  brain  more  powerfully  than  any  vexed  question  of  world- 
wide interest  that  husband,  son,  brother  and  father  were  better  fitted  to  settle.  Under 
the  circumstances  they  practically  endorsed  St.  Paul's  views  about  women  keeping 
at  home,  without  concerning  themselves  whether  St.  Paul's  remarks  were  intended  for 
them  or  the  noisy,  meddling  busybodies  who  troubled  the  infant  church  in  St.  Paul's 
day.  The  duties  of  Southern  women  in  those  days  being  so  circumscribed,  tended 
somewhat  to  narrowness,  I  confess;  but  the  fidelity  with  which  their  duties  were  dis- 
charged elevated  and  ennobled.  No  women  were  more  loyal,  warm-hearted,  religious. 
The  faith  of  the  mothers  passed  on  with  the  inheritance  without  a  touch  of  agnosti- 
cism. Buddha  did  not  distract  their  thoughts  or  puzzle  their  brains.  It  did  not  occur 
to  them  that  the  faith  of  heathen  India  could,  or  would,  supersede  the  Christian  faith; 
nor  did  they  wish  to  see  any  resemblance  thereto,  even  with  the  "Light  of  Asia"  to 
tone  up  the  paganism.  They  did  not  reach  out  into  the  spirit  world  to  get  important, 
vital  information  by  means  of  "  raps"  or  "table  turnings"  from  spirits  that  professed 
to  know  more  than  the  Word  of  God,  given  by  the  God  of  man  through  human  instru- 
mentality. The  "  isms"  that  were  heralded  in  some  quarters,  and  had  a  following,  and 
passed  away  or  were  superseded  by  some  other  excitement,  did  not  move  them  from 


806  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

the  even  tenor  of  their  ways.  They  were  not  superstitious,  though  they  had  listened 
to  fairy  tales;  had  heard  from  the  cabins  of  ghosts  and  goblins.  I  never  heard  of 
their  hanging  up  a  horse-shoe  over  the  door  or  over  the  bed  for  good  luck,  nor  did 
they  cross  themselves  if  a  rabbit  flitted  across  the  way  before  them.  No;  the  old 
faith  in  which  Abraham  walked,  for  which  their  forefathers  fought,  in  which  their 
mothers  died,  was  theirs  to  enjoy  and  teach  to  others.  Church  work,  attendance  upon 
its  ordinances,  reverence  for  those  who  were  authorized  to  minister  at  its  altars,  had 
place  in  their  creed.  The  distance  to  a  place  of  worship  was  not  an  insurmountable 
obstacle,  nor  rough  roads  too  great  a  difficulty  in  the  way  of  attendance.  A  family 
of  fourteen  went  regularly  to  church  every  Sabbath  day,  unless  rain  or  storm  pre- 
vented, for  forty  years,  fully  ten  miles.  This  was  not  an  isolated  case.  Many  daugh- 
ters thus  trained  grew  to  womanhood  with  profound  respect  for  the  institutions  of  the 
Christian  religion.  The  means  of  education  were  prized.  School  was  a  marked 
feature  in  household  plans,  and  the  teacher,  or  private  tutor,  a  person  of  importance. 
Education  for  the  masses  was  not  provided  as  it  is  now;  but  many  Southern  women 
were  finely  educated — were  educated  out  of  the  barbarizing  tendency  to  flatten  their 
"  i's,"  broaden  their  "  a's"  or  drop  out  their  "  r's."  In  the  line  of  literary  productions 
I  can  not  note  many  women  very  distinguished  in  the  times  of  which  I  speak, 
"  Beulah  "  and  "Alone"  were  extensiv^ely  read,  but  I  can  not  §ay  they  gave  rise  to 
activity  of  very  high  literary  worth.  Purely  sensational  books  give  birth  to  a  numer- 
ous progeny  of  weak  stories,  but  do  not  nourish  the  reasoning,  thinking  soul,  or  much 
excite  the  imagination  while  feeding  the  fancy.  Books  and  periodicals  filled  the  libra- 
ries, but  these  were  not  often  products  of  the  soil.  On  these  they  depended  for  men- 
tal food,  from  these  they  learned  when  the  world  was  out  of  joint,  but  "  cursed  spite, 
they  did  not  feel  that  they  were  born  to  set  it  right."  Their  training  was  not  for  the 
big,  round  world,  but  for  the  place  they  called  home;  where  rich,  true  womanhood 
could  be  found.  They  had  no  doubt  about  their  sphere,  and  talked  little  and  wrote 
less  on  the  subject.  Education  for  the  marts  of  trade  or  lines  of  commerce  was  not 
thought  indispensable;  though  many,  when  compelled,  managed  business  affairs.  A 
lady  of  Mississippi,  whom  I  knew,  was  left  with  a  large  family  and  an  encumbered 
estate  (a  thirty-thousand-dollar  debt),  cleared  off  the  debt,  educated  her  daughters, 
gave  her  sons  access  to  the  learned  professions,  kept  herself  well  posted  in  current  lit- 
erature, and  found  time  to  enjoy  the  classics.  Many  Southern  women  had  to  cook, 
too,  and  could  do  it  well;  to  patch  and  darn,  and  often  to  provide  food  and  raiment 
for  the  household,  because  the  husband  and  father  frequented  drink-shops  or  wasted 
his  substance  in  riotous  living. 

In  such  trying  cases  no  thought  of  seeking  a  competency  behind  the  counter  or 
in  a  work-shop  entered  a  woman's  brain  as  possible.  The  cotton-field  or  tobacco- 
patch  was  preferred.  They  were  inclined  to  walk  in  the  old  paths,  to  follow  old 
customs,  and  carefully  scrutinized  an  innovation,  or  regarded  it  with  suspicion.  They 
were  not  ambitious,  were  strong  m  their  likes  and  dislikes,  and  in  their  heart  of  hearts 
believed  their  own  skies  were  bluest,  their  own  cornfields  greenest,  their  tobacco  finest, 
and  no  cotton-fields  like  theirs  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  Somewhat  resentful,  they 
were  not  bitter  in  their  animosities,  nor  pugilistic,  nor  cruel,  though  slow  to  take  to 
their  hearts  again  those  who  had  been  estranged.  Broad  in  their  hospitality,  they  did 
not  seal  a  friendship  until  gathered  about  the  table,  where  the  bounties  of  the  home 
were  dispensed.  They  were  not  slow  in  their  mental  processes,  were  self-sacrificing 
when  love  prompted,  were  devoted  to  old  friends,  old  manners  and  customs,  gloried 
in  their  birthright— desired  no  better  country.  The  mighty  civil  convulsion  of  1861 
brought  about  new  conditions  in  the  social  as  well  as  industrial  life  of  the  South. 
Women  who  had  been  satisfied  and  happy  under  the  old  regime,  were  stirred  to  the 
depths  of  their  natures.  They  were  not  eager  for  change,  but  soon  open  to  con- 
viction; they  showed  a  readiness  to  advance  along  the  lines  of  the  new  development. 
Awake  now  to  affairs  that  affect  the  good  of  the  race,  they  realized  that  a  better  way 
to  establish  the  home,  as  well  as  preserve  it,  is  to  rid  the  country  of  the  great  evils, 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  807 

dark  and  threatening,  that  confront  it.  Conservative  in  a  high  degree,  they  move 
cautiously,  though  not  timidly,  to  effect  their  purpose.  Feeling  in  a  higher  degree 
individual  responsibility,  more  fully  realizing  that  their  co-operation  is  needed,  they 
respond  most  heartily  and  cheerfully.  The  time  has  passed  to  be  satisfied  to  cultivate 
the  roses  in  their  own  gardens;  they  long  to  make  all  solitary  places  glad,  all  deserts 
rejoice.  They  are  eager  to  take  part  in  all  enterprises  that  have  for  their  object  the 
social  and  economic  interests,  not  only  of  this,  but  of  all  lands.  With  a  keen  desire 
for  the  necessary  equipment,  they  have  prepared  and  are  preparing  themselves  for 
whatever  will  place  them  abreast  of  the  times.  They  are  not  in  any  sense  forsaking 
the  interests  of  the  family  life,  the  Christian  home,  the  foundation  stone  in  the  cause  of 
freedom  and  justice.  No,  no;  more  than  formerly  they  love  it,  and  set  its  base  broad 
and  strong  in  faith  and  hope.  In  Sunday-school  work  they  are  doing  much.  While 
lawlessness  of  thought  and  lawlessness  of  life  seem  to  invest  the  great  social  and 
political  questions  of  the  day,  they  plant  themselves  upon  the  Word  of  God,  where  all 
questions  of  humanity  and  civilization  may  be  settled  and  give  time  and  energy  to 
guiding  the  young  along  the  paths  of  truth.  Sabbath  after  Sabbath  they  gather  the 
young  about  them  and  time  and  voice  are  consecrated  to  instruction  in  the  pure,  the 
simple  word  of  revelation.  In  the  county,  state  and  national  conventions  they  take 
part  with  success.  They  are  not  occupied  with  the  mistakes  of  Moses,  nor  possible 
errors  of  dates  and  numbers  in  Genesis,  nor  of  the  probabilities  as  to  two  Isaiahs  or 
three  Daniels,  but  in  the  Word  which  is  supremely  and  authoritatively  God's  will  con- 
cerning the  race  of  man.  The  Christian  Association,  Christian  Endeavor,  Epworth 
League — all  have  now  their  personal,  powerful  help.  The  voice  so  long  attuned  solely 
for  the  quiet  fireside  sends  its  sweet  melody  out  to  the  great  congregations,  stirring 
the  hearts  and  wills  of  mighty  gatherings.  In  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union  they  are  doing  telling  service.  Nowhere  on  the  continent  has  prohibition 
succeeded  as  in  the  South,  and  the  work  is  largely,  if  not  solely,  due  to  the 
efforts  of  the  women.  If  they  persevere,  continue  true  to  their  trust,  in  the  near 
future,  I  doubt  not,  that  the  destroyer,  intemperance,  will  be  thrust  out  from  our 
borders;  The  contest  is  not  over,  and  the  women  are  not  planning  to  retire,  because 
success  has  crowned  their  efforts.  The  foe  is  cunning  as  well  as  malignant,  and 
hydra-headed,  springs  into  vigorous  life  whenever  vigilance  is  remitted  or  watchful- 
ness abates.  The  enemy  is  most  deadly  among  those  not  self-sustaining  since  their 
enfranchisement,  the  ignorant  and  improvident.  Among  these  a  great  work  is  being 
done  without  respect  of  age,  condition,  or  color.  These  are  taught,  strengthened, 
guided  and  removed  from  temptation  by  banishing  the  death-dealing  saloons  from 
their  midst.  There  is  much  patient,  persistent  work  along  this  line — much  self-denial 
and  prayer  as  well  as  work.  I  know  one  who  rides  five  miles  through  all  kinds  of 
disagreeable  weather  to  teach  a  school  of  negro  children  the  necessity  of  total 
abstinence.  She  is  a  woman  of  culture  and  wealth,  and  the  six  years  she  has  weekly 
given  to  this  work  is  telling  upon  the  settlement,  as  no  whisky  shops  cast  their  dark 
shadows  in  the  village  where  her  work  is  about  done. 

As  regards  the  privilege  of  the  ballot,  the  women  of  the  South  have  not  been  very 
pronounced.  They  are  not  sure  they  need  it,  do  not  know  that  they  want  it.  Their 
indecision  does  not  grow  out  of  the  fact  that  they  fear  the  stones  or  broken  teeth 
that  Mr,  Richard  Harding  Davis  declares  English  women  sometimes  meet  in  the 
exercise  of  the  ballot.  They  are  not  sure  such  disorder  would  obtain  were  they  in- 
vested with  the  prerogatives  their  brethren  have  accorded  to  themselves.  Nor  are 
our  women  afraid  of  passing  through  a  crowd  to  deposit  the  ballot,  nor  do  they  think 
leaving  home  for  the  time  it  would  take  would  cause  hurtful  neglect  of  other  duties, 
nor  do  I  think  they  regard  the  study  of  politics  damaging  to  their  morals,  nor  is  it 
because  they  fear  differences  of  opinion  may  mar  the  family  harmony,  since  difference 
of  opinion  on  other  subjects  has  no  such  effect,  nor  do  they  hesitate  because  they  are 
not  sure  which  political  party  should  have  their  support.  Not  this,  certainly — to  a 
man,  every  woman,  white  or  black,  would  vote  for  the  prohibition  candidates.     No; 


808  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

none  of  these  considerations  weigh  with  them;  but  there  is  a  shrinking  from  the  re- 
sponsibility of  the  ballot,  perhaps  because  they  are  not  fully  satisfied  that  they  would 
gain  all  involved  therein.  Southern,  women,  as  others,  feel  there  is  no  limit  to  the 
possibilities  of  mind  for  highest  culture,  if  proper  conditions  and  suitable  opportunities 
are  guaranteed.  They  are  more  and  more  impressing  the  age  as  teachers,  not  only  as 
teachers  in  the  ordinary  class  work,  but  as  organizers  and  superintendents  of  a  high 
grade.  As  yet  not  many  have  entered  the  learned  professions,  possibly  because  their 
brothers  are  crowding  in,  leaving  fields  and  vineyards  for  desks  and  offices.  If  this 
continues  they  may  have  to  run  the  plantations  to  provide  food  and  raiment.  In 
speculations,  booms,  large  money  ventures,  they  do  not  plunge,  not  because  of  cow- 
ardice solely.  They  do  not  covet  the  bravery  that  risks  their  own  property,  the 
property  of  others.  They  do  not  indulge  in  gambling  enough  to  blunt  their  moral 
sensibilities;  a  necessary  training,  I  think,  for  a  conscience  that  will  spend  other  peo- 
ple's money  with  no  reasonable  expectation  of  remuneration. 

Perhaps  in  no  direction  have  Southern  women  shown  themselves  more  capable, 
more  noble,  than  in  the  work  of  missions — the  work  of  evangelizing  the  world.  Rec- 
ognizing the  fact  that  American  civilization  and  Christian  civilization  should  take  the 
world,  they  have  projected  and  are  carrying  on  the  grandest  enterprise  of  modern 
times.  Mission  stations  have  been  planted  in  many  parts  of  the  world  where  the  Gos- 
pel was  not.  As  teachers  they  have  gone  out  to  occupy  these  stations,  to  deliver  the 
Divine  message  with  cheerful  devotion.  Those  who  have  planned  and  now  sustain 
the  work,  collect  and  disburse  large  sums  of  money  with  a  cautious,  discerning  bus- 
iness integrity  truly  admirable.  Their  labors  are  unremunerative,  as  far  as  salaries  or 
money  go,  and  have  been  incessant  and  abundant.  Those  in  the  foreign  field  have 
shown  as  intelligent,  devoted  service  as  those  at  home,  and  with  far  more  self-denial 
and  suffering.  From  Georgia,  in  1884,  there  went  to  China  a  woman  who  was  born 
for  great  achievements,  which  marked  her  home  life.  Called  to  the  foreign  work,  she 
took  with  her  those  rare  qualities  of  mind  and  heart  that  distinguished  her  in  her 
native  state,  and  soon  proved  her  power  to  do  and  dare  much  for  the  needs  of  China. 
Her  first  work,  after  mastering  the  intricate  Chinese  language,  was  to  Romanize  it,  thus 
facilitating  its  acquisition.  She  next  planned  a  home  and  school  building;  the  money, 
$25,000,  she  secured  by  selling  ten^doUar  shares,  which  did  not  pay  dividends  in  money — 
no  dividends  at  all  except  the  satisfaction  that  accompanies  a  soul-saving  investment. 
From  Kentucky  went  out  a  woman  who  founded  and  carried  to  successful  issue  a 
boarding-school  in  Piricicao,  Brazil,  and  another  from  the  same  blue-grass  section 
opened  a  school  upon  the  Mexican  border,  which  sent  out  branches  into  Mexico,  and 
now  manages  successfully  five  schools  in  five  separate  mission  stations,  with  an  exec- 
utive skill  truly  remarkable.  The  leaders  of  the  work  at  home — the  women  who  have 
made  the  basic  work  broad  and  strong  which  sustains  the  foreign,  have  shown  keen, 
discriminating  foresight,  a  foresight  that  has  saved  the  missions  during  this  phenome- 
nal, financial  restriction.  A  crowning  result  of  their  perseverance,  their  persistency  in 
this  enterprise  stands  on  a  high  bluff  overlooking  the  turbid  Missouri  in  the  suburbs 
of  Kansas  City. 

After  some  years  of  missionary  labor,  realizing  that  trained  workers  were  as  nec- 
essary to  success  here  as  in  secular  pursuits,  a  training  school  was  determined  upon. 
There  was  no  money — no,  not  a  cent  at  command  when  the  women  determined  upon 
the  measure;  but  there  was  much  prayer  and  strong  hope  A  consecrated  woman  of 
unusual  business  tact  and  fine  culture  at  this  juncture  consented  to  work  up  the  finan- 
cial resources,  and  passed  through  the  South  soliciting  aid.  Born  and  reared  amid 
the  wealth  and  refinement  of  Kentucky  she  laid  aside  the  attractions  of  a  beautiful 
home  and  did  the  work,  a  distasteful  work,  with  untiring  zeal,  and  in  less  than  four 
years  from  its  inception  the  cap-stone  of  the  Scarritt  Bible  and  Training  School  was 
placed  upon  it,  amid  the  silent,  though  heartfelt,  rejoicings  of  more  than  fifty  thousand 
Southern  women.  A  massive,  well  proportioned,  elegant  structure,  it  stands  a  hand- 
some mormment  of  the  business  tact,  economy,  self-denial  and  devotion  of  women, 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  809 

who  persevered  in  the  face  of  opposition  and  difficulty.  That  which  her  intelligence 
and  love  plan,  her  hands  rear,  if  possible.  In  scientific  pursuits  the  women  of  the 
South  have  not  made  striking  progress.  The  need  of  university  training,  growing  out 
of  the  selfishness  of  the  brothers  or  the  conservatism  of  the  daughters,  has,  to  the  pres- 
ent, prevented.  This  need  will  be  met.  When  our  women  of  means  devise  sufficient 
sums  to  meet  the  pecuniary  demands  of  such  institutions,  or  will  endow  chairs  in  those 
universities  that  are  beginning  to  unlock  their  doors  to  women,  this  hindrance  will  be 
removed.  Statistics  are  provokingly  meager  in  endowments  of  schools  for  women  in 
the  Southland — indeed  for  women  in  all  lands.  Few  magnificent  gifts  of  this  kind  to 
educate  women,  even  by  women  themselves,  have  been  made,  though  they  will  leave 
large  sums  oftentimes  to  open  or  aid  male  schools.  Why,  I  know  not.  Possibly  from 
want  of  faith  that  their  sisters  would  value  such  opportunities.  May  the  day  speedily 
come  when  opportunities  of  the  highest  culture  will  multiply  in  the  Southland.  While 
our  women  have  left  the  bugs  and  bats,  rocks,  rockets  and  comets,  and  much  more  of 
scientific  research  to  their  brothers,  and  have  never  startled  the  world  along  mathe- 
matical highways,  they  are  turning  their  attention  to  such  matters,  and  in  the  near 
future  may  rival  Caroline  Herschel  or  Mrs.  Somerville.  In  imaginative  literature  there 
is  much  promise  of  books  that  will  live;  in  narration,  exposition  and  description  there 
is  a  creditable  showing.  Macaulay  said:  "  Poetry  of  the  highest  order  may  not  be 
looked  for  in  nations  whose  culture  has  attained  perfection."  So  we  look  for  poets — 
look  confidently,  too — since  of  late  years  from  under  our  own  magnolia  came  one  of 
the  sweetest  singers  of  the  century,  Sidney  Lanier.  In  journalism  the  women  of  the 
South  are  being  heard  and  felt,  and,  indeed,  they  are  making  ready  to  enter  any  lines 
of  usefulness  their  preferences,  necessities  or  tastes  dictate.  Time  will  not  permit 
illustrations,  or  I  would  name  many  women  of  the  South  who  are  recognized  as  lead- 
ers— honored  for  their  attainments,  admired  for  their  success.  Let  me  name  one,  the 
chairman  of  this  Woman's  Congress — born  in  Kentucky,  reared  there,  educated  there, 
claimed  by  Arkansas  as  its  ideal  of  beautiful, energetic  womanhood — who  well  represents 
the  refinement,  the  intelligence  and  executive  skill  of  our  women.  Do  I  claim  too 
much  when  I  say  the  women  of  the  South  are  the  peers  of  the  best,  the  truest,  the 
purest  and  richest  womanhood  of  the  world? 


COOKING  AS  AN  ART. 

By  MISS  HELEN  LOUISE  JOHNSON. 

Since  the  days  when  it  was  first  discovered  that  heat  could  be  applied  to,  and 
improve  the  material  Nature  so  bountifully  provides  for  the  use  of  man,  much  has 
been  written  on  the  subject  of  cooking.  Some  of  the  brightest  men  and  women  of  all 
countries  and  generations  have  devoted  their  time  and  powers  to  this  theme;  yet  today 
it  must  be  confessed  that  to  a  large  majority  it  seems  commonplace.  The  old  poets 
knew  of  its  prolificness  in  sentiment,  and  inspired,  no  doubt,  by  some  delicious  con- 
coction. Homer  and  Horace  sang  of  its  virtues  and  its  pleasures.  Even  the  Father  of 
History,  Herodotus,  deemed  the  easy  grace  and  lively  vigor  of  his  style  none  too  good 
for  such  a  subject,  and  he  gave  us  many  interesting  historical  facts  concerning  it.  It 
was  after  the  Asiatic  conquest  that  luxury  in  eating  crept  into  Rome.  Lucullus  first 
introduced  habits  of  epicureanism  after  his  return  from  Asia,  and  the  gourmand  Api- 
cius,  carved  for  him.self  a  deathless  name.  Athenaeus  preserved  for  us  in  his  writings 
the  name  of  perhaps  the  first  author  of  a  book  on  the  subject  of  cooking,  that  of 
Archestratus,  who  was  called  the  guide  of  epicures.  During  and  before  the  time  of 
Julius  Caesar,  cooking  was  actually  regarded  as  one  of  the  greatest  of  arts;  birthdays, 
funerals  and  victories  being  celebrated  by  great  banquets,  at  which  the  chief  cook,  or 
"  chief,  "  was  often  crowned,  was  always  an  honored  guest,  and  no  limit  was  placed  or 
the  fortune  he  could  command.  The  most  famous  cooks  were  those  of  Sicily,  and 
they  were  generally  men  of  noble  birth.  But  in  the  conquests  of  England,  in  the 
forming  of  a  to-be  mighty  race,  arts  were  pushed  to  the  background.  The  science  of 
war  and  a  defensive  existence  were  the  kindergarten,  the  school  and  the  college.  In 
the  days  of  Shakespeare  cooking  appeared  only  as  a  means  to  a  desirable  end — that  of 
satisfying  hunger.  And  in  the  simple  living  of  our  Puritan  forefathers  luxurious  cook- 
ing had  neither  time  nor  place  for  its  being.  From  the  throes  of  gnawing  hunger  and 
of  bitter  pain,  from  the  heart-aches,  homesick  longings,  fears  by  night  and  stern  labors 
by  day  were  born  those  traits  of  American  character  which  made  Chicago  possible, 
and  crowned  Columbus' discovery  with  its  triumph  of  today. 

When  Kate  Douglas  Wiggin  was  just  beginning  the  study  of  childhood,  she  was 
asked  to  give  what  she  considered  the  qualifications  of  an  ideal  kindergartener,  her 
answer  was  as  follows:  The  music  of  St.  Cecilia,  the  art  of  Raphael,  the  dramatic 
genius  of  Rachel,  the  administrative  ability  of  Cromwell,  the  wisdom  of  Solomon,  the 
meekness  of  Moses  and  the  patience  of  Job.  And  in  her  recent  book  on  "  Children's 
Rights,"  she  appends  the  following:  "  Twelve  years'  experience  with  children  has  not 
lowered  my  ideals  one  whit,  nor  led  me  to  deem  superfluous  any  of  these  qualifications; 
in  fact,  I  should  make  the  list  a  little  longer  were  I  to  write  it  now,  and  should  add, 
perhaps,  the  prudence  of  Franklin,  the  inventive  power  of  Edison  and  the  talent  for 
improvisation  of  the  early  Troubadours." 

If  these  are  the  qualifications  necessary  for  the  woman  who  is  to  have  the  training 
of  your  child  certain  hours  only  during  the  day,  what  are  those  necessary  for  the 
mother,  out  of  whose  life  and  love  and  daily  example  must  grow  that  child  of  larger 
growth,  the  man  or  woman?  In  no  place  in  life  is  so  needed  the  wisdom  of  all  the 
ancients  as  in  that  high  calling — the  home-keeper.  Breadth  of  view,  many  interests, 
any  amount  of  true  education  will  but  serve  to  raise  the  standard  of  ideal  womanhood, 

Miss  Helen  Louise  Johnson  was  born  in  Watertown,  N.  Y.  Her  parents  were  Mary  Louise  Clarke  Johnson  and  Levi 
Arthur  Johnson.  She  was  educated  at  the  public  schools  of  Wat«rtown,  Wells  College,  Aurora,  N.  Y.,  and  the  Philadelphia 
Cooking  School.  She  has  traveled  in  the  United  States  and  Canada.  Her  principal  literary  work  is  magazine  work.  She  is 
editor  of  "  Table  Talk,"  published  in  Philadelphia.  Her  profession  is  that  of  teacher  of  domestic  science.  Miss  Johnson  is 
a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Chorch.    Her  postoffice  address  is  care  of  Table  Talk  Publishing  Co.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

810 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  811 

and  make  of  the  hearth-stone,  not  a  public  campus,  but  a  stepping-stone  to  Heaven. 
The  true  girl,  and  especially  the  American  one,  if  she  speaks  ten  languages,  and  thinks 
in  four  dead  ones,  if  she  paints  like  a  Turner  or  sings  like  a  nightingale,  will,  when 
love  comes,  forget  to  be  artist  in  remembering  how  to  be  woman. 

At  the  present  time  the  subject  of  cooking  is  demanding  more  attention  than  it 
has  ever  before  in  the  history  of  America.  Hunger  demands  the  daily  use  of  the  knife 
and  fork;  custom  and  fashion  decree  certain  kinds  of  living,  and  science  enables  us 
more  and  more  to  perfect  our  modes  of  life.  But  until  the  generality  of  people  will 
consent  to  study  the  subject  of  cookery  with  unprejudiced  minds,  it  must  remain  a 
necessary  evil  to  a  few,  a  means  to  a  happy  end  by  many.  Mrs.  Henderson  has  most 
truly  written  that  the  reason  why  cooking  in  America  is  as  a  rule  so  inferior  is  not 
because  American  women  are  less  able  and  apt  than  the  women  of  France,  but  merely 
because  American  women  seem  possessed  with  the  idea  that  it  is  not  the  fashion  to 
know  how  to  cook;  that  as  an  accomplishment  the  art  of  cooking  is  not  as  ornamental 
as  that  of  needlework  or  piano-playing.  When  cooking  is  recognized  in  its  proper 
place  as  a  science  as  truly  as  chemistry,  of  which  it  has  so  much  in  itself,  as  an  art 
more  far-reaching  than  many  others  in  its  results,  and  as  delightful  and  becoming  as 
being  able  to  decorate  the  family  sideboard  with  hand-painted  china,  then  American 
women  will  not  alone  equal  their  French  sisters,  but  should,  by  reason  of  their  superior 
advantages  in  education,  surpass  them  in  this  as  in  other  things.  French  women  know 
how  to  dress  because  they  make  a  study  of  it.  They  are  world  renowned  cooks  because 
they  make  a  study  of  that  also.  "  It  takes  more  brains  to  prepare  a  good  dinner  than 
it  does  to  learn  French  and  German  or  to  write  a  good  essay." 

The  domestic  problem  is  as  much  the  question  of  the  day  to  the  women  of  this 
country  as  the  labor  question  is  to  the  man,  and  assuredly  of  as  much  moment.  In  the 
Congress  of  Household  Economics,  held  only  a  week  ago  in  the  Art  Institute, 
the  much-disputed  question  of  domestic  service  was  viewed  in  all  its  phases.  And  the 
answer  to  the  problem,  given  in  so  many  forms,  could  always  be  translated  a  higher,  a 
better  education — the  education  of  our  girls — not  alone  the  few  who  are  finished  in 
fashionable  boarding-schools,  nor  alone  the  many  who  crowd  the  colleges,  although 
this  step  must  to  a  certain  extent  begin  right  there.  But  the  hundreds  of  "  home  "  girls 
should  be  taught  as  well  that  cooking  is  an  accomplishment  every  girl  should  pride 
herself  upon  possessing.  When  the  generality  of  women  who  have  homes  to  keep 
understand  the  art  of  cooking  so  that  they  are  not  dependent  upon  chef,  caterer  or 
cook  for  daily  bread;  when  Dame  Fashion  has  decided  that  cooking  is  as  indis- 
pensable a  part  of  the  curriculum  of  study  in  all  schools  as  arithmetic  or  literature; 
when  girls  of  all  kinds  and  conditions  of  life  realize  that  cooking  is  not  lowering  to 
one's  dignity,  then,  and  not  till  then,  will  the  Sphinx  have  to  bestir  herself  to  propound 
another  riddle  to  womankind.  When  our  girls  as  well  as  our  boys  are  taught  that  any 
honest  labor  raises,  not  lowers,  their  dignity  and  standing;  when  they  realize,  as  only 
good  sense  or  higher  education  can  teach  them,  that  people  make  their  work  honored 
or  degraded  by  their  manner  of  performing  it,  not  their  occupation  renders  them  so, 
then  girls,  instead  of  rushing  into  mills  and  factories,  will,  having  studied  the  art  of 
cooking,  prefer  the  more  quiet,  dignified  and  elevating  occupation  of  cooking.  But  it 
must  first  be  placed  in  its  rightful  position,  and  this  reform  be  from  the  outside, 
in;  from  the  top,  down.  It  must  be  made  the  fashion.  "  Every  revolution  was  first  a 
thought  in  one  man's  mind,  and  when  the  same  thought  occurred  to  another  man,  it  is 
the  key  to  that  era.  Every  reform  was  once  a  private  opinion,  and  when  it  shall  be  a 
private  opinion  again  it  will  solve  the  problem  of  the  age."  If  this  reform  be  needed, 
it  must  come.  If  a  remedy  for  a  crying  evil  be  found  in  a  private  opinion,  let  it  be 
known.     Let  it  become  the  fashion. 

When  you  consider  the  wonderful  mechanism  of  the  human  body,  its  manifold 
requirements,  and  how  wonderfully  Nature  has  ordained  our  being,  we  can  well  be 
aghast  at  the  accepted  ignorance  of  the  art  of  cooking  as  an  art,  and  the  accepted 
ignorance  of  our  cooks.     What  man  would  permit  the  walls  of  his  house  to  be  laid  by 


812  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

a  tinsmith?  What  man  would  trust  his  life  in  a  boat  steered  by  a  man  who  had  been 
but  a  fireman  in  the  hold?  Yet  how  many  of  our  so-called  cooks  have  any  real  knowl- 
edge of  the  subject?  How  many,  not  alone  of  the  cooks,  but  of  the  housekeepers, 
know  why  we  eat  butter  with  bread,  rice  and  potatoes  with  meat?  Or  why  Nature 
gives  us  fruit  and  green  vegetables  in  the  warm  season,  and  not  in  the  cold?  Yet  it  is 
this  very  knowledge  that  makes  of  cooking  an  art.  Why  should  we  not  demand  of  the 
person  who  has  so  much  that  concerns  our  well-being  in  her  hands,  that  she  have  a 
training  for  it  as  well  as  the  man  who  holds  our  horses,  or  the  woman  who  makes  our 
clothes  ?  Most  assuredly  we  would  not  employ  a  physician  who  had  only  read  Steele's 
physiology  and  experimented  on  his  own  family.  And  it  is  safe  to  say  that  if  we  had 
better  educated  cooks,  we  could  not  support  well  so  many  doctors.  But  we  can  not 
demand,  any  more  than  teach,  that  we  do  not  understand  ourselves.  "Perfection 
consists  not  in  doing  extraordinary  things,  but  in  doing  ordinary  things  extraordinarily 
well."  Cooking  is  an  ordinary,  everyday  occupation,  but  when  rightly  done  is  not 
only  easily  performed,  but  becomes  a  delightful  labor.  Raise  it  to  its  true  dignity. 
Give  it  its  rightful  place  among  the  arts.  Women  have  been  fighting  many  battles  for 
higher  education  in  the  last  few  years,  and  they  have  nearly  gained  the  day.  But 
when  their  victorious  banner  be  unfurled,  let  not  one  star  be  missing  from  its  field  of 
glory — this  star  of  household  labor,  which  must  include  the  training  from  childhood 
to  motherhood,  from  the  mother  to  the  child.  "  It  is  better  to  be  ready,  even  if  one 
is  not  called  for,  than  to  be  called  for  and  found  wanting." 


GOD'S  THOUGHT  OF  WOMAN. 


MRS.  ANNA  RANKIN   RIGGS. 


By  MRS.  ANNA  RANKIN   RIGGS. 

God's  thought  of  woman  is  a  subject  that  has  engaged  the  attention  of  the  prophet, 
the  theologian,  the  poet  and  philosopher  all  along  the  ages.    Sometimes,  unconsciously 

to  themselves,  have  they  betrayed  the  fact  that  they 
were  not  clear  in  their  minds  as  to  the  Divine  intent 
concerning  her  mission  apart  from  wifehood  and 
motherhood.  All  concede,  sage  and  seer,  that  as  a 
class  God's  thought  of  her  was  that  of  queen  of  the 
home,  but  not  all  the  wise(?)  think  of  her  as  equal 
to  the  king,  whose  happiness  and  sorrow,  prosperity 
and  adversity,  she  must  share  to  the  full  half;  not  so 
in  her  right  to  govern  and  direct  in  the  affairs  of  that 
home,  not  only  in  relation  to  its  internal  workings, 
but  in  those  things  outside  the  home  which  make  for 
its  weal  or  its  woe.  Her  right  to  a  voice  in  deciding 
what  institution  of  learning  her  son  may  choose  for 
his  alma  fnaterxn^iy  or  may  not  be  questioned;  but  her 
right  to  decide  as  to  what  will  imperil  his  safety  out- 
side of  the  home  is  supposed  to  be  a  matter  entirely 
beyond  her  fight  to  consider.  She  may  insist  that  the 
ever-present  saloon  and  its  twin  evil,  the  brothel, 
threaten  at  every  turn  the  moral  integrity  of  her  loved 
subjects,  who  from  the  nature  of  things  can  not  be 
always  within  "woman's  kingdom"  (the  home);  they 
must  go  beyond  her  declared  jurisdiction.  She  may, 
and  does,  in  thousands  of  instances,  see  the  son,  husband  and  daughter  exposed,  directly 
or  indirectly,  to  influences  having  their  origin  in  one  or  both  of  the  above-named  sinks 
of  iniquity;  but  she  may  not,  as  a  rule,  protest  with  the  slightest  degree  of  effective- 
ness, because  of  the  disabilities  imposed  upon  her  through  man's  thought  of  woman! 
Not  so  God's  thought  of  her,  as  we  read  His  thought  in  history,  both  sacred  and  pro- 
fane. The  first  reveals  to  us  His  exalted  purpose  concerning  her  when  He  said:  "  It  is 
not  good  that  the  man  should  be  alone,  I  will  make  him  an  helpmeet  for  him,  and  they 
shall  be  one  flesh;"  not  two,  distinct  and  separate  in  life,  but  one.  Adam  acknowl- 
edged her  power  to  lead,  and  did  obeisance  to  her  judgment  when  he  followed  her  in 
the  great  transgression.  It  is  nowhere  intimated  that  God  does  not  expect  her  to 
share  man's  responsibilities  of  church  and  state;  on  the  contrary  it  is  most  clearly 
implied,  by  numerous  examples  given  in  His  Word,  that  God  designed  woman  should 
be  man's  helpmate  in  all  the  avenues  of  life.  It  can  not  be  said  of  every  man  that  he 
is  expected  to  assume  or  permitted  to  assume  responsibilities,  or  give  any  attention 
in  particular  to  affairs  which  involve  governmental  questions  and  responsibilities,  or 
questions  of  state.  The  great  mass  go  not  beyond  that  which  is  needful  to  the  welfare 
of  the  body  and  interests  most  commonplace  in  their  nature;  still,  man  sits  the  soli- 
tary in- families  as  regards  rulership  (in  most  instances,  both  of  the  family  and  in 
church  and  state);  he  sits  the  solitary  often  when  in  that  home  treads  with  queenly 
step  a  woman  born  to  lead  and  think  on  matters  that  concern  the  welfare  of  the  world, 
whose  gifts,  if  utilized  in  the  direction  which  God  designed,  would  be  the  balance- 
wheel  to  that  man,  would  supplement  his  power  in  a  way  that  would  broaden  his 
capacity  and  influence  beyond  his  power  to  think  or  compute.     As  it  is,  he  is  as  a 

813 


814  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

bird  with  one  wing,  never  soaring  to  the  diviner  heights  because  he  ignores  the  bal- 
ancing power  divinely  provided. 

Who  can  estimate  today  the  potency  for  the  uplifting  of  the  race,  the  purifying  of 
nations,  the  better  organization  of  state  and  municipal  governments,  the  lifting  up  and 
purifying  of  that  typical  paradise,  the  home  where  woman's  full  right  to  be  a  helpmate 
for  man  is  fully  recognized.  Some  women  are,  through  gifts,  graces  and  providential 
surroundings,  eminently  fitted  to  be  helpmates,  and  were  they  recognized  as  such  the 
world  would  then  have  its  full  complement  of  power  and  would  rapidly  solve  many  of 
the  social  questions  and  other  problems  which  today  vex  and  perplex  the  most  astute 
minds.  God  is  waiting  for  the  world  to  recognize  His  thought  of  woman  before  His 
edict  shall  go  forth  that  is  to  free  the  world  of  much  of  its  thralldom,  much  of  its  sor- 
row and  mourning,  before  its  moral  mists  shall  be  cleared  away. 

The  world  must  learn  to  estimate  His  thought  of  her  when  He  said:  "  Male  and 
female  created  He  them,  and  blessed  them."  As  the  world  is  now,  woman  as  a  class 
is  largely  cursed,  not  blessed.  This  is  not  God's  plan,  for  wherever  His  love  and  guid- 
ance holds  sway  she  is  blessed  equally  with  man.  God  has  no  other  thought  for  man- 
kind than  that  they  shall  be  blessed.  What  right  have  we  to  divorce  from  being 
blessed  man's  helpmate,  when  God  in  His  Word  declares  His  purpose  to  bless  her 
equally  when  male  and  female  created  He  them,  and  blessed  them,  in  the  day  when 
they  were  created. 

He  made  clear  His  designs  concerning  her  as  a  helpmate  outside  of  the  home 
when  he  called  Deborah  to  be  a  poet,  a  prophetess,  a  judge  and  a  warrior.  Where  is 
the  man  combining  in  his  person  and  work  all  this  versatility  of  talent  and  variety  of 
ofifice?  It  has  been  stated  by  high  authority  that  Deborah  was  the  only  person  in  the 
nation,  amid  its  millions,  that  could  save  the  people  at  that  time.  She  could  decide 
the  law  cases  of  the  people  as  judge,  and  sing  the  national  songs  as  a  poet,  yet  man  in 
general  denies  woman's  right  to  express  at  the  ballot-box  that  God-given  power  that 
would,  when  added  to  that  of  good  men,  free  our  world  from  its  greatest  evil  and  the 
home  of  its  deadliest  foe,  viz.,  the  liquor  traflfic.  What  a  shame  that  our  race  should 
be  thus  bound,  simply  because  we  are  not  willing  that  God's  thought  of  woman  should 
enter  into  the  management  of  the  world's  affairs,  and  thus  make  it  possible  for  His 
Kingdom  to  come,  and  His  love  to  "  reign  where'er  the  sun  doth  his  successive  journeys 
run." 

In  the  days  of  Josiah,  the  king,  Huldah,  the  prophetess,  who  was  also  a  wife, 
received  a  message  from  the  king,  a  deputation  of  the  high  priests  and  princes  of  the 
nation,  to  inquire  of  the  Lord  concerning  his  people,  she  being  the  only  one,  judging 
from  the  sacred  narrative,  who  was  qualified  to  expound  the  Word  of  the  Lord,  and 
reveal  the  message  of  Jehovah  to  his  people. 

Queen  Esther  fasts  and  prays,  lifts  up  her  heart  to  God  and  her  hand  to  the  scep- 
ter of  the  king;  turns  the  sword  of  the  foe  to  his  own  destruction  and  saves  her  peo- 
ple, and  puts  the  blush  to  King  Saul,  who  failed  to  obey  the  command  of  God  against 
Amalek. 

First  in  the  "  Fall,"  God's  greatest  thought  of  her  seems  to  have  been  when  he 
made  her  the  mother  of  redeemed  humanity  through  the  incarnate  Son.  The  gentile 
world  was  looking  forward  to  this  event  when  Virgil  wrote  to  PoUio,  the  consul,  con- 
cerning his  expectation  of  the  golden  age  in  connection  with  the  birth  of  the  long- 
expected  Messiah.  It  would  seem  as  if  this  divinely  exalted  relation  to  humanity's 
weal  should  forever  settle  the  question  of  woman's  right  as  an  equal  factor  with  man 
in  the  development  of  the  social,  political  and  religious  life  of  the  human  race. 

In  mythology  woman  is  high  in  distinction,  although  Jupiter  sits  enthroned  in  the 
heavens  as  supreme;  by  his  side  sits  Juno,  the  mother  of  gods  and  goddesses.  In 
idolatrous  worship  woman  has  a  most  exalted  position;  hence,  great  was  Diana  of  the 
Ephesians. 

In  personifying  the  church  prophecy  makes  mention  of  her  in  the  most  exalted 
terms:     "Rejoice  greatly,  O,  Daughter  of  Zion!    Shout,  O,  Daughter  of  Jerusalem! 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  815 

Behold,  thy  king  cometh  unto  thee."  In  his  apocaliptic  visions,  John  beholds  the 
church  as  a  "  woman  clothed  as  the  sun,  the  moon  beneath  her  feet,  and  a  crown  of 
twelve  stars  upon  her  head."  (Rev,  12.)  Surely,  this  is  an  indication  of  her  mission 
and  power  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

Her  power  is  clearly  set  forth  in  history,  sacred  and  profane.  Scarce  had  the 
head  of  Samson  rested  in  the  lap  of  Delilah  when  he  was  shorn  of  his  strength  and 
delivered  to  his  enemies. 

Cleopatra  wielded  great  power  over   Caesar,  Antony,  Egypt,  Pompey  and  Rome. 

In  the  patriotic  and  moral  reforms  of  the  age  a  most  striking  example  is  that  of 
Joan  of  Arc,  whose  power  for  conquest  ceased  not  until  she  delivered  France  from  the 
English. 

Many  books  might  be  written  in  defense  of  God's  unmistakable  thought  and  design 
for  woman  as  an  equal  factor  with  man  in  power  and  responsibility,  varying  but  rarely 
in  methods  of  application,  with  that  class  of  women  whom  God  providentially  endows, 
and  through  this  endowment  calls  to  special  work  outside  the  home,  just  as  he  endows 
a  special  class  of  men  whose  mission  is  to  lead  and  direct  through  pulpit  and  press, 
legislation  and  government,  the  advance  of  mankind. 

Woman,  whoever  thou  art,  see  to  it  that  thou  art  true  to  thy  call,  be  it  in  the 
home,  at  the  editor's  desk,  on  the  rostrum,  in  the  sacred  desk,  for  in  the  fullness  of 
time  most  surely  coming  He  shall  place  thee  beside  thy  brother  in  sharing  with  him 
the  untangling  and  settling  of  governmental  affairs.  Be  faithful  to  thy  trust;  hide  not 
thy  talent  in  a  napkin,  though  it  deprive  thee  of  the  queenship  of  home  with  its  sub 
jects  so  sweet  and  tender.     God's  thought  of  woman  is  superior  to  thine. 


MRS.  PALMER'S  PORTRAIT. 

ADDRESSES  DELIVERED  ON  THE  OCCASION  OF  ITS  UNVEILING. 

The  Board  of  Lady  Managers  having  ordered  a  portrait  made  of  Mrs.  Bertha 
Honore  Palmer,  to  be  placed  in  the  Assembly  Hall  of  the  Woman's  Building,  with 
other  distinguished  women,  and  after  the  close  of  the  Exposition  to  be  permanently 
installed  in  the  Woman's  Memorial  Building,  Mrs.  James  P.  Eagle  and  Mrs.  Mary  S. 
Lockwood  were  appointed  a  committee  to  see  that  the  order  was  executed. 

The  following  are  the  remarks  made  by  Mrs.  Lockwood,  Mrs.  Eagle  and  Mrs. 
Wheeler  at  the  unveiling  of  the  portrait: 

PRESENTATION    OF    PORTRAIT    BY    MRS.    MARY    S.    LOCKWOOD. 

When  the  question  arose  among  the  lady  managers,  "  What  can  we  do  that  will 
best  commemorate  the  work  of  women  in  the  Exposition?"  this  happy  thought 
came  to  us:  We  have  in  our  midst  the  foremost  artist  of  the  age,  Mr.  Anders  L.  Zorn, 
who  could  put  upon  canvas  the  embodiment  of  that  genius  that  has  led  us  for  three 
years  over  mountains  of  difficulty,  through  valleys  of  humiliation,  to  the  crowning 
peaks  of  victory,  listening  to  no  such  word  as  "  fail,"  always  helpful  in  voice  and 
heart,  ever  ready  to  encourage  in  our  days  of  discouragement,  and  always  just  in  her 
verdict  of  "  Well  done!  " 

In  the  after-time,  when  our  names  have  been  forgotten,  those  who  will  come  after 
us  will  look  upon  the  portrait  we  now  present  to  you,  and  see  not  only  a  likeness  of 
our  president,  but  the  attributes  which  surrounded  her,  that  helped  us  to  help  the 
women  of  this  nineteenth  century. 

We  thank  her  for  the  time  and  opportunity  she  has  given  us  to  accomplish  our 
wishes.  We  also  thank  the  artist  for  what  he  has  done  to  commemorate  the  work, 
the  life,  the  likeness  of  our  president  of  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  of  the  World's 
Columbian  Exposition,  Mrs.  Bertha  Honore  Palmer. 

UNVEILING  OF  THE  PORTRAIT  BY  MRS.  JAMES  P.  EAGLE. 

The  most  important  work  of  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  is  now  drawing  to  a 
close.  Some  have  called  this  last  day  a  funeral  day,  since  such  a  sense  of  sadness 
must  steal  into  each  heart  when  we  think  of  the  separations,  and  of  our  beautiful 
Woman's  Building  being  robbed  of  its  wealth  of  paintings,  statuary,  lace,  wood  carv- 
ing, libraries,  statistics,  all  these  and  more  that  have  been  exhibited  to  the  credit, 
honor  and  advancement  of  the  women  of  every  land. 

We  have  not  claimed  perfection  in  any  department  of  our  work.  We  have  not 
reached  our  ideals.  We  very  seldom  do  in  any  undertaking;  but  the  visible  work  of 
the  board  has  overstepped  the  expectations  of  the  most  enthusiastic  and  friendly; 
while  the  unseen  and  incomputable  has  touched  the  hand  of  woman  in  every  nation 
to  lead  her  to  greener  pastures  and  richer  fields.  The  seed-time  is  just  over.  A  little 
patient  resting  and  waiting,  then  comes  the  ripened  harvest. 

Here  have  communed  together  women  from  every  state  and  almost  every 
nation.  More  than  twenty  nations  have  spoken  from  this  platform  for  the  Committee 
on  Congresses,  and  almost  every  state  has  sent  a  representative.  Other  committees 
have  been  instrumental  in  bringing  together  many  people  from  many  lands. 

As  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  I  hope  I  may  be  excused  for  ref- 
erence to  questions  so  nearly  personal.  There  are  one  hundred  and  fifteen  members 
of  that  body,  and  I  believe  there  never  was  such  singleness  of  purpose  in  a  body  so 

816 


PORTRAIT  OF  MRS.  POTTER  PALMER. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  817 

large  to  do  the  best  things  in  the  best  way.  There  has  been  the  greatest  harmony  of 
action,  the  majorities  on  almost  every  question  being  so  large  and  so  pronounced  that 
very  seldom  has  the  chair  been  "  in  doubt  "  as  to  the  result.  On  very  few  vital  ques- 
tions has  there  been  a  close  vote.  You  will  be  charitable  enough  to  admit  that  this 
first  national  board  of  women  has  existed  under  the  searchlight  of  criticism.  The 
commission  owes  us  a  vote  of  thanks  for  claiming  public  attention,  when,  except  that 
a  woman's  board  was  more  novel,  that  body  could  have  furnished  much  more  sensa- 
tional reading. 

When  I  compare  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  with  the  great  number  of  organ- 
ized bodies  with  which  I  have  been  familiar  I  am  proud  of  the  board.  As  individuals, 
or  as  an  organized  body,  it  does  not  suffer  by  comparison.  When  I  compare  its 
officers  with  the  officers  of  other  bodies  we  have  the  advantage;  but  when  I  compare 
its  president  with  the  presidents  of  any  and  all  organizations,  the  gold  medals  are  our 
own,  with  the  chromos  added. 

We  covet  not  titles  of  rank  in  this  land  of  ours,  where  every  woman  may  be  a 
queen,  and  when  the  women  of  America  choose  a  leader  and  representative  she  is  not 
only  a  queen,  but  queenly.  This  day  of  sorrow  we  would  turn  to  joy,  and  make  it  our 
coronation  day.  If  we  can  not  crown  Our  Queen  we  will  present  to  you  Our  Queen, 
already  crowned.    [The  veil  is  withdrawn  from  the  portrait.] 


(52) 


CONGRATULATION   ON    THE    POSSESSION    OF    MRS.    PALMER'S 

PORTRAIT. 

By  MRS.  CANDACE  WHEELER. 

t 

Mrs.  President  and  Ladies  of  the  National  Board:  I  am  glad  to  have  had  some- 
one speak  of  this  new  possession  of  women.  Who  knows  just  how  rare  a  possession 
it  is?  We  all  know  when  a  picture  pleases  us,  and  a  few  know  why,  but  it  is  very  few 
who  know  whether  it  is  intrinsically  good,  and  why  it  is  so.  Miss  Hallowell  does, 
and,  consequently,  she  is  a  dread  or  a  joy  to  painters.  She  is  like  one  of  those  men 
who  are  employed  by  great  importers,  and  whom  they  call  "  tea  tasters,"  and  to  whom 
they  pay  fabulous  salaries.  Of  course,  everybody  drinks  tea,  and  everybody  knows 
when  they  like  it;  but  only  one  in  ten  thousand  or  so  can  tell,  when  they  hold  a  drop 
of  tea  on  their  tongue,  exactly  how  much  it  is  worth  a  pound.  The  tea  taster  by  some 
subtle  divination  connected  with  that  one  drop  can  tell  just  where  the  tea  was  grown, 
from  what  stock,  and  from  what  soil.  He  can  almost  tell  the  color  of  the  man  who 
tended  it,  and,  certainly,  he  can  tell  what  proportion  of  rain  fell  and  sun  shone  and 
airs  blew  around  it  as  it  grew,  and  what  all  these  conditions  make  it  worth.  That  is 
exactly  what  Miss  Hallowell  can  do  for  pictures.  She  is  an  "  art  taster."  She  can 
tell  what  the  artist  knows  by  what  he  paints — what  he  holds  back  as  well  as  what  he 
puts  into  it;  and  it  is  often  what  the  artist  holds  back — what  he  knows  of  character 
and  people  by  intuition,  that  makes  his  work  valuable.  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  said  that 
a  man  could  not  put  more  into  his  picture  than  he  had  in  his  head,  and  that  is  true,  but 
if  he  knows  more  than  he  has  put  into  the  picture,  certainly  it  is  all  the  better  for  it. 
Now,  when  Miss  Hallowell  looks  at  a  picture,  she  sees  exactly  how  much  the  artist 
knows,  and  that  is  why  some  artists  are  afraid  of  her,  for  we  do  not  all  like  to  have 
our  brains  gauged.  What  she  has  said  about  this  portrait  is  as  true  as  truth — as  true 
as  knowledge.  The  success  of  a  picture,  the  fact  that  it  is,  or  is  not,  a  great  work 
does  not  depend  alone  upon  the  method  of  the  painting  or  even  the  capacity  of  the 
painter.  It  depends  upon  the  fact  of  whether  or  not  it  makes  us  feel,  of  whether  it 
can  strike  a  spark  from  the  electric  girdle  which  encircles  the  body  of  collective 
humanity,  the  subtle,  unnamed  element  which  makes  feeling  rise  to  the  eyes  and  the 
throat  and  suddenly  suffuses  us  with  warmth  and  tenderness.  If  a  picture  can  do  this 
it  is  great,  even  if  it  flies  in  the  face  of  all  precedent  painting.  We  all  know  there  are 
emotions  which  compel  response,  certain  thoughts  and  moods  in  their  expression  upon 
the  faces  of  friends  or  even  of  strangers  can  call  up  exactly  the  same  thought,  the  same 
mood  in  us.  And  here  comes  in  the  miracle  of  the  painter — that  he  can  sometimes 
paint  that  thought,  and  make  it  so  alive  that  it  can  compel  the  answering  thought  m 
us.  We  respond  to  the  picture  which  is  the  work  of  man  as  we  respond  to  the  emo- 
tion which  is  a  part  of  nature. 

I  think  we  all  know  how  we  feel  when  we  sit  in  front  of  Mrs.  Palmer  as  an  audi- 
ence, and  she,  standing  on  the  platform,  prefaces  any  uttered  word  with  a  smile.  It  is 
really  a  thought  which  rises  to  her  face  and  greets  the  audience,  and  every  face  in  the 
house  responds.  I  have  watched  this  wordless  thought  make  its  greeting  and  receive 
its  instantaneous  response  many  times,  but  I  never  expected  to  see  it  painted,  and 
painted  in  such  a  manner  that  it  will  go  on  making  its  still  friendliness  touch  the  heart 
of  everyone  who  sees  it,  long  after  we,  her  first  audience,  have  grown  familiar  with  the 
language  of  Paradise. 

This  picture  which  is  here  unveiled  is  not  simply  a  portrait  of  a  woman  to  whom 

818 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  819 

we  are  all  bound  by  ties  of  love  and  loyalty,  and  a  picture  which  has  the  power  of 
evoking  feeling.  It  is  more  than  this — it  is  the  materialization  of  the  dignity  of  a  great 
office — the  first  world  office  made  and  bestowed  by  women. 

Ladies  of  the  National  Board,  at  the  close  of  your  appointed  efforts,  I  congratu- 
late you  upon  the  selection  of  a  president  who  has  justified  your  hopes  and  made  a 
reality  of  your  dreams,  and  upon  the  choice  of  a  painter  who  has  made  the  dignity 
you  created  a  perpetual  one. 


CLOSING  ADDRESS. 

By  MRS.  BERTHA  HONORE  PALMER, 

Mingled  with  our  regret  at  seeing  this  great  Exposition  and  ihis  unprecedented 
opportunity  for  women  drawing  to  a  close,  is  a  feeling  of  satisfaction  that  the  aims 
proposed  to  be  reached  by  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  have  been  carried  to  a  suc- 
cessful conclusion. 

Not  only  have  the  material  exhibits  drawn  attention  to  the  skill  of  women  and 
shown  the  degree  of  development  which  has  been  reached  by  them,  but  their  interests, 
their  capabilities,  their  needs  and  their  hopes  have  been  brought  before  the  public 
and  thoroughly  discussed  from  every  point  of  view. 

In  the  Exposition  at  large,  but  particularly  in  the  Woman's  Building,  her  attainments 
have  been  spread  before  the  public;  successes  in  unexpected  directions,  which  had 
hitherto  escaped  notice,  have  been  made  known  to  the  world,  the  building  itself  being 
one  of  her  notable  achievements  in  an  altogether  unaccustomed  field. 

It  has  been  the  means  of  opening  new  and  congenial  lines  of  work,  and  as  woman 
is  the  acknowledged  home-maker,  to  her  hands  will  be  entrusted  more  largely  than 
heretofore  not  only  the  atmosphere  and  the  influence  of  the  home,  but  also  its  place, 
construction,  sanitary  arrangements,  decorations,  furnishing  and  all  practical  features. 
The  general  appreciation  and  commendation  of  the  Woman's  Building  have  greatly 
hastened  this  result,  and  the  exhibits  contained  within  it  of  designs  by  women  for 
the  weaving  of  carpets  and  textiles,  for  wall  paper  and  hangings,  as  well  as  archi- 
tectural plans  for  the  construction  of  houses,  show  that  they  are  already  alert  and 
equipped  to  take  possession  of  this  newly  acquired  territory. 

The  interest  felt  in  the  Woman's  Building  and  the  sentiment  it  expresses  was 
made  manifest  by  its  great  popularity,  it  having  been  crowded  from  the  beginning  to 
the  end  of  the  Exposition.  In  days  when  visitors  were  few  and  exhibitors  in  other 
buildings  were  forced  to  provide  bands  of  music,  scatter  special  advertisements  and  use 
ingenious  devices  to  attract  attention,  the  Woman's  Building  was  crowded.  Early  in 
the  summer  letters  came  from  our  committee  in  France,  saying  that  they  understood 
there  were  ten  persons  who  saw  their  exhibit  in  the  Woman's  Building  to  one 
that  saw  it  in  the  Manufactures  Building.  The  order  to  close  the  building  at  six  in 
the  evening,  which  was  issued  by  the  director-general  some  two  months  since,  was 
thought  to  be  a  great  hardship  by  visitors,  who  plead  so  earnestly  for  longer  hours  that 
director-general  consented  to  rescind  his  order. 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  result  obtained  by  the  efforts  of  the  Board  of  Lady 

Mrs.  Bertha  Honor6  Palmer  was  born  in  Louisville,  Ky.  Her  father  is  of  French  descent.  Her  mother  of  an  aristo- 
cratic Southern  family.  Her  early  education  was  received  in  Louisville,  but  later  in  a  convent  in  Baltimore,  Md.  She  was 
married  in  1871  to  Mr.  Potter  Palmer,  a  wealthy  and  representative  citizen  of  Chicago;  she  has  since  resided  in  that  city.  To  the 
poor  she  has  always  been  a  stanch  friend,  giving  generously  to  public  funds  and  more  freely  to  private  charities,  and  be  it 
said  to  her  glory  that  all  this  work  has  not  been  neglected  during  these  years  of  public  life.  She  has  traveled  extensively 
and  has  wide  acquaintance  with  wise  and  fashionable  people,  making  her  a  valuable  leader  for  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers. 
Her  numerous  addresses  delivered  in  their  interests  have  been  read  and  admired  by  thousands,  but  the  peculiar  charm  of  her 
beautiful  face  and  bell-like  voice  can  never  be  forgotten  by  those  who  were  fortunate  enough  to  hear  her  speak.  She  was 
the  chosen  President  of  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers,  and  to  her  office  she  gave  time,  persistent  energy,  executive  ability  and 
wise  leadership,  to  which  in  large  measure  is  due  the  success  of  the  women's  exhibit,  which  excelled  the  fondest  hopes 
of  its  most  sanguine  supporters.  Few  women  and  not  many  men  have  become  so  widely  known  and  universally  admired  as 
Mrs.  Palmer.  All  nations  have  received  and  delighted  to  honor  her,  giving  aid  in  securing  exhibits,  and  statistics  which 
will  prove  of  great  value  in  future;  through  her  womanly  tact  and  irresistible  influence  she  secured  favorable  legislation 
without  which  the  Exposition  could  not  have  reached  its  marvelous  success.  In  all  this  work  she  has  had  the  hearty  support 
of  Mr.  Potter  Palmer,  who  has  sealed  his  approval  and  won  for  himself  a  place  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  by  donating 
$200,000  toward  a  permanent  building  for  the  exliibition  of  woman's  work.  Mrs.  Palmer's  postoffice  address  is  100  Lake 
Shore  Drive,  Chicago,  111. 

820 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  821 

Managers  was  the  unprecedented  official  co-operation  secured  from  women  of  every 
country  and  of  every  race;  from  women  who  are  interested  in  charitable,  educational, 
religious  and  ethical  and  reform  work,  as  well  as  those  desiring  to  make  practical 
exhibits  of  their  skill  in  industrial  arts. 

Letters,  documents  and  circulars  were  sent  out,  explaining  the  character  and 
scope  of  the  Exposition,  the  classes  of  objects  and  the  degree  of  excellence  which 
we  wished  to  secure  from  exhibitors.  Having  issued  these  invitations,  the  fact 
that  we  had  independent  control  of  the  space  in  the  Woman's  Building  became  a 
great  factor  in  carrying  out  our  plans.  We  were  able  to  include  exhibits  from  the 
women  of  many  countries,  who  would  not  otherwise  have  possessed  influence  to 
secure  space.  None  of  the  ladies  appealed  to  had  a  commercial  interest  in  send- 
ing exhibits  to  the  Exposition.  The  unusual  nature  of  the  plans  which  were  pre- 
sented were  attractive  enough  to  gain  their  attention  and  secure  their  adherence,  and 
our  foreign  committees,  after  being  organized  under  the  most  distinguished  leadership, 
set  themselves  diligently  to  work,  at  great  cost  of  time,  effort  and  money,  to  send  us 
such  exhibits  as  would  illustrate  what  was  being  done  by  the  women  of  their  respective 
countries.  The  exhibits  sent  were  not,  perhaps,  in  every  case  of  the  high  grade  we 
desired  to  maintain,  but  the  actual  truth  of  the  situation  was  represented  by  each,  and 
there  was  vast  significance  in  the  fact  that  these  collections  were  forwarded  to  us  by 
the  first  committees  of  women  ever  appointed  by  their  respective  governments,  and  in 
many  cases  represented  the  first  independent  steps  ever  taken  by  women  in  certain 
countries.  Before  they  were  trained  to  act  for  themselves,  perhaps,  before  they  even 
sympathized  with  the  thought  of  so  doing,  we  thus  secured  a  precedent  for  them  which 
will  be  of  incalculable  value  hereafter,  and  will  pave  the  way  for  great  changes  of 
public  sentiment  and  of  custom. 

The  exhibits  proved  to  be  of  such  different  grades  and  classes  that  discrimination 
was  found  to  be  impossible  and  unjust.  We  therefore  decided  not  to  exercise  the 
right  of  rejection  which  we  had  reserved  to  ourselves,  but  that  everything  coming  to  us 
from  foreign  countries  should,  by  courtesy,  be  received  and  installed  just  as  arranged 
and  forwarded  to  us  by  those  committees.  Among  the  exhibits  secured,  in  addition 
to  many  rare  and  unexpected  articles,  were  the  most  marvelous  loan  collections  of 
laces  and  embroideries  ever  brought  together. 

No  attempt  has  been  made  to  demonstrate  any  theory,  or  to  realize  Utopian  ideals 
which  we  would  wish  to  see  prevail.  Our  only  desire  has  been  to  present  the  actual 
conditions  existing,  which  will  give  us  a  basis  to  build  upon  for  future  improvement. 
This  conservative  course  may  have  caused  us  to  be  censured  by  many  holders  of  the 
two  opposite  extremes  of  opmion.  Many  "  advanced  "  women  have  become  impatient 
when  contemplating  the  evidences  of  infinite  detail  and  elaborations  shown  in  the 
marvelous  webs  and  stitchery  of  other  days;  they  resent  the  confining  and  infinites- 
imally  painstaking  drudgery  of  arts  which  formerly  were  the  only  outlet  among  women 
for  originality  of  taste  and  the  desire  to  create  beauty.  On  the  other  hand  are  those 
who  disapprove  heartily  what  has  been  accomplished  by  the  adventurous  spirits  who 
lead  in  invention,  manufactures,  literary  and  professional  pursuits,  etc.  These  pes- 
simistic souls  see  with  dismay  the  walls  of  the  old  "  sphere  "  being  battered  down; 
walls  within  which  women  have  been  held  for  centuries  willing  prisoners;  the  light  of  a 
new  day  and  a  new  common  sense  shining  upon  the  inmates,  revealing  their  antiquated 
and  ignorant  helplessness  and  their  incapacity  to  meet  the  many  demands  pressing 
upon  them  from  the  new  needs  of  today. 

It  is  evident  that  the  tendency  of  modern  life  is  to  remove  women  more  and  more 
from  the  seclusion  of  the  home.  The  theory  that  the  following  of  industrial  and  com- 
mercial pursuits  may  make  her  less  domestic,  lessen  the  charm  of  family  life  and  the 
home  atmosphere,  may  have  truth  for  its  foundation. 

If  women  be  withdrawn  largely  from  the  home  and  placed  in  the  steady  conflict 
of  life,  a  great  source  of  inspiration  will  be  lost  to  her,  her  ideals  may  be  lowered,  her 
perceptions  become  dulled,  and  she  may  cease  to  be  the  great  conservative  and  regen- 


822  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

erative  agency  which  has  helped  to  hold  the  world  to  high  standards.  Undoubtedly, 
the  home  and  the  privacy  of  domestic  life  is  the  chosen  sphere  of  every  woman. 
There  is  only  one  here  and  there  who  would  prefer  any  other  career  than  that  of  the 
happy  wife  and  mother,  but  alas  for  my  sex,  there  is,  unfortunately,  not  a  home  for 
each  woman  to  preside  over;  most  men  are  unable  to  maintain  one.  That  is  where 
the  great  difficulty  occurs,  and  not  in  the  objection  of  women  to  occupying  them.  If 
we  consider  it  an  unwritten  law  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  husband  and  father  to  main- 
tain his  wife  and  children,  then  we  must  face  the  fact  that  the  majority  of  men 
must  be  failures,  for  they  are  certainly  today  unable  to  accomplish  this  result  with  any 
comfort  to  themselves  or  families. 

I  do  not  speak. of  the  comparatively  few  men  who  are  conspicuous  exceptions  to 
this  statement,  but  of  the  rank  and  file,  the  unnoticed  men,  men  occupying  small 
clerkships,  the  second  and  lower  grades  of  mechanics,  factory  operatives,  etc.,  whose 
labor  must  generally  be  suppllemented  by  that  of  their  wives,  and  too  often  that  of 
their  children,  to  maintain  their  homes. 

We  have  heard  for  years  of  the  incompetent  wife  and  mother,  but  it  occurs  to  me 
that  we  have  heard  singularly  little  of  the  incompetent  husband  and  father.  It  would 
seem  to  be  the  fact  that  comparatively  few  marriages  could  occur- if  women  were  not 
able  to  assist  in  maintaining  the  home,  and  we  constantly  see  girls,  trained  to  self- 
support,  marry  and  continue  their  avocations  as  a  matter  of  course.  The  filling  up  of 
the  factories,  shops,  schools,  offices,  and  every  avenue  of  fairly  paid  employment  with 
women,  does  not,  therefore,  result  from  a  revolution  on  their  part  against  their  role  as 
wives  and  mothers.  Those  who  theorize  about  a  possible  changed  relation  between 
the  sexes  because  of  the  so-called  emancipation  of  women,  and  fear  that  the  world 
will  no  longer  be  replenished  and  that  the  peoples  will  iade  away  from  the  earth, 
have  only  superficially  studied  or  understood  the  facts  under  their  eyes.  The  fact 
that  women  are  self-supporting,  or  educated,  does  not  greatly  change  the  result  of 
the  old,  old  love  story,  and  the  man  who  has  objected  to  the  competition  of  women 
in  the  industries,  seems  to  accept  the  situation  philosophically  when  the  time  arrives 
for  his  own  marriage.  Women  prove  to  be  no  less  sweet  because  they  are  strong,  no 
less  companionable  because  their  opinions  are  based  upon  knowledge  rather  than 
prejudice,  no  less  attractive  and  fascinating  because  they  have  given  up  superficial 
accomplishments  for  the  practical  knowledge  that  makes  them  true  helpmates 
and  burden-sharers.  There  is  no  science  .which  teaches  them  that  human  love  and 
helpfulness  are  not  the  highest  ideals,  and  lead  to  the  best  service  that  can  be  ren- 
dered to  humanity. 

Should  men  discover  at  any  time  in  the  future  that  they  are  capable  of  assuming 
the  entire  maintenance  of  the  home,  women  can  undoubtedly  be  persuaded  to  give  up 
the  tedious  and  wearing  grind  of  the  factory,  the  shop  and  the  office,  to  turn  to  higher 
service.  Until  that  fortunate  moment  arrives  the  wise  course  would  seem  to  be  the 
acceptance  of  facts  as  they  exist.  We  are  not  able  to  see  how  far-reaching  may  be 
the  result  of  this  period  of  change  and  experiment.  We  feel  urgently  impelled  to 
follow  the  highest  law  known  to  us,  that  of  evolution  and  progress.  We  must  abandon 
ourselves  blindly  to  the  instinct  which  teaches  us  that  individuals  have  the  right  to 
the  fullest  development  of  their  faculties,  and  the  exercise  of  their  highest  attributes. 
We  reassure  ourselves  with  the  thought  that  there  can  certainly  be  no  great  harm  in 
doubling  the  intelligence  and  the  mental  and  moral  forces  of  the  community. 

It  would  seem  that  the  only  way  to  assist  in  the  rapid  solution  of  the  problem  is 
to  put  within  the  reach  of  women  technical  training  and  the  education  which  is  nec- 
essary to  promote  their  ends,  and  to  hope  that  the  unreasonable  conditions  which 
force  them  to  work,  yet  condemn  them  for  doing  so,  and  withhold  from  them  proper 
training  as  well  as  just  compensation  for  their  labor,  may  be  swept  away.  We  hope 
that  no  woman  may  henceforth  be  forced  to  conceal  her  sex  in  order  to  obtain  justice 
for  her  work. 

We  expect  to  demonstrate  by  means  of  the  statistics  which  we  are  now  collecting 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN.  823 

that  the  larger  proportion  of  women  who  are  forced  from  their  homes  into  the  industries 
of  the  world  are  married  women  or  widows,  working  to  help  maintain  their  homes  and 
children.  The  only  figures  which  show  with  certainty  the  proportion  of  married  to 
unmarried  women,  are  those  sent  us  from  the  French  banks  and  railways,  which  are 
under  the  control  of  the  government.  From  them  we  learn  that  in  the  railway  Com- 
pagnie  d'Orleans  there  are  employed  4,154  married  women  and  220  single  women; 
in  the  Compagnie  de  I'Ouest  there  are  employed  3,391  married  women  and  214  single 
women;  in  the  Compagnie  du  Midi  there  are  employed  2,700  married  women  and  127 
single  women;  in  the  Compagnie  du  Nord  there  are  employed  2,536  married  women 
and  254  single  women;  in  the  Chemin  de  Fer  de  I'Etat  are  employed  2,024  married 
women  and  88  single  women. 

The  results  attained  from  the  statistical  investigations  undertaken  by  the  Board 
of  Lady  Managers  are  so  interesting  in  their  nature,  that  the  different  government 
agencies,  which  have  been  making  original  investigations  for  us,  and  tabulating  the 
results,  are  themselves  surprised  by  the  facts  elicited,  and  they  willingly  give  us  the 
credit  for  having  organized  new  and  important  lines  of  statistical  investigations  which 
will  be  immediately  incorporated  in  the  bureaus  of  their  respective  governments. 

The  work  of  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  in  these  new  and  unexpected  directions 
has  been  a  constant  source  of  pleasure  and  inspiration.  The  material  exhibits  in 
the  Woman's  Building  have  become  mere  incidents,  and  do  not  at  all  represent  the 
great  thought  which  lie  behind  them.  That  we  have  been  successful  in  creating  an 
organization  throughout  theworld,and  in  interesting  the  governments  of  the  world  in 
the  condition  and  position  of  their  women,  is  of  incalculable  benefit.  A  community  of 
interests  has  been  created  among  women  in  every  part  of  the  world,  such  as  has  never 
heretofore  existed,  and  women  delegated  by  their  respective  governments  have  visited 
the  fair,  and  carefully  studied  not  only  our  country  and  our  customs,  but  those  of 
every  other  part  of  the  world,  as  evidenced  by  their  exhibits  and  by  their  peoples  who 
have  come  to  the  Exposition  in  great  numbers.  The  attention  of  all  has  been  drawn 
to  the  Woman's  Building,  to  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  erected,  to  the  wonderful 
co-operation  secured,  and  as  a  result  the  claims  of  the  weaker  sex  have  been  treated 
with  more  respectful  consideration  than  has  ever  before  been  accorded  them.  In  the 
great  commingling  of  races  and  interests  ideas  have  been  rapidly  diffused,  and  many 
supposedly  fixed  conditions  have  been  modified  or  changed.  The  board  is  to  be  con- 
gratulated upon  the  results  achieved. 

I  can  say  freely  for  myself,  and  I  think  most  of  the  members  of  the  board  can 
say  with  me,  that  our  three  years  of  work  together  have  been  years  of  charming  and 
profitable  intercourse  and  agreeable  associations.  Many  firm  friendships  have  been 
formed  which  are  for  life.  I.  personally,  have  seen  only  the  sweet  side  of  eve.ry  nature, 
and  my  associates  have  treated  me  with  too  much  kindness,  with  absolute  self-forget- 
fulness  and  a  devotion  that  was  chivalric  in  its  nature.  Our  board,  on  all  questions  of 
importance,  as  is  shown  by  our  records,  stands  practically  as  a  unit,  and  has  always 
done  so.  I  feel  sure  that  there  has  rarely  been  such  a  number  of  co-workers  brought 
together  from  widely  varying  surroundings  and  influences  who  have  worked  together 
as  harmoniously  as  have  our  members,  and  that  all  rumors  to  the  contrary  are  figments 
of  the  imagination,  although  we  have  been  pained  by  reading  in  the  papers  distorted 
and  unrecognizable  rumors  of  discord  and  confusion  among  our  members. 

The  closing  of  this  building,  which  has  been  the  main  field  of  our  labors,  from 
which,  during  the  summer,  such  a  helpful  influence  has  constantly  gone  forth,  which 
has  been  the  scene  of  so  many  gatherings,  both  grave  and  gay,  and  which  has  always 
been  a  center  of  interest  and  of  hospitality  for  women,  can  but  fill  us  with  sadness. 

Here  we  have  welcomed  and  listened  to  the  great  thinkers  of  our  own  and  other 
countries,  and  to  musicians  from  every  clime;  here  we  have  welcomed  guests  both 
distinguished  and  humble,  among  the  most  pleasant  gatherings  being  the  popular 
Saturday  afternoon  receptions,  when  all  were  made  welcome  and  we  were  overwhelmed 
by  discovering  the  number  of  our  friends,  and  the  warmth  of  their  kindly  feeling.     It 


824  THE  CONGRESS  OF  WOMEN. 

was  the  proudest  moment  of  my  life  when  I  was  told  last  Saturday,  with  a  heartfelt 
hand-shake,  and  with  accents  of  deepest  sincerity,  by  one  of  our  visitors,  that  seeing 
me  had  given  her  more  pleasure  than  anything  at  the  fair,  except  the  Ferris  wheel. 

The  ties  which  have  bound  us  together  have  been  tightly  drawn  during  these  six 
months  now  past,  and  we  have  felt  constantly  sustained  by  the  earnestness  and 
enthusiasm  manifested;  and  now,  when  the  time  has  come  to  leave  it,  and  we  look  at 
the  fair  proportions  and  stately  interior  of  these  halls  and  of  the  building  we  have  so 
long  occupied,  the  knowledge  that  they  are  soon  to  be  handed  over  to  destruction 
cruelly  grieves  us. 

When  our  palace  in  the  White  City  shall  have  vanished  like  a  dream,  when  grass 
and  flowers  cover  the  spot  where  it  now  stands,  may  its  memory  and  influence  still 
remain  as  a  benediction  to  those  who  have  wrought  within  its  walls. 


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